Sonore ultraRendu v1.3

[jaaptina]

3 hours ago, barrows said:

The ultraRendu can indeed power a DragonFly (as long as the ultraRendu has adequate ventilation), but whether it can work with the DragonFly USB input is a question which @vortecjr would have to answer.

Thanks but I just realized the DragonFly doesn't have a volume control in this set up. So I need a dac with volume control. 

[vortecjr]

Team, the DragonFly can be powered, by any Rendu. In addition, they have hardware and software volume support. 

[savingslowly]

So I got my cambridge working after a call from one of the guys at uptone which was much appreciated! Ive run into a issue now though. Ive read that you can safely power an iso regen and ultrarendu from 1 ultracap 1.2 but when I received the starquad y cable last night and plugged it in the ultra would begin to boot then after about 5 or 10 secs it would switch off at which point the ultracap light would go red and I'd be backto square 1again. I didn't have much time to play last night and not sure if i powered down the ultracap first. Any ideas why this might be happening? Thanks

[esmit]

3 hours ago, savingslowly said:

So I got my cambridge working after a call from one of the guys at uptone which was much appreciated! Ive run into a issue now though. Ive read that you can safely power an iso regen and ultrarendu from 1 ultracap 1.2 but when I received the starquad y cable last night and plugged it in the ultra would begin to boot then after about 5 or 10 secs it would switch off at which point the ultracap light would go red and I'd be backto square 1again. I didn't have much time to play last night and not sure if i powered down the ultracap first. Any ideas why this might be happening? Thanks

What voltage did you set? Does it work when you only use the ultraRendu with the cable?

[savingslowly]

7v it works fine when it's just the cable that came with it... The problem only occurs with the split... It's almost like the caps can't keep up the with current draw and they run out of charge and then go back into a charge cycle. From what Ive been told this shouldn't be an issue though. 

[barrows]

@savingslowly.  I think you may need to consult @Superdad on this one.  This indeed sounds like there is just not enough current to allow the ultraRendu to fully boot.  Although my understanding is that this combo usually works.

 

[savingslowly]

Yes. The fix to get the iso to work with the cambridge is to actually have iso powered and connected first, which is what I have been doing so booting the ultra first isn't an option... Also while I'm here I remember reading that a shielded cat cable into the rendu allows noise to travel into it... Is this correct? I have recently purchased a decent Ethernet cable also from ghent but maybe it's not the best way to go from the router to ultra? 

[savingslowly]

Ok more info... When I i got home today I power cycled the ultracap and I was able to get both the rendu and the iso to boot but I was again unable to get the rendu to see the dac with the iso inline. I tried shutting it down and connecting the iso first then booting the rendu (which worked before) but no luck... I've been trying for about an hour.... now Ive just started having the same Problem as before where the power cuts from the 1.2 and the red light starts flashing... Maybe it's because it's too warm? It is fairly hot.. Please help it shouldn't be this hard to get this kit working... It's starting to do my head in!! 

[barrows]

3 hours ago, savingslowly said:

Ok more info... When I i got home today I power cycled the ultracap and I was able to get both the rendu and the iso to boot but I was again unable to get the rendu to see the dac with the iso inline. I tried shutting it down and connecting the iso first then booting the rendu (which worked before) but no luck... I've been trying for about an hour.... now Ive just started having the same Problem as before where the power cuts from the 1.2 and the red light starts flashing... Maybe it's because it's too warm? It is fairly hot.. Please help it shouldn't be this hard to get this kit working... It's starting to do my head in!! 

ultraRendu direct to DAC works without the isoRegen in place?  If yes, then you need to consult with @Superdad about the issue.

Do you have another power supply available for testing?

 

On your Ethernet cable question, the Sonore recommendation for Ethernet cables is to use Blue Jeans Cable CAT 6A which uses a floating shield.  If one uses Ethernet cables with metal connectors on both ends and grounded shielding (connected to the metal connectors) this defeats the isolation inherent in Ethernet and COULD be a source of ground current noise.

 

Additionally: please note that by powering the ultraRendu and the isoRegen from the same power supply, you end up defeating the isolation of the isoRegen.  For best performance of these two products together, they need to have separate, isolated, power supplies.

[rickca]

23 minutes ago, barrows said:

If one uses Ethernet cables with metal connectors on both ends and grounded shielding (connected to the metal connectors) this defeats the isolation inherent in Ethernet and COULD be a source of ground current noise.

Does anyone know whether Supra Cat8 ethernet cables have this issue?

[barrows]

5 minutes ago, rickca said:

Does anyone know whether Supra Cat8 ethernet cables have this issue?

Typically, the CAT7 and CAT8 cables I have seen include metal shell plugs with the shield connected to the shell.  It is easy enough to test (if one has a DMM) for continuity between the two ends of the cable, just see if there is continuity between the shell at each end, if there is, the possibility of creating a ground loop exists.  I am not suggesting that this ground continuity IS definitely a problem, but it certainly is a potential problem, depending on the system context.

Ethernet copper wiring is isolated by transformer at each end, but a ground connection between components via the cable shield defeats the isolation.

[Albrecht]

18 minutes ago, rickca said:

Does anyone know whether Supra Cat8 ethernet cables have this issue?

It is easy to remove one of the shields with a dental probe or small screwdriver. I run fiber with FMCs and use CAT 8 cable from the FMC to the Rendu shield removed.

 

[R1200CL]

3 hours ago, barrows said:

On your Ethernet cable question, the Sonore recommendation for Ethernet cables is to use Blue Jeans Cable CAT 6A which uses a floating shield.  If one uses Ethernet cables with metal connectors on both ends and grounded shielding (connected to the metal connectors) this defeats the isolation inherent in Ethernet and COULD be a source of ground current noise.

 

Ghent’s ethernet cables use the Faraday Cage theory (yes JSSG), and the connectors is NOT connected to any screen. 

 

And for the price, probably the best ethernet cable you can get. 

http://www.ghentaudio.com/part/et11.html

[savingslowly]

Ok so it's suitable as per the recommended spec? 

[R1200CL]

4 minutes ago, savingslowly said:

Ok so it's suitable as per the recommended spec? 

 

What do you actually mean ?

Audiopile ethernet cables may not not comply 100% with the given specifications.

Yes the cable of cause does, but cable and plug together not always. And that’s to overcome the problems mentioned above. 

 

As an example the Audioquest Vodka has no shield connected to those Telegärtner they use. Blue Jeans only use plastic plugs. 

[savingslowly]

What I mean is related to my original question of: Ive read that some shielded ethernet cables will carry noise through the shield. I've just purchased a ghent cat cable with the german made heads (can't remember the brand off the top of my head) will this be suitable to connect to my ultrarendu from router ie will this cause those problems or is it ok? It has the metal ends but from what your saying the shield isnt connected to this so yes it is suitable? 

[barrows]

If the shield on your Ethernet cable is not connected to the plugs (with metal jacket plugs), then you have no problem.

[savingslowly]

Thanks

[Superdad]

21 hours ago, savingslowly said:

So I got my cambridge working after a call from one of the guys at uptone which was much appreciated! Ive run into a issue now though. Ive read that you can safely power an iso regen and ultrarendu from 1 ultracap 1.2 but when I received the starquad y cable last night and plugged it in the ultra would begin to boot then after about 5 or 10 secs it would switch off at which point the ultracap light would go red and I'd be backto square 1again. I didn't have much time to play last night and not sure if i powered down the ultracap first. Any ideas why this might be happening? Thanks

 

Hi:

Just saw this--and your private message and I'll be happy to assist you offline. (Given your report, I am almost wondering if you bought the wrong Ghent 'Y' cable, the "series-connection" version instead of the regular 'Y'.)

 

A general request for folks seeking support for their UpTone products.  Please do not use the forums (and certainly not forums other than the UpTone-sponsered one) or the CA messaging system if you wish to receive timely support.

 

Please use the contact page of our web site (https://uptoneaudio.com/pages/contact-us), which goes directly to my e-mail box, or if you have it, use my private e-mail address directly--no difference.  We receive a wide variety of sales and support questions each day and I spend at least half of every day staying on top of those.  

 

I keep notes about discussions but if all I have is a CA user name I really can not recall what might have come before.  And for some support questions it is far more efficient to speak on the telephone to step through some easy tests.  I am happy to make the call.

 

Thanks and regards,

--Alex C.

 

 

[sahmen]

Hey guys:  I just got my Yggy back from the Analog2 upgrade, and for some reason, when I insert it back into the chain where it used to belong, I cannot get my ultrarendu to see it, when hooked up via USB...  This Yggy has the USB 5, which it did before the Analog2 upgrade, but I never experienced this interface problem before...

I can get the Ultrarendu and Yggy to work nice together, when I throw the Schiit Eitr into the mix, like this:

 

Ultrarendu ==>> Phasure Lush USB ==>> Schiit Eitr ==>> S/PDiF coax cable ==>> Schiit Yggy... (This works fine)

 

But this one does not seem to work :

 

Ultrarendu ==>> Phasure Lush USB ==>> Yggdrasil...   (Sonicorbiter's DAC diagnostics report that I have no USB attached, when I do this)

 

 

If anyone has experienced an issue like this before, and knows how to resolve it, your thoughts would be welcome.

 

Full disclosure:  I am powering my Ultrarendu with an Uptone Audio LPS 1.2, in case this has something to do with it, which I doubt very much...  But there you have it...  I'm just stumped...  I prefer the direct USB 5 connection to the  Schiit Eitr/SPDIF interface, which is why I would like to get this remedied.  Thanks.

[asdf1000]

49 minutes ago, sahmen said:

Ultrarendu ==>> Phasure Lush USB ==>> Yggdrasil...   (Sonicorbiter's DAC diagnostics report that I have no USB attached, when I do this)

 

Have you got a certified USB 2.0 cable to test (like a printer cable)?

 

Just a temporary test, to see if it's the Lush cable?

[sahmen]

25 minutes ago, Em2016 said:

 

Have you got a certified USB 2.0 cable to test (like a printer cable)?

 

Just a temporary test, to see if it's the Lush cable?

 

I can certainly do that and report back.  However, the Lush cable was playing absolutely nice with the Yggy's USB 5 module, before the Yggy went off for the Analog 2 upgrade (which did not have anything to do with USB at all), so I wonder.  I shall test with a generic USB cable and report back.

 

[rlow]

14 minutes ago, sahmen said:

 

I can certainly do that and report back.  However, the Lush cable was playing absolutely nice with the Yggy's USB 5 module, before the Yggy went off for the Analog 2 upgrade (which did not have anything to do with USB at all), so I wonder.  I shall test with a generic USB cable and report back.

 

 

If that doesn't work, do you have a PC you could plug into the Yggy direct USB as well to try?

[sahmen]

12 hours ago, Em2016 said:

 

Have you got a certified USB 2.0 cable to test (like a printer cable)?

 

Just a temporary test, to see if it's the Lush cable?

 

12 hours ago, rlow said:

 

If that doesn't work, do you have a PC you could plug into the Yggy direct USB as well to try?

 

Well, I used a different USB 2.0 cable to plug my Macbook Pro into the Yggy's USB 5 directly, and my MacBook pro too does not see the Yggy as a viable sound card...  So something is definitely screwy with the USB 5's functionality...

 

I've contacted Schiit Audio and gotten the following initial response, which does not make much sense to me, but I am no expert, so maybe someone here might help me to figure this out:

 

*****

"It turns out that when exclusive mode in Roon is turned on, it somehow sets the Audio MIDI setup for the device *Yggdrasil Gen 5) to be 32 bit. Manually setting the Yggdrasil to 2ch 24-bit Integer 192.0 kHz get sound working again. In my Roon device Playback settings, have the Sample Rate (PCM) set to Up to 192 and the Max Bits Per Sample (PCM) to 24 bits. It LOOKS like when put into exclusive mode, 32 bits it being set and the Yggdrasil seems to not like that."

*****

 

First of all, I am not getting why this should . have anything to do with Roon, and I also do not know how I can manually change any settings on the Yggy, or via audio midi settings, when it is not even showing up on my Macbook pro, when connected via USB.

 

The biggest puzzle to me is that the USB 5 on the Yggy was working seamlessly and flawlessly with my rig before the Analog 2 upgrade trip...   Is there something about the Analog 2 upgrade process that has screwed with the functionality of the USB 5?  I do not know, but I am still in communication with Schiit Audio about this, and we shall see where that leads...
 

[asdf1000]

25 minutes ago, sahmen said:

*****

"It turns out that when exclusive mode in Roon is turned on, it somehow sets the Audio MIDI setup for the device *Yggdrasil Gen 5) to be 32 bit. Manually setting the Yggdrasil to 2ch 24-bit Integer 192.0 kHz get sound working again. In my Roon device Playback settings, have the Sample Rate (PCM) set to Up to 192 and the Max Bits Per Sample (PCM) to 24 bits. It LOOKS like when put into exclusive mode, 32 bits it being set and the Yggdrasil seems to not like that."

*****

 

Does that mean you need to change the sample rate in Audio MIDI for each different sample rate you play? Or leaving it at 24/192kHz is enough for all sample rates at 192k and below?

 

25 minutes ago, sahmen said:

The biggest puzzle to me is that the USB 5 on the Yggy was working seamlessly and flawlessly with my rig before the Analog 2 upgrade trip...   Is there something about the Analog 2 upgrade process that has screwed with the functionality of the USB 5? 

 

Have you asked Schiit what's changed? They're really the only ones that can answer. You can ask them if this is specific to Roon but I doubt it.. If you have Audirvana (or use the free trial version) you can test and confirm if it has the same problem. Change the output mode of ultraRendu to UPnP for Audirvana to see it as an endpoint. And select Exclusive Mode.