The replacement unit from Innuos is up and running. thoughts below are copied from another post so I don’t have to type it a second time.
I’ve had the replacement unit from Innuos since Wednesday, which is coincidentally when I got the MZ3 in. Got it set up and working Wed night, which didn’t leave a lot of time for listening then, but I’ve got some time in since. My initial time, Thursday and Friday, was with the MZ3, so I really had no idea what changes were the MZ3 and what was the Pulse. Today though, I’m back to the AIC-10 and I have a much better idea what the Pulse has over the UltraRendu.
First and foremost is scale. The Pulse expands the stage outward when the track asks for it. Give it something from Yosi Horikawa or some nice Orchestral and you really get a feel for it. I don’t mean just horizontally. Its ability to tease out depth is notably improved as well.
Imaging and separation is a solid step-and-a-half to two steps ahead of UR. The combination of a blacker background, which the UR was already quite good at, combined with it being even more resolving, and the tonal difference accomplishes this.
What tonal differences? There’s a drier tilt for one. Particularly with vocals. There’s a much more defined end to notes. The Pulse is, I think at least, trying for an overall “neutral” sound, with a lean towards technicalities over musicality. Which works pretty well in my chain, but might not work so well in others. Which I like on some things and on some songs, but not so much on others. On the whole, I’d say so far I like more than I’ve not, but that could always change. I don’t expect it to, given my preferences, but stranger things have happened.
Recently fired up Sense to again compare with Roon. I had been behind a few versions since I use Roon exclusively, so after upgrading to the latest Sense version, I was curious what improvements had been made. I will say, Innuos is doing an admirable job putting together a very good solution for playback and music management. I look forward as they continue to push Sense features and interface forward. To me, their dedication to evolving Sense adds a lot value to either buying an Innuos product or sticking with them in the future. Especially since it’s free and one could (as many have) decide to give up Roon and just use Sense.
Anyway, I do notice a SQ improvement over Roon, as I had before. Music seems to be more ‘alive’ sounding, perhaps a tad more resolved and in the round. I definitely don’t hear any negatives compared to Roon. Where Roon continues to be appreciated for me is their superior interface, features and personalized offerings within the software. But as I write this, I’m listening to Sense and am thoroughly enjoying it.
I read a ‘radio’ feature is in the works for Sense, though how it’ll be implemented is not clear. It’s one of the things I love about Roon – picking up after the latest song plays and continues to play songs that are similar in genre
My personal experience and opinion after much back and forth the past 2 weeks is that the current Innuos Sense software, vs 3.2.2 as of this date, 03/25/2025 allows for a more performance based listening experience over the equivalent ROON software package when being used on Innuos streamers, in particular their Zenith Mk3 And Pulse units. (These are the only 2 units i can speak to) If you own transducers capable of above average resolution the difference currently in the software is more apparent than the past few years. I still have reason to keep using ROON but on days where my desire to listen and fiddle w/ the equipment is my end goal and simple music enjoyment is not the order of the day, i find the SENSE software allows me to better maximize my ability to perform tweaks or simply critique the equipment itself.
YMMV, this is my current opinion and personal experience using my gear, my room, my ears.
I don’t really pay attention to Sense updates since I always use Roon, but I’ll update it and check it out. I love how dedicated Innuos is to developing their app.
IMO Roon is so much better from a UI and feature standpoint that it makes it very compelling to use, even if Sense might sound a bit better. Regardless, I’ll dedicate an evening to the updated Sense in the near future
Well, I updated Sense and decided to go ahead and check it out now. I think I need to reach out to their tech support because I noticed my biggest issue is still there, just as it’s always been. For some reason it doesn’t display all the albums I added from Tidal in my Albums folder. It’s weird. Some but not all.
From a SQ standpoint it does sound good. Maybe a bit more involving than Roon but they’re close to my ears.
Yeah, i have my own issues w/ some SENSE functions, it has come a long long way though since its inception and the techs do a good job at trying to address issues.
90% of my own listening is ROON especially since i can get it to function across 6 systems but I’m happy for the quality SQ the Sense software helps squeeze out of my higher end rigs.
