“Ultimately, the most important question is who Innuos plans to target with its server. Just looking at the raw data, facts, and figures, I would have said a few weeks ago that the Statement is presumably an excellent ripping server boasting impressive craftsmanship and a smooth and supple design — precisely the right device for supplying a high-end chain with data at the right level and for covering all (and I really mean all) aspects of media management. In that assumption, I would have essentially been correct. And yet I now feel as though that definition is anachronistic and on the verge of insulting.
Don’t get me wrong: The Statement can meet all the aforementioned demands perfectly and it’s even an exceptional, meticulously bit-precise CD ripper. Its focus is not, however, just on handling “media from yesteryear,” but in fact lies even more squarely on the future: Its two reclockers, the playback buffer memory of a rather fabulous 4 gigabytes, and the exceptionally pure signal currents that never get in each other’s way are primarily designed to ensure optimum-quality web data source playback. The target audience is, of course, primarily Qobuz and Tidal users — and we’ve never heard these services sound so polished or sophisticated.
And the hefty heavyweight lives up to its name in other ways, too: Innuos designed the superb operating system as an open interface, which means the manufacturer can respond quickly and flexibly to future changes and upgrade the design as well as remove any outdated or unwanted dead weight. This leads me to feel confident (which is very rarely the case with such systems) that the computer will still serve as an outstanding and reliable partner for all facets of digital playback, even many years down the line. And now I’m afraid you’ll have to excuse me … I want to get back to listening!”
Photo courtesy of Fidelity International
You can find the full review here