Sonore opticalRendu

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Got notice that my Optical Rendu has shipped! Right on! Can't wait to compare it to my modded SOtM sMS-200Ultra and direct server to Dac connection. Also planning to test TLS LPS vs. SOtM sPS-500 vs. Vinnie Rossi Ultracapacitor vs. LPS1.2 as power sources. Will report back.

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32 minutes ago, vortecjr said:

How are you doing this connection with an opticalRendu?

 

I'm also curious about the PS setup? Please keep in mind that the opticalRendu uses a bit more power compared to microRendu and ultraRendu. I would consult with you power supply specifications and with your DAC specifications. The following is from the opticalRendu product webpage:

• Power input: 2A peak current and 1.5A continuous current at 6-9 VDC output
• Uptone Audio UltraCap LPS-1/LPS-1.2 power supplies - for use with USB devices that do not use USB bus power 

Sorry maybe I was not clear. I plan to compare the following: server direct to DAC vs. server through switch to SOtM renderer to DAC vs. server through switch to opticalRendu to DAC.

The DAC I will use to test does not use bus power so UltraCap LPS1.2 should work on the opticalRendu. I can test 7V and 9V. The others all have ample amperage. SOtM PS set to 7V or 9V. TLS LPS on 9V and Vinnie Rossi is 7V.

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After some trouble-shooting issues with non-system optique certified SFP modules and fiber cables, I have been playing my oRendu nonstop since I got it on Thursday. Needed break-in time, for sure. Sounded thin off the bat. Now really starting to open up. To my ears so far it - like the SOtM renderer benefits from my tX-USBUltra but time will tell.. I feel I can begin by power supply tests over the weekend - but now I'm super intrigued by the new Sonore one! When will it be available?

 

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14 minutes ago, vortecjr said:

I would not plug another piece of gear between the opticalRendu and your DAC or digital converter. This is based on what I know about the design of course. Adding more gear in between may change the character of the sound, but not likely for the better. This is not to argue your perception which matters and it's up to you either way. 

I respect your stance on this but I have yet to find a server/renderer that didn't benefit from the tX-USBUltra in some way. In my system, of course, etc. It is possible that as the oRendu breaks in, I will no longer need it... Doing a lot of back and forth right now...

 

One thing I can report back so far is that my unit decidedly did not like the LPS 1.2 as a power supply. The 1.2 was searing hot and the LED stayed red on the back of the oRendu no matter what I tried - and this is without any vBus requirements...

 

ALSO... and it's very early still, as the unit is still breaking in... but I am getting some improvements over the sMS-200Ultra with the oRendu. They have a different emphasis at this stage - the oRendu has the cleaner low bass and touch better tonality in the mids... at the slight expense of some airiness around the instruments and some detail at the higher frequencies... but this is changing every so subtly with each hour that passes... the oRendu is finding more and more higher frequency shimmer and detail and texture is accruing to the bass... piano right now sounds a bit better on the oRendu... at first I felt it was too clean and fast... now it's settling in and a certain ease of listening has come on... i would have said it sounded too 'solid state' at the outset but now some tube tonality is there as well as more spatial coherence to the image... that's the one place it still lacks compared to the SOtM - instrument separation and overall coherence of the image - the SOtM has more perceptible depth while the oRendu layers the instruments atop one another...

 

That's it for now... take it all this with the grain of salt that is my enthusiasm and inability not to comment on what I am hearing!

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6 minutes ago, vortecjr said:

Part of the issue is that you are switching back and forth...just sit back and enjoy it:) 

Ah but I enjoy the switching! Not every day a kickass new piece of gear makes into my system. New dog in the play yard!

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1 minute ago, vortecjr said:

If you like testing things...I may put you on the power supply beta testing group. 

I would be honored

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On 5/26/2019 at 3:21 PM, JohnSwenson said:

What were you using as the feeder supply for the LPS-1.2? What you are describing is what happens when the feeder supply cannot supply enough power to the LPS-1.2. If you are NOT using the supplied Uptone Audio branded SMPS give that a try and see if that fixes the problem.

 

John S.

I am currently using and have only ever used the supplied Uptone branded SMPS with the 1.2. The 1.2 has successfully been powering other things for a while but the problem with the oRendu persists. With the LED green on the 1.2, the LED on the oRendu will start red. Then it goes amber. Then when it seems like it's about to go green it shuts down the 1.2 momentarily. Then the the 1.2 flashes red or a second. Then goes green. Then the whole process starts all over again with the oRendu going from red to amber to shutting down the 1.2 again. Any thoughts?

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Oh and I should mention that I have successfully powered and used the oRendu with both a SOtM power supply on 7V and a Vinnie Rossi DC4EVR 7V supply...

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1 minute ago, JohnSwenson said:

Thanks,

Aha, this sounds like the optialRendu is pulling a bit higher current right as the network connects (which is the last part of the boot process, just before it goes green) and that extra current is pushing the LPS-1.2 over the edge.

 

It doesn't seem like anything is broken, just that probably due to manufacturing tolerances your combination of opticalRendu and LPS-1.2 just don't get along together.

 

John S.

I should mention I have three LPS 1.2 units and the behavior is the same with all three.

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But thank you for your explanation.

 

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Roon Ready

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1 hour ago, R1200CL said:

it seems unlikely that all 3 LPS-1.2 is “low current versions”

Is this even a thing?

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3 minutes ago, lumos said:

And that is just with my humble LPS 1.2, Ultra Rendu, Chord M-Scaler Chord Hugo TT2, KGSSHV Carbon into Stax 007 MK2. Can you imagine what I would hear with an Optical rendu.

Having replaced my SOtM smS-200 Ultra with the optical Rendu going into my M-Scaler and Hugo TT2, I will say that the M-Scaler/TT2 combo imparts a large degree of the final sonic flavor in my system - I am finding with that combo that the upstream renderer still matters, of course, but perhaps less than before I had that combo... my point is, you already have a VERY revealing set-up, not sure the oRendu will provide the kind of immediate clarity upgrade being discussed here...

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5 hours ago, vortecjr said:

But it is exactly what he is reporting....more clarity. Others are reporting similar or related things like better instrument separation, etc. We also have others in this forum reporting improvements with that combination while making changes to their upstream renderers. The only difference is that they are reporting that changing a strand of copper two rooms away makes a huge difference:) 

 

Finally, we are not trying to impart any kind of "flavor". The goal is to present the content without "flavor". Adding "flavor" is for DACs, amps, speakers and apparently scalers.  

Sorry let me try to rephrase what I meant to say. I was simply stating that with the HMS/TT2 combo I personally noticed the renderer making a bit less of a difference than it did with the Holo Spring II/Violectric combo I used to have. I was referring merely to that fact. Something to do with the "sound" of that combo and the way it buffers/isolates/reclocks having a bigger "say" in the final sound  (I did not mean to imply "flavor" as some sort of additive merely as in "sonic characteristic.")  I had an ultraRendu for a while but not anymore so I cannot comment on the upgrade in sound from the ultra to the optical. I did not mean to imply that I was in a position to make that comparison. Here's what I will say: my oRendu arrived last Thursday and I have been playing it more or less nonstop and it now sounds so good that it is officially replacing my sMS-200Ultra SE as the renderer in my main headphone-listening rig. It is truly an outstanding device and this is no small achievement as I have been upgrading and tweaking the renderer in that rig for many years... oRendu is the new king.

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57 minutes ago, Superdad said:

1 hour ago, MagnusH said:

If chip fail to completely reclock a digital transmission, so that old clocks is still within the transmission, would not a simple buffering get rid of them? For example, write one package to a memory as soon as its received, and have another chip read the package and clock it from scratch before sending.

An easy way to understand this: a file copied from Internet on the other side of the world and written to disk does not contain anything but the actual binaty data. And when the file is read, no trace whatsoever of how many reclocking was done is present.

 

Now imagine this approach was done at the last step before the DAC (in this case inside OpticalRendu). Whatever problem related to timing/phase will be removed since its not a reclock but a new clocking from available data, and of course the fiber takes care of all electronic noise upstream.

I think this is basically the same way that PLL inside DACs handles jitter related problems over SPDIF.

 

In fact, read everything that John has written on this forum before you ask these questions.

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Just to check back in - the Optical Rendu powered by a SOtM sPS-500 is sounding very very good indeed. It's the only power supply I could get to work on my desk - the LPS 1.2 I have talked about already. The Vinnie Rossi is far too noisy as a unit to have sitting there so close to me. And I was told not to try the TLS LPS on 9V. So there you have it...

 

The oRendu has officially knocked the sMS-200 Ultra SE out of my headphone playback chain for good. I know many with laugh/object/get their knickers in a twist when I say this - but it sounds best with two SOtM switches before it - the first one takes the Ethernet signal (via SOtM cables) from the modem and the server, then connects optically to the second SOtM switch which connects optically (obviously) to the oRendu. So triple reclocking and double optical isolation!  The oRendu plays into my mScaler/Hugo TT2 combo. Best my headphones have sounded since I started this hobby so many years ago... There is obviously more going on than just optical isolation helping with leakage. Those clocks and new parts are something else . Fantastic frequency balance along with seductive transients, gorgeous trailing edges, incredible air and ease around the notes, rock-solid timing, and a full-bodied, organic tone. I feel I am much more a part of the musical event - witnessing as it starts and unfolds in a much more direct way. It's uncanny at times, in fact, how inside the music I feel now. Everything has slowed down so the notes are observable, tangible, hovering in 3d space, whatever you want to call it. I am very grateful to be able to have such a tactile experience, to participate in the music in this way, almost giddy in fact... I've spent a long time "searching for the sound" and this is one of those products that brings me palpably closer. Great job, Sonore!

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2 minutes ago, MagnusH said:

but any problems on a ground-plane will certainly not pass a fiber.

You know this, how?

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So weird... Glad that's done with...