Sonore ultraDigital v2.0

[R1200CL]

On 4.11.2017 at 9:37 PM, Lebouwsky said:

If the price of the ultradigital is right, I’m willing to invest, would love to compare and happy to share.

 

Did you purchase ?

 

(It feels like I’m the only one purchased this fantastic product ?)

[R1200CL]

3 hours ago, nbpf said:

I do not need any support but I am not keen to buy a USB interface that is meant to be used only with Rendu devices given that I do not plan to buy any ultraRendu or microRendu.  

 

It seems the same product is listed here with better support and no restrictions ?

 

https://www.smallgreencomputer.com/collections/accessories/products/ultradigital-usb-to-spdif-and-lvds-i2s-converter?variant=1238811639823

 

[R1200CL]

On 25.11.2017 at 3:06 AM, jjraffin said:

 

Pity. I had an image in my head of a three-stack of ultraRendu, ultraDigital, and LPS-1 with a dual output...

 

Well, my record is powering 4 devices with one LPS-1 ?

 

If I tell you that Jesus is wrong, will you believe me ? 

 

 

[nbpf]

On 12/8/2017 at 7:18 PM, R1200CL said:

I have the EVO myself here. Just my laziness I’ve not listed it yet. 

I think your idea of exchange the DCC as the first step is the right way to go. 

 

How does the Sonore uR compare to the M2Tech hiFace Evo in your system? Do you notice a significant improvement in sound quality when you replace the Evo with the uR? Thanks, nbpf 

[vortecjr]

12 hours ago, R1200CL said:

 

Well, my record is powering 4 devices with one LPS-1 ?

 

If I tell you that Jesus is wrong, will you believe me ? 

 

 

No warranty for you if it breaks:)

[vortecjr]

12 hours ago, R1200CL said:

 

It seems the same product is listed here with better support and no restrictions ?

 

https://www.smallgreencomputer.com/collections/accessories/products/ultradigital-usb-to-spdif-and-lvds-i2s-converter?variant=1238811639823

 

LOL. He just copied what I had on my site. That is just a firmware and all the units already come with it as I advised before. 

[vortecjr]

13 hours ago, R1200CL said:

 

And are you going to send to Roon ?

No.

[R1200CL]

4 hours ago, nbpf said:

How does the Sonore uR compare to the M2Tech hiFace Evo in your system? Do you notice a significant improvement in sound quality when you replace the Evo with the uR? Thanks, nbpf 

 

That hasn’t been tested, since I first had a Singxer F1, and then now the SU-1. Maybe I can do a quick test tomorrow, but I’m quite sure about the outcome. 

[R1200CL]

3 hours ago, vortecjr said:

No warranty for you if it breaks:)

 Actually yes, the LPS-1 has build in protection. 

I actually overload 2 of them in series in order to try to power the SonicTransporter ?

 

[nbpf]

25 minutes ago, R1200CL said:

 

That hasn’t been tested, since I first had a Singxer F1, and then now the SU-1. Maybe I can do a quick test tomorrow, but I’m quite sure about the outcome. 

You are saying that the SU-1 and the uR are significantly better than the hiFace Evo under comparable linear PSUs, right?  

[R1200CL]

2 hours ago, nbpf said:

You are saying that the SU-1 and the uR are significantly better than the hiFace Evo under comparable linear PSUs, right?  

 

Yes. I use LPS-1. 

There will be some more testing to morrow with a second pair of trained ears ?

 

Will use 4 LPS-1 during test tomorrow. 

One for each rendu, and one for each DDC. (Maybe leave the JSGT switch out or just use a normal SMPS with the JSGT)

Will use USPCB for both DCC. Will play same song simultaneously on both DCC using Roon, and just switch input on the DAC. 

 

So only difference will be the digital cable as one will be a Nordost Valhalla 2 XLR, and the other some sort of bastard RCA with probably correct BNC ohm. The official ohm seems to be a well kept secret, but my plugs will be 75 ohm. 

 

I can then also also add in the HiFace EVO in the test setup. 

 

The DAC is a Theta Generation VIII. 

[nbpf]

1 hour ago, R1200CL said:

 

Yes. I use LPS-1. 

There will be some more testing to morrow with a second pair of trained ears ?

 

Will use 4 LPS-1 during test tomorrow. 

One for each rendu, and one for each DDC. (Maybe leave the JSGT switch out or just use a normal SMPS with the JSGT)

Will use USPCB for both DCC. Will play same song simultaneously on both DCC using Roon, and just switch input on the DAC. 

 

So only difference will be the digital cable as one will be a Nordost Valhalla 2 XLR, and the other some sort of bastard RCA with probably correct BNC ohm. The official ohm seems to be a well kept secret, but my plugs will be 75 ohm. 

 

I can then also also add in the HiFace EVO in the test setup. 

 

The DAC is a Theta Generation VIII. 

Thanks for the detailed feedback, enjoy the test tomorrow! Best, nbpf

[tapatrick]

On 13/12/2017 at 6:09 PM, R1200CL said:

 

Yes. I use LPS-1. 

There will be some more testing to morrow with a second pair of trained ears ?

 

Will use 4 LPS-1 during test tomorrow. 

One for each rendu, and one for each DDC. (Maybe leave the JSGT switch out or just use a normal SMPS with the JSGT)

Will use USPCB for both DCC. Will play same song simultaneously on both DCC using Roon, and just switch input on the DAC. 

 

So only difference will be the digital cable as one will be a Nordost Valhalla 2 XLR, and the other some sort of bastard RCA with probably correct BNC ohm. The official ohm seems to be a well kept secret, but my plugs will be 75 ohm. 

 

I can then also also add in the HiFace EVO in the test setup. 

 

The DAC is a Theta Generation VIII. 

Hi

@R1200CL curious how you got on with your testing?...

[vortecjr]

On 12/13/2017 at 5:52 AM, vortecjr said:

LOL. He just copied what I had on my site. That is just a firmware and all the units already come with it as I advised before. 

It seems I was wrong about this:) I spoke with Andrew and he is in fact offering the Windows driver, but he is not providing support for it. I agreed to allow him to do this since he builds and sells a Windows based music server.   

[nbpf]

On 12/13/2017 at 7:09 PM, R1200CL said:

 

Yes. I use LPS-1. 

There will be some more testing to morrow with a second pair of trained ears ?

 

Will use 4 LPS-1 during test tomorrow. 

One for each rendu, and one for each DDC. (Maybe leave the JSGT switch out or just use a normal SMPS with the JSGT)

Will use USPCB for both DCC. Will play same song simultaneously on both DCC using Roon, and just switch input on the DAC. 

 

So only difference will be the digital cable as one will be a Nordost Valhalla 2 XLR, and the other some sort of bastard RCA with probably correct BNC ohm. The official ohm seems to be a well kept secret, but my plugs will be 75 ohm. 

 

I can then also also add in the HiFace EVO in the test setup. 

 

The DAC is a Theta Generation VIII. 

Did you manage to do some more testing? If so, what are the outcomes? Best, nbpf

[birdland45]

If I should start a new topic in a different section, let me know.

 

I just purchased the utlraRendu, ultraDigital and Sbooter power supply as a special package from Small Green Computer.  I've sent an email to them but I thought I'd post something here.

 

I don't have a NAS or music server yet so I used JRiver MC to serve up my music library from my computer.  I used JRiver to play to the ultraRendu which is connected to the ultraDigital and then to my DAC, the Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2v2SE, via I2S 'completely unaltered'.  I can get all PCM up to 352kHz and DSD from DSD64 to DSD256 as verified by the DAC.

 

The problem is that the left and right channels are reversed.  I believe I have set up the switches on the ultraDigital properly and yet what I hear on the left should be on the right and vice versa.

 

Has anyone seen this with the ultraDigital?  (I hope this isn't the same problem as I've read about with the SIngxer SU-1 and W4S DACs.)

 

Thanks,

Walter

[pm325]

18 minutes ago, birdland45 said:

The problem is that the left and right channels are reversed.

Please, check proper polarity of right channel for DSD stream also. In case of LVDS input W4S Dac-2 DSDse right channel out of phase ;) For PCM it should be ok.

[birdland45]

The channel reversal was definitely with PCM.  I didn't notice it with DSD because the DSD which was playing was classical music and I wasn't actually in the room when it was playing.

 

I will check the polarity but that is bit harder than channel reversal and I managed to catch a cold at the beginning of the holidays.

[catastrofe]

9 hours ago, Booster MPS said:

Rookie question:

 

If I wanted Roon on the Ultra Rendu I would need a computer running Roon Core and a Tidal account, but if I just wanted to use attached USB storage I would need to put the USB drive on my network, put a remote EERO like device with ethernet near my stereo and run ethernet cable to the Rendu, right?  Does the Rendu have any kind of player software associated with it or do I need to run a server to play what is on my USB drive?

 

Just trying to understand what "boxes" I need and where.  Thanks.

You only need a Tidal account if you want to stream Tidal's content. . .Tidal is merely a service that is integrated with Roon if you choose to use it.  You can stream Tidal without Roon.  Just wanted to make the distinction between the two.

 

The Roon core must be somewhere on your network.  This can be on a computer or a NAS.

Your music files must be either somewhere on the network like on a NAS, on the hard drive of the computer running the Roon core, or on a hard drive attached to that computer.

The UltraRendu has internal "player" options, one of which is "Roon Ready".  You long on to the UR and select that application.

 

My setup is just like you're describing.  In my office I have a Nuc i7 running ROCK with a USB hard drive attached.  The Nuc is attached via ethernet to a Netgear Orbi satellite (same thing as EERO).  In my living room, I have the Netgear Orbi router.  Ethernet out of the router to my UltraRendu.  Works like a charm.  

 

 

 

[rah50]

On 12/23/2017 at 10:06 PM, birdland45 said:

If I should start a new topic in a different section, let me know.

 

I just purchased the utlraRendu, ultraDigital and Sbooter power supply as a special package from Small Green Computer.  I've sent an email to them but I thought I'd post something here.

 

I don't have a NAS or music server yet so I used JRiver MC to serve up my music library from my computer.  I used JRiver to play to the ultraRendu which is connected to the ultraDigital and then to my DAC, the Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2v2SE, via I2S 'completely unaltered'.  I can get all PCM up to 352kHz and DSD from DSD64 to DSD256 as verified by the DAC.

 

The problem is that the left and right channels are reversed.  I believe I have set up the switches on the ultraDigital properly and yet what I hear on the left should be on the right and vice versa.

 

Has anyone seen this with the ultraDigital?  (I hope this isn't the same problem as I've read about with the SIngxer SU-1 and W4S DACs.)

 

Thanks,

Walter

 

Walter:

 

I'm really interested in your report as I also have a W4S DAC-2v2SE, mine upgraded from the DAC-2DSDse (a huge improvement). The ultraDigital bypassing the usb input would alleviate my biggest frustration with the W4S ie the limitation of DSD128 with my microRendu and using the i2s input, which is reportedly the best input, hopefully will be another bonus. 

 

I thought the problem with the Singxer was because W4S claimed to use the exact PS configuration but it actually wasn't. Since the ultraDigital has a separate W4S config, if it's not 100% correct, hopefully it can be easily fixed.

 

Looking forward to your report,

 

Bob

[birdland45]

Hi Bob:

 

I too purchased the ultraRendu AND ultraDigital because I wanted native DSD256 support with the W4S DAC-2v2SE.  I purchased both ultras because I thought that since they are made by the same company, they would be compatible with each other.  They work great together and I have purchased a diskless sonicTransporter i5 yesterday before the holiday specials ended.  I just have to figure out how to control playback using an iPhone or similar after I receive the sonicTransporter.  I tried iPeng with JRiver MC using the latter as a media server but iPeng could not find JRiver.  I hope I didn't spend $10 for nothing.  MonkeyMote couldn't find it either.  Hopefully, I jut don't know what I'm doing.

 

The new Panel from JRiver works with JRiver MC as it should.  As I stated in my original post, I've been able to send content to the ultraRendu at all resolutions including DSD256 natively.  This is with Panel running on the same computer as JRiver MC and Panel on my iPhone.  However, Panel is extremely painful to use because as far as I can tell, it doesn't support playlists, etc.

 

The channel reversal issue was a big disappointment.  I also thought that since the ultraDigital had specific switch settings for W4S DACs, it would not have any issues.

 

I have verified that the channel swap occurs with both PCM and DSD content.  Unfortunately, since I have a bad cold and feel like my head is going to explode, I really cannot determine if DSD has the out of phase issue that the Singxer had.  If you or anyone else have an easy way to determine this, please let me know.  I know from reading other posts that it is not easy to detect an out of phase problem.

 

I used TASCAM Hi-Res Editor to convert a 16/44.1kHz WAV file to DSD64 and the channels were definitely reversed.  I was listening via headphones so I could not determine if there was a phase problem with DSD or both DSD and PCM.  I will try to listen again later today or tomorrow via speakers especially since I have the same file in both formats.

 

I haven't received an answer from Andrew Gillis of Small Greeen Computer or Jesus of Sonore.  However, I wasn't really expecting anything since it is the holidays.

[rickca]

On 11/24/2017 at 7:23 AM, vortecjr said:

The ultraDigital is a condensed version of the Singxer SU-1 main board with some minor tweaks. In this case the USB bus powers the XMOS side (dirty side) and external power is used for the digital output side (clean side).

Does this mean the ultraDigital is a modded SU-1 made by Singxer for Sonore?  What other tweaks have been implemented?

[birdland45]

Apparently, I missed that post regarding the ultraDigital being a condensed version of the Singxer SU-1.  This may explain why I am seeing these issues.

[vortecjr]

The best way to test this is with proper L/R test files (one for PCM and on for DSD). You should also test with one channel connected at a time to be sure the interconnects and speaker outputs are not swapped. 

[birdland45]

55 minutes ago, vortecjr said:

The best way to test this is with proper L/R test files (one for PCM and on for DSD). You should also test with one channel connected at a time to be sure the interconnects and speaker outputs are not swapped. 

 

Hi:

 

Are you responding to the channel swap issue or the possible DSD out of phase issue?

 

I know that the channels are swapped for both PCM and DSD.  The interconnects are currently swapped between left and right channels so they are correct.  Of course, if I use any other digital input on the DAC, the channels are swapped again.

 

Since the ultraDigital is a condensed SU-1, I am assuming that it has the same issues as the SU-1 when being used with the W4S DAC via I2S.  It sound like we need a new firmware version for the ultraDigital similar to what Singxer did with the SU-1.