MicroRendu Benefit?

[Music Matters]

When building my computer audio system my requests were:

 

1. SQ

2. PC should be located outside listening room

3. Remote app

 

I have achived this by placing PC (WIN 10 + Fidelizer + JRiver 20) in home office and using following setup:

 

PC -> AQ JBug -> Elijah Audio USB cable without power wires -> M2Tech HiFace EVO -> 10m AES/EBU cable -> DAC

 

With the SQ I'm delighted, and JRemote is the best control app. IMHO even AURENDER app. dosen't come close.

 

Next step that I would like to acomplish is to try to remove the PC from the chain, but continue to use JRiver only because of JRemote.

I was thinking of buying QNAP NAS and run JRiver on it.

 

I would like to know what is the benefit of microrendu (adding another component in the chain) or is it possible to use microrendu + JRemote without PC?

[ted_b]

microRendu has a DLNA mode, so if you can truly install JRIver on you QNAP (which is also a computer BTW) then yes, just run JRemote on your tablet/phone and use the microRendu as your renderer. You issue is sq of QNAP vs pc.

[Music Matters]

I still don't have QNAP, I have Synology, I know that NAS is also a PC, but it's one that consumes much less energy and is on 24/7.

I will maybe try it and if SQ is inferior to current setup, I can always use it for background music, and when I want higher quality use the PC.

[misterspense]

The microrendu can play as an airplay device, upnp, logitech squeezelite end point, hq player naa and as Roon end point. So there are plenty options for multiple devices to stream music to the microrendu. (Spotify on an ipad with airplay for instance, minimserver on a nas with upnp, hq player on a computer, Roon seems to have something for a nas as well.)

[ted_b]

I'd like to add to my "your issue is SQ of QNAP vs pc". Maybe the larger variable is the pristine clean USB handshake of the microRendu vs how your DAC likes it's AES/EBU input. One may be a better sweetspot than the other.

 

Misterspense, while your feature list is correct (and microRednu is great that way), the OP really only wants to know about JRIver (i.e DLNA) being that he is wanting to use JRemote. I don't blame him; if I could have JRemote talking to HQPlayer I'd be in heaven.

[Cebolla]

I'd like to add to my "your issue is SQ of QNAP vs pc". Maybe the larger variable is the pristine clean USB handshake of the microRendu vs how your DAC likes it's AES/EBU input. One may be a better sweetspot than the other.

I think it's also worth adding that any issue re "sound quality of QNAP vs PC" when using the microRendu in UPnP/DLNA renderer mode would have nothing to do with the audio playback chain itself. Under UPnP/DLNA, decoding of the music file into the digital audio signal that gets passed to the DAC occours entirely in the microRendu (the UPnP renderer), with the networked pc or QNAP running JRiver being used as 'mere' network file servers of that music file (UPnP/DLNA media servers). Any influence on the SQ of the microRendu's music file playback, by either of those two network music file providing devices can only be unwanted, ie, interference/noise.

[ted_b]

Yep, noise is an issue. The cleanliness of the music server, power supply and its pathways is always an ingredient. So, QNAP vs pc is still a small issue, but as I then said, likely secondary compared to uRendu's USB quality vs OP's AES/ebu quality, and how the dac processes each.

[Music Matters]

I didn't had the opportunity to check the USB input on my DAC. Last night I was thinking that maybe would be good to first get uRendu. And check how is that working with USB input on my DAC, than later insert mac mini or Intel NUC, to have something dedicated for audio and with low power consuption. What do you think, which is the better solution regarding interference/noise and running JRiver?

[hazoepne]

One may be a better sweetspot than the other.

[Music Matters]

One may be a better sweetspot than the other.

 

I know that, maybe someone here had the opportunity to try both of them.