What's new with Sense 3.0
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the InnSights blog, which now takes residence on our new Community Forum.
In this post we will give an overview of the new features you can enjoy in Sense 3.0 software release.
We’ll cover the following topics:
Tidal Connect
Playlist Management
Streaming Service Playlist Synchronisation
Album Merging
But before we examine these, let’s quickly look at the models eligible for the update.
Will my Innuos device be compatible with Sense 3?
The list of existing Innuos devices that will be compatible with the Sense 3 update are as follows:
ZENmini Mk3 (both HDD and SSD versions)
ZEN Mk3
ZENith Mk3
PULSEmini
PULSE
PULSAR
STATEMENT (both Standard and Next-Gen versions)
The update is not available for ZEN Mk1 or ZEN MkII Series/platforms, including ZENith SE.
The ZEN Next Gen and ZENith Next Gen will ship with Sense 3 pre-installed as they require it to run some exclusive features that are unique to them, including external optical drive CD ripping and Expandable Storage Management (XSM). They will also receive deeper-level firmware benefits with the new Real-Time Kernel OS, and AudioCore which allocates separate processor cores exclusively for audio processes.
Now, on to the Sense 3 features!
Tidal Connect
We’re pleased to share that Tidal Connect will be supported in Sense 3. This will allow you to use the native Tidal app to browse and play your Tidal content and direct the playback to your Innuos device.
Simply begin playing music on the Tidal app, tap on the Device Select icon, and choose your Innuos streamer.
This is of course good news for users preferring to browse the native Tidal app itself, and in particular this will help you to better leverage their Custom Mixes, Suggested Tracks, Daily Discoveries, Artist Radios and so on.
Sense will automatically react to an incoming Tidal Connect instruction, stopping any playback that may be in progress from another source and giving priority to Connect. The Now Playing screen in Sense will correctly display all the track information and artwork of music played through Tidal Connect, including the sample rate and bit depth resolution.
The volume control in Tidal will sync with volume control of Sense, so remember to keep this at 100% for a bit-perfect signal.
Tidal Connect will require your Innuos device to be running native Sense in Standalone mode. It does not require your Tidal account to be logged in on the Settings –> Streaming Services section within Sense.
An article of getting Tidal Connect working can be found on our Knowledge Base here.
Playlist Management
Playlists have received a large rework in Sense 3 which will improve functionality and convenience in several areas.
Sort Playlists
Playlists can now be sorted by:
Filter Playlists
The filtering icon that will be familiar from the top of the Albums and Artists sections will similarly now be found in the Playlist section as seen in the image above. This will allow you to filter the results of your playlists defined on whether they are Local, Tidal, or Qobuz playlists, as well as playlists you’ve marked as Favourites or as Hidden.
You may notice that the 'Hidden' option is new…
Hide Playlists
We’ve now added the ability to Hide playlists so that they will not appear anywhere in your Sense library, including in the Playlist page itself or in Search results.
To hide a playlist, simply select it and go into the further options in the top-right corner where you will now see a new option to Hide playlist.
This is useful for playlists that may come in from a streaming service but are not especially useful in the context of your main HiFi system and were used in a more lifestyle manner, for example ‘Gym workout’ or ‘Car music for the kids’ and so on.
To unhide a playlist, go back to the playlist filtering method mentioned above to filter by ‘Hidden’ to reveal your hidden playlists, after which you can select a playlist, go back into its further options and ‘Unhide playlist’.
Playlist Streaming Service Synchronisation
An important step forward we have made concerning playlists is the introduction of bidirectional updates between Sense and the native streaming service app. This has several benefits and implications.
Firstly, if you now create a new playlist using a track from, for example, Qobuz, you will now have the option to make a Sense Playlist or a Qobuz Playlist.
- New Sense Playlist will behave the same as before; this playlist is confined to your Innuos device and Sense app, but can consist of tracks from all types of sources, including your local files or from other streaming services.
- New QOBUZ/TIDAL Playlist must contain tracks sourced respectively from Qobuz/Tidal only, but will fully synchronise with their native app meaning the playlist made here in Sense will also appear on the Qobuz/Tidal app.
This also means;
- Playlists that originally came in from Tidal or Qobuz can now be edited in Sense, and have more tracks added from the same streaming service, and again will be reflected in the native app from that service.
- It's possible to merge playlists by adding tracks from one playlist to another and saving. If your Now Playing queue of tracks are all sourced from one streaming service, then you will be able to save this queue into a synced playlist for that streaming service.
- You could take a curated or officially-created playlist from Tidal or Qobuz that has been synced into Sense, put it in the Now Playing queue and save it into a ‘Sense Playlist’, allowing you to then put tracks from your own local library into that playlist.
- For Tidal ‘My Mixes’ found in Sense, there is new button to save these mixes straight into a playlist.
Collaborative Playlists
Qobuz has an option to make public playlists collaborative to share with friends who can also manage and contribute to that playlist once they are subscribed to it. If you are involved in such a playlist through Qobuz, with Sense 3 installed you will be able to see that playlist in Sense app and also add further Qobuz tracks to it, which will again be updated in real-time so that the other collaborators can see these changes on their Qobuz app, or better yet through Sense if they are Innuos owners!
We can put such a playlist to the test right now; here is a link to a collaborative playlist I have made just for this Community Forum where I invite you to add 2 or 3 of your favourite tracks. Simply follow the link to subscribe to it through Qobuz, then try adding Qobuz tracks to it through Sense!
Album Merging
The process of merging local albums in your Sense library has been refined.
Previously, the multi-select tool for merging albums helped to either combine albums that had been split by varying resolutions/formats (Multiformat merge), or for compilation albums that had splintered into individual albums for each track (Compilation merge).
However, situations such as combining split multi-disc albums into a single set, or albums simply split by inconsistent metadata on the Artist or Album title, could only be solved by going into the editing mode of each album and manually correcting the data.
The new Album Merge procedure aims to simplify this process by analysing your selected albums and giving more tools to help merge for the right reason, including the various causes listed above.
Let’s take an example from my library, pictured below.
Here is a 3-disc album currently listed under 3 separate volumes, but I want to merge them under one album with 3 discs. Using the multi-select in the Albums view I can select the discs, then under the further options in the top-right corner, select the Merge Albums options:
I am then presented with a confirmation overview of the albums that will merge:
Having identified there are inconsistent Titles across the 3 albums, I am then directed to enter the correct Album Title that I want to be applied. In this case, I revise ’69 Love Songs, Volume 3’ simply to ’69 Love Songs’.
Consequently, it can be determined that this is a multi-disc set due a duplication of the track numbers, so we are now given the chance to correct the Disc numbers in a very quick process. In this case, it is easy to know what the correct Disc Number by the Album Title, and I can also tap on the drop-down to look at the tracks of that album to check this:
Finally, we are presented with the new changes, where I can hit Save to proceed.
The editing of the data begins and I am returned to the original position in the music library, where after a short moment I see the updated album appear.
And the rest…
Besides the usual bug fixes which will all be listed in the full changelogs, Sense 3 will also include some other quality-of-life improvements, such as:
The work never stops at the Innuos development team, and good progress is already underway for 3.1 which will include an overhaul of the Radio and Podcast section, and inclusion of the classical music streaming service Idagio.
Until then, we welcome your feedback and input here on the Community Forum and hope that you enjoy Sense 3!
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the InnSights blog, which now takes residence on our new Community Forum.
In this post we will give an overview of the new features you can enjoy in Sense 3.0 software release.
We’ll cover the following topics:
Tidal Connect
Playlist Management
Streaming Service Playlist Synchronisation
Album Merging
But before we examine these, let’s quickly look at the models eligible for the update.
Will my Innuos device be compatible with Sense 3?
The list of existing Innuos devices that will be compatible with the Sense 3 update are as follows:
ZENmini Mk3 (both HDD and SSD versions)
ZEN Mk3
ZENith Mk3
PULSEmini
PULSE
PULSAR
STATEMENT (both Standard and Next-Gen versions)
The update is not available for ZEN Mk1 or ZEN MkII Series/platforms, including ZENith SE.
The ZEN Next Gen and ZENith Next Gen will ship with Sense 3 pre-installed as they require it to run some exclusive features that are unique to them, including external optical drive CD ripping and Expandable Storage Management (XSM). They will also receive deeper-level firmware benefits with the new Real-Time Kernel OS, and AudioCore which allocates separate processor cores exclusively for audio processes.
Now, on to the Sense 3 features!
Tidal Connect
We’re pleased to share that Tidal Connect will be supported in Sense 3. This will allow you to use the native Tidal app to browse and play your Tidal content and direct the playback to your Innuos device.
Simply begin playing music on the Tidal app, tap on the Device Select icon, and choose your Innuos streamer.
This is of course good news for users preferring to browse the native Tidal app itself, and in particular this will help you to better leverage their Custom Mixes, Suggested Tracks, Daily Discoveries, Artist Radios and so on.
Sense will automatically react to an incoming Tidal Connect instruction, stopping any playback that may be in progress from another source and giving priority to Connect. The Now Playing screen in Sense will correctly display all the track information and artwork of music played through Tidal Connect, including the sample rate and bit depth resolution.
The volume control in Tidal will sync with volume control of Sense, so remember to keep this at 100% for a bit-perfect signal.
Tidal Connect will require your Innuos device to be running native Sense in Standalone mode. It does not require your Tidal account to be logged in on the Settings –> Streaming Services section within Sense.
An article of getting Tidal Connect working can be found on our Knowledge Base here.
Playlist Management
Playlists have received a large rework in Sense 3 which will improve functionality and convenience in several areas.
Sort Playlists
Playlists can now be sorted by:
- Date Created – these are ordered from newest to oldest. Sense can identify when the playlist was created on the streaming service platform and will take this into account.
- Title – Alphabetically listed from A to Z
- Recently Modified – playlists are ordered by how recently they’ve had revisions applied to them. These revisions could include tracks that have been added, deleted, or reordered etc.
Filter Playlists
The filtering icon that will be familiar from the top of the Albums and Artists sections will similarly now be found in the Playlist section as seen in the image above. This will allow you to filter the results of your playlists defined on whether they are Local, Tidal, or Qobuz playlists, as well as playlists you’ve marked as Favourites or as Hidden.
You may notice that the 'Hidden' option is new…
Hide Playlists
We’ve now added the ability to Hide playlists so that they will not appear anywhere in your Sense library, including in the Playlist page itself or in Search results.
To hide a playlist, simply select it and go into the further options in the top-right corner where you will now see a new option to Hide playlist.
This is useful for playlists that may come in from a streaming service but are not especially useful in the context of your main HiFi system and were used in a more lifestyle manner, for example ‘Gym workout’ or ‘Car music for the kids’ and so on.
To unhide a playlist, go back to the playlist filtering method mentioned above to filter by ‘Hidden’ to reveal your hidden playlists, after which you can select a playlist, go back into its further options and ‘Unhide playlist’.
Playlist Streaming Service Synchronisation
An important step forward we have made concerning playlists is the introduction of bidirectional updates between Sense and the native streaming service app. This has several benefits and implications.
Firstly, if you now create a new playlist using a track from, for example, Qobuz, you will now have the option to make a Sense Playlist or a Qobuz Playlist.
- New Sense Playlist will behave the same as before; this playlist is confined to your Innuos device and Sense app, but can consist of tracks from all types of sources, including your local files or from other streaming services.
- New QOBUZ/TIDAL Playlist must contain tracks sourced respectively from Qobuz/Tidal only, but will fully synchronise with their native app meaning the playlist made here in Sense will also appear on the Qobuz/Tidal app.
This also means;
- Playlists that originally came in from Tidal or Qobuz can now be edited in Sense, and have more tracks added from the same streaming service, and again will be reflected in the native app from that service.
- It's possible to merge playlists by adding tracks from one playlist to another and saving. If your Now Playing queue of tracks are all sourced from one streaming service, then you will be able to save this queue into a synced playlist for that streaming service.
- You could take a curated or officially-created playlist from Tidal or Qobuz that has been synced into Sense, put it in the Now Playing queue and save it into a ‘Sense Playlist’, allowing you to then put tracks from your own local library into that playlist.
- For Tidal ‘My Mixes’ found in Sense, there is new button to save these mixes straight into a playlist.
Collaborative Playlists
Qobuz has an option to make public playlists collaborative to share with friends who can also manage and contribute to that playlist once they are subscribed to it. If you are involved in such a playlist through Qobuz, with Sense 3 installed you will be able to see that playlist in Sense app and also add further Qobuz tracks to it, which will again be updated in real-time so that the other collaborators can see these changes on their Qobuz app, or better yet through Sense if they are Innuos owners!
We can put such a playlist to the test right now; here is a link to a collaborative playlist I have made just for this Community Forum where I invite you to add 2 or 3 of your favourite tracks. Simply follow the link to subscribe to it through Qobuz, then try adding Qobuz tracks to it through Sense!
Album Merging
The process of merging local albums in your Sense library has been refined.
Previously, the multi-select tool for merging albums helped to either combine albums that had been split by varying resolutions/formats (Multiformat merge), or for compilation albums that had splintered into individual albums for each track (Compilation merge).
However, situations such as combining split multi-disc albums into a single set, or albums simply split by inconsistent metadata on the Artist or Album title, could only be solved by going into the editing mode of each album and manually correcting the data.
The new Album Merge procedure aims to simplify this process by analysing your selected albums and giving more tools to help merge for the right reason, including the various causes listed above.
Let’s take an example from my library, pictured below.
Here is a 3-disc album currently listed under 3 separate volumes, but I want to merge them under one album with 3 discs. Using the multi-select in the Albums view I can select the discs, then under the further options in the top-right corner, select the Merge Albums options:
I am then presented with a confirmation overview of the albums that will merge:
Having identified there are inconsistent Titles across the 3 albums, I am then directed to enter the correct Album Title that I want to be applied. In this case, I revise ’69 Love Songs, Volume 3’ simply to ’69 Love Songs’.
Consequently, it can be determined that this is a multi-disc set due a duplication of the track numbers, so we are now given the chance to correct the Disc numbers in a very quick process. In this case, it is easy to know what the correct Disc Number by the Album Title, and I can also tap on the drop-down to look at the tracks of that album to check this:
Finally, we are presented with the new changes, where I can hit Save to proceed.
The editing of the data begins and I am returned to the original position in the music library, where after a short moment I see the updated album appear.
And the rest…
Besides the usual bug fixes which will all be listed in the full changelogs, Sense 3 will also include some other quality-of-life improvements, such as:
- The ability to enlarge artwork on the Now Playing screen
- An improved A-Z index slider
- Improvement to performance during NAS folder rescan
- An overall refresh in text styling and some menu improvements
The work never stops at the Innuos development team, and good progress is already underway for 3.1 which will include an overhaul of the Radio and Podcast section, and inclusion of the classical music streaming service Idagio.
Until then, we welcome your feedback and input here on the Community Forum and hope that you enjoy Sense 3!
