Rendu Support Thread

[Ellsworth]

Complete newbie question here. I am likely to pull the trigger on a mRendu soon. My computer/server will be on the 3rd floor in my house while the Rendu will be n the first floor. How much does the quality of the computer/server impact the sound?

 

Assuming that hat there are no issues running the desired software, I would think that the quality of the server should have minimal impact on sound...but nothing would surprise me.

[Ellsworth]

Thanks for the comments. Those are the answers I was hoping to hear.

[Ellsworth]

I bought my UltraRendu about a month ago.  Until recently it has been very stable.  My setup is MacMini with firewire connected external hard drive plugged into router.  UltraRendu is hardwired through a MOCA Ethernet connection into a Holo Audio Spring DAC. Ultra Rendu powered by Uptone LPS 1.2  

 

I am hoping to get some insight on two issues:

 

1). Audirvana Plus does not recognize UltraRendu.  I have tried everything but it won’t get recognized.  Other than changing thenApp selection in 

sonicorbiter  Is there something specific about Audirvana that I need to do to get it to work?

 

2). Roon with HQP has been steady and sounds great.  However, the  last two times I have tried to play it though have been very problematic.  On Saturday, I had to fiddle around with restarts and plugging/unplugging for about an hour before I reached a steady state.   Last night was worse.  I couldn’t get HQP to play but eventually got Roon as a stand-alone player to work.  It then cut out after 10 minutes so I gave up.

 

When  trying to get Roon/HQP to play, HQP would start blinking with a bar opening and flashing across the middle of the screen.  The light on the external hard drive would also blink and go faint.  At times when restarting HQP it would not recognize the Rendu.  I suspect that there is either a problem recognizing the Rendu or perhaps an issue with the hard drive but I am not sure.

 

I will try again tonight to see what happens.  Any suggestions or insights are appreciated.  Thanks!

 

 

[Ellsworth]

1 hour ago, vortecjr said:

Update the unit and reboot. Then go to Settings and the output you want to use and press Save. 

Thanks for the response.  I don’t know what it means to update the unit but I followed the steps in the post above about unplugging the DAC and the unit in sequence.  It is now working.

 

I got got some funny issues with Roon losing HQP but got it to work when I changed the upsampling from 256 to 128.  Fortunately, that is not a Rendu issue.

[Ellsworth]

Hello.  I am hoping to get some help with my UltraRendu problem.  I have been using Roon/HQP successfully since last Fall.  This January, I started having major problems with dropouts.  On the software forum, the good people at HQP suggested moving my MacMini and connecting it to the same switch that my UltraRendu is connected to.  
 

This worked very well until this past weekend.  Now, I am getting dropouts approximately every 30 to 60:seconds.  This is behaving in the same way that it did prior to moving the Mac and connecting it directly to the same switch as the UltraRendu.
 

 Absolutely nothing was changed in my system so I can’t understand the issue.  I have rebooted at least 15 times over the last three nights.  Are there any suggestions to try? Thanks in advance for any comments.

[Ellsworth]

1 minute ago, Superdad said:

 

Hi:

In your profile you list having a MOCA adapter in your chain. Do you still have that? Can you try removing it?  Can you draw and post a network diagram?

Hello.  Thanks for the response.  I do have the MOCA adapter in the chain as it is the only way I can get a hard-wired Ethernet connection in my music room.  If I remove the MOCA adaptor, I am not sure how I would get an Ethernet connection to the Rendu.  
 

I will draw a network diagram in the morning and post it.  Hopefully that will shed some more light on the situation.

[Ellsworth]

Below is a picture of my network setup.  I previously had the MacMini connected directly to the router but was getting dropout.  Moving the Mac to the first floor and connecting it to the same switch as the UltraRendu fixed the performance (until now..) 

I can imagine that the MOCA converter is not ideal but it works great with the AppleTV and gives the Mac a solid internet connection. 

 

[Ellsworth]

10 hours ago, jiminlogansquare said:

When you say you rebooted, did you also reset the SMC (system management controller)? I have had similar dropout problems on one or two occasions that were resolved this way. Apologies in advance if you already knew and tried it.

Here from Apple's website are the steps to reset the SMC in case you need them (should work for any Mac Mini, I believe):

1. Shut down your Mac, then unplug the power cord.
2. Wait 15 seconds, then plug the power cord back in.
3. Wait 5 seconds, then press the power button to turn on your Mac.

Thanks for this suggestion.  It has not occurred to me to try doing that with the Mac.  I will give it a shot tonight.

[Ellsworth]

2 hours ago, vortecjr said:

Avoid rebooting the Rendu 15 times over three nights. Try rebooting your other network gear instead. Also, lower the Roon/HQP load by reducing the sample rate and filter types. 

Thanks for this suggestion.  I am going to give that a try this evening.

[Ellsworth]

10 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

Please clarify your connections to the EtherREGEN. It has an 'A' side with four Gigagbit ports (and SFP cage) and a 'B' side with one 100Mps port. You should have both the network feed (from you MOCA) and the Mac mini plugged into 'A' side ports, and then the ultraRendu plugged into the 'B' side port.

You might already have it hooked up that way, but we sure would not know it from the way you drew your diagram. Thanks.

Hello. You are correct - the MOCA feed, MacMini, and an Apple TV are connected into the A ports and the UltraRendu is connected to the B side port.  By the way, the EtherREGEn really brought my system to another level.

[Ellsworth]

This morning I rebooted the router and unplugged the MacMini to reset the SMC.  There is good news and bad news.  The bad news is that I still experienced dropouts at DSD256 and DSD128 using HQP/Roon.  The good news is that upsampling to DSD64 worked with no issues.  I can be happy playing DSD64 but am still wondering why the higher upsampling rates are now faltering. 

 

Again, thanks for the input.  At times, I feel like a leech as I usually only post when I have problems and don’t have the knowledge to help others!

[Ellsworth]

Several months ago, when I was considering switching back to Audirvana Plus, I bought a thunderbolt-Ethernet adapter in an attempt to use the UltraRendu with Audirvana.  This may not work with Roon/HQP or may not be practical but I am wondering if using the adapter in the scenario below would provide a better connection to the Ultrarendu.   

 

[Ellsworth]

10 minutes ago, bobflood said:

Your issue with DSD 128 & 256 is that the MacMini likely just does not have the computing power for it. If you are happy with DSD 64 just stick with it otherwise it probably is time for a server upgrade. DSD 256 with anything but the lightest of filters takes substantial processing power. There are multiple threads here that discuss this issue.

Thanks for your note.  Given that DSD64 seems to be working with no problem, that makes sense.    I had been running 256 with no issues for 6 months.  I am not sure if something changed or if the CPU was running on the very edge of its capability.