Media Server Reviews

When Jason Victor Serinus reviewed the expensive Statement server from Portuguese company Innuos (footnote 1) in the April 2020 issue of Stereophile, he concluded that "Innuos has created a transparent instrument that scores big in soundstage size and depth, dynamics, and bass reach." Comparing the Statement and a sample of the more affordable Roon Nucleus + (footnote 2) (fed by a linear power supply)—both servers feeding his dCS Rossini and EMM DV2 D/A processors via USB—he found that via the Statement "the treble seemed slightly rounded, the presentation a touch warmer than through the Nucleus +. . . . The Statement warmed the piano and smoothed out the top in a manner that some would call analoglike or tubelike."

These descriptions of sound quality suggested that I should be able to find measurable differences between the Statement and other sources of USB data. In addition, the review of the Statement in our sister magazine Hi-Fi News indicated substantially reduced jitter in some of the DACs that were connected to it. When the Statement arrived in my test lab, I didn't have Jason's dCS and EMM processors to hand, but I did have a Mytek Brooklyn and two AudioQuest DragonFlies, a Red and a Cobalt, that I could use with the Innuos server. Using my Audio Precision SYS2722 analyzer, I compared the spectra of each DAC's analog output signal receiving 16- and 24-bit J-Test data sampled at 44.1kHz via USB, either from my MacBook Pro laptop or from the Statement. To sum up my findings: While there were no measurable differences in the Mytek's output when fed data from the laptop or the Innuos server, I did find, with the AudioQuest DACs, that sourcing data from the Statement gave slightly cleaner spectra. The differences were at a very low level, however.

After the April issue was sent to the printers, I performed another series of tests with my long-term reference DAC, the PS Audio DirectStream, which is fitted with a network bridge card. (I am still using the "Snowmass" operating system, having not yet upgraded to the latest "Windom" firmware.) I used the Roon app to send the PS Audio J-Test data via my network and via USB from the sample of the Nucleus + that I had purchased following my review. (The Nucleus + was powered by its standard switching supply.)

Using the Innuos-recommended iPeng 9 player app on my iPad Mini, I then sent the J-Test data that I had copied to the Statement's internal storage to the PS Audio via USB. The Statement was running the same v1.4.3 operating system as it had when Jason auditioned it. (The iPeng settings screen revealed that this appeared to be a version of Logitech's Squeezelite firmware.) The Statement's volume control in the iPeng playback screen was set to its maximum for these tests, as was the PS Audio's.

I found almost no differences in the DirectStream's analog output whether it received data from the Nucleus + or Statement via USB or from the Nucleus + via Ethernet. In all three cases, the odd-order harmonics of the low-frequency, LSB-level tone were very close to the correct levels. Compared with sending 16-bit J-Test data to the PS Audio DAC via an AES/ EBU link, both the USB and Ethernet connections resulted in an additional pair of sidebands at ±50Hz to the sides of the spectral spike that represents the high-level tone at exactly one-quarter the sample rate. These sidebands were slightly higher in level with network data than they were with USB data, but the levels were identical with USB data sourced from both the Nucleus + and the Statement (fig.1; note expanded vertical and horizontal scales).

Listening to the Servers
When I discussed my original findings with Stereophile Editor Jim Austin, he suggested I do some listening tests, comparing the Statement with my Nucleus +. Even though I am more of a Leveler compared with Sharpener Jason (footnote 3), I was intrigued by what I had found in the measurements and agreed. The system would be my KEF LS50 loudspeakers driven by Lamm M1.2 Reference monoblocks, these connected directly to the PS Audio DAC. AC was supplied from an AudioQuest Niagara 5000 Low-Z Power/Noise-Dissipation System.

The listening tests were divided into three kinds. First, using the Settings window on the local myinnuos.com webpage, I set the Statement to be a Roon player. I then enabled the PS Audio DAC, connected to the Statement's USB output with a long Belkin Gold cable, as a Roon endpoint. (This was the only USB cable I had that could reach the PS Audio from the rack where I had the servers.) By using the Roon app to send the same data from the Nucleus + to the Statement or via AudioQuest Diamond Cat-7 Ethernet cables to the PS Audio's network bridge via my rather old NetGear router, I could compare the two sources by switching between "USB" and "Bridge" with the PS Audio's remote control. (I found that I had to set the Statement's volume in Roon to the maximum in order that the PS Audio's output level would be the same with both connections.) The comparisons were a little more complicated than I expected because Roon halted network playback when I changed the PS Audio's input to USB, even when I grouped the two zones. This comparison would also be between the Ethernet and USB connections, but I felt the ability to A/B switch would be a good starting point.

For the first set of comparisons, I cued up "Flamenco Sketches" from Miles Davis's classic album Kind of Blue (24/192 AIFF file, Legacy/HDTracks). After an hour's repeated listening to this nine-minute track—levels were matched, of course—I felt that perhaps Jimmy Cobb's brushed snare-drum pattern was a tad better resolved with the Statement. Perhaps. Perhaps his softly struck cymbals had a touch more leading-edge definition with the Nucleus +. Perhaps. Paul Chambers's double-stopped notes on his bass were perhaps slightly better differentiated and a touch weightier with the Statement. Perhaps. The shimmering of the piano's sound due to the not-quite-in-tune strings in the notes with which Bill Evans opens his solo were equally clear with both servers.

Perhaps some orchestral music would be more revealing of differences? I played Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic's performance of Beethoven's Symphony No.5 (24/192 WAV, Berliner Philharmoniker BPHR 160091). Both servers sounded forceful on the familiar dotted-note motif in the first movement, with excellent weight to double basses. Both presented a good sense of space around solo instruments and a coherent image of the orchestra. Both allowed me to be caught up in the music making.

It was only with "It's Like That" from Us3's Hands on the Torch (16/44.1 FLAC, Blue Note) that I finally felt confident of hearing a difference between the two sources. With this hip-hop/jazz mashup, the bass line had a touch more drive with Statement sending data to the PS Audio, the Ethernet connection from the Nucleus + a touch more upper-bass bloom—but in both instances, just a touch.

Time for the second and perhaps more meaningful round of listening tests. I disabled the Statement as a Roon player so that I could compare the sound with data stored on the Statement's internal drive with the same data stored on the Nucleus +. By controlling the Nucleus + with the Roon app and the Statement with the iPeng app, I could again A/B the two sources.

Given that I was confident about hearing a difference with the Us3 track, I started my comparisons with it. Again, I could hear differences, and again they were in the lower-frequency region. The upper-bass bloom from the Nucleus + was evident, but while the low frequencies still seemed a little better defined with the data sourced from the Statement, the bass riff now seemed to lack a little mid-bass force. A little. Higher in frequency, the vocals sounded identical in both tonality and spatial presentation, as did the tunnel of reverb behind the sampled mono drums that punctuate the track.

To focus on the low-frequency differences, I followed "It's Like That" with Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" (24/88.2 FLAC file from Random Access Memories, Columbia/HDTracks), which I had copied to the Statement's library (fig.2). Nathan East's driving bass line had slightly better articulation played from the Statement, slightly more upper-bass bloom from the Nucleus +.

Before I got totally sick of "Get Lucky," I did one more set of comparisons, this time in turn connecting both servers' USB outputs to the PS Audio DAC using the same Belkin Gold cable. No doubt about it. The Roon server's USB output doesn't have quite the low-frequency clarity that its Ethernet connection does. (In a discussion I had some years back with the late Charley Hansen of Ayre, he was insistent that all things being equal, USB would sound better than Ethernet.) When it came to the USB connection, the Nucleus's bass was outclassed by the Statement. Not by much, I admit, but enough to matter. But I still didn't feel the Statement had a treble that was, in Jason's words, "smoothed out . . . in a manner that some would call analoglike or tubelike."

I cued up Patricia Barber's "The Beat Goes On," from Companion (DSD64 file, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab), which I copied to the Statement's library. Yes! Both Barber's vocals and her Hammond organ solo did indeed sound slightly smoother, less incisive on the Innuos server. Score one for Jason.

For the final round of tests, I eliminated potential differences due to the USB and Ethernet cables by plugging an AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt DAC into the USB ports of the Nucleus + and Statement. One of the tracks Jason had mentioned in his review was "Electrified II" from Yello's Toy (24/48 FLAC, Polydor/HDtracks). He described this track as being "a bit too hot and sizzly" and felt it was less fatiguing when played back from the Statement. Yes, it did sound "a bit too hot" played back on the Roon server with AudioQuest NightHawk headphones, though the bass was weighty enough. As with the Patricia Barber track, the treble was a touch smoother with the DragonFly plugged into the Innuos.

I was also impressed by the slightly better low-frequency control the DragonFly exhibited with the Statement.

Summing Up the Servers
So what to conclude from the two solid days I spent listening with two D/A processors to these two servers? Yes, there were differences, but even with the USB connections the differences were small. If I left the room then came back again, I don't think I could tell you whether the PS Audio DAC was receiving data via USB from the Statement or via Ethernet or USB from the Nucleus +.

Why did I find the differences between the Innuos and Roon servers more difficult to hear than Jason had? First, as I wrote many hundreds of words back, I tend to be a Leveler whereas Jason is a Sharpener. Second, I use its standard switching supply with my Nucleus +, whereas JVS powers his with a linear supply from Small Green Computer. And third, it is entirely possible that my KEF/Lamm/PS Audio system, as musically satisfying as I find it, is just not as resolving as Jason's Wilson/Dan D'Agostino/dCS system.

When I visited Jason's old place in Oakland, California, in 2012, his listening room/system was one of the finest I had experienced. I visited Jason's new home in the Pacific Northwest while preparing this follow-up review and found his current system very revealing. For example, the improvement that resulted from replacing the standard switch-mode power supply for his Roon Nucleus + with a linear supply was more audible than I anticipated. Also relevant is that Jason listens at SPLs that are at least 10dB higher than is possible with my system.

To sum up my experience of the Innuos Statement, this well-engineered server gave me hours of musical pleasure once the formal listening tests were finished—though I won't be playing those tracks from Kind of Blue, Hands on the Torch, Random Access Memories, Toy, or Companion any time soon!—John Atkinson

Footnote 2: The Roon Nucleus + costs $2498 without any audio media storage. I added a Seagate 2TB BarraCuda 7mm hard drive, which cost $82. Roon Labs: roonlabs.com.

Footnote 3: See Robert Deutsch's 2009 essay on Sharpeners and Levelers here. Also see the introduction to Jason's review of the Wolf Alpha 3 SX elsewhere in this issue.