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Sonore microRendu


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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't have the Sonicorbiter SE (waiting on microRendu) but have been using a Cubox-i running the HQP NAA image (Linux) and to play native DSD (non-DoP) either DSF or converted PCM files. My DAC has the JLSounds USB board which started supporting native DSD about a year a ago. So it is possible to use native DSD with Linux. As Jesus has eluded to, it is up to the manufacturer (DAC or in my case USB board) to make this happen.

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  • 1 month later...
Thanks for this info.

I hope you also would sell (or recommend) a no compromise PS for the uRendu.

 

According to the webpage, there are four PS options:

 

Standard power supply

CIAudio linear power supply

Teddy Pardo linear power supply

Sonore Signature Series linear power supply

 

Pricing for each is not provided but you can easily Google each to get a sense of the pricing.

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Given the above, will the following chain work?

 

MacBook Pro > Ethernet cable > [Home Plug Ethernet Adapter] > Ethernet cable > microRendu > usb cable

 

I understand I need a router between the MacBook Pro and the microRendu, so in the above chain the Home Plug Ethernet Adapter replaces the Router.

 

 

Do you have a wireless network in your house?

 

If so, you could add something like an Apple Airport Extreme or perhaps an Apple Airport Express to "extend" your wireless network AND provide Ethernet ports that you connect your MBP & microRendu in your music room. The wireless connection is needed to assign IP Addresses from router so speed of wireless should not be a concern. It would also allow you to turn off the wireless connection on the MBP which might be better for overall SQ.

 

So, the connections would be:

 

MBP > Ethernet cable > Airport Extreme (Express) > Ethernet cable > microRendu

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So it seems then all I need is the Airport Extreme Express. Comparing the Airport Extreme with the Eero, do you see any advantage to one vesus the other? I'm thinking Airport Extreme may be cheaper.

 

I have only used the Apple Extremes & Expresses but it looks like the Eero would works as well given it has Ethernet ports. Whatever you choose, you will need two Ethernet ports available - one for MBP & one for microRendu.

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Jesus not a fan of wireless: 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/index13.html#post515930

 

For others considering their networking options -- fiber is nice but so is CAT 6a (per Superdad) and perhaps easier to deal with. If no crawlspace, an attic will also work for running cable from a central location.

 

The proposed solution is not wireless. There is a wired connection between the music server (MBP in this case) and microRendu. The wireless piece is only used to connect back to the router so that everything gets routed properly and is NOT in the signal path. I use a much more advanced version of this approach, including fiber optics NIC, switches, media converters, cables, etc. and it all works (and sounds) very well.

 

For experienced network folks, you could probably do this differently (e.g. assign IP Addresses, etc.) but the guy mentioned that he has no network experience so my proposed solution was based on that.

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Ted, if I understand you.

 

The DAC 8 DSD needs a Linux Native DSD implemented separately from the Windows ASIO to do Native DSD to the microRendu. Is that what you are saying?

 

The microRendu is a Linux based computer. As such it is the Linux drivers (ALSA) that send data to your DAC via USB. So your DAC needs to work with Linux in a similar fashion to Win & Mac computers. You can probably ask the DAC manufacturer if they support native DSD (non-DoP) using Linux.

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  • 3 weeks later...
With the MircoRendu in DLNA mode and using a NAS running Minimserver (and BubbleUPnP on an Android device), where is the FLAC decoding taking place? Is it important or will it make a difference to keep that process off the MicroRendu?

 

Perhaps you should check & repost over at:

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f26-sonore-sponsored/sonore-sonicorbiter-se-and-microrendu-digital-living-network-alliance-mpd-output-mode-27265/

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  • 3 weeks later...
I haven't received my tracking info yet...I ordered within a couple of hours of the early email. When did you order?

 

Soon after Jesus fixed the purchase link for the microRendu only (2nd e-mail sent out). The original e-mail link was mistakenly for the combo of microRendu & ifi psu.

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Got my microRendu yesterday and had a few startup issues that I got resolved but thought it might be helpful to others that might be having similar issues.

 

1) First issue was that my network could not find the microRendu when using MySonicorbiter while the microRendu was positioned in its proper place next to my DAC. To be fair, my network is somewhat complex including several switches (fiber & copper), wireless access points, media converters (copper to fiber, fiber to copper), etc. To resolve the issue, I connected the microRendu directly to my router (Airport Extreme) and the microRendu was immediately found & an IP address assigned.

 

2) After issue 1) was resolved, I moved the microRendu back into its proper place in my system and it was found on my network as expected. The next issue was getting the HQP NAA selected and recognizing my DAC. This issue was user error on my part. When you go to the "apps" tab, there is a list of the available apps including HQP NAA. I kept selecting the HQP NAA app but nothing would happen. In my excitement to get everything running, I failed to notice the "select app" button (far left) - my eye just naturally gravitated to the HQP NAA button. I know this is spelled out in the documentation so obviously user error. In any case, once I did get the HQP NAA selected, my DAC wasn't being seen. I power cycled my DAC and after that it showed up under the "settings" tab and everything was working as advertised.

 

Hopefully this information might reduce the technical support calls to Jesus & Andrew.

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Well...I moved the connection from the uRendu/fiber switch to my router (although technically, to my router's 8 port gigabit switch). NAA is now fully glitch-free, playing DSD128 both natively and upsampling PCM or DSD64 to DSD128. It seems the uRendu does not like anything about my up-til-now very successful fiber network. NAS, HQP machine, Windows NAA, etc are still on that Diablo fiber switch, but even going uRendu copper into its RJ45 port wasn't doing it for the NAA mode (DLNA mode was fine). It's too early to tell if I am introducing any noise; seems not to. :)

 

Ted - I am able to upsample everything to native (non-DoP) DSD256 using the HQP NAA selection on microRendu.

 

My network is somewhat similar to your network in that it includes a Diablo fiber switch and TP-Link media converters. My Linux server has an Intel NIC that goes to the Diablo switch which is turn goes to the TP-Links media converter before the microRendu.

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Eric,

Which TP-Link FMC do you have with the uRendu? My MC220L does not negotiate between 100mb Ethernet and 1gb Ethernet (1000base-T), and I assumed that was part of the issue (maybe not). But that is good relevant data.

 

Not sure why pulling the uRendu from the Diablo freed up the NAA bandwidth (or at least assumed that's what happened).

 

I have the MC220L converter set on Auto mode.

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Jesus: relative to my posts above I cannot seem to get my new BJ cable (recommended by Swenson) to work. Can you provide some direction on this?

 

Doak: was it worthwhile to replace your Ethernet cables with the Bluejean cables?

 

I had issues with my BJ 6a cables at first. The connectors are a tight fit so make sure you get them pushed in all of the way so that contact is made.

 

We had a similar problem at my work where we had Cat 6 cables (not BJ cables) not fitting into the RJ45 wall sockets. We had to "play" with the them to get they seated properly.

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Ok, I'm struggling to get my mR up and running using my Mac Mini. I have been using an Aries for the past year as well - running Minimserver on the Mac Mini with an external hard drive as file storage - basically using my Mac Mini as a NAS. Ok, so I've gotten mR configured using the Mac Mini just fine. But now - how do I play music?! I need some kind of renderer software on the Mac Mini, right? And of course, I want to use my Ipad as remote control, since the Mac Mini is in a completely different room than the audio system.

 

Recommendations? I see some of you are using a combination of Roon/HQPlayer. I also have seen mention of this Linn/Kazoo player. But that would require switching from Minimserver to Bubble as the server software?

 

My concern with HQPlayer is it doesn't seem to support ALAC, which of course is what almost all my ripped music is in due to converting over to a Mac Mini years ago. I know I could batch convert back over to FLAC, but then I'd never be using Itunes again in the other room - or would need two sets of libraries and double the file storage.

 

Hmm, this is turning out to be anything but a plug-and-play solution as suggested here: SONORE microRendu quick setup guide

 

Another option is to just use Roon without HQP.

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A long while back I compared the hard adapter to other cables with the Regen using the Aries as source. I definitely preferred the Curious and other cables at that time. Less "hardness", and more dimensionality to the sound. However, as I indicated in terms of uRendu shaking up synergy with USB cabling, it's probably worth another comparison - especially given what Ted has said. I'll see if I can do some comparisons this evening.

 

It would be helpful to note the DAC involved as well.

 

As Chris mentioned in his report from Munich show that "Brinkmann learned over the course of designing the Nyquist was that the power supply to the USB receiver chip in the DAC is one of the most critical components to the final sound quality".

 

In my case, I have the JLSounds USB board in my DAC which is powered by two separate supplies (dirty input side & clean, galvanic isolated, output side). As such, I typically tape over the +5V pin on the USB cable and don't see much (any) change in SQ from USB cables. Currently using the hard adapter and the SQ is very good IMHO.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Really long thread and I have what is probably a stupid question. Can the Rendu be connected directly to a Music based computer via Cat cable? Reason, my router is on the top floor, my listening room is bottom level with no cat connection between them and I refuse to use the ac line adaptors for this. My computer is currently in my listening room, but if it is possible I could move it one room over and use the direct connected cat cable to rendu.

 

One suggestion is to use a switch and a wireless access point.

 

Your computer, mRendu and wireless access point all connect to the switch via Ethernet cable (e.g Cat6). The wireless access point connects all this to your router. The wireless connection does not need to be speedy or capable of handling loads of data but it is needed to assign IP address and the like from the router.

 

Some example equipment:

 

Cisco 5-port Gigabit switch

 

Wireless Access Point (Apple Express)

 

There are other hardware that do the same thing but these are what I use in my system.

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Can someone tell me or direct me to how to get HQ Player playing through uR? Thanks so much ;)

 

On the mRendu, you need to select the HQP NAA application.

 

On the HQP player, you need to go under Settings menu and select the mRendu. Once the mRendu is selected, you should also see your DAC show up if everything is properly setup.

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Within the last week or so, my system has developed a slight pop (click) at the end of each track. I have not really explored all the situations this occurs but I know it happens with PCM source being converted & upsampled to native DSD256 using HQP.

 

My system is a Linux (Ubuntu Studio) server running HQP and Roon core (server) with output to mRendu operating in HQP NAA mode.

 

I didn't see this issue when I first installed the mRendu, it is something that just recently started showing up which is odd.

 

I have not updated HQP on the server for several weeks as I am already running the latest release. The mRendu shows release 2.1, not sure if it does automatic updates or not. I am using the hard adapter between the mRendu and DAC.

 

My USB board is the JLSounds that supports native DSD.

 

I thought I had seen mention from others here on CA that they are seeing the same (similar) issue but I couldn't find the postings.

 

Any suggestions?

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We have not done anything that could have started this lately. In NAA output mode...we are just receiving the stream. What I can tell you is that a DIY board will not generally send mute signals to a DAC (DAC chip) to deal with these kinds of clicks.

 

I found this posted on the Roon forum that expands on what I was trying to say. This is a post of some comments from Jussi on the topic of clicks between DSD titles.

 

"That is common problem with DoP and DACs that don't follow DSD specification closely enough. The specification requires DAC to mute output for 50 ms when DSD stream is starting and when it is ending to avoid such noises.

 

HQPlayer does play silence at beginning and end of playback. But not between tracks. Make sure you have either PCM or SDM output mode selected (instead of Auto) in main window so that DAC stays at either mode and doesn't keep switching between the modes..."

 

Thanks Jesus for the prompt & thorough reply. My apologizes for posting this on this thread but with all the moving pieces it is hard to determine the source at times.

 

For now, the issue has been solved, no clicks between tracks. I am not sure how this got resolved but you got me thinking about the DoP issue so I checked my HQP settings and it was set to output native DSD (non-DoP) which is correct for my DAC. However, I noticed that the settings panel showed to direct output the NAA (again correct) but that my DAC was not showing up which is odd because HQP generally throws an error (failure to connect) when this happens. I restarted HQP and rechecked the settings and this time my DAC was showing up and the clicks were gone. Very odd.

 

So I am guessing that for some reason my DAC was receiving DoP streams instead of native DSD. No idea how or why but that is the only thing that makes any kind of sense.

 

As for the DoP implementation issue, I had to suffer through various issues, mainly clicks & loud pops, with the JLSounds board for over a year until they included native DSD support which included Linux. At RMAF a few years ago, I had a face-to-face discussion with Andreas Koch about this subject when I was trying to figure out the source of the clicks and pops and he said it was most likely the implementation of the DoP.

 

I would also like to give you and your team a big shout out of thanks for providing such a wonderful product at a decent price and for also playing nice with others, in my case, Jussi (HQP) and the Roon guys, so that everything works together rather nicely. Having the Roon interface coupled to HQP which is in turn coupled to mRendu with NAA is THE COOLEST thing on a number of levels.

 

Have you ever thought of running for President? You obviously have leadership and organizational skills, an eye for economics as well as international relationship skills.

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  • 2 weeks later...
We received an email from Jussi today and subsequently updated NAA on the microRendu.

 

Please follow this upgrade procedure:

1. Go to Apps and select Software Manager

2. Now select Update

3. Wait for "Back to main menu" to appear at the bottom of the screen and ignore any Complete notices

 

Thanks Jesus and Jussi.

 

Update completed and system rebooted. Everything working as expected.

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