So after an unfortunate event, my Innuos Statement was in need of repair. I took advantage of the misfortune to upgrade to the Statement NG
$5500 is A LOT of money for just an upgrade. But, what you are getting is essentially a new power supply in the original power supply chassis, and several significant upgrades inside the streamer itself.
The Power Supply
The separate linear power supply gets a rework and parts upgrade with two custom-designed ARC6 AC/DC modules - each containing a new high-precision Active Rectifier board, a massive 10mH DC Choke and almost 4 times more capacitance (than the non-NG Statement) provided by six Mundorf caps. The ARC6 modules are mounted on the new Adaptive Vibration Control (AVC) platform, a combination of Panzerholz wood (Baltic Birch ply impregnated with phenolic resin) with a specific density gel layer, which is highly effective at dampening high-frequency vibration coming from the chassis. There are 8 independent voltage rails, separating the components from internal noise and supplying regulated power to the processor, memory, RAM, Storage, Ethernet reclocker, USB reclocker, and more.
The Streamer
In the music server section, the regulator modules are placed inside to shorten the circuit path. The Statement NG's regulated ‚"clean" power traverses a very short path, soldered point to point, with the least impedance and exposure to EMI. This is superior in efficiency compared to a traditional architecture where a separate power supply is used - Innuos has done their best to remove the extra connections, runs of wire, everything that makes power vulnerable to EMI.
Also new with the Statement NG is a dedicated CPU Booster module, providing up to 15A of current to the CPU for faster transients. All rails are further smoothed by Audio Note KAISEI capacitors benefitting all the main components: Motherboard, USB Reclocker, Ethernet Clock module and SSD.
Attention to Detail
While the use of OCXO clocks in the ethernet and USB reclockers in the Statement NG is not new, what is new is the way that they are powered, and the new lower emi circuit layout is.
Literally dozens of USB controllers were analyzed in terms of how they were powered and clocked so that they allowed this control to be done externally. The USB Controller is regulated by no less than 3 ultra-low noise regulators, one per voltage rail, and the clock is kept very close to the controllers, via a dedicated track on the board itself. Those details help to avoid the losses in signal quality that come with the use of typical external clock units.
Listening
The upgrade from the "Standard" Statement to the Statement NextGen is in every way, very substantial.
- There is more, much more low level information
- A greater sense of scale, and space
- Greater awareness of textural and trailing edge detail throughout the frequency spectrum
- Fullness in the midrange that is extraordinary, even in comparison to the already fantastic Statement
The Innuos Statement NG sounds like a new streamer without sounding like a different streamer. It retains the musical, flowing, Innuos house sound, but it is indeed like leveling up the statement. which it should be. I think Innuos has done a bang up job of minimizing the cost of the upgrade by using the existing chassis, and making sure that what you receive post upgrade justifies the expenditure. This is TRULY an Ultra-Fi product in performance.
This is the (Tidal) playlist I use to evaluate components
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Bonus Feature: Innuos Factory Tour
A special thanks to My Hi-End for their YouTube video Innuos factory tour. A very well done video, and totally worth watching. It shows the pride, competence and professionalism of the Innuos team.