Streamers ranked by sound quality

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1.  Sonore Signature Rendu SEsystemeOptique

2.  Sonore Signature Rendu SE

3.  Sonore microRendu v. 1.4 with Signature Power Supply

4.  Sonore microRendu v. 1.3 with Signature Power Supply

5.  PS Audio Bridge 2 (in the DS DAC)

 

Anyone care to rank an iPhone and/or iPad (and/or Android devices) used as a ROON endpoint via WiFi (USB into DAC)?

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3 hours ago, Matias said:

He works for them as a consultant as far as I know.

Yes, as is mentioned in my signature...

The only "other" streamers I have experience with is the built in "Bridge 2" in the PS audio DS and DSJ...  Oh, and I have very briefly played around with using my iPad as a ROON endpoint via WiFi with USB output...

I preferred the (entry level) microRendu to the Bridge 2 or the iPad via WiFi.

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3 minutes ago, left channel said:

Odd. Sorry. Regardless, my ultraRendu remains lowest-ranked in my list. It fails to work at the least convenient moments, like when guests are expecting music.

Wow, that really is terrible...  I honestly wonder what the problem could be?  I have had all of my various Sonore streamers running here most of the time (I run music almost 24/7 here) and I basically never experience any problem.  I am very sorry to hear of your experience, and although it sounds like you might not be interested in fixing things, if you are interested I am certain we can get your ultraRendu working reliably if you would like (feel free to PM me for any help).  This kind of experience with Sonore products is not representative of what is normal, and not what any customer should expect. 

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Just getting back to work after a successful show at RMAF.  Many who heard the system in the Sonore room remarked that it was one of the best sounding set ups at the show (and many of those folks came back to listen to our system again), unfortunately, due to a family tragedy at the last minute, we were understaffed and I had little time to hear much else, but our system did sound very fine to me.  We used the following set up:

 

Small Green Computer I9 server (playing local files) with Sonore optical Ethernet card (premier of this new product)-optical fiber cable-

Sonore Signature Rendu SEoptical-Sonore USB cable-

Bricasti M21 DAC-Cardas Clear XLR cable-

Bricasti M25 amplifier-Cardas Clear speaker cable-

Vivid Audio Kaya 45 speakers

 

We were running ROON core on the server, and controlling via an iPad and ROON remote.  By using optical Ethernet, our system completely isolates any electrical noise from the server and the sonic purity gained from using optical Ethernet is a nice step up from a copper wire based approach.  The clarity of the midrange on vocals, for example, was amazing (the Vivid speakers really have the resolution to demonstrate this well) while sounding entirely natural without any hint of brightness or hardening, even when vocalists such as Alison Kraus are pushing it.  And the spacial presentation and dynamic expression was outstanding, a testament to the eerily low level of noise in the system.  It is quite remarkable to hear how much better things can be when the electrical noise from commercial computer gear is entirely gone from the system.

 

But do not take my word for it, see the RMAF thread at this site for independent listening impressions of the Sonore set up.