Sonore microRendu

[ElviaCaprice]

I have made this comparison:

General use pc (NAA), transparent USB, Intona industrial, curious USB, regen powered by Sonore signature power supply, Nordost USB into T+A DAC 8 DSD

 

Versus

 

Microrendu (NAA) powered by Sonore signature power supply, curious USB into T+A DAC 8 DSD

 

Playing JJ Cale bring down the curtain in PCM 44.1/16 the Intona/Regen combo is miles ahead

 

To be fair I must say the mR was cold when I tested

 

Interesting. Most folks find the Intona/Regen combo, myself included, works best with Intona first then Regen, Intona close to the USB audio card, Regen close to DAC.

Are you using a audiophile usb card? If so, how are you powering it? I think we should start a different thread. This is the mRendu thread.

[vortecjr]

I just started a new thread to discuss multichannel support:

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f26-sonore-sponsored/sonicorbiter-multichannel-31362/

[tboooe]

I have made this comparison:

General use pc (NAA), transparent USB, Intona industrial, curious USB, regen powered by Sonore signature power supply, Nordost USB into T+A DAC 8 DSD

 

Versus

 

Microrendu (NAA) powered by Sonore signature power supply, curious USB into T+A DAC 8 DSD

 

Playing JJ Cale bring down the curtain in PCM 44.1/16 the Intona/Regen combo is miles ahead

 

To be fair I must say the mR was cold when I tested

I will say when I tested my i3 based NAA against the microrendu + LPS-1, the microrendu sounded superior.

 

That being said, I thought the test being asked for was the PC running HQP + Regen + Intona vs adding microrendu as an NAA?

[louisxiawei]

This is the mRendu thread.

Agreed, I'm also interested. Shall we go to the new thread just opened for further discussion (i.e. Sonicorbiter - Multichannel) ?

[louisxiawei]

That being said, I thought the test being asked for was the PC running HQP + Regen + Intona vs adding microrendu as an NAA?

 

Correct. That's the comparison I want to know.

 

I'm struggling to pull the trigger for microrendu at the moment.

[ElviaCaprice]

Agreed, I'm also interested. Shall we go to the new thread just opened for further discussion (i.e. Sonicorbiter - Multichannel) ?

 

Here would be best to discuss further, new thread I created. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f10-music-servers/su-renderer-or-not-tis-question-31363/#post626928

[tboooe]

 

I'm struggling to pull the trigger for microrendu at the moment.

 

My wallet is struggling as well. This is purely a guess, but if you extrapolate my findings about adding an NAA to my system, then it would seem logical that the microrendu would be superior to what you have now. That being said, there is nothing logical in this hobby. Perhaps what you could is purchase a mini PC off Taobao and see? I got one for $125 but I already had an SSD and memory. Or maybe try a Pi3 as an NAA? If adding these NAA options sounds even a little bit better than your current setup then surely the microrendu will be better.

[m3lraaHnevetS]

Beautiful, man. That's the comparison I'm talking about. Thumb up for your epic T+A DAC8 DSD. With the help of HQplayer upsampling everything to DSD512, it is the king of the PC hifi dac at the moment in my opinion. (But don't know whether the exasound new dac e32 will sound equally good or not )

 

I see people also using microrendu + Intona combo

 

When you mentioned "miles ahead", could u please be more specific in terms of sonic performance? Thanks in advance.

 

Have you tried the intona/regen other way around? In my case, Intona first, Uptone regen comes to the next, in the middle, there is Vbus2 isolator. My uptone regen is currently powered by Sbooster BOTW LPS.

 

Recently placed the order of LPS-1 for my Uptone regen, hope the combo gets better.

I must say, the Sonore signature power supply is a beast. (A bit out of my budget).

 

 

 

normally I use the HTPC and NAA/Intona/Regen combo to serve DSD512 to the T+A but for this comparison i went back to native PCM and was surprised by the fact that NAA/Intona/Regen sounds much better than mR but even more so by the the quality of native PCM through NAA/Intona/Regen. native PCM sounded much more real than DSD to me on this recording in my system today.

I will leave the mR and Regen both powered for the next day and then retest and report back. I will also put the Intona in the chain for a test drive.

 

I used to have Regen before Intona but just this week I put the Intona in front and discovered this works much better in my system.

[m3lraaHnevetS]

Here would be best to discuss further, new thread I created. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f10-music-servers/su-renderer-or-not-tis-question-31363/#post626928

 

so yeah, I will retest NAA/Intona/Regen vs (warm) mR tomorrow and report back in Elvia's new thread

then I will also try and be a bit more specific about the differences in sq ;-)

[barrows]

I have made this comparison:

General use pc (NAA), transparent USB, Intona industrial, curious USB, regen powered by Sonore signature power supply, Nordost USB into T+A DAC 8 DSD

 

Versus

 

Microrendu (NAA) powered by Sonore signature power supply, curious USB into T+A DAC 8 DSD

 

Playing JJ Cale bring down the curtain in PCM 44.1/16 the Intona/Regen combo is miles ahead

 

To be fair I must say the mR was cold when I tested

 

I would suggest using the same USB cable into the DAC, as this is the first thing the DAC "sees" and may be having a large influence on the outcome.

[stevebythebay]

For grins I decided to try the microRendu with the Uptone LPS I'd been using with one of my audio systems, with a pair of powered speakers and USB DAC from LH Labs (original Geek Out) and Roon. Relatively inexpensive Logitech pair with sub. Quite an amazing improvement over running the DAC from my iMac. Guess I shouldn't have been so surprised.

[Vangelis]

I read in a Audio Video Revolution review that the mR sounds best, (more refined) with Roon and is superior to the DLNA setting. Any ring of truth to this?

[earnmyturns]

I read in a Audio Video Revolution review that the mR sounds best, (more refined) with Roon and is superior to the DLNA setting. Any ring of truth to this?

I had that experience when I moved from DLNA to Roon for my mRs. Not a huge difference, but enough for my wife (who has a great ear but does not pay any attention to the gear side of things) to notice on our speaker system. This was before I starting powering my mRs with UpTone LPS-1s. One possibility is that the mR is doing a lot less work handling the Roon RAAT protocol than when handling DLNA, and processor load has some impact on how much electrical noise sneaks from the mR to the DAC through the USB cable. In any case, Roon is so much better from the usability point of view than the UPnP/DLNA setups I've used in the past, that I won't bother with the hassle of a more controlled SQ comparison.

[romaz]

I read in a Audio Video Revolution review that the mR sounds best, (more refined) with Roon and is superior to the DLNA setting. Any ring of truth to this?

I found this to be true with my mR.

[JootecFromMars]

I read in a Audio Video Revolution review that the mR sounds best, (more refined) with Roon and is superior to the DLNA setting. Any ring of truth to this?

I'm going to differ from the guys above.

 

I have LPS-1 > DC cable with kimber cable and Oyaide DC jacks > microRendu > ifi Mercury USB > Schiit Yggy > yadda yadda

 

I prefered MPD over Roon. I found it had more low end and airiness around the instruments. My microrendu connects to my network with a tp-link wireless bridge also.

[tboooe]

I have LPS-1 > DC cable with kimber cable and Oyaide DC jacks > microRendu > ifi Mercury USB > Schiit Yggy > yadda yadda

@JootecFromMars, I am very curious about the oyaide DC jacks. Did you change the microrendu female input jack? Or are you talking about the male barrel connectors of the dc cable?

[JootecFromMars]

@JootecFromMars, I am very curious about the oyaide DC jacks. Did you change the microrendu female input jack? Or are you talking about the male barrel connectors of the dc cable?

Sorry. Yes, male connectors.

[Confused]

I read in a Audio Video Revolution review that the mR sounds best, (more refined) with Roon and is superior to the DLNA setting. Any ring of truth to this?

I have run my mR with both Roon and JRiver over the last couple of months, but never bothered to do a direct comparison. I am 'away from my system' at the moment, but am happy to try this at the weekend. (assuming I don't forget) I am actually very interested in this personally because I am thinking of dropping Roon once my one year sub runs out, but if Roon sounds better than JRiver / DLNA, this might be a factor in deciding to stick with Roon a little longer.

[romaz]

I have run my mR with both Roon and JRiver over the last couple of months, but never bothered to do a direct comparison. I am 'away from my system' at the moment, but am happy to try this at the weekend. (assuming I don't forget) I am actually very interested in this personally because I am thinking of dropping Roon once my one year sub runs out, but if Roon sounds better than JRiver / DLNA, this might be a factor in deciding to stick with Roon a little longer.

Roon 1.3 will be out soon (any day now). I would suggest you wait until its release before evaluating it as the new version may bring with it further improvement in SQ. For sure, it will bring with it an improved feature set including parametric EQ and convolution. I have found SQ with Roon to have evolved/improved significantly over time. I used to find it to be more of a convenience because of its library skinning abilities but now I find it to be superior with respect to SQ.

 

My chain is presently as follows: modified Mac Mini / Paul Hynes SR7 > direct connect (no intermediary router/switch) > mR / Paul Hynes SR7 with 12 inch UP-OCC silver DC lead with Oyaide 2.1mm barrel > Clarity Cables Natural USB > Chord DAVE.

 

With this direct connection to mR (no router/switch), the gap between Roon 1.2 and MPD has grown even larger in Roon's favor in my system. Hopefully, Roon 1.3 will be even better. As always, YMMV, and so it's always best to listen and do your own comparisons but in my system, the differences aren't subtle.

[ElviaCaprice]

I have run my mR with both Roon and JRiver over the last couple of months, but never bothered to do a direct comparison. I am 'away from my system' at the moment, but am happy to try this at the weekend. (assuming I don't forget) I am actually very interested in this personally because I am thinking of dropping Roon once my one year sub runs out, but if Roon sounds better than JRiver / DLNA, this might be a factor in deciding to stick with Roon a little longer.

If playing bit perfect, it won't matter which media player. But, computers designed to work better with different software could slant the favor or which media player performs with the least resources. That would make a difference.

[romaz]

If playing bit perfect, it won't matter which media player. But, computers designed to work better with different software could slant the favor or which media player performs with the least resources. That would make a difference.

I haven't found this to always hold true. As I also have a sonicTransporter, with my sonicTransporter in either MPD/DLNA mode or Roon mode, I have the option of powering it with my HDPlex 12V as well as my Paul Hynes SR7 12V. In both instances, the feed to my mR is bit-perfect and using the exact same resources but with my Paul Hynes powering the sonicTransporter, SQ is VASTLY improved compared against the HDPlex.

[ElviaCaprice]

I haven't found this to always hold true. As I also have a sonicTransporter, with my sonicTransporter in either MPD/DLNA mode or Roon mode, I have the option of powering it with my HDPlex 12V as well as my Paul Hynes SR7 12V. In both instances, the feed to my mR is bit-perfect and using the exact same resources but with my Paul Hynes powering the sonicTransporter, SQ is VASTLY improved compared against the HDPlex.

 

My assumptions were with using the same PSU.

[Confused]

Roon 1.3 will be out soon (any day now). I would suggest you wait until its release before evaluating it as the new version may bring with it further improvement in SQ. For sure, it will bring with it an improved feature set including parametric EQ and convolution. I have found SQ with Roon to have evolved/improved significantly over time. I used to find it to be more of a convenience because of its library skinning abilities but now I find it to be superior with respect to SQ.

Checking in at the Roon forum it looks like you are correct, there are indeed changes in Roon 1.3 that are very likely to change sound quality. So thanks for the heads up! It would have been very annoying if I spent a couple of hours A/B testing, only to find A changing a few days later!

[vortecjr]

John H. Darko posted a review called 'Classy! Sonore’s microRendu takes digital audio higher'

 

Read the review here:

Classy! Sonore's microRendu takes digital audio higher | DAR__KO

[Superdad]

John H. Darko posted a review called 'Classy! Sonore’s microRendu takes digital audio higher'

 

 

 

Nice review. Congratulations!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Computer Audiophile