Innuos Pulsar ????

[Lio67]

Without the ground cable there is a little difference,
It sounds « colder » with a little less air between the instruments, the difference is slight but present

 

[Pietka08]

Hello, I'm from Poland and sorry for my English (translator). I'm planning to change my streamer. My Auralic Aries Femto needs to be changed. I was considering the Aurender N200, or even the Aurender N20, and I came across a thread about the Innuos Pulsar. I only stream from Qubus and Tidal, I almost never listen to stored music. Pulsar seems to be a good option. I am asking for advice, maybe someone compared Aurender N20 with Inuos Pulsar.

 

[VoicesInMyHead]

Hello, I'm from Poland and sorry for my English (translator). I'm planning to change my streamer. My Auralic Aries Femto needs to be changed. I was considering the Aurender N200, or even the Aurender N20, and I came across a thread about the Innuos Pulsar. I only stream from Qubus and Tidal, I almost never listen to stored music. Pulsar seems to be a good option. I am asking for advice, maybe someone compared Aurender N20 with Inuos Pulsar.

I've actually tried both Innuos Pulsar and Aurender N20.

They're both great streamers, they are however in completely different price ranges as the N20 is more than double the price of the Pulsar, a comparison with N200 would probably be more "fair". They're also quite different.

Pulsar offers great flexibility by allowing the user to choose from Innuos Sense, Roon and HQPlayer. Aurender has promised Roon endpoint support for almost a year now and is said to arrive in Q4/2023 but I believe it when I see it. Aurenders own software is dividing people in two camps but to me it's simply not even close to Roon in usability, but it works and you can sort of "get used" to it.

Pulsar is all about USB while N20 is heavily optimized for AES/EBU and S/PDIF.

N20 allows for internal SSD storage, Pulsar does not.

Both will benefit heavily by using a good switch/ethernet filter (don't be fooled by the "double isolation" in the Aurender)

I like the minimalistic look of the Pulsar with no display, there's just a subtle light indicating that it's on. You could get charmed by the big display of album artwork on the N20 but in reality I'm always using it in "critical listening mode" and then the display is turned off anyway.

Yes, I ended up buying the N20 myself, if I had compared with the N200 instead the outcome might have been different.

 

[Pietka08]

Thank you for your report. The fact is that the Aurender n200 is the price equivalent of the Pulsar. However, you gave me the answer that N20 is worth the price. I don't change equipment often, but when I do, I want to rest in peace that I have chosen the best that I can afford. I have the opportunity to test the N20, there is a problem with the Pulsar and I am looking for a dealer who will let me test it.
I also want to get away from Roon, I couldn't decide on a lifetime license and now everyone is praising Sense, so I want to try it.
One more question, does the Sense app work on MacBook?

 

[GroovySauce]

The iOS Sense App works on my M1 Macbook. I still use the browser interface 90% of the time. I simply forget that the app is a thing.

 

[Vangelis]

I had an N20 in my system prior to my Pulsar. At that time, I wanted internal file storage and an upgrade beyond the Zenith MKIIse on the shelf sitting next the N20. I ran in the Aurender for over a month to fully breakin and tried the all the outputs, each connected with a well regarded cable.. As far as musical engagement and density within the sound stage, the Innous was clearly better, sounding far more (but not the same) as LPs played via my Linn LP12. The only category where the N20 was superior was in dynamic contrast. Now, all this being said, the Pulsar once fully run in, is everything the Zenith SE is, but ramped up to another level. I ran all three streamers with and with out the PhoenixUSB

 

[kennyb123]

As far as musical engagement and density within the sound stage, the Innous was clearly better, sounding far more (but not the same) as LPs played via my Linn LP12.

Interesting observation. I didn’t get the density and fullness I heard from vinyl until I upgraded to an Antipodes K30 from an Innuos Zenith Mk3. The Mk3 was apparently not as good as the Mk2SE, but given the price difference I would still think the K30 might have an edge over the Mk2SE. From your description, I wouldn’t have liked the N20, so I’m glad I didn’t go there.

 

[VoicesInMyHead]

As far as musical engagement and density within the sound stage, the Innous was clearly better, sounding far more (but not the same) as LPs played via my Linn LP12. The only category where the N20 was superior was in dynamic contrast.

funny I also have an LP12... it's interesting how opinions and experiences can differ to almost the opposite though, perhaps it's system dependent, balance and matching with the rest of the system, but in the end it also comes down to personal preferences. I still think Pulsar vs N20 is an odd comparison where N200 and Pulsar would be the more realistic opponents, where N20 would be more up against Statement. Several of my local friends have Statement Next-Gen (partly due to my recommendation or influence) so I almost felt "bad" choosing another direction myself. I would say that there's no easy way out, the only right thing to do is to listen yourself and decide what you prefer in your own system.

 

[jadedavid]

I had the N200 and the Pulsar at the same time. For me it was very clear that the Pulsar was a significant step up in quality.
"More" of everything. Plus the "Sense" app is icing on the cake.
Sold the N200 and never looked back.

 

[Pietka08]

It turns out that Pulsar beats N200 and if Aurander, it's only N20 at twice the price. But here comes another Grimm Audio MU1 player. Oh these dilemmas!

 

[jadedavid]

I've read that the Grimm MU-1 is a nice streamer.
In comparing the Pulsar ($7999) to the Aurender N200 ($6300) I was trying to keep the cost factor somewhat equal.
The Grimm at $12500 is more in line with the N20 at $12500.
It's great that the various manufacturers keep striving to "up the bar". We all win.

 

[Vangelis]

To be totally fair to the N20, my Pulsar and Zenith MKII Se were alway the used together with the PhoenixUSB. The Pulsar -PhoenixUSB combination retails at near 12k.
I also ran the N20 in critical listening mode and used the WireWorld Platinum Eclipse 8 for AES/EBU and a StereoLab S/PDIF cables to try to provide all the output configurations as fair a shake as possible with my limited cables available, but the Sablon EVO USB won out, in my system. The Aurender N20 is impressively engineered and weighs a ton. Looking at the beautiful N20 package, it should have outperformed my Innuos. This could well have been a system and cable synergy issue.

 

[VoicesInMyHead]

Sablon Audio S/PDIF cable with Bocchino plugs here (and full Sablon Audio cable loom for that matter) I believe great cables allows the equipment to present themselves from their best side and the synergy effect is difficult to overlook.

 

[Pietka08]

I've had the Innuos Pulsar at home for over a week now. At first it didn't make an impression, there was more mass and richness, but the rest was weak. After a few days it happened, everything opened up and I was so absorbed musically that I listened to it for hours with a smile on my face. What stands out is precise, powerful BASS. A revelation for me. I would probably leave it if it weren't for the fact that there is also my favorite Grimm Audio MU1. I'll have the MU1 at home on Friday, we'll see if it's worth the double price of the Pulsar.

 

[Tuckers]

I'll have the MU1 at home on Friday, we'll see if it's worth the double price of the Pulsar.

This I'll be waiting to hear about!

 

[ssfas]

Sablon Audio S/PDIF cable with Bocchino plugs here (and full Sablon Audio cable loom for that matter) I believe great cables allows the equipment to present themselves from their best side and the synergy effect is difficult to overlook.

The Pulsar is already a pretty expensive streamer, I reckon about half the cost is the ARC6 power supply (you can see the cost of these on Sean Jacobs' website). Like @Pietka08 , I used the excellent Auralic Aries Femto for several years, and still have an Aries Mini (my son uses it). The Aries has an OK external power supply.

There are a lot of potential elements to the network infrastructure. I have a single direct 20m cable (AQ Pearl) that I could connect to my master switch. Instead, I use a short CAT6a at either end, media converters, low noise power supplies, a reclocking switch with linear PSU and a passive ethernet filter just before the Pulsar. It would be easy to spend double the cost of the Pulsar on all that network hardware and cabling. The stuff I use costs in total about 20% of the cost of the Pulsar. The single most expensive item is the clock, the board costs £350 (about $500) before you've put it in a switch.

I don't know what synergy there is. The main compatibility is that, like @Tuckers , I use the Pulsar with a Holo May, both optimised for USB.

 

[Pietka08]

Unfortunately, I broke Grimm MU1. He played for about 2 hours and I started fiddling with the settings. I turned the control wheel and unconsciously pressed something. Green squares appeared, I waited about 15 minutes and nothing happened. Impatient, I started trying to get out of this state of affairs. And stupidly, I pulled the cable out of the socket. After putting it back in, the display turned white and I couldn't do anything. Grimm MU1 does not respond. The service in Poland said that I had most likely interrupted the upgrade and now Grimm does not have any system. I'm pissed because he showed class during these 2 hours. It's too early to draw conclusions, but it's a different color of music than Pulsar. The Pulsar is definitely weighted with a slightly rounded, but detailed and pleasant top. MU1 with lightness, airiness, a huge stage in every direction, and when necessary, it also thunders with bass. It's a pity that my adventure with MU1 ended so quickly. I'm stupid.

 

[Pietka08]

After 2 weeks I returned the Pulsar to the store. I connected my old Auralic Aries Femto to the Booster power supply and something unexpected happened. Pulsar adds weight nicely, but also darkens and covers something. Auralic gives shine, lightness and greater detail for 6x less money. If you need extra weight, go with Pulsar. In my system I'm better with Aries. And in Booster, I recommend replacing the fuse with a better class one.

 

[Vangelis]

Anyone else using using a PhoenixUSB with their Pulsar?

 

[vert]

Both will benefit heavily by using a good switch/ethernet filter (don't be fooled by the "double isolation" in the Aurender)

Even when playing back files from SSD, the N20 needs a switch/filter?