Article: Sonore microRendu Review, Part 1

[hifi_swlon]

Great Part 1 (although I would have liked it all in one piece personally). What's with the redactions?

[hifi_swlon]

Chris, when it comes on to Part 2, my primary interest (beyond SQ), is what power supply was used in relation to your closing comment of:

 

"I can unequivocally say that with the microRendu in place, my audio system has never sounded better than right now."

 

Having followed the microRendu thread, it seems like the device is on one hand claimed to be somewhat agnostic of external factors, but on the other hand will definitely benefit from (paraphrasing) 'the very best power supplies costing up to $2K+'. As consumers this leaves us slightly confused as to where it's pitched - i.e. should it be considered a $650 device or a $2,500 device?

 

It would be great if you could use a range of power supplies from the ifi upwards, and give some sort of indication of the improvement better supplies bring - assuming it is a factor of course.

 

I've ordered one anyway, with the ifi to start.

[hifi_swlon]

Look at this way: the µRendu is a $650 dollar device that offers excellent performance with a decent power supply. If one wants the absolute best performance it is capable of, then the best possible power supply is in order. Note that the µRendu, with a really excellent power supply (such as the Sonore Signature Supply designed specifically for it) still retails at around $2K total, and will beat out most (if not all) custom music servers, including ones at much higher price points (I am talking about $10K devices here). With the µRendu you can scale performance to your budget, it will perform quite well with more affordable supplies, but when you are ready to step up to top level performance, you can then add a top level supply to achieve that.

 

Thanks barrows.

 

I do get that, but since Chris had made the comment about it in his system, and I'd read some of his other reviews, I was curious whether he was using it as a $650 unit (ie with an ifi or whatever) or a more expensive unit (ie with a high end power supply) in order to say it was the best he'd heard in his system.

 

I know these things are subjective but 'Performing quite well' with affordable supplies doesn't appear to me to be enough to better all other streamers that have been tested in Chris' setup, so I'm guessing a much higher end PSU was used.....

[hifi_swlon]

Sonore is making a Signature Power Supply for the µRendu. Chris used a pre-production version of this for his review. Actual production versions of this supply should be shipping next week. The supply is built to order, in the US, and may take a little while to deliver (there are already some orders pending). This supply is designed specifically to get the best possible performance out of the µRendu.

 

Quoting from the microRendu topic, I see now that the article does very briefly mention the above power supply being used, although initially I didn't notice, and there's no mention of its cost, which perhaps wasn't known at the time of the article. I see it's now listed on the Sonore website as costing $2,399 (USD).

 

That means the total cost of the microRendu source as reviewed was actually $649 + $2,399 = $3,048

Hopefully this will be made clearer in the Part II, as it could possibly be construed as a bit misleading as it stands - finishing with a quote about it being the best sounding source ever heard, followed by a price tag of $649 - when in fact the system including the PS was more than 4x that.

 

That's still an amazing accomplishment if it beats something like the Aurender W20, but I still think its fairer to clarify.

 

Am looking forward to receiving mine to try with the ifi, and I really hope there's a subjective comparison between powering it with the ifi and the above Signature PS in the next part.

 

[hifi_swlon]

Typo, actual price of the Signature Power Supply is $1399.00, and combo deals may be available. This supply is in a beautiful custom made in the USA chassis, and comes with a very nice custom made (by Cardas) DC cable. This level of parts quality adds up quickly. Additionally, the supply is designed to offer the best performance possible, using a custom made discrete regulator circuit, for the µRendu. Considering the much higher cost of products which can compete at the same sound quality level, the combined price is totally reasonable.

 

Good technique, it seems a lot cheaper now

 

So the price of the combination reviewed was in fact $2,048. (I would have corrected my original post but that's not possible now.)

 

That this combo at circa $2K can 'better' an Aurender W20, as one example, is pretty incredible.

 

Looking forward to the part II and Chris' more detailed listening impressions.

[hifi_swlon]

...

It is pretty much impossible to make a complete purchase decision based on reviews anyway.

 

For a device like the microRendu it's pretty much impossible to do it any other way really since no dealers can loan them, hence the importance of thorough reviews user feedback - especially for overseas buyers. At least a renderer should be less system dependent than other components - it's really 'how good is it'

[hifi_swlon]

Actually, Chris said the following: ". . . my audio system has never sounded better than right now."

 

So, per his own wording, the Micro Rendu may not better than the other items he's reviewed, but is at least as good.

 

Joel

 

That's quite an analytical interpretation in my opinion.

 

I very much read the closing sentences as 'it's the best I've ever heard in my system', but since I've probably not read all of Chris reviews, and am unfamiliar with what other equipment he's used in his system, I'm none the wiser really. My best guess is the W20.

[hifi_swlon]

.... That sounds like an off-the-cuff comment though. Audio memory tends to be short.

 

The full concluding sentences of the review (my bold):

 

I've spent hours on end listening to music since I took delivery of the microRendu. I wanted to make sure I wasn't burned by expectation bias, so I compared it to many other sources and methods of audio playback (both blind and sighted). After all this, I can unequivocally say that with the microRendu in place, my audio system has never sounded better than right now.

 

Doesn't seem that off the cuff or involving much audio memory to me..... It reads like it's been quite thoroughly tested, both sighted and blind, against what we can only assume are the best source components Chris has available - which we'd hope would be his favourite sources.

[hifi_swlon]

There is a weakness in the story of all these USB devices (and I also own them): not a single manufacturer has published measurements showing that the output from his device is superior to the output without it.

 

I also subscribe to the "only trust my ears" argument, because in the end, even if I'm fooling myself, I enjoy listening more with the device installed.

 

But it would be nice if someone could actually show improvement that these devices bring.

 

It sure would.

 

It would also help with forums like WBF, which although I find utterly unpleasant and in general dislike the tone and manner of many contributors, I do think its fair to pose the question about a products effectiveness and ask for some sort of proof. After all, if manufacturers are making claims about weaknesses in USB digital data, noise on ground planes, noise in PHYs etc etc and making statements that such things exists in general in most or all devices, then surely they must have done a huge amount of research and measurement to determine this, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of their prototypes etc, and it doesn't seem unreasonable to ask to see some if it. I can see there are various reasons to not do so - from trade secrets and competitive advantage, right through to there not being any because its based on pure hypothesis.

 

I found the Regen didn't bring any change I could detect in my system, and I was intrigued by the discussions. It's a shame the main discussion was on WBF really as I would have quite liked to follow it.

 

Let's see what the microRendu does when it finally arrives..... like you say, for the average home user, all we have are our ears and they aren't calibrated measurement instruments as such and are part of a system that can be easily influenced, albeit we can justify the results to ourselves....

[hifi_swlon]

I think we can forget about that for a while until things settle there (check my thread on the microrendu there to see what I mean...).

 

I believe some independent measurements with eye pattern were posted on the pinkfishmedia forum by another John (unless it was that other forum with an animal name like hifipig?, memory fails).

 

I did, and it reminded me why I never go there Actually thats not fully fair as like I say being inquisitive and questioning is good for all of us, but it's just so, er, DULL, repetitive and ego central over there.

 

Yes, the eye patterns for the Regen were John Westlake via pfm (and not Wigwam? - not aware of an animal one!), but again some disputed whether that was indicative of an audible improvement. I don't have the kit, interest or inclination to do measurements, or the background to decipher them, but I do appreciate others doing it - whatever the conclusion - providing there's no predetermined agenda. As far as I'm aware nothing ever came from the manufacturers, unless I missed something....