Sonore opticalRendu

[lestes]

16 hours ago, cat6man said:

check this out (read from bottom up)...........at 6:53am today, my opticalRendu was 5 miles from my house (at the Newark, NJ distribution center) but was apparently left on the truck and was next seen in Lehigh, PA, from which it quickly departed and hopefully started its journey back here.................aaarrrrgggghhhhhh...................usps is still quoting delivery tomorrow

 

May 23, 2019, 1:48 pm
Departed USPS Regional Facility
LEHIGH VALLEY PA DISTRIBUTION CENTER 
Your item departed our USPS facility in LEHIGH VALLEY PA DISTRIBUTION CENTER on May 23, 2019 at 1:48 pm. The item is currently in transit to the destination.

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May 23, 2019, 1:47 pm
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
LEHIGH VALLEY PA DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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May 23, 2019, 6:53 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
NEWARK NJ DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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May 23, 2019, 1:32 am
Departed USPS Regional Facility
NASHUA NH DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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May 22, 2019, 9:22 pm
Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility
NASHUA NH DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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May 22, 2019, 6:01 pm
Departed Post Office
BEDFORD, NH 03110 

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May 22, 2019, 4:19 pm
USPS picked up item
BEDFORD, NH 03110 

I live in the Lehigh Valley and my unit arrives Saturday.  They could have just left yours with me!  

 

[lestes]

Is everyone leaving their OR on 24/7?  I'm switching from Auralic Aries to the OR and got the SGC power supply to go with it.  Both are warmish.  With the Aries I never shut it off, just wondering what each of you are doing.

[lestes]

My OR was sent to my work address (my mistake) so the Saturday delivery was turned away since no one was there to sign.  Therefore I just got it yesterday.  I got 2 hours to listen cold last night and about an hour this morning before the kids got up for breakfast.  So this is waaaay premature, but the initial impression is a contrast between hyper detail and syrupy smoothness.  I'm eager to hear if the OR smooths out a little bit.  My two examples would be silver wire vs copper or solid state amp vs tube.  The Aries was very enjoyable but less detailed and the OR is like looking through glass.  I am hoping the glass window opens up, and I am sure it will get there.  I've heard other Sonore products and that gave me confidence to go forward with the OR.  What is amazing is how you can follow any part of the frequency spectrum from highs to lows easily.  

 

My chain is Netgear NAS/Tidal - SGC's i5 SonicTransporter - OR - PS Audio DS DAC

[lestes]

Tonight I have finally had a chance to compare the the SFP port on my home Ubiquite EdgeRouter X SFP to the starter switch that came with Small Green Computer starter OR kit.  Mind you the starter switch with SFP is powered by a Small Green Computer power supply (as is my OR) and that setup used the supplied Fiber cable (an OS1 1m).  In the meantime I had gotten in a 10m 10Gtek OS2 cable to run from my router to the OR in hopes of trying it ($18), however I was having trouble configuring the EdgeRouter SFP to be part of the router switch (finally rectified today after hunting down the right how-to video).  

 

First, having the 10m OS2 cable at home for a few days I compared it to the 1m OS1 cable  in the SGC kit.  There is about a 1-2% difference among the two cables in my system (SGC kit...the OS1 isn't long enough to compare direct from the EdgeRouter).  I'd characterize the OS1 as more detailed and the OS2 to have a little more body.  One concern I've had with the OR has been a lack of body.  There has been so much detail that it is overwhelming and I have been waiting for the body to fill in, or hoping it would over the last few days of listening (7 days in total).  So the OS2 is preferred in the SGC setup so far.  Still I was hoping more body would come.

 

I'll cut to the chase here...The Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X SFP brought the body and clarity beyond my expectation.  It's a league better than the SGC switch (not made by them).  The funny part is the switch is $99 + power supply and the router is $80 (5 port version).  The 10m cable was around $18 delivered.  It has me wondering two things...how much better can this get with a replacement power supply for the EdgeRouter and would the OpticalModule be better than the current connection direct from the router (it is an additional step)?  The body and detail is simply fantastic.  For the reasonable outlay of funds I think Sonore has really hit a home run.  There is just the matter of experimenting with setup and I hope to get more thoughts from this forum group.  

 

Just to be clear my previous setup was Ubitquiti EdgeRouter to SGC Switch with SGC Power Supply via Audioquest CAT7 cable (10m) and the switch connected to OR via supplied 1m Fiber Cable.  This has been meaningfully bested by Ubitquite EdgeRouter to OR via 10m OS2 cable.  

 

I am eager to hear other experiences from all here.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lestes]

About 3 weeks in now with the OR w/SGC power supply.  I couldn't be happier.  My vinyl rig has been gathering some dust but I think that will level out in time.  It's been fun.  I thought I might share some experience here and hopefully gather some insight from the group.

 

Original Setup 1: Ubiquiti EdgeRouter SFP, Audioquest CAT 7 construction cable 20' run to stereo (their in wall spool), to Starter switch with SFP, Sonore supplied Optical Cable, OR with SGC PS.  This definitely bettered my Auralic Aries to PS Audio DS DAC using Audioquest Diamond USB

 

Setup 2: While waiting for the OR to arrive I installed the Ubiquiti to replace a Netgear WiFi router that was antiquated.  Of course I bought a router with SFP port so I had to get a 10m run of Optical Cable for $18 to try a direct connection.  When I originally purchased the OR Starter Kit I did not foresee this change.  When the direct connection to router came in it significantly bettered the Audioquest to switch setup.  

 

Setup 3 I was being curious if the OM would better a direct connection to the router.  Sonore/SGC were fantastic to deal with.  They took the switch back and credited me towards the OM.  I tried the OM first near the OR, connected to the 20' run of Audioquest CAT 7 construction grade cable and using the previous 1m supplied Optical Cable.  The OM is powered by its own SGC PS.  It was clear this was not as good as direct to the router.  I also swapped the 1m cable with the 10m just to make sure it wasn't the cable.

 

Setup 4 was to use a 1m Audioquest Vodka ethernet cable between router and OM and the same 10m Optical Cable to the OR that yielded such good results from the router.  Here is where the better part of two weeks have been spent.  This was a slightly different but good setup.  

 

Both this arrangement and the direct to router arrangement were tried for many days in a row each.  I have settled on using the router arrangement.  The music just feels more immediate and alive to me.  I am now curious if anyone else has compared the OM to a direct router SFP?  If you are using the OM I would not rush out to change, however in my system I found it to have lots of detail but less life.  Each arrangement takes a bit to suss out, but the OM never came around to making me sink into the music the same way the router connection does.  The beauty is that the OR is amazing and very honest.  I am convinced any change upstream of it will reveal different results.  I am currently thinking about a dedicated PS for the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter to see what that does.  Right now I prefer it and it is on its factory supplied PS.  

 

I am eager to hear from each of you.  Right now I am ecstatic with the OR.  

[lestes]

On 6/27/2019 at 8:08 PM, skatbelt said:

 

My guess is that, technically, the setup with the OM is the optimal one but for you - coming from a vinyl rig - this sounds to clinical/analytical. Your ears and brain are used to distortion and you perceive this as lifelike, live, warm... 

The experience has been just the opposite.  The OM sounds much more analogue in my system, but the direct to router improves the dynamics. 

 

This past week I went back to the OM just to make sure I give each setup a chance.  The OM to OR is mellower, but I am aware of more detail like vinyl.  The detail comes across in a very organic way.  The Ubiquiti Edgerouter X with SFP to OR has a more jump factor and feels perhaps more ethereal.  When a sting is plucked I feel it out in space and it seems like the note has body.  With the OM I hear it in more detail, but the note lacks the visceral impact in my system.  Keep in mind I am going right from Modem to Router (with 5 port switch and SFP port) to OR, so there isn't much in between.  

 

The OR is a really fantastic product.  So is the OM...I would recommend it to anyone.  It could be the exact right thing for your system.  If I didn't have the router I would be none the wiser and happy.