Sonore opticalRendu

[André Gosselin]

6 minutes ago, barrows said:

OK, the extra FMC came in today and I made the following current draw measurements:

 

Playback software: ROON

DAC: MOJO (this DAC uses no USB current)

 

sample rate PCM 705.6...................................1A

sample rate PCM 44.1.....................................890 mA

sample rate DSD 128 (DoP)............................935 mA

 

Playback software: ROON

DAC: Buffalo, tasing Amanero USB interface (uses USB power)

 

sample rate DSD 256 (native).........................1.125A

sample rate PCM 44.1.....................................1.025A

 

All currents measured via voltage drop across a 1%, 1 ohm resistor via a Fluke true RMS DMM.

 

@Dutch,

In light of these measurements I am raising the recommended power supply current for the opticalRendu.  Allowing for 20% current headroom, and considering the maximum measured draw of !.125A, I recommend a supply capable of 1.35 A continuous output (or more).  Also note that some DACs may draw more current from the USB bus, in that case a more powerful supply might be advised.

I knew from my experience that the opticalRendu was drawing significantly more current than previous models, but I was still surprised at the measured results.  Even with a DAC which uses no USB power one is running right at the limit on an LPS power supply.

I suggest users be careful when selecting power supplies for the opticalRendu, use these actual, precise measurements as your guide. 

 Does that imply the LPS will be dropped from the list of recommended power supplies on the Sonore.us optical web page ?

[André Gosselin]

6 hours ago, iLguapo said:

I’m powering a Mac mini and the OR with the same JS-2

@Barrows You warned against powering both an opticalrendu and optical module with the same power supply. Is there a similar concern also with powering both an opticalrendu and its associated USB Dac with the same PS ?

Regards,

[André Gosselin]

On 5/26/2019 at 8:54 PM, barrows said:

There are a couple of things to think about here:

 

First, anytime you share power supplies one is making a compromise, even internally inside a DAC, one of the main differences between good DACs, and really superb DACs is the number of separate power supplies internally, which provide separate clean feeds to different sections of the DAC-for example, Ayre's latest DAC has 4 transforms internally, and a Bricasti M1 has 3.

 

So anytime you can provide dedicated supplies it is going to be an advantage.

 

Secondly, in this specific example, let's assume our USB DAC has a galavanically isolated USB interface.  In this case, if you power the opticalRendu and the DAC from the same power supply, you have now defeated the isolation designed into the DAC, so you have compromised the performance designed into the DAC.

 

Bottom line is, if one is looking for best performance, dedicated supplies, with really clean, low output impedance, are going to be an advantage.  this is one of those cases of "no free lunch".

@barrows May I ask for your expertise once again ? In my network setup, I have a wi-fi router upstairs inside my computer room (with a cabled NUC storing my music files). This router communicates over 5G with a Netgear repeater downstairs in my listening room. The Netgear features RJ-45 ethernet connectors, to one of which an ultrarendu is connected (PS: LPS-1) . The ultrrendu connects over USB to a Moon 780D DAC. In this setup, I have no problem streaming up to DSD256 native from my NUC upstairs with no dropouts with excellent SQ.

 

I am wondering if replacing in my setup the ultrarendu with an opticalrendu (over fiber) -> opticalmodule (over ethernet) -> netgear would be beneficial, or does the wifi path between the router upstairs and the netgear repeater downstairs isolate my urendu renderer from "most" of the ethernet noise, except from that coming from the netgear itself ?

 

Thanks for your help

[André Gosselin]

32 minutes ago, barrows said:

@André Gosselin, Your 5G repeater downstairs is currently sharing its noise with your audio system, so I would indeed expect there to be an audio improvement adding an opticalRendu and opticalModule.

 

Best advice:

If you can, try to get that repeater physically away from the audio system, and certainly make sure wherever the repeater is plugged in is not the same circuit as the audio gear.  Then run a very short Ethernet cable from the Repeater to an opticalModule/FMC (with good linear power supply) and then optical fiber to a opticalRendu or Signature Rendu SE optical in the audio system.  The good news is that the optical cabling is very small and flexible in comparison with CAT 6, so it can often be hidden, or snaked under the floor, under carpet, etc.  Just do not put it anywhere it count be damaged (walked on, etc).  I actually need to finalize my installation here by drilling a hole from my second story work room (where the computer server, router and FMC are) not my living room where the audio system is (right now my optical fiber is just temporarily running along the baseboard and down the stairs).

 

I am not intimately familiar with 5G repeater devices, but I cannot imagine having that powerful wireless device broadcasting RF around the audio system is a good idea.

 

BTW, now might be a good time to mention again that the opticalRendu and Signature Rendu SE optical are new designs by John, which include improvements in performance in addition to the optical connection itself.  

Thanks for taking time to answer me. Very much appreciated.

[André Gosselin]

57 minutes ago, barrows said:

Best advice:

If you can, try to get that repeater physically away from the audio system, and certainly make sure wherever the repeater is plugged in is not the same circuit as the audio gear. 

(...)

I am not intimately familiar with 5G repeater devices, but I cannot imagine having that powerful wireless device broadcasting RF around the audio system is a good idea.

 

@barrows Moving the repeater far away would be difficult, since it is not dedicated to the rendu and is needed to connect by ethernet   other audio devices (another renderer and the Moon DAC). Right now it is located about 1m away from those devices, and 2 m would be the max.

Do you think that running an ethernet cable to the upstairs router and replacing the repeater with a classic switch would improve the setup, especially regarding RF broadcast ? An optical module would then be connected to the switch on one end and to the opticalredu on the the other.   Any switch you could then recommend ?

[André Gosselin]

19 minutes ago, RichardK said:

Just found out that this only happens on the B-side of my EetherREGEN that is connected to it. Works well on the A-side. I am puzzled...

 

How is your opticalrendu connected to the EtherRegen on the A-side (through SFP?) or on the B-side ? If you are using an optical module between the opticalrendu and the ER, remember this will not work if the optical module is connected to the ER B-side. Remember the optical module is 1 Gbit only, and the ER B-side is 100 Mbit only.

[André Gosselin]

4 minutes ago, RichardK said:

@André Gosselin thanks for your reply. I switched everything  off and put the networkcable in a different port in the main switch and that seemed to help. I guess the network was confused because of me changing things. I also have an opticalModule that I connected. I have to say that EtherREGEN seems to have a stronger effect on the sound quality than the opticalModule. The sound of the opticalRendu is now very dynamic and super clean

 

It would be interesting to know how the ER, opticalrendu and optical module were hooked up together, and now.Can you give clear info on that ?