Sonore microRendu

[Albrecht]

It's still 6-9 VDC.

 

Jesus R

 

 

Thank you!!

 

Seems like a really great price, - especially when it's doubtless going to blow away any optimized computer.

 

So glad that this is close since my Mac Mini died. May I ask if one would have to load extra XMOS drivers onto the microRendu to get one of the XMOS USB to SPDIF converters to work: like the DXIO XMOS Pro3A?

 

"No drivers installation required for Linux with UAC2 compliant kernel"

 

XMOS 192kHz high-quality USB to SPDIF with ultralow noise 1uV regulator w/manual power switch - DIYINHK

[Albrecht]

It should just work.

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply & verify.

 

Cheers,

[Albrecht]

Does not really apply.

 

What made the original "green" REGEN (these were a change to the LED color to differentiate without having to change/mark the case)--of which there were only ever 98 units--all upgraded long ago, and we recently passed the 3000 mark, into an "amber" REGEN were the addition of resistors on the USB input ground and shield lines. They made USB ground line noise take other paths, and for some reason made a remarkable difference in bass detail.

 

But the input to the microRendu is already galvanically isolated Ethernet, so there is no place or point to add the resistors that made the REGEN an "amber."

 

As for what makes the "REGEN circuit" in a microRendu improved over what comes in my USB REGEN product, it is just an even lower noise voltage regulator dedicated to the hub chip.

 

Trust me, from all the inside details I know about the microRendu hardware (Jesus is likely asleep on the east coast when John is up late at night and wants to chat--so he calls me )--including a really big technology surprise yet to be announced--the major musical magic of the microRendu owes relatively little to the "REGEN" hub-chip output circuit.

 

So far I have only heard John rave about what he has been hearing (and he is not one to exaggerate), but in about 29 hours he will be at my place with both the microRendu, and his Bottlehead DAC (along with some test boards for one of our projects together). I can't wait!

I only wish he was going to be able to stay and play longer (he sings in his church choir and has a solo performance Sunday morning--he lives 3+ hours from me).

 

Guess I may be the first with a report about the sound from a pre-production microRendu (powered by a JS-2 of course). I'll have to check with Jesus to find out if he is cool with my telling about what I heard--especially given that there are a couple of small things that might change and advance it even further. But I'm making preparations and pulling out the adult undergarments!

 

--Alex C.

 

 

Hi Alex,

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. To say that I'm psyched to get one ASAP is an extreme understatement.

 

Cheers,

[Albrecht]

sorry for my dumb question but is this device can be plugged directly in the ethernet input of my mac or do i need to use an airport express and pug into it ? don't know what a nass is? i have external hard disk for my music or use roon and tidal for the rest.

 

Hi,

 

It is my understanding that it needs to be plugged into your router/modem or to a switch attached to it as it needs to be issued an IP address via the former.

 

Cheers,

[Albrecht]

Jesus: I'm curious about your recommending Cat 6A over Cat 7 cables. I recently went the other direction because I found that the individually shielded leads made a noticeable difference in actually decreasing any stuttering I was getting from playing HQPlayer at DSD256 through the Sonicorbiter SE. Neither of these are "audiophile" cables, but just well constructed data cables with higher quality terminations. Is there something about 6A that you feel is important in this context?

 

Also not Jesus, but speculating that he's just mentioning as a way of identifying the ethernet cable. It is my understanding that a CAT7 cable with the RJ45 is not a true CAT7 cable unless it has a TERA connector. (Which obviously, no audio playback devices have TERA ports). The bandwidth spec on 10GB CAT7 is 600MHZ. And although the shielding covering/on the cable part meets spec, the connector type has too much crosstalk to meet the spec of TIA/EIA

 

However, I am betting that this shielding on a "good" CAT7 cable CAN make it better than a CAT6a that doesn't have it.

 

I qualify all of the above as someone who does believe that "better" ethernet cables make a difference. Like everything else, I suggest comparing. I compared Audioquest Forest to Rosewill standard and couldn't tell a difference. I do plan on moving to fiber anyway, - too many people have reported significant differences for the better, and it's cheaper than buying an audiophile grade ethernet cable.

[Albrecht]

On the issue of network cables and such, I have run my microRendu plugged into a bunch of different switches, both gigabit and 100Mbit, with many different types of cable and have not heard any sound differences. I don't have any "audiophile" Ethernet cables, the best is the above mentioned BJC CAT6a, and quite a few really cheap ones.

 

This lack of sensitivity to network differences MAY be due to the radical power network in the microRendu, where there are 4 regulators in between the power to the Ethernet PHY and the power to the USB subsystem. Some of those regulators have VERY high PSRR. This is very different than what is found on most motherboards where there is not very much isolation between the power to the Ethernet PHY and USB subsystem.

 

I have not done exhaustive testing on this, but you all MAY find that what makes a significant difference with other computers, does not make nearly as much difference with the microRendu. Of course you my find that some things DO make a significant difference, but my experience has shown that this may be rare.

 

John S.

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. Really appreciate it. And... sorry if i strayed off topic & went a little too far down the rabbit hole. Your news about the Ethernet cable is great. If an (for lack of a better word) "audiophile" cable doesn't make much difference with the microRendu, - then it seems better to not bother with fiber as the FMCs need power supplies that could potentially cause noise issues of their own.

 

Thanks again.

[Albrecht]

I really wish that this was earned, given the lack of compliance with the USB standard for most exotic high end cables

 

You don't really mean lack of obedience to a poor, noisy, inconsistent, spec?

 

Can you cite a manufacturer who has violated the standard & have their cable resulted in poorer SQ than say, a standard Belkin USB printer cable?

[Albrecht]

I agree this is an important question. A little experimentation with an Auralic Aries convinced me that the UPnP server definitely made a difference in sound quality with that renderer, but I could never figure out why.

 

Thanks for your post. Can you elaborate a bit further? What kind of PC or MAC where you using as file server? Or, were you using a PC in conjunction with a NAS? I saw that Auralic just recently got UpNP functionality working, as it wasn't before the latest updates.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Albrecht]

I have a proto µRendu now. I compared directly with my very serious, highly tweaked, dedicated music server (built as a project by Jesus and myself, featuring a SOtM USB card, onboard storage HD, SSD for the OS, onboard LiFePO4 battery supply with separate, discrete linear regulated supplies). The µRendu, powered by my prototype, very, very special linear discrete regulated power supply, easily made my take the server out of my system! Both "servers" were feeding USB to my DAC with Sonore USB interface.

 

At this point, I am confident in saying that the µRendu, when paired with a really, really, really good power supply (very important), will easily equal the most advanced dedicated music servers available (think Aurender and Antipodes top models) and probably actually beat them on sound quality! I know, this is high praise, but I am this impressed.

 

Earlier in this thread someone posted that serving the music files over Ethernet results in a compromise; the µRendu has proven to me that this claim is utter nonsense.

 

Can't wait to get this!! Can you divulge what PSU you're using?

[Albrecht]

deleted

[Albrecht]

Hi,

 

This seems very right to me. In Vinnie's case above, - the AE was acting as a router. If he would've used a direct ethernet cable from a computer to the microRendu,- it wouldn't work.

 

Or, that is my, (perhaps erroneous), understanding.

[Albrecht]

I have ordered a Teradak 9v 2.5a LPS in anticipation.

 

Questions: Will this power supply be able to adequately power both the microRendu and my HiFaceII USB to coax SPDIF via it's USB outs? Hoping to be RTG as soon as the microRendu is shipping.

 

TIA

[Albrecht]

If the Hiface is bus powered then that supply has plenty of current for the job. Since the voltage is at the upper limit of the range (6-9V) you will need to make sure that the microRendu has plenty of room to breath, it will get warm, it will need unobstructed airflow.

 

John S.

 

Thank you John, - really appreciate the speedy reply & answer.

 

Cheers,

[Albrecht]

+1 I hope that i just didn't waste $165 on my Teradak 9v LPS

[Albrecht]

Barrows,

Thanks a lot for your reply and explanation, - this standard vs non-standard, - makes a lot of sense. Fortunately, I live in SF where it's always winter. I am hoping that my 9V LPS will work with the new Uptone supply coming out later.

Thanks again.

[Albrecht]

Roon and my Synology NAS. It works amazing!

 

Apologies to you & everyone else for asking about Roon & going away from the microRendu for a brief sec....

 

But, - I was looking for the ROON core Linux install for my QNAP 251+ and didn't see it on their site. Can you tell me where they have it?

 

Thanks, Cheers,

[Albrecht]

I think you'll find Roon don't support install on NAS. Although it can apparently be done if you have the requisite skills it's not recommended as Roon will only be a s strong as its weakest link and NAS support could hold back innovations that need more processing power.

 

I fully agree with this approach as I've seen Naim streamers shackled by their processing limitations.

 

 

SJB

 

Hi, Thanks for responding to my post.

 

But, it is my understanding that is precisely what the Roon intends for this new release. Along with reports from others that this is running great on their NAS drive: if 8GB of RAM and QuadCore 2.0GHZ processor with bursts up to 2.4GHZ, is significantly more processing power than my iMAC downstairs. Not going to shell out the big dollars for ROON + a new MAC.

 

My question was more of a "where?" are the install files, as opposed to "should."

 

Cheers,

[Albrecht]

Hi Chris,

 

Thank you so much for the link. Sounds like I should wait a bit. My NAS is really new, and (it may be unreasonable), - I want to keep it pristine. Further research may indeed make this move unwise.

 

Cheers,

[Albrecht]

FWIW

I've found that the fastest ethernet cable I installed sounded better. I tried a demo of audioquest, 6a, & Rosewill CAT7, (which is really not CAT7, but CAT7 with a CAT6 RJ-45 connector). Can't afford Acoustic Revive or Meicord. So I tried fiber & it sounded better than Rosewill. I couldn't tell the difference between Rosewill and A/Q. So i have a 30ft fiber run. Two TP-Link FMCs, 2 jameco LPS, & a $17 run of fiber cable is cheaper than many "audiophile" CAT6. Total price was around $120 shipped.

[Albrecht]

I don't know. I find it funny that the µRendu is $640 and has taken a year plus to develop with 3 very smart people in the respected field. The PS is $2,400 and shouldn't in theory yield that much gain if the µRendu is designed as I would imagine John S has done. I guess that's where my confusion lays. $2,400 for a PS is quite high but I'm curious to know specifics as to why it's SO costly.

 

 

deleted: redundant

[Albrecht]

Update #1

 

Make no mistake, this product is intended to give you goosebumps.

 

Jesus R

 

I got 'em!!!

 

THANK YOU Jesus

 

Postman threw the thing threw my building's barred gate. Thankfully, - no damage...

 

This guy sounds incredible. I have some Herbies micro-tender-feet under it and brass weight on top. Using the Teradak 9v power supply & it's going to HiFace II USB to SPDIF converter into my APL SPDIF input... Sounds A-MAZING.

 

Running Squeezelite right now, - (shows up as my 4th Squeezebox player), - but will try minimServer soon, - then Roon.

 

At first sonicorbiter.com didn't see the device, - (I had it hooked up to my 2 fiber FMCs and it didn't see it. So, - I'll try rebooting the FMCs in a little while).

 

But so far, it sounds bloody incredible!!!!

 

So psyched!!!

[Albrecht]

I got 'em!!!

 

THANK YOU Jesus

 

Postman threw the thing threw my building's barred gate. Thankfully, - no damage...

 

 

 

At first sonicorbiter.com didn't see the device, - (I had it hooked up to my 2 fiber FMCs and it didn't see it. So, - I'll try rebooting the FMCs in a little while).

 

But so far, it sounds bloody incredible!!!!

 

So psyched!!!

 

 

FIBER UPDATE

 

tried rebooting both FMCs: didn't work. microRendu was missing from Logitech app on iPad, + in the Apps section it said Squeezelite is STOPPED.

 

Then I switched both TP-link FMCs to "forced" instead of AUTO & rebooted again. Still no luck. Finally I performed a Shutdown on SonicOrbiter.com. After a startup, Squeezelite came back up & the microRendu showed up again in the iPad app.

 

Music definitely sounded better, with a noticeably bigger & wider soundstage with Fiber.

 

cheers

[Albrecht]

First day and I'm very happy. Glorious tone density and big sound stage. Just kills the Aries Mini, and I'm only using the Ifi. Two set up tips.

 

Make sure the memory card is fully seated before you power up. Mine wasn't and my heart skipped a beat.

 

If using squeezeplay, check your player settings on LMS. Mine had volume equalization turned on and a digital volume control at 50%. I changed both settings.

 

Enjoy all and thanks Jesus and team.

 

What did you set the volume control to?

[Albrecht]

Can those of you giving sonic impressions tell us what power supply you are using with the microRendu? Might help some of the others to decide what PS to buy with it.[/quote

 

I'm using a Teradak 30w 9v 2.5a LPS.

 

I have nothing else to compare it with. i bought Jameco LPS wall warts for my FMCs & Kimber video switch as they are all near the audio rack & cost $11. I did compare (once) the Jamecos' to the ifi iPower (NOt with a microRendu) and thought that I heard a slight improvement with the Jamecos.

 

Things sound amazing with the Teradak. I can't see myself NOT buying the Uptone Mystery supply when available; knowing now that I can still keep using the Teradak to feed it. Even though i think that Sonore sig Rendu LPS is going to be a good deal at $1399 with Cardas A/C cord, - i can't afford it.

 

Cheers,

[Albrecht]

Reset the volume control in LMS to fixed at 100%. I use the same setting with a Squeezebox Touch connected to an external DAC.

 

Thank you very much for the help.