Review: Resonessence Labs Invicta - new high end DAC/amp/playback system

[smial1966]

Just a quick notification that I'm selling my INVICTA for £2195 in the classifieds. It has been upgraded by Resonessence to the ES9028PRO chipset, so the DAC section is ostensibly the same as the current MIRUS PRO. 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/845165/resonessence-invicta-upgraded-to-es9028pro-chipset#post_13446469

 

[DrTone]

Any word on a firmware and driver upgrade to support DSD256? As good as the MIRUS PRO's Linear Phase Apodizing filter was, HQPlayer DSD128 to the MIRUS was another world. DSD256 would be icing on the cake for me.

 

[Edric Li]

Guys, what is a good way to purchase the PRO unit in the US?

 

[DrTone]

Guys, what is a good way to purchase the PRO unit in the US?

I assume none of the few dealers are near you?

http://www.resonessencelabs.com/dealers/find-your-dealer/

 

[project86]

Just shoot Resonessence Labs an email, they will direct you to the right place or perhaps sell direct if there's no other option.

 

[Edric Li]

Thanks, guys. I thought they sell through their website only. Sent an email to one of the dealers.

The idea of playing from sd card suits my need perfectly. I am in the market of such "digital transport" / "hard disk player" that has some sort of browsing interface and plays music on an sd card or a usb stick or internal hard disk, outputs either analog or digital, without an Ethernet connection. Basically "PC hifi without a PC". So far I have found:

The Invicta - perfect but expensive
Sony HAP series - another good choice, but I really don't need Ethernet. I expect Invicta outperforms it sonically
Aune x5s - buggy interface
Soundawave D100pro, D200 - buggy interface
QLS QA661, QA860 - buggy interface
PS Audio DirectStream Memory Player - I don't need a cd transport. A bit of an overkill
Tascam DA-3000 - gotta be painful to deal with professional devices...

For those who had similar need, what else did you considered?

 

[project86]

Review of the Resonessence Labs Veritas DAC, if anyone is interested: https://www.head-fi.org/f/showcase/resonessence-labs-veritas.22434/reviews

This is what a lot of people were asking for a while back - basically an Invicta-level sound, before the Mirus upgrade, without the headphone jack or SD card reader, and at a lower price. Definitely impressive compared to most everything else out there in that price range.

 

[DrTone]

I've pretty much made up my mind, hopefully order my Mirus Pro tomorrow.

 

[jjthorn]

I had my Invicta DAC upgraded to a Mirus Pro which had version 7.0.1c firmware installed for SABRE 9028PRO when returned.

Could anyone with the same upgrade to SABRE 9028PRO advise if this is the latest firmware as I have seen 7.0.1d nominated as current firmware?

 

[Sonic77]

I had my Invicta DAC upgraded to a Mirus Pro which had version 7.0.1c firmware installed for SABRE 9028PRO when returned.

Could anyone with the same upgrade to SABRE 9028PRO advise if this is the latest firmware as I have seen 7.0.1d nominated as current firmware?

7.0.1d is the firmware, I have installed on my Mirus.
I have other dac's but right now, the Mirus is sounding so good that's all I have been listening to for awhile now.

 

[DrTone]

I have a brand new Mirus Pro coming next week, I'll let everyone know what firmware it comes with.

 

[Sonic77]

I'm listening using JRiver Media Center 23 with Fidelizer Pro 7.7.

 

[DrTone]

I'm listening using JRiver Media Center 23 with Fidelizer Pro 7.7.

Try feeding it DSD128 from HQPlayer using the Poly-sinc-xtr filter and DSD7 modulator. Another world! As good as the linear phase apodizing filter is, the poly-sinc-xtr is better.

 

[twsmith]

7.0.1d is the firmware, I have installed on my Mirus.
I have other dac's but right now, the Mirus is sounding so good that's all I have been listening to for awhile now.

This is interesting - I have a Mirus Pro that I bought just as it was being introduced last year, so I suspect it must have the 7.0.1c (or maybe even earlier) firmware. I have not seen any information about upgrading Mirus Pro firmware (or software) on the Resonessence website. Does anyone have any information about this? Usually the company has been very proactive in providing users with updates, but the current update on the website is about 3 years old. What are the differences between the 7.0.1c and 7.0.1d firmware -- were there bugs that needed to be fixed, or is this something not to be concerned about?

 

[Sonic77]

This is interesting - I have a Mirus Pro that I bought just as it was being introduced last year, so I suspect it must have the 7.0.1c (or maybe even earlier) firmware. I have not seen any information about upgrading Mirus Pro firmware (or software) on the Resonessence website. Does anyone have any information about this? Usually the company has been very proactive in providing users with updates, but the current update on the website is about 3 years old. What are the differences between the 7.0.1c and 7.0.1d firmware -- were there bugs that needed to be fixed, or is this something not to be concerned about?

Not sure but I bet if you asked Resonessence that question they would tell you.