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Sonore microRendu


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Can you try a different USB cable?

I did try changing them. Initially, I used the supplied adapter then used an external cable. I appreciate the fact that the cables can be kinda tricky, but I thought the adapter would be a known quantity.

 

Do you have another USB DAC you can try for testing purposes?

Unfortunately, I do not have another DAC. Actually, I sold an earlier ARC unit which had limited USB speed handling for the DAC8 which is rated for USB 2.0 speeds.

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I did try changing them. Initially, I used the supplied adapter then used an external cable. I appreciate the fact that the cables can be kinda tricky, but I thought the adapter would be a known quantity.

 

 

Unfortunately, I do not have another DAC. Actually, I sold an earlier ARC unit which had limited USB speed handling for the DAC8 which is rated for USB 2.0 speeds.

 

The adapter is a known item, but we need to rule out that it has an issue and retest with a generic USB cable. In the meantime I'll look in my emails and see if I have any customer feedback on that device.

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My DHCP server went bezerk today. It reminded me to check on the likelihood of a static IP setting in the microrendu.

 

None of my 'critical' devices flinched as they all have static IPs, but a couple of iPads locked up for a short while until I'd resolved it. The only other thing that screwed up was the microrendu, which - as a device used by the family - rendered the hifi inoperable, and (because I forgot was DHCP) took a while to trouble shoot. It didn't go down well and made me mess around in hifi wiring. :(

 

Please, please, if not technically impossible, could we have an option for fixed IP.

 

Thanks.

 

We have commented on this before. The best place to add a fixed IP address is on your router. If you can't do this or don't how to do this then MySonicorbiter will assist you in finding your unit on the network.

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The adapter is a known item, but we need to rule out that it has an issue and retest with a generic USB cable. In the meantime I'll look in my emails and see if I have any customer feedback on that device.

Thank you. I've used two generic computer (non-audiophile) grade cables along with the adapter.

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Thank you. I've used two generic computer (non-audiophile) grade cables along with the adapter.

 

I just searched my emails. I have an email dating back to 2011 where is customer wrote to say that the AR DAC8 needs a driver to work on OS X. This usually indicates that the device will not work under Linux. He then explains that the unit works better via the AES/EBU. The is a long shot, but you could contact them and see if they have a firmware update that adds OS X support without a driver. Short of a new firmware adding OS X support without a driver you will need to use a USB digital converter between the microRendu and the AR DAC8.

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Not sure if this is related at all to this issue, but this is taken from the AO service tool:

"DAC’s or DDC’s that use USBPAL drivers by RigiSystems (like the Mytek STEREO192-DSD DAC or the AudioResearch DAC8) need certain windows services running to work properly. By choosing this option, theAudiophileOptimizer won’t disable the services needed by those devices."

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Not sure if this is related at all to this issue, but this is taken from the AO service tool:

"DAC’s or DDC’s that use USBPAL drivers by RigiSystems (like the Mytek STEREO192-DSD DAC or the AudioResearch DAC8) need certain windows services running to work properly. By choosing this option, theAudiophileOptimizer won’t disable the services needed by those devices."

 

That is exactly the issue. If the AR DAC8 is based on the USBPAL interface it will not work on Linux.

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New Findings

----------------

For couple of days, the Roon GUI has been prompting me that there are s/w updates available but I have been resisting in the fear that it might break something and spoil the fun of listening pleasure. More so, since I use Roon with HQP, I thought that the update would not be much useful sound wise as the back-end is completely handled in HQP. With Yggy I don't upsample in HQP since I found that the mega-burito filter in Yggy sounds better in my system but somehow just using the HQP make the sounds better than just Roon or MPD/DLNA mode. Today I decided to give it a spin (actually on Mike from MA's insistence) and test one more time the uRendu in Roon Ready mode with my Yggy. To my surprise, the SQ is just excellent now and sounds darn good. Folks who are using Roon/HQP combo, give it a try after updating Roon and see how it works for you. You might not need HQP at all with certain DACs.

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]27632[/ATTACH].

 

Completely agree. I find that combination of roon and the micorendu alone is much better sounding with my DAC than adding HQPlayer into the mix. HQplayer now has a tendency to soften the sound and diminish the sound stage a little. I had been going back and forth for a couple of weeks before I finally just turned off HQPlayer last week. I am glad to see other people are seeing the same benefits from the microrendu as well.

ReadyNAS Ultra/6 stored flac->GigE network->roon->Uptone JS-2->microRendu->W4S Recovery->W4S DAC-2v2 SE>W4S STP-SE STG2 Preamp->W4S ST-1000 Amplifer->Von Schweikert VR-44

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Completely agree. I find that combination of roon and the micorendu alone is much better sounding with my DAC than adding HQPlayer into the mix. HQplayer now has a tendency to soften the sound and diminish the sound stage a little. I had been going back and forth for a couple of weeks before I finally just turned off HQPlayer last week. I am glad to see other people are seeing the same benefits from the microrendu as well.

 

I can second this assessment. I went through so many pains to get HQPlayer to handshake and play nice with Roon, but then upon days of evaluation, the sound seemed to lack clarity, bite, impact, width and see-throughness. I attributed it to the fact that I had just switched to sourcing my music off my NAS as opposed to my PC. I'll be sure to switch back to Roon only today, and report back. I am also using the Yggy, so this may not apply to everyone on here.

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You are still using a W4S Recovery with the microRendu? I was under the impression uSB fixers were unnecessary with it.

 

What was the difference in sound you found?

 

The difference for me was huge. I had the W4S recovery already, so when I first got my microRendu I let it play for about 200 hours just power supply and DAC. Then I spent considerable time listening to what I was getting from the miroRendu, and while it was very good, I still put in the W4S Recovery to see what would happen. The difference in my system was very apparent, sound stage became larger, clarity and realism became uncanny, and base tightened up much more than with the mR alone. I understand very well how the USB port of the mR is supposed to behave, but for me I do get a significant bump when adding the W4S Revovery to the mR.

ReadyNAS Ultra/6 stored flac->GigE network->roon->Uptone JS-2->microRendu->W4S Recovery->W4S DAC-2v2 SE>W4S STP-SE STG2 Preamp->W4S ST-1000 Amplifer->Von Schweikert VR-44

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Thanks for the feedback. I too have a Recovery and was contemplating selling it if I got a microRendu for a total cost saving. Looks like that was wishful thinking.

 

What are you powering your Recovery with and what USB are you using from that to DAC?

 

Thanks

 

The difference for me was huge. I had the W4S recovery already, so when I first got my microRendu I let it play for about 200 hours just power supply and DAC. Then I spent considerable time listening to what I was getting from the miroRendu, and while it was very good, I still put in the W4S Recovery to see what would happen. The difference in my system was very apparent, sound stage became larger, clarity and realism became uncanny, and base tightened up much more than with the mR alone. I understand very well how the USB port of the mR is supposed to behave, but for me I do get a significant bump when adding the W4S Revovery to the mR.
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Thanks for the feedback. I too have a Recovery and was contemplating selling it if I got a microRendu for a total cost saving. Looks like that was wishful thinking.

 

What are you powering your Recovery with and what USB are you using from that to DAC?

 

Thanks

 

I would not make any assumptions based on other's experience. The results of using USB add-ons with the µRendu will be highly dependent on your DAC, and the power supply used with the µRendu. By all means, evaluate the use of any add ons in your own system, and you may find that the add ons may help, or not.

SO/ROON/HQPe: DSD 512-Sonore opticalModuleDeluxe-Signature Rendu optical with Well Tempered Clock--DIY DSC-2 DAC with SC Pure Clock--DIY Purifi Amplifier-Focus Audio FS888 speakers-JL E 112 sub-Nordost Tyr USB, DIY EventHorizon AC cables, Iconoclast XLR & speaker cables, Synergistic Purple Fuses, Spacetime system clarifiers.  ISOAcoustics Oreas footers.                                                       

                                                                                           SONORE computer audio

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Thanks for the feedback. I too have a Recovery and was contemplating selling it if I got a microRendu for a total cost saving. Looks like that was wishful thinking.

 

What are you powering your Recovery with and what USB are you using from that to DAC?

 

Thanks

 

I am powering the the Recovery with the Uptone JS-2 at 7V. I have the power chord going to the MR split to go to the Recovery as well. I spoke to W4S about running the Recovery at 7V and they assured me it was fine.

 

USB cable to the DAC is a Wireworld Ultraviolet USB. I have had many USB cables in and out of the system and really they have made no difference in my system that I was able to hear.

ReadyNAS Ultra/6 stored flac->GigE network->roon->Uptone JS-2->microRendu->W4S Recovery->W4S DAC-2v2 SE>W4S STP-SE STG2 Preamp->W4S ST-1000 Amplifer->Von Schweikert VR-44

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For what is worth, I just wanted to say that the Microrendu is really a fantastic product. I cannot recall purchasing a component that has made such a dramatic impact on improving the overall sound quality of my system at such an incredibly low price point. (I have spent much more on alternatives that didn't even come close..)

 

Thx Sonore! :)

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my second round of testing is done and i couldn't be more pleased.

 

first round: replaced sms-100 with uRendu, both in MPD mode, uRendu wins by easy knockout with sms-100's wall wart for power to both. all listening was done via Stax 009 headphone with BHSE amplification, balanced output from TotalDAC D1-Dual DAC.

 

second round:

wanted to compared MPD with NAA mode since some have reported improvements by moving re-renderer from uRendu and having the uRendu be only the NAA (less processing clearly). i had no preconceived ideas on how this would turn out but spent a few days installing hqplayer desktop on my main linux machine and verifying i could get sound out. i uninstalled all modes except NAA and MPD from the uRendu. BubbleUPNP was used as the control point for MPD and hqplayer desktop for NAA mode. (note: this required me to run between rooms to start the hqplayer which my recently repaired knee/meniscus did NOT appreciate..............the obsessive things we do for better sound). another variable was using the sonore battery supply instead of the sms-100's wall wart. lastly, i had audiobuddy AK over to give me a 2nd opinion. he and i have been in pretty good agreement on changes to sound and he was very helpful as i optimized cables/speakers/DAC over the past few years.

The setup this time was D1-Dual DAC to Pass Aleph pre-amp to Ayon monoblocks to Nola Metro-Grand speakers, cabling via Synergistic Research.

 

Music: Alison Krauss (Forget About It), Paul Simon (Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes), Jennifer Warnes and Rob Wasserman (Runaway Horse), Duke Ellington Orchestra (Concerto for Cootie, Great Paris concert), Keith Jarret Trio (Things Ain't What They Used to Be), Caroline No (Beach Boys, mono), Mahler's First (Bernstein), Ramirez (Missa Criola), What's New in Baltimore (Frank Zappa live)

 

first we compared the wallwart power to the sonore battery power. there may have been a small difference but we it wasn't night and day so we left the battery in and went on the MPD/NAA comparison.

 

this blew us away. the NAA was no much better than MPD mode, streaming from the same NAS that is was drop dead simple, game over. except for one song (i'll get back to that), it was not contest. the soundstage was huge, the bass was fuller, the detail was much more apparent though not in your face, but most important to me (and i find this almost always the key indicator) was the ability to hear deep into the decay of notes. on the jennifer warnes, the decay of each bass note went on forever and segued into the next lyric or bass note, each of her lyrics ended wth a slow decay of her voice/breath that was "in the room". the keith jarret had much more bass, exceptional drum impact and the sound of his piano was night and day with NAA having overtones and complexities to his playing that made us want to turn off MPD mode after 5-10 seconds. the soundstage was huge on missa criolla and the paul simon intro with ladysmith black mambazo's vocals.

 

note that I had hqplayer set to do nothing, no upsampling, no dither, just render the native resolution audio so the uRendu NAA could pass data to the DAC. i have never tested any of those hqplayer options and may not (I don't think i want to go down a rabbit hole with that many variables).

 

Jesus: this is, i'm speculating here, as close to world class as i need to go (though i will want to check out some better power supplies in the future). what i'd like to suggest you consider is bundling a basic version of Miska's software that only does the NAA output. i think you would have something extraordinary there. i realize this is only for my dac and that synergy trumps all, but if this is true in general (that NAA >> MPD), you've got a really great additional selling point.

 

p.s. by the way, everyone should try before buying the hqplayer (as Miska suggests) to see if this is your cup of tea or not. i am running the desktop linux version trial which plays only for 30 minutes, but that (and a few shut downs and startups) gave me enough to convince me there is something very special here.

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this blew us away. the NAA was no much better than MPD mode, streaming from the same NAS that is was drop dead simple, game over. except for one song (i'll get back to that), it was not contest. the soundstage was huge, the bass was fuller, the detail was much more apparent though not in your face, but most important to me (and i find this almost always the key indicator) was the ability to hear deep into the decay of notes. on the jennifer warnes, the decay of each bass note went on forever and segued into the next lyric or bass note, each of her lyrics ended wth a slow decay of her voice/breath that was "in the room". the keith jarret had much more bass, exceptional drum impact and the sound of his piano was night and day with NAA having overtones and complexities to his playing that made us want to turn off MPD mode after 5-10 seconds. the soundstage was huge on missa criolla and the paul simon intro with ladysmith black mambazo's vocals.

 

note that I had hqplayer set to do nothing, no upsampling, no dither, just render the native resolution audio so the uRendu NAA could pass data to the DAC. i have never tested any of those hqplayer options and may not (I don't think i want to go down a rabbit hole with that many variables).

 

Jesus: this is, i'm speculating here, as close to world class as i need to go (though i will want to check out some better power supplies in the future). what i'd like to suggest you consider is bundling a basic version of Miska's software that only does the NAA output. i think you would have something extraordinary there. i realize this is only for my dac and that synergy trumps all, but if this is true in general (that NAA >> MPD), you've got a really great additional selling point.

 

p.s. by the way, everyone should try before buying the hqplayer (as Miska suggests) to see if this is your cup of tea or not. i am running the desktop linux version trial which plays only for 30 minutes, but that (and a few shut downs and startups) gave me enough to convince me there is something very special here.

 

+1 Although my system is different, the experiences have been very similiar. Comparing the mR in RAAT (together with Roon) vs. Roon + HQplayer with mR as a NAA was a hands down win for NAA.

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We have commented on this before. The best place to add a fixed IP address is on your router. If you can't do this or don't how to do this then MySonicorbiter will assist you in finding your unit on the network.

 

Well, no it's not :)

 

Because at some point the DHCP lease has to renew, and regardless of whether an IP is set against a MAC address or not at the DHCP server (which is what you're referring to), it will still freeze if the server has issues and is not available at lease renewal. The server being built into the router makes no difference.

 

The best place to have a static IP is at the device. That's why Linux and all pretty much all other devices have the option. That's why key servers are set this way.

 

Plus it's surely trivial to add a toggle to the OS for DHCP vs fixed and an extra box to type in an IP address. But I guess the customer isn't always right...

Roon lifetime > Mac Mini > ethernet > microRendu (RAAT) w/ Paul Hynes SR3 > Intona > Curious USB link > Devialet 250 Pro > PMC fact 8.

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Well, no it's not :)

 

Because at some point the DHCP lease has to renew, and regardless of whether an IP is set against a MAC address or not at the DHCP server (which is what you're referring to), it will still freeze if the server has issues and is not available at lease renewal. The server being built into the router makes no difference.

 

The best place to have a static IP is at the device. That's why Linux and all pretty much all other devices have the option. That's why key servers are set this way.

 

Plus it's surely trivial to add a toggle to the OS for DHCP vs fixed and an extra box to type in an IP address. But I guess the customer isn't always right...

 

Objection noted.

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For what is worth, I just wanted to say that the Microrendu is really a fantastic product. I cannot recall purchasing a component that has made such a dramatic impact on improving the overall sound quality of my system at such an incredibly low price point. (I have spent much more on alternatives that didn't even come close..)

 

Thx Sonore! :)

Enjoy!

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We have had a few customers report issues with network optical isolators, HQ Player / NAA, and enterprise level hardware. We have added a BATA feature that allows you to set the network speed of the microRendu to 100Mbps. The default speed is 1000Mbps.

 

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

 

The check box should be in Systems Settings.

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Hi Jesus

 

 

after this update additional info turns up on the Dac Diagnostics page.

Does this mean volume can now be adjusted from the control app? (in Roon or Bubble for example?)

 

 

Simple mixer control 'Devialet Clock Selector',0

Capabilities: pvolume cvolume pswitch cswitch

Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right

Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right

Limits: Playback 0 - 127 Capture 0 - 127

Front Left: Playback 127 [100%] [0.00dB] [on] Capture 127 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]

Front Right: Playback 127 [100%] [0.00dB] [on] Capture 127 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]

Simple mixer control 'Devialet Clock Selector',1

Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined cvolume cvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined cswitch cswitch-joined

Playback channels: Mono

Capture channels: Mono

Limits: Playback 0 - 127 Capture 0 - 127

Mono: Playback 127 [100%] [0.00dB] [on] Capture 127 [100%] [0.00dB] [on]

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I just searched my emails. I have an email dating back to 2011 where is customer wrote to say that the AR DAC8 needs a driver to work on OS X. This usually indicates that the device will not work under Linux. He then explains that the unit works better via the AES/EBU. The is a long shot, but you could contact them and see if they have a firmware update that adds OS X support without a driver. Short of a new firmware adding OS X support without a driver you will need to use a USB digital converter between the microRendu and the AR DAC8.

Thanks for checking. I did submit an email to them but their lead service tech is on vacation until next week. I'll see what they say.

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We have had a few customers report issues with network optical isolators, HQ Player / NAA, and enterprise level hardware. We have added a BATA feature that allows you to set the network speed of the microRendu to 100Mbps. The default speed is 1000Mbps.

 

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

 

The check box should be in Systems Settings.

 

Apologies for the silly question but why would one want to throttle back the speed from 1000 to 100? Problems with a duplex mismatch I could understand but why drossel?

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Apologies for the silly question but why would one want to throttle back the speed from 1000 to 100? Problems with a duplex mismatch I could understand but why drossel?

 

This was reported to be nessessary under certain conditions, but the feature is not producing the results expected.

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