At last – the perfect streamer – INNUOS Wave £150-200
So, here is the problem: I have lots of high res music files 24-44.1/96/192 and DSD files. I have Sonos – no high res support. The only way I can play these files is via a laptop connected to a USB DAC, running J River Media Center and J Remote. Unfortunately, I have better things to be doing with my laptop and the only small PC that I have is the thoroughly useless ASUS Transformer T100 – which has no Ethernet and streaming high res via wi-if – just forget it. Hi-Fi network streamers cost >€1000, are unnecessarily large and contain components that I don’t want (DAC, preamp, amp). I needed a box that took files off my server, catalogued them and fed them to my DAC with minimum of fuss – controlled by my phone or iPad: it had to be inexpensive (you can buy a laptop that does all this for €300!).
I bought a Bluesound Node at Christmas – and frankly hate the device: no USB, no SPDIF coaxial, no DSD and rediculous looking. Out of the blue while surfing the internet I came across the INNUOS website. They sell a variety of mini PC based rippers, NAS and streamers. One product caught my eye: the “Wave.” I ordered the pro version(includes wi-fi which I have not used) immediately. Two days later an extremely light box was delivered. Inside was a tiny toy like cube probably 4x4x4 cm with a small power supply. I plugged it in, connected the Ethernet via power line, connected a USB cable to my DAC, sat down with my laptop and typed in “http://wave” and bingo – Logitech media server appeared. Within minutes it had indexed all my high res files and I could play the PCM/DSD whatever bit perfect thru my DAC. I downloaded iPeng for iPad and iPhone and had a perfect remote control. Less than 30 minutes and all my problems solved. This is a wonder device for those of us who already have DACs and want to stream to hi-fi any kind of file. I have been listening to it ever since.
In my hi-fi cabinet, the Wave is located on top of my Sonos Zp90 (Connect) and beside the Bluesound. The Connect looks huge in comparison – with significantly less functionality. The Node – it is just ridiculous. I am kicking myself about all of the hours I spent reducing the size of album art (some of which still does not display) with the Bluesound – Logitech media server displayed everything correctly, faster and more responsively on the Wave. A five star device. Apparently INNUOS base their products on the Vortexbox – about which you can read on their website. It is truly hard to believe that such a small, cheap looking, lightweight box can be so effective. Presumably the £800 Wave Ultimate is there to appease audiophiles – boasting a linear power supply: it looks cool but really – bits are bits once delivered to the USB cable I cannot see how the power supply of the streamer can affect the performance of the rest of the hi-fi system. But maybe I’m wrong!
Positives: plays PCM via USB up to any resolution and any DSD file I had. No computer needed for continuous operation (unlike Squeezebox touch). Plays NAS, SATA and USB. Fantastic.
Negatives: optical only (96kHz) digital output – although the world appears to be moving to USB anyway. I haven’t tried streaming Deezer, Spotify or Tidal yet (I still use Sonos for 16 bit and MP3 streaming (will update this at a later date). The appearance of this device will not impress your friends, it looks cheap and tiny (Your wife will love it – the Wave can be hidden anywhere!
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