Sonore microRendu

[jaaptina]

Hi, yep I had a look at this earlier.

 

Would the following be ideal: flac:wav24;, alac:wav24;,aac:wav24;,mp4:wav24;,mp3:wav24;,*:wav24;,

 

I.e. convert all the inputs that minimserver is able to read, to 24-bit WAV, keeping their existing bitrate (the semi-colon)?

 

This would make the NAS do all the heavy lifting and the microRendu to just "do it's thing" ?

 

:-)

 

Hi, you should leave out the ";". It's used only as separator if you want to transcode the samplerate:

flac:wav24, alac:wav24, aac:wav24, mp4:wav24, mp3:wav24, *:wav24;,

 

This is my Minimserver stream.transcode setting: aac:wav;96, alac:wav;96, mp4:wav;96, mp3:wav;96, flac:wav;96

I'm transcoding all to 96Hz because my dac doesn't like samplerate changes. I don't use wav24 because the ds112 NAS doesn't seem to be able to cope with that.

[jaaptina]

Hi, I've got a Job INTegrated amplifier with integrated dac. This is a nice amp with a nice dac (see 6moons rave review). However I have a problem with using the microRendu. When I turn the Job INTegrated ON the first song played is very distorted. A high cut out sound, but the song can be recognised. When I stop and restart the song the problem is over. The problem doesn’t occur again until I turn the amp OFF and ON again. Until recently I’ve been using an Aries Mini as the source. Same problem there. Is this a problem that's to be solved by the amp manufacturer or is there something Sonore could do?

[jaaptina]

It sounds like an issue that might need to be addressed by the DAC/Amp manufacturer. If the manufacture contacts us we can arrange for a Sonicorbiter SE for them to use in testing.

 

Pity. Got this reply from Job after telling them the microRendu has no OFF switch:

 

This is certainly what is creating the distortion unfortunately.

 

The sequence of actions is important. It should be :

 

1) plug in the JOB

2) select USB input

3) turn on the player

4) then launch the music

 

Thanks.

 

Best Regards.

[jaaptina]

Made myself a 90 degree usb-a to usb-b connector. 

Covered the gab with Sugru. The microRendu is now vertically positioned behind my dac/amp. 

[jaaptina]

4 hours ago, Peti said:

Fiio X3 (coax) Chord Mojo (RCA) DNA Stratus Sennheiser HD800. Would the Sonore be an audible upgrade to my system?

MicroRendu isn't a source. The microRendu input is ethernet only. So you need a Ethernet connected NAS or pc as a source to replace the Fiio. With microRendu you will get Tidal streaming as an extra. 

 

Don't know if the Fiio is more noisy than a  Ethernet set up with microRendu.  

[jaaptina]

I just installed a Melodious Audio MX-U8 USB spdif converter between microRendu and dac. It's because my usb input is not ideal. The Melodious plays well and sounds good. 

[jaaptina]

Did you pull the power plug and put it back after 10 seconds? That usually helps when it gets stuck. 

[jaaptina]

FYI: Today after updating my microRendu it wouldn't start playing. I tried several things:

Power off/on microRendu (usually that helps after an upgrade)

Power off/on Amplifier with dac (usually that helps after an upgrade)

Power down using the browser GUI

I have only DLNA renderer running so I restarted MPD

I hid "save changes" in the DNLA Settings (browser GUI)

Installed Shareport so I could use the App Switcher

Powered everything of and on again (several times in the proces)

Nothing worked. I could connect to microRendu with the browser GUI but it would not show up in Bubbleupnp. 

 

I finaly solved the problem by going to the settings menu in the browser GUI and ...

 

DLNA settings (browser GUI) check and uncheck "Enable direct DSD" and hid save.

 

Directly microRendu showed in Bubbleupnp.

 

I really got scarred I would have to play CD's for a while :-)

 

 

 

[jaaptina]

Mine is in a cabinet too. Together with the amp and other stuff. My cabinet is as large as a door. The microRendu gets warm but not hot. Same with iFi power as with LPS-1. I have made sure there is some airflow up my cabinet. But not a lot. 

[jaaptina]

6 hours ago, George Hincapie said:

Could someone please explain the difference between the Ultra Rendu and the Micro Rendu, aside from cost obviously?

 

I am presently using an Auralic Aries Mini as a Roon end point and have just ordered a Sonic Transporter i5. I've read a lot about the supposed SQ of the Sonore as an end point and am keen to experience it for myself. I always use SPDIF Coax between source and DAC and the idea of using USB is making me slightly uncomfortable, but I'm willing to try it.

 

Out of curiosity, I'd be grateful to hear from anyone who has made the same switch from the Aries Mini to one of the Sonores and what their impressions were.

 

Thanks in advance.

To my ears microRendu with wall ward equals Aries Mini + SBooster psu. MicroRendu with good psu sounds clearly better. 

[jaaptina]

A Synology NAS ds116 is a cheap solution that works very well. Besides a wired network no other stuff needed. 

[jaaptina]

2 hours ago, OldBigEars said:

I have a related question.  It's well documented that the microRendu 1.3 (which I have and am pleased with) benefits greatly from upgrading the power supply as well as converting to the 1.4 board.  I've done neither yet, but of course I do think about it.

 

My complication is that I also use the Schiit Eitr USB/Coax between the mR and my DAC.  The Eitr is an incredible device and has transformed the SQ of my system.  The Eitr is so effective that some testers have claimed, quite categorically, that *nothing* upstream matters.  It literally neutralizes the performance variations between extremely different sources - they all sound equally good.  One tester in particular specifically recommends not 'wasting money' on higher end players such as ultraRendu, or souped up power supplies.

 

Obviously, as a consumer, it's extremely hard to test this theory without actually buying a power supply and converting the mR to the 1.4 board. 

 

So here's (finally) the question...directed to Jesus as well as any other mR users who may now be using the Eitr...do you find either the power supply upgrade (over an IFI) or the 1.4 board to make a valuable difference?  And if you've tried both - which has the most impact? Obviously, I understand this is a difficult question for Jesus to answer objectively but I hope he gives it his best shot. 

 

I should say that my good friend @Charente has already generously done a comparison test at my suggestion.  I'm not certain if he has the 1.4 mR but he was able to compare the IFI with the LPS-1.  I'd rather not prejudice responses by relaying his conclusions here.  Has anyone else got experience to share?

You can test what a good power supply will do for your system by powering your microRendu with a set of rechargeable AA batteries. In my system the AA batteries sounded a lot better than iFi iPower. Based on that finding I bought LPS-1. 

[jaaptina]

My experience by comparison is that microRendu sounds clearly better than Aries Mini (both with LPS). When I bought Aries Mini the concensus was that it sounded better than Bluesound Node. So I would say yes. 

 

At www.digitalaudioreview.net DAR is very happy with KEF wireless and microRendu. 

[jaaptina]

The black microRendu is beautiful. But now we all have the black ultraRendu don't we? 

[jaaptina]

12 hours ago, al210 said:

Considering the micoRendu.  I'm not sure how much of a benefit it would give in my system. (see my signature) I was hoping the gurus here would be able to chime in with their advice and thoughts. It seems from reading through the posts that the power supply is probably the real driving factor for potential sound improvement?

Music library consists of Redbook CD rips, Hi Res Flac and DSD files.

In my system microRendu with iFi sounded at least as good as Auralic Aries with much more expensive SBooster. Adding a lps to microRendu improves a lot on that. So microRendu sounds good on its own and better with quality lps. 

[jaaptina]

45 minutes ago, Charente said:

The QOBUZ music streaming service recently added DLNA/UPnP as an output device option ... I'm running Qobuz on an iMac 10.13.2. and my mRendu (v1.3 h/w with SonicOrbiter v2.5) appears on the list of possible devices but I'm not getting any sound .... has anyone tried this successfully ?

With me it's the same situation on Windows. UltraRendu is shown as renderer but tracks won't start. 

[jaaptina]

With Bubbleupnp on a rooted Android phone with Bubble Exposed module you can activate audiocast setting. With this setting you can play directly from Qobuz, Spotify, YouTube and others. 

 

When the rooting is done and Exposed is installed its easy and functions well. But I use it only now and then. In Bubbleupnp you can search Qobuz so there is not much need. 

 

But I agree if you could stream from Qobuz directly I would use this more often. Especially when browsing for new music. In which case the Qobuz interface is very helpful. 

[jaaptina]

With Bubbleupnp on Android you can play Tidal to microRendu. Bubbleupnp takes care of the Tidal licence. 

[jaaptina]

6 hours ago, richardp01 said:

Okay!  I found the instructions on how to run Tidal.  After I upgraded to firmware version 2.7 and installed the Linn Kazoo app I got Tidal to run.  I also found that Spotify will also run although at a much reduced volume through my USB 1.0 connection.  The sound on Tidal is fantastic even running MP3.

The microRendu is fun to play around with but I can't see using it in a normal life.  To play from my NAS I have to first go online to switch the output to DLNA and then use BubbleUpNp to play files.  To play Tidal I have to go to the network and make sure the output is set correctly and then go to Kazoo, not Tidal, to play Tidal.  To play Spotify I have to go online and change the output to Spotify, then go to Spotify, change the output to microRendu and then play. 

Keeping the microRendu in DLNA mode you can use Bubbleupnp to send music from your NAS or from Tidal. Just enter your Tidal login in Bubbleupnp. 

[jaaptina]

Buy and try an Audioquest Dragonfly dac. If you buy second hand you can sell it for the same amount. Done this twice myself 👍