11-Apr-2017, 16:18
I have recently purchased the Zen mkII to replace my NuForce MSR-1 music PC (again, it was a micro PC with ,possibly, some kind of linear power board after the external SMPSU brick) running windows 10 and J Rivers. I was quite happy with the NuForce but, having replaced several parts in the PC it was getting old. The Zen has it's own OS for maintaining the music library and boots up waaay faster than a windows PC. I'm using the Orange Squeeze app from an android tablet to choose and play music tracks and albums. The app took a bit of learning as I (of course) didn't read the manual. I don't even know if there is one. Now I'm reasonably happy that I can play albums, tracks, genres on random etc just like with J Rivers but without the myriad of options that just confused me.
I tried a quick A/B comparison at the time but have to revisit that as the Zen has settled in a bit now.
I was disappointed that I couldn't get the Mutec to work with the Zen but I have corresponded with Nuno at Innuos and they now also have a Mutec to try and they agree that it doesn't work correctly, however a work-around with a powered USB hub (at their suggestion) has got the music playing. My initial thoughts are that I can't detect a difference with or without the Mutec running into a D200 via XLR cable vs USB directly. Again, I need to revisit this as the USB hub has since stopped working and I have a replacement ordered.
The Zen gives a 'meaty' performance with a forward presentation of the music which is quite engaging and is very simple to operate.
I still have some playing to do and I'm hoping that Nuno can get the Mutec working directly with the Zen so that I can reduce the cabling again.
Regards, Paul
I tried a quick A/B comparison at the time but have to revisit that as the Zen has settled in a bit now.
I was disappointed that I couldn't get the Mutec to work with the Zen but I have corresponded with Nuno at Innuos and they now also have a Mutec to try and they agree that it doesn't work correctly, however a work-around with a powered USB hub (at their suggestion) has got the music playing. My initial thoughts are that I can't detect a difference with or without the Mutec running into a D200 via XLR cable vs USB directly. Again, I need to revisit this as the USB hub has since stopped working and I have a replacement ordered.
The Zen gives a 'meaty' performance with a forward presentation of the music which is quite engaging and is very simple to operate.
I still have some playing to do and I'm hoping that Nuno can get the Mutec working directly with the Zen so that I can reduce the cabling again.
Regards, Paul
Innuos Zen, MUTEC MC-3 USB, Devialet Le 200, Usher Dancer 1 DMD
