Resonessence Labs Concero discussion/review thead

[gugman]

That driver has had further updates.
If you would like to try the latest versions, here you go:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yZYg-PzTPqdRR6b8Mt2LGKxlZOBHlVOT

thank you so muuuuch !!!!

 

[nordkapp]

Just read on Computer Audiophile that Resonessence Labs went out of business. Not the least bit surprised but still too bad, especially for owner's.

 

[OscarJr]

Good to know, thanks!

 

[project86]

I've been getting messages with questions about their status the last couple days, and have been trying to figure out more info. Let me update what I know so far.

I think I posted around here somewhere mid-year 2019 that Mark Mallinson had "retired" from the day to day operations of Resonessence, and another long-time ESS engineer/project manager Ahmed Rizki had moved in to his role. My last communication with Ahmed was November 25th. Discussing Fluvius development and specifically making it function as a Roon endpoint, which was something Mark Mallinson said was in the works. Ahmed's last email stated:


"We are still working on getting Roon into the Fluvius. We have tested with Roon on the Fluvius but the sound quality of the Roon driver is currently below our standards.
As soon as Roon has an updated quality driver, we will release an update that makes the Fluvius a Roon endpoint."


I was hoping that would happen soon as I love the Fluvius streamer but the interface is sub-par compared to what I'm used to with Roon. Anyway, I emailed him again yesterday and it bounced back, due to the domain being no longer functional. I tried some (very) old email addresses I had for Mark Mallinson and so far have not heard a reply. Someone sent me a link showing Mark's house being for sale, which was always listed as the company address for Resonessence. I don't know if something happened to Mark or what at this point.

I had been in somewhat regular contact with Dustin Forman (also of ESS, and the main designer of the Sabre DAC chips as well as most of the Resonessence products) over the years but it seems like we always used his @Resonessence.com email, which obviously no longer works. I need to dig through the archives and see if I still have his phone number or any alternate emails. If I find anything I will update here.

 

[capetownwatches]

I've been getting messages with questions about their status the last couple days, and have been trying to figure out more info. Let me update what I know so far.

I think I posted around here somewhere mid-year 2019 that Mark Mallinson had "retired" from the day to day operations of Resonessence, and another long-time ESS engineer/project manager Ahmed Rizki had moved in to his role. My last communication with Ahmed was November 25th. Discussing Fluvius development and specifically making it function as a Roon endpoint, which was something Mark Mallinson said was in the works. Ahmed's last email stated:


"We are still working on getting Roon into the Fluvius. We have tested with Roon on the Fluvius but the sound quality of the Roon driver is currently below our standards.
As soon as Roon has an updated quality driver, we will release an update that makes the Fluvius a Roon endpoint."


I was hoping that would happen soon as I love the Fluvius streamer but the interface is sub-par compared to what I'm used to with Roon. Anyway, I emailed him again yesterday and it bounced back, due to the domain being no longer functional. I tried some (very) old email addresses I had for Mark Mallinson and so far have not heard a reply. Someone sent me a link showing Mark's house being for sale, which was always listed as the company address for Resonessence. I don't know if something happened to Mark or what at this point.

I had been in somewhat regular contact with Dustin Forman (also of ESS, and the main designer of the Sabre DAC chips as well as most of the Resonessence products) over the years but it seems like we always used his @Resonessence.com email, which obviously no longer works. I need to dig through the archives and see if I still have his phone number or any alternate emails. If I find anything I will update here.

This all sounds rather strange, as if the company has disappeared almost overnight and no-one thought to mention anything to its clients, of which I am one.

Notwithstanding the terrible website, erratic updates and generally lackadaisical customer service, the products remained stellar, so we forgave.

Thanks for keeping us posted John, I'm curious.

 

[nordkapp]

Severe quality control issues too. I had two of their units arrive D.O.A. Incredibly frustrating.

 

[Naack]

I will say, in their defence, that I once bought a normal Concero for my home theatre system and when I reached out to them about it freaking out due to the amount of static buildup in my house, they sent me a Concero HD free of charge (I shipped the original back to them).
Do you think it is bad to leave the HD plugged in perpetually? I am always wondering if I should unplug that and the HD when they are not in use..

 

[project86]

I kept my original Concero powered up for roughly 2 years straight, without any issues, for whatever that's worth. There's not much heat and no high-voltage or moving parts to worry about. But it comes down to whatever you are comfortable with.

As for my searching, I have exhausted all attempts to reach anyone from Resonessence. I'm going to assume they are gone. Mark Mallinson was always the key organizer behind all the other staff I dealt with, so if something happened to Mark (and it may have, given his home being on the market and his lack of replies when he was always prompt with me over the years), then I can see how it would fall apart.

Ahmed was stepping in to take over the role but he may have not really asked for that or been familiar with what it would actually require. Depending on what happened with Mark, Ahmed may have been just doing it as a favor and not really getting any money out of it. He's a bigwig at ESS anyway and probably very busy so perhaps he decided it wasn't feasible to continue. That's just speculation on my part though.

Still, would have been nice to communicate that to customers. Even if Ahmed didn't have access to the company files, he probably had a list of dealers or could easily put one together.

 

[twsmith]

Severe quality control issues too. I had two of their units arrive D.O.A. Incredibly frustrating.

It's too bad about Resonessence but I'm likewise not too surprised. I bought 2 dacs from them in the past - Invicta and Mirus Pro - and never had any QC problems. However I was frustrated about a minor issue with the Mirus Pro cutting off the first microsecond or two of FLAC files - they eventually sent an update to fix this problem but no Mirus Pro software downloads were ever posted on their website. My main issue is that I now own two units from a manufacturer who has presumably gone out of business. This leaves me in the uncomfortable position of what to do if the units ever need to be repaired. Any software or firmware updates are of course out of the question. I suppose this is a risk one takes buying from a relatively small new company, but it's still frustrating. I've since moved on to a Benchmark HPA4/DAC3B combo, and couldn't be happier. To me this combo actually sounds much better than the Resonessence units.

 

[nordkapp]

It's too bad about Resonessence but I'm likewise not too surprised. I bought 2 dacs from them in the past - Invicta and Mirus Pro - and never had any QC problems. However I was frustrated about a minor issue with the Mirus Pro cutting off the first microsecond or two of FLAC files - they eventually sent an update to fix this problem but no Mirus Pro software downloads were ever posted on their website. My main issue is that I now own two units from a manufacturer who has presumably gone out of business. This leaves me in the uncomfortable position of what to do if the units ever need to be repaired. Any software or firmware updates are of course out of the question. I suppose this is a risk one takes buying from a relatively small new company, but it's still frustrating. I've since moved on to a Benchmark HPA4/DAC3B combo, and couldn't be happier. To me this combo actually sounds much better than the Resonessence units.

I had the Benchmark DAC3B/HPA4 combo for a brief time. Regrettably had to sell it off. Definitely the best combo I've ever heard/owned and you know it works as described by a company that will not soon fold up and is as honest as they come.

 

[project86]

It's definitely something to consider - how many companies do we deal with around here which are actually rather small? Often it seems the hot new gear is by some up-and-coming audio designer with a really small staff... but who knows how long they will be around?

Even if I look back at some of my old reviews, a lot of the companies making gear I used are gone... either completely or at least in regions they formerly sold in. Cavalli Audio, Izmo, Oppo, Grant Fidelity, CablePro, Frogbeats, Heir Audio, AV123, LiveWires, Firestone Audio, Cabledyne, AMI, Lead Audio, LH Labs (essentially), Metrum (bankrupt), CEntrance (no more audiophile gear), and on and on. Obviously we can trust a brand like McIntosh or even Benchmark to be around for a long time but not all that many can make similar claims. Even a successful and several-decades-old brand like Lake People/Violectric is not massive and could potentially fold after a few rough years (which may be coming up soon unfortunately).

I've still got some emails out to dealers to see if any of them heard from Resonessence prior to this happening. So far a few of them had no warning, but I have not heard back from everyone yet.

 

[tvr2500m]

Too bad Resonessence is no longer in business. I have a Herus DSD DXD and a Concero HP DSD DXD and very much enjoy both of them.

Does anyone have the final update (v2.8?) for the Concero HP that they could share?

Thanks!

 

[twsmith]

Too bad Resonessence is no longer in business. I have a Herus DSD DXD and a Concero HP DSD DXD and very much enjoy both of them.

Does anyone have the final update (v2.8?) for the Concero HP that they could share?

Thanks!

Some very strange things happening. I still had the old Resonessence website bookmarked and out of curiosity, I clicked on it again and much to my surprise, a new Resonnessence Labs page appeared. It bears no resemblance to the old website although a lot of the material related to filters, etc seems very similar. Two products are vaguely mentioned - "Hemrus" (? Herus) and a dac referred to as "IMVICT". So is this website for real or a fake? Did the company just change hands and they're starting from scratch, taking along bits and pieces of the old company. No photos or detailed descriptions of the products are provided, and there are no dealers or an online store. No mention at all of supporting prior Resonessence products. This doesn't sound good to me.

 

[Naack]

I have been tempted to upgrade the firmware on both my Concero HD and HP, but I feel the risk of bricking them in no longer worth it now that Resonessence Labs is no longer a thing.
I took a look at the webpage, I am fairly certain it is a fake.

 

[tvr2500m]

I have been tempted to upgrade the firmware on both my Concero HD and HP, but I feel the risk of bricking them in no longer worth it now that Resonessence Labs is no longer a thing.
I took a look at the webpage, I am fairly certain it is a fake.

That fake webpage thing is wacky. Who? Why?

Is there a way to determine the firmware version that's currently installed? Yes, bricking wouldn't be great. Might you happen to have the latest/final firmware update?