Sonore Sonicorbiter SE - discontinued

[vortecjr]

Yes, I know, sorry for that.

 

Out of curiosity, is the SO operating system based on Vortexbox?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile mobile app

 

No.

[romaz]

Without looking into the specs of your DAC I would say that your device needs native DSD support to play beyond DSD128. I can look into native DSD support for you...just send me the information from the Device Diagnostics tab in the GUI. Email it to me at [email protected]

 

Jesus R

 

Ok, Jesus. Here it is:

 

[zorntel]

Some updates:

 

We have been working on adding native DSD support to new devices. When testing is complete we will update the unit's firmware so you can enable support for these devices.

 

1. W4S - code added and pending tests. This may require a firmware update to the W4S DAC and it may not work on all DACs. More information to follow when testing is concluded.

2. Auralic Vega - code added and pending tests this week.

3. Oppo HA-1 - tested and confirmed to work.

4. Oppo HA-2 - code needs to be added.

5. PS Audio NuWave DAC DSD - tested and confirmed to work.

 

Jesus R

 

Wondering if you're making any progress on adding native DSD support for the auralic Vega. Native support is working great for my mytek Brooklyn after the update last weekend.

 

Robert

[vortecjr]

Wondering if you're making any progress on adding native DSD support for the auralic Vega. Native support is working great for my mytek Brooklyn after the update last weekend.

 

Robert

 

The code is already included. We just don't have any customer feedback on it.

[zorntel]

The code is already included. We just don't have any customer feedback on it.

I updated my Orbiter on Sunday. After that my Mytek Brooklyn ran in native DSD mode without any problem. Before that it wouldn't.

 

After that I switched things over to my Auralic Vega, and sent feed in through hqplayer attempting native DSD mode. It appeared that the orbiter crashed and no signal was getting through. That was right after I used the Brooklyn, and in fact both dacs were attached to the orbiter at the same time. I can do a more careful tests today and reboot the orbiter and go directly to the Vega and see what happens.

 

Is there a log file that I can send you that would be helpful for you to diagnose what's actually going on? I can send the hqplayer log file, but I wasn't sure whether there's a log file that the Orbiter generates that could potentially be useful. I'm around today and I'm certainly willing to help debug this. I could also patch you into my network via TeamViewer if that would be helpful.

 

Robert

 

PS incidentally I also have an IFI micro iDSD and also an ifi DAC2, and both of those are working fine in native DSD mode with the orbiter.

[pipis2010]

I updated my Orbiter on Sunday. After that my Mytek Brooklyn ran in native DSD mode without any problem. Before that it wouldn't.

 

After that I switched things over to my Auralic Vega, and sent feed in through hqplayer attempting native DSD mode. It appeared that the orbiter crashed and no signal was getting through. That was right after I used the Brooklyn, and in fact both dacs were attached to the orbiter at the same time. I can do a more careful tests today and reboot the orbiter and go directly to the Vega and see what happens.

 

Is there a log file that I can send you that would be helpful for you to diagnose what's actually going on? I can send the hqplayer log file, but I wasn't sure whether there's a log file that the Orbiter generates that could potentially be useful. I'm around today and I'm certainly willing to help debug this. I could also patch you into my network via TeamViewer if that would be helpful.

 

Robert

 

PS incidentally I also have an IFI micro iDSD and also an ifi DAC2, and both of those are working fine in native DSD mode with the orbiter.

 

I thought iFi didn't support Linux...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile mobile app

[zorntel]

I thought iFi didn't support Linux...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile mobile app

 

Just because ifi doesn't support Linux doesn't mean that linkweaker hasn't gotten it to work. That's the beauty of Linux having open source drivers.

 

My Orbiter will work with either the iDSD or the iDAC running DSD256. No problem as well outputting native DSD512 with the iDSD. This has been true since I got my Orbiter sometime last fall. I'm also successful doing this with Jussi's most recent hqplayer NAA CUBOX-I build. However, unlike the orbiter that build hasn't been updated since many of the other native DSD DAC drivers have been brought online. Because of the IFI's advanced features and low price lots of people had it and worked this out early.

 

Robert

[Audio_ELF]

I thought iFi didn't support Linux...

iFi (the company) provide no support for users who want to use Linux.

 

However their devices work with the standard Linux kernel / ALSA drivers.

[vortecjr]

I updated my Orbiter on Sunday. After that my Mytek Brooklyn ran in native DSD mode without any problem. Before that it wouldn't.

 

After that I switched things over to my Auralic Vega, and sent feed in through hqplayer attempting native DSD mode. It appeared that the orbiter crashed and no signal was getting through. That was right after I used the Brooklyn, and in fact both dacs were attached to the orbiter at the same time. I can do a more careful tests today and reboot the orbiter and go directly to the Vega and see what happens.

 

Is there a log file that I can send you that would be helpful for you to diagnose what's actually going on? I can send the hqplayer log file, but I wasn't sure whether there's a log file that the Orbiter generates that could potentially be useful. I'm around today and I'm certainly willing to help debug this. I could also patch you into my network via TeamViewer if that would be helpful.

 

Robert

 

PS incidentally I also have an IFI micro iDSD and also an ifi DAC2, and both of those are working fine in native DSD mode with the orbiter.

 

Update: The issues with the Auralic Vega was found to be an old firmware on the DAC. As such, playback of native DSD has not be confirmed on this unit.

[vortecjr]

I thought iFi didn't support Linux...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile mobile app

 

iFi lists Linux support directly on their product pages.

[vortecjr]

Ok, Jesus. Here it is:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]24400[/ATTACH]

 

This device does not appear to support native DSD.

[rogerdn]

I assume this doesn't apply here,

 

'It's been indicated that the microRendu has some circuitry similar to the USB Regen inside:

 

1) is this correct?

2)If so, does it mean that if using the microRendu we don't really need a Regen between it and the DAC?'

[JBNY]

So I wanted to chime in on this thread for those people who are reading and wondering if a product like this can indeed sound better than your PC/MAC/CAPS server.

 

Personally I have been running CA since about 1998, started with just a laptop full of mp3s playing via winamp connected to my audio system. The next year I put in a 2MB Raytheon wireless card and was streaming music off my desktop PC to a dedicated laptop for the audio system. Eventually I added streaming services from Rhapsody (2002 or 2003), dedicated streaming players like roku soundbridge in 2003 and sonos players in 2004 and eventually trying or subscribing to most of the music services as they became available. Converted all my CD to flac back in 2003 and put them on a Linksys NSLU2 NAS running a twonkey DLNA server. I hard wired everything back in 2002 first with 10MB then 100MB now Gigabit. I upgraded my NAS device 3 or 4 times to what I have now. But throughout I have always had a dedicated, PC or laptop in the audio setup, I've tried various PC solutions like foobar, JRiver etc. I removed the CD player from my setup in 2008.

 

Sometime around 2006 I soldered an xecuter mod chip to my old xbox and started playing with XBMC, at the time a Linux only based media player. I eventually built a dedicated PC, learned ubuntu and installed xbmc on a scaled down version of ubuntu called mini. I used it solely for movies and home theater for about 4 years. In 2012 the xbmc developers after 2 years of work released a complete rewrite for the core audio system that allowed for bit perfect playback. About the same time I replaced my big PC with a mini-pc by a company called Zotoc called the zbox ID41. Basically a dual core atom based PC with an SSD drive, an external power supply and one tiny fan inside. I used Ethernet to pull flac music off my NAS. Running XBMC ( eventually renamed to kodi) on the scaled down version of ubuntu the sound was (and still is) stellar. Getting the big PC out of the system and running a scaled down version of Linux/ubuntu freed up the CPU, dropped the floor noise tremulously and the sound is simply fantastic.

 

Over the last few years I have had probably close to 30 self professed audiophiles to my house to listen to my setup. I have had people bring their MACs, PCs and dedicated CD and SACD players some worth over $20,000, I have had literally a minimum of 50 different cables, USB and other various digital and analog cables, in and out of the system. That setup sounds equal to or better than everything that I have put it up against. Since then I have had many people try and run Kodi but could not get ubuntu installed so they used iOS or Windows, and the systems never sound as good. I think that it is the fact that I used the ubuntu minimal install on a mini PC. I have since used Kodibuntu for the install with newer versions of Kodi with the same great results.

 

OK, getting to the point. I bought the Sonicorbiter SE about a month ago and have been using it paired with Roon. I have a CIAudio regulated LPS on it, and I am also using the W4S Recovery (RUR) plugged into the Sonicorbiter SE, I use the USB out to my DAC. The sound is spectacular. Every format from rebook to 24/196 to DSD128 I have streaming flawlessly. I personally feel that these little appliances (Sonore and other companies included) are the future of hi end audio. They introduce virtually no noise on their own, they are optimized to do one thing only, play music and they do it exceptionally well. While I have not heard the new microrendu, based on what they did with the Sonicorbiter Se and the time and money they have invested in this product, I think it will really blow people away who have never used something like it. I realize that if you have only used a PC or MAC with some big piece of software on it, using a tiny device might seem like a step back, but it just the opposite. Having spent literally thousands of hours over almost 2 decades of building, buying and playing with computer audio, countless hours troubleshooting ppa install problems on my own, and eventually getting truly great audio on my own. Then to be able to just buy a small device that is already optimized using many of the ideas that I have been doing on my own for years is truly awesome.

 

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to give a little perspective to the value of these devices from someone who really appreciates where we currently are with computer audio.

[sbank]

JBNY, great post. Thanks for taking the time for a most interesting history/perspective.

[Cornan]

Thanks for the input JBNY! I was already convinced that the microRendu will be something extra ordinary...but now I simply cannot wait to make the switch from my Windows 10 based setup! :-)

[JBNY]

JBNY, great post. Thanks for taking the time for a most interesting history/perspective.

 

Your welcome, it was a bit a stole down memory lane for myself. I had completely forgot about using the roku soundbridges until I was writing that. I remember when someone was talking to me about the newer roku media players a couple of years ago and my wife turned to me as said "that thing we had on the audio rack like 10 years ago?" No not exactly, same company different product.

 

Thanks for the input JBNY! I was already convinced that the microRendu will be something extra ordinary...but now I simply cannot wait to make the switch from my Windows 10 based setup! :-)

 

Yeah I hope you will be surprised by how easy they are to use and how good they sound compared to a windows PC.

[vortecjr]

I assume this doesn't apply here,

 

'It's been indicated that the microRendu has some circuitry similar to the USB Regen inside:

 

1) is this correct?

2)If so, does it mean that if using the microRendu we don't really need a Regen between it and the DAC?'

 

Your right it does not apply here. Have look at this post: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f26-sonore-sponsored/sonore-microrendu-ethernet-universal-serial-bus-industry-standard-cables-connectors-and-communications-protocols-between-computers-and-electronic-devices-output-27389/index14.html#post516445

[BobSherman]

So I wanted to chime in on this thread for those people who are reading and wondering if a product like this can indeed sound better than your PC/MAC/CAPS server.

 

Personally I have been running CA since about 1998, started with just a laptop full of mp3s playing via winamp connected to my audio system. The next year I put in a 2MB Raytheon wireless card and was streaming music off my desktop PC to a dedicated laptop for the audio system. Eventually I added streaming services from Rhapsody (2002 or 2003), dedicated streaming players like roku soundbridge in 2003 and sonos players in 2004 and eventually trying or subscribing to most of the music services as they became available. Converted all my CD to flac back in 2003 and put them on a Linksys NSLU2 NAS running a twonkey DLNA server. I hard wired everything back in 2002 first with 10MB then 100MB now Gigabit. I upgraded my NAS device 3 or 4 times to what I have now. But throughout I have always had a dedicated, PC or laptop in the audio setup, I've tried various PC solutions like foobar, JRiver etc. I removed the CD player from my setup in 2008.

 

Sometime around 2006 I soldered an xecuter mod chip to my old xbox and started playing with XBMC, at the time a Linux only based media player. I eventually built a dedicated PC, learned ubuntu and installed xbmc on a scaled down version of ubuntu called mini. I used it solely for movies and home theater for about 4 years. In 2012 the xbmc developers after 2 years of work released a complete rewrite for the core audio system that allowed for bit perfect playback. About the same time I replaced my big PC with a mini-pc by a company called Zotoc called the zbox ID41. Basically a dual core atom based PC with an SSD drive, an external power supply and one tiny fan inside. I used Ethernet to pull flac music off my NAS. Running XBMC ( eventually renamed to kodi) on the scaled down version of ubuntu the sound was (and still is) stellar. Getting the big PC out of the system and running a scaled down version of Linux/ubuntu freed up the CPU, dropped the floor noise tremulously and the sound is simply fantastic.

 

Over the last few years I have had probably close to 30 self professed audiophiles to my house to listen to my setup. I have had people bring their MACs, PCs and dedicated CD and SACD players some worth over $20,000, I have had literally a minimum of 50 different cables, USB and other various digital and analog cables, in and out of the system. That setup sounds equal to or better than everything that I have put it up against. Since then I have had many people try and run Kodi but could not get ubuntu installed so they used iOS or Windows, and the systems never sound as good. I think that it is the fact that I used the ubuntu minimal install on a mini PC. I have since used Kodibuntu for the install with newer versions of Kodi with the same great results.

 

OK, getting to the point. I bought the Sonicorbiter SE about a month ago and have been using it paired with Roon. I have a CIAudio regulated LPS on it, and I am also using the W4S Recovery (RUR) plugged into the Sonicorbiter SE, I use the USB out to my DAC. The sound is spectacular. Every format from rebook to 24/196 to DSD128 I have streaming flawlessly. I personally feel that these little appliances (Sonore and other companies included) are the future of hi end audio. They introduce virtually no noise on their own, they are optimized to do one thing only, play music and they do it exceptionally well. While I have not heard the new microrendu, based on what they did with the Sonicorbiter Se and the time and money they have invested in this product, I think it will really blow people away who have never used something like it. I realize that if you have only used a PC or MAC with some big piece of software on it, using a tiny device might seem like a step back, but it just the opposite. Having spent literally thousands of hours over almost 2 decades of building, buying and playing with computer audio, countless hours troubleshooting ppa install problems on my own, and eventually getting truly great audio on my own. Then to be able to just buy a small device that is already optimized using many of the ideas that I have been doing on my own for years is truly awesome.

 

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to give a little perspective to the value of these devices from someone who really appreciates where we currently are with computer audio.

 

Very cool info. Thanks.

 

What type of hi rez and DSD files are you using? Did you convert offline, just curious? Have you gotten to try any other modes of the Sonicorbiter SE yet? And any thoughts on how it was without the W4S Recovery? (if you tried it)

 

Regards

Bob

[earnmyturns]

I just wanted to give a little perspective to the value of these devices from someone who really appreciates where we currently are with computer audio.

Thank you for the detailed history. I have limited experience compared with you, but I know from my day job how much generic OS/app software crud gets in the way of reliable, snappy performance. I've been delighted with what these small dedicated Linux servers do for sound quality and reliability. I've been using several variants over the last year with both headphone and speaker setups. Interposing (something) a Bel Canto mLink between one of those little server's USB output and the DAC adds a touch of improvement in medium-high frequencies and general clarity, but I've been using cheap power supplies so far. I have a better power supply (Teddy Pardo) on order to try on my sMS-100 (knowing that it should also work for a microRendu...).

[pipis2010]

So I wanted to chime in on this thread for those people who are reading and wondering if a product like this can indeed sound better than your PC/MAC/CAPS server.

 

Personally I have been running CA since about 1998, started with just a laptop full of mp3s playing via winamp connected to my audio system. The next year I put in a 2MB Raytheon wireless card and was streaming music off my desktop PC to a dedicated laptop for the audio system. Eventually I added streaming services from Rhapsody (2002 or 2003), dedicated streaming players like roku soundbridge in 2003 and sonos players in 2004 and eventually trying or subscribing to most of the music services as they became available. Converted all my CD to flac back in 2003 and put them on a Linksys NSLU2 NAS running a twonkey DLNA server. I hard wired everything back in 2002 first with 10MB then 100MB now Gigabit. I upgraded my NAS device 3 or 4 times to what I have now. But throughout I have always had a dedicated, PC or laptop in the audio setup, I've tried various PC solutions like foobar, JRiver etc. I removed the CD player from my setup in 2008.

 

Sometime around 2006 I soldered an xecuter mod chip to my old xbox and started playing with XBMC, at the time a Linux only based media player. I eventually built a dedicated PC, learned ubuntu and installed xbmc on a scaled down version of ubuntu called mini. I used it solely for movies and home theater for about 4 years. In 2012 the xbmc developers after 2 years of work released a complete rewrite for the core audio system that allowed for bit perfect playback. About the same time I replaced my big PC with a mini-pc by a company called Zotoc called the zbox ID41. Basically a dual core atom based PC with an SSD drive, an external power supply and one tiny fan inside. I used Ethernet to pull flac music off my NAS. Running XBMC ( eventually renamed to kodi) on the scaled down version of ubuntu the sound was (and still is) stellar. Getting the big PC out of the system and running a scaled down version of Linux/ubuntu freed up the CPU, dropped the floor noise tremulously and the sound is simply fantastic.

 

Over the last few years I have had probably close to 30 self professed audiophiles to my house to listen to my setup. I have had people bring their MACs, PCs and dedicated CD and SACD players some worth over $20,000, I have had literally a minimum of 50 different cables, USB and other various digital and analog cables, in and out of the system. That setup sounds equal to or better than everything that I have put it up against. Since then I have had many people try and run Kodi but could not get ubuntu installed so they used iOS or Windows, and the systems never sound as good. I think that it is the fact that I used the ubuntu minimal install on a mini PC. I have since used Kodibuntu for the install with newer versions of Kodi with the same great results.

 

OK, getting to the point. I bought the Sonicorbiter SE about a month ago and have been using it paired with Roon. I have a CIAudio regulated LPS on it, and I am also using the W4S Recovery (RUR) plugged into the Sonicorbiter SE, I use the USB out to my DAC. The sound is spectacular. Every format from rebook to 24/196 to DSD128 I have streaming flawlessly. I personally feel that these little appliances (Sonore and other companies included) are the future of hi end audio. They introduce virtually no noise on their own, they are optimized to do one thing only, play music and they do it exceptionally well. While I have not heard the new microrendu, based on what they did with the Sonicorbiter Se and the time and money they have invested in this product, I think it will really blow people away who have never used something like it. I realize that if you have only used a PC or MAC with some big piece of software on it, using a tiny device might seem like a step back, but it just the opposite. Having spent literally thousands of hours over almost 2 decades of building, buying and playing with computer audio, countless hours troubleshooting ppa install problems on my own, and eventually getting truly great audio on my own. Then to be able to just buy a small device that is already optimized using many of the ideas that I have been doing on my own for years is truly awesome.

 

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to give a little perspective to the value of these devices from someone who really appreciates where we currently are with computer audio.

 

+1, I couldn't agree more with you concerning these "small devices"!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile mobile app

[orgel]

Sorry for the prosaic question, but I just tried to order a Sonicorbiter SE (with iFi iPower), and the PayPal response page that comes up after I click the "Buy Now" button states that the item is sold out.

 

Any idea when they'll be back in stock?

 

--David

[vortecjr]

Sorry for the prosaic question, but I just tried to order a Sonicorbiter SE (with iFi iPower), and the PayPal response page that comes up after I click the "Buy Now" button states that the item is sold out.

 

Any idea when they'll be back in stock?

 

--David

 

Hopefully we will have more this week.

[Theobetley]

If one is using the Sonic Orbiter se that presumably eliminates noise from pc. Does that mean shutting off services and doing other optimizing tricks (like Fidelizer) on the pc no longer is required?

[JBNY]

If one is using the Sonic Orbiter se that presumably eliminates noise from pc. Does that mean shutting off services and doing other optimizing tricks (like Fidelizer) on the pc no longer is required?

 

you shouldn't have to do any of that anymore, I don't. My SOSE plays flawlessly, I use roon and the PC it is running on also run, Plex, FTP, DNS and 3 VMware sessions and music is not impacting negatively in anyway on my setup.

[Theobetley]

When can I order a Sonicorbiter SE?