Getting Your Pulse Racing
When I was told by James, that AV Designs was going to bring in Innuos products, I quickly asked him to send anything from their range for me to review. The online world at the time was abuzz singing praises to the brand. Many gave it top marks in terms of performance especially in its price point. So naturally, I needed to try this for myself.
To kick start my Innuos journey, I agreed with James to start with the entry point into the ecosystem, the Pulse Mini Network Player. The Pulse Mini is network player which also comes with a built in DAC. The unit also houses digital outputs for ease of integration. Both coaxial and optical outputs are provided should you wish to use the unit as a pure player and rely on an external DAC.
There is no remote control, display or even buttons on the unit. The only exception being the power button which is also hidden under the front fascia. This is a decision I like from Innuos which keeps the look of the Pulse Mini clean. Even when turned on and operating, the white light from the power button is discreet. This as the button itself is facing down. The Innuos Sense App is where all operation and settings of the unit is managed.
Getting the right “Sense” of things
Let’s talk a little about the Sense App. This is something Innuos has really paid attention too. The interface and overall user experience is great. It may not be the most visually impressive but the ease of use and responsiveness is impressive. Navigation is straightforward, with everything you need easily found. The app is also very stable and did not suffer any instability or sudden crashes. Off to a great start indeed.
Considering the design concept, my initial thought would be that setting up would be challenging. Well, that’s what I thought anyway. Boy was I wrong! Setup and operation of the Pulse is as straightforward as it gets. Plug it in, the app detects it, good to go! The hard part is actually the wiring but once your connected, that’s it.
It’s all in the Details
In listening, the Innuos instantly wows with its detail and sound signature which has a somewhat pristine quality. The Pulse extracts so much out of the recordings and reproduces it cleanly. The sound isn’t clinical, and is definitely not sterile. It just has a natural clarity to it that makes it sound crisp. All that detail and clarity though doesn’t detract from the emotion of the music which still maintains its character with any recordings.
Speaking of which, the Innuos has a strict diet of music. That is, it can only consume via Tidal, Qobuz or digitally copied music from your CD library. Content needs to be burned via Innuos components with built in optical drives which can then be shared to it via network. The option to plug in an external drive with preloaded music is also possible. Internet radio is also supported, but mainstream services like Spotify do require some workarounds.
I enjoyed listening to all kinds of music on the Innuos which doesn’t play favourites when it comes to genres. The Pulse Mini handled Rock music easily, a particularly challenging genre with most audiophile components. Electric guitars have all the bite and grit which gives the tracks its energy. Vocal centric recordings also standout with every nuance properly communicated while maintain great dynamics.
Works Good Either Way
It’s worth mentioning that the DAC built in to the Pulse Mini is no slouch. When used directly to my Rega Elex-R the Pulse sounded absolutely terrific. Pretty much one and done. I also tried it connected directly to a Feliks Audio ECHO 2 with great results. The duo made a great complete desktop setup. Just add headphones and you’re done!
If you switch to an outboard DAC utilising the digital output simply expands the unit’s potential even further. Allowing for a little extra performance headroom to be tapped into especially in a system with better resolution. No matter how the unit is put into the system chain, it simply delivers. What’s even more exciting as how it can work together with other Innuos components to move music across the network. Making your digital music playable across different systems.
If you’re looking to step up in the network player game and want something with flexibility, simplicity and Hella good performance, then the Innuos Pulse Mini Is a must try. Its reasonable price given its performance, and exemplary build quality warrants a sampling. The Innuos Pulse Mini retails for RM 7500 and is sold by AV Designs.
