Sonore ultraRendu v1.3

[Johnseye]

On 5/23/2017 at 7:42 AM, JohnSwenson said:

When the microRendu project was started really good clocks were large and expensive so the choice was made to go with with a good but not best available clock. At this point we didn't understand how critical this next step in lower noise clocks was for many USB input DACs.

 

But now VERY low noise clocks are much smaller and less expensive than they were (still not cheap, but significantly less than before) so it was decided it was very important to use these in this design. This is probably the most important improvement over the microRendu.

 

 

John,  what is the typical life cycle duration for a clock and what kind of progress over time has been made in reducing noise and/or jitter?  Can we expect to see a lot of improvement over the next several years?

[firedog]

3 hours ago, Al Jones said:

If you've been on the fence about the Ultra, it's time to climb down and take the plunge.

Or get the Signature...

BTW, find it interesting you think the IsoRegen doesn't add anything to the Ultra. Would like to hear other ultra owners chime in on that comparison.

[austinpop]

24 minutes ago, firedog said:

BTW, find it interesting you think the IsoRegen doesn't add anything to the Ultra. Would like to hear other ultra owners chime in on that comparison.

 

Same here!

[BigAlMc]

1 hour ago, firedog said:

Or get the Signature...

BTW, find it interesting you think the IsoRegen doesn't add anything to the Ultra. Would like to hear other ultra owners chime in on that comparison.

Likewise. 

 

I'm also intrigued in the converse. Are you finding that the UR definitely outperforms the MR & ISO Regen combo? 

 

Thanks, 

Alan 

[vortecjr]

10 hours ago, Al Jones said:

As for the Ultra, well, it's quarter to three in the morning and I'm still listening, even though I should have been in bed before midnight.

 

There is a newfound "crispness" to everything, percussive effects explode with a scary realism and bass, which I thought was everything it could be and should be with the micro, now has more firmness, bounce and elasticity. The tonalities of various types of strings on acoustic guitars are more distinctive. Double-tracked voices are more easily distinguishable and room cues define recorded space with immense realism and ease.

 

I'm in a "just one more track" listening mood that will probably keep me up a few more hours and I have already accepted that the weekend will be one non-stop listening session.

 

If you've been on the fence about the Ultra, it's time to climb down and take the plunge.

Al, thanks for being a long time member of the Sonore family. 

[vortecjr]

10 hours ago, Sonic77 said:

I big indicator of how much I like a new piece of equipment is how long I listen to it, I have been listening to the ultraRendu for a couple of hours straight. I keep changing songs lol. 

I love it...keep on rocking.

[gadgetman]

Hi to everyone here. Got my uR this afternoon. It's hard to believe that I received my shipping notice only 3 days ago. And now it's in my hand here across the pacific ocean.

 

Kudos to everyone in Sonore. I'm expecting it'll level up my mR+IR.

[Kilauea50]

8 hours ago, firedog said:

Or get the Signature...

BTW, find it interesting you think the IsoRegen doesn't add anything to the Ultra. Would like to hear other ultra owners chime in on that comparison.

I removed the IsoReg and put it back after 1 song. The uR is fantastic alone but the IsoReg will be staying in my setup.  

[Al Jones]

I should have made it clearer that I was specifically comparing the Ultra to MR + IRegen, so yes, it "definitely outperforms" that combo to my ears.

 

Adding IRegen after the Ultra did no harm. It was not a step backward, but it didn't add anything either.

 

This was all with just a few hours on the Ultra, so there is room for change.

 

Since my MR 1.4 is in transit, I will try the UR/IR again during the weekend.

[Albrecht]

17 hours ago, Al Jones said:

As for the Ultra, well, it's quarter to three in the morning and I'm still listening, even though I should have been in bed before midnight.

 

There is a newfound "crispness" to everything, percussive effects explode with a scary realism and bass, which I thought was everything it could be and should be with the micro, now has more firmness, bounce and elasticity. The tonalities of various types of strings on acoustic guitars are more distinctive. Double-tracked voices are more easily distinguishable and room cues define recorded space with immense realism and ease.

 

If you've been on the fence about the Ultra, it's time to climb down and take the plunge.

Hi,

I have to concur. I got mine yesterday afternoon and got him plugged in in a few minutes and I must disagree with Darko's review in that the step up from microRendu to UltraRendu is more significant that he indicates: at least to me. I am hearing a much bigger soundstage, much sweeter & better defined bass, and more than significant amounts of low level detail. It is truly awesome. I listened to the really nice Dead Can Dance AIFF files that I ripped from the Hybrid Mobile Fidelity SACDs. One of things that blew me away was how the quiet background vocals were more distinct and more easily heard. Whereas before, - the two vocals were more like one vocal. Dead Can Dance also have a lot of African drums that have a similar timber, and they are played in different combos. These drums were more distinct, and it was much easier to distinguish between different, similar-sounding drums. I too found myself listening much longer than I anticipated, - playing 1 song after another, - curious has to how it was going to sound compared to the already excellent, microRendu. I have to say that I am really happy that I have done this, even though it pushed my budget, and my girlfriend's tolerance.

 

I do have one complaint. (See pic). I have the lovely Sonore/Cardas USB plug and the Sonore DC4/Cable. THere isn't enough room for the DC4 cable and the Ethernet cable to fit nicely between F-1 DDC because of the short length of the USB plug. I don't care about the Ethernet cable, but I don't like bending the $140 DC4 like that. (Finally, - this is a bit off-topic, - but I found that the DC4 from the LPS-1 makes a much bigger difference in SQ than the Sonore USB plug).

 

Jesus, - you ROCK!!

 

 

[vortecjr]

10 hours ago, Kilauea50 said:

I removed the IsoReg and put it back after 1 song. The uR is fantastic alone but the IsoReg will be staying in my setup.  

Play around with it as the various power supply combinations can affect the sound.

[vortecjr]

5 hours ago, Albrecht said:

Hi,

I have to concur. I got mine yesterday afternoon and got him plugged in in a few minutes and I must disagree with Darko's review in that the step up from microRendu to UltraRendu is more significant that he indicates: at least to me. I am hearing a much bigger soundstage, much sweeter & better defined bass, and more than significant amounts of low level detail. It is truly awesome. I listened to the really nice Dead Can Dance AIFF files that I ripped from the Hybrid Mobile Fidelity SACDs. One of things that blew me away was how the quiet background vocals were more distinct and more easily heard. Whereas before, - the two vocals were more like one vocal. Dead Can Dance also have a lot of African drums that have a similar timber, and they are played in different combos. These drums were more distinct, and it was much easier to distinguish between different, similar-sounding drums. I too found myself listening much longer than I anticipated, - playing 1 song after another, - curious has to how it was going to sound compared to the already excellent, microRendu. I have to say that I am really happy that I have done this, even though it pushed my budget, and my girlfriend's tolerance.

 

I do have one complaint. (See pic). I have the lovely Sonore/Cardas USB plug and the Sonore DC4/Cable. THere isn't enough room for the DC4 cable and the Ethernet cable to fit nicely between F-1 DDC because of the short length of the USB plug. I don't care about the Ethernet cable, but I don't like bending the $140 DC4 like that. (Finally, - this is a bit off-topic, - but I found that the DC4 from the LPS-1 makes a much bigger difference in SQ than the Sonore USB plug).

 

Jesus, - you ROCK!!

 

 

Great review. This are a little tight int there:)

[asdf1000]

Has anyone been able to use the Uptone USPCB with the ultraRendu, directly into their USB DAC?

 

Finding a 90 degree DC power connector isn't hard but bending the ethernet cable might be the only issue.

 

Would love to see any pics if anyone has managed this.

 

[Kilauea50]

2 hours ago, vortecjr said:

Play around with it as the various power supply combinations can affect the sound.

I have the LPS-1 connected to the IsoRegen and, right now, I am using the Mean Well with the uR.  Should I change this?  

[firedog]

3 hours ago, Kilauea50 said:

I have the LPS-1 connected to the IsoRegen and, right now, I am using the Mean Well with the uR.  Should I change this?  

AC's to Uptone, that's the recommended configuration.

[vortecjr]

8 hours ago, Kilauea50 said:

I have the LPS-1 connected to the IsoRegen and, right now, I am using the Mean Well with the uR.  Should I change this?  

No wonder.

[gbryant]

I've been searching for a video or review of actually using the Rendu. I understand that it is accessed through a web based GUI. Assuming accessing a MAC as the music server is possible.... can anyone give input on ease of use?

 

Thanks.

BTW.... I currently use a MacBook Pro and ROON, typically remote through desktop and / or iPad 

[BigAlMc]

5 minutes ago, gbryant said:

I've been searching for a video or review of actually using the Rendu. I understand that it is accessed through a web based GUI. Assuming accessing a MAC as the music server is possible.... can anyone give input on ease of use?

 

Thanks.

BTW.... I currently use a MacBook Pro and ROON, typically remote through desktop and / or iPad 

The GUI access is for settings and maintenance and is really simple. 

 

Day to day use is simply insert the Rendu (Micro or Ultra) in your system, attach an ethernet cable and tell Roon (however you normally control Roon) to play to the Rendu. Literally could not be easier. Once in place you can forget about the Rendu and just enjoy the music and great SQ. 

[Kendrick]

Given the configuration of the uR with power, ethernet and USB connections on the back of the unit, I don't see how a short USB adapter (Uptone or Sonore) could work.  I ended up buying a .8m USB cable from Curious and a custom .75m DC4 cable from Sonore for my uR, which arrived two days ago.  All three items are "burning-in" at the moment, so no comment on the SQ other than say it was noticeably better of late than fresh out of the box.  

[gbryant]

Just pulled the trigger on a ultrarendu.... planning to use it with a W4S LP1 power supply and iFi 3.0 / iFi cables

[vortecjr]

1 hour ago, Kendrick said:

Given the configuration of the uR with power, ethernet and USB connections on the back of the unit, I don't see how a short USB adapter (Uptone or Sonore) could work.  I ended up buying a .8m USB cable from Curious and a custom .75m DC4 cable from Sonore for my uR, which arrived two days ago.  All three items are "burning-in" at the moment, so no comment on the SQ other than say it was noticeably better of late than fresh out of the box.  

These hard adapters should really only be used with microRendu.   

[Al Jones]

I managed to connect my UR to my Lyngdorf amp using USPCB. With the USPCB in place, the problem was adapting the LAN cable and DC cable to fit alongside it.

 

I cut nearly an inch off the clear plastic outer sheath of a Meicord Opal LAN connector. That allowed me to bend the cable almost 90 degrees.

 

Almost all my DC cables have long plugs and/or rigid outer sheaths that make it impossible to insert them in the available space. The only exception was the Paul Haynes silver DC cable in the photo with a short plug and no sheath.

 

It can be done.

[gbryant]

Do any of you use a nas, such as the 4 bay synology, or 5 bay Drobo,with the rendu computer?

If so, can you elaborate on your experience.

I currently use several external drives. I manually copy my downloads to each of them. I am thinking of a 4bay nas in raid.

[t_ram]

24 minutes ago, Al Jones said:

 

It can be done.

 

It appears the Sonore dc4 cable would have a hard time bending to make clearance. That kinda stinks. I sold all my longer USB cables because the short adapter sounded better, makes me wonder if I should have just gone for the 1.4 upgrade. 

 

I have yet yet to see a pic of a Sonore 90 degree USB adapter in place, wonder if that could work. Anybody have one to show?

[d_elm]

My music is on a QNAP TS-251+ with 8GB memory  and two drives setup for mirroring.  There is also a single bay NAS for backup.  Since I use Windows 7 to maintain the drives the backup NAS is turned off except when I do a backup.  I do this to minimize the chance that Windows malware will get an opportunity to encrypt my backup and try to extract money from me.