Hi-Fi enthusiasts will often have a vast collection of physical music of differing formats, whether it be on CDs, vinyl records or even cassette tapes. Fanatics are well-known to have hundreds or some cases even thousands of these sitting on their shelves. A collection that expansive may be slightly tricky to manage when there are so many tangible items that require maintenance. Ensuring they are dusted, well-organised and there is enough space for a growing collection. With the increasing popularity of vinyl, people are more likely to dedicate the time and effort to a collection, but what about CDs? They’re not the most attractive format to keep on display… Taking this into consideration, wouldn’t it be ideal to have access to your whole CD collection in one place, all while keeping the original sound quality? This is where the Innuos Zen Mini Mk3 comes in…

First, a bit of backstory…

Founded in 2009 in the UK, Innuos had the vision of never needing to sacrifice sound quality for the convenience of having all your music in one digital space, while simultaneously being easy enough for a streaming novice to use. A combination of three core principles is believed to be the only way to achieve this vision, they are:

Perfect Synergy Between Hardware and Software.
Customer-Driven Research and Development.
Open Platform - Integration with the most Multi-room products in the market.

You can read more about these principals here.

The Innuos Zen Mini Mk3 is essentially a music streamer/server which can also be used as a hard drive to rip your CDs onto. The Zen Mini will read Red Book standard CDs as well as CD-R & CD-RW, and store on the drive as FLAC (zero compression) or WAV, either will not compromise the sound quality on playback. There are three different hard drive memory sizes available - 1TB, 2TB and 4TB.

So how does it work?

To get started, an ethernet cable is required for the Zen Mini as it doesn’t connect to the Internet via wireless network. Plug this in along with the power cable and the Zen Mini will come to life. Then you’ll need to download the Innuos Sense app onto your smartphone or tablet and it will automatically search for Innuos products. Once connected to the Zen Mini, you’ll be able to stream music, create playlists and rip your favourite albums. Storing your music is very easy! Simply insert your CD into the disc drive and you will see the app automatically uploading your music.

What’s in the box?

A quick start guide will be the first thing you see when you open the box. It sits on top of the polystyrene, face up ready to guide you through the set-up. A power cable comes in a small rectangular box, which is stored neatly on the side, underneath the first layer of protective polystyrene.

Innuos also include a carry bag as part of their merchandise, which is great if you are travelling and want to take the Zen Mini with you!

An optional, external power supply can be bought to compliment the Zen Mini; the Innuos Linear Power Supply. The Innuos Optional PSU offers a separate linear power supply upgrade to improve upon the sound quality delivered by the Zen Mini, with better vibration and resonance isolation. You’ll find the same accessories in this box as well. Plus, you can buy the Zen Mini and Linear PSU together as a bundle and save a bit of money too! (Contact Us for more information).

To conclude…

So, why not have all your music in one place? Sure, having a physical collection is great, but with the previously mentioned drawbacks of storing it, maintenance and finding what you’re looking for can be time consuming, so keeping it on one hard drive will cut out the middle man! The quantity of music shouldn’t matter as the Zen Minis have plenty of memory space, and as mentioned above, your sound quality won’t be compromised either.

Contact Us to book a FREE demonstration!

Thanks for reading!

Elena, John & Jason – Audio T Enfield

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

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