Rendu Support Thread

[vortecjr]

18 hours ago, Mike Rubin said:

Worked perfectly, Alex!  Thanks again.

 

That doesn’t sound like it’s working properly to me:)

[Superdad]

6 hours ago, vortecjr said:

That doesn’t sound like it’s working properly to me:)

Well it’s a known issue that the microRendu will not boot if the external DC supply feeding it has more than about a 10ms ramp time. The ultraRendu is different and does not care.  
Was never an issue with the TI TPS7A4700 output regulator of the original LPS-1, but the paralleled LT3045s of the UltraCap LPS-1.2 come up just slow enough to somehow not be seen by the microRendu.  
Any questions about why this is so must be directed to the brain that designed all these goodies. 

 

In any case the simple solution has long been known and advised:

Boot a—set to 7V—LPS-1.2 to green and then complete the DC cable connection (at whichever end is more physically convenient) to the microRendu.

[Mike Rubin]

31 minutes ago, Superdad said:

Well it’s a known issue that the microRendu will not boot if the external DC supply feeding it has more than about a 10ms ramp time. The ultraRendu is different and does not care.  
Was never an issue with the TI TPS7A4700 output regulator of the original LPS-1, but the paralleled LT3045s of the UltraCap LPS-1.2 come up just slow enough to somehow not be seen by the microRendu.  
Any questions about why this is so must be directed to the brain that designed all these goodies. 

 

In any case the simple solution has long been known and advised:

Boot a—set to 7V—LPS-1.2 to green and then complete the DC cable connection (at whichever end is more physically convenient) to the microRendu.

FWIW, this very microrendu used to be powered by an LPS-1 before I retired the mr from service temporarily.  I never had an issue with bootup when I followed my usual protocol of connecting first and powering second.  It would never have occurred to me to connect the LPS-1.2 only after it was live.  In any event, I know what to do now.  

[Kevin Nguyen]

On 3/29/2020 at 10:05 AM, vortecjr said:

The Chord HugoTT2 and the Chord Qutest discussed earlier in the thread appear to be based on the Amanero USB interface. The Amanero USB interface has various specific firmwares for different OS and sample rates. The development of these firmware's have had a lot of issues and I'm not to confident in them as of yet. These devices may not be running the correct firmware for Linux or very high sample rates. I have no way to qualify if your servers are capable of resampling and streaming these rates over a network. I would discuss the settings with Roon or HQ Player or you may relax them somewhat to achieve reliable playback. On the Rendu I would recommend using SonicOrbiter 2.8 (updated regularly) and keeping the unit cool during playback at these very high sample rates. With your power supply do not use 5 VDC output and confirm that it is capable of 1.5 amp continuous / 2 amp peak at 6 VDC. 

looks like the new os 2.8 and naa4.1.1 improved this issue a bit, no more random playback stop when switching a dsd track to pcm track or vice versa.

 

I also contacted Jessi HQplayer about drop out issue when upscaling tp 768 khz pcm, he advised me to enable "flow control" on switch end

"In the switch settings, please check that you have 802.3x Flow Control enabled for all ports. Without this, Rendu will experience severe Ethernet packet buffer overflows, because the hardware is capable of max 400 Mbps on a gigabit network"

 

just sharing here if someone has some similar issue with Cisco switches

[vortecjr]

9 hours ago, Kevin Nguyen said:

looks like the new os 2.8 and naa4.1.1 improved this issue a bit, no more random playback stop when switching a dsd track to pcm track or vice versa.

Sonic Orbiter 2.8 is an excellent operating system. In fact, we have to give some of the credit to Jussi who has helped with code that improves ALSA support for DSD capable devices. 

[Sebastian T.]

On 4/4/2020 at 2:48 PM, vortecjr said:

I logged in and the unit was working properly. For testing going forward do not disconnect the ethernet cable unless you are also going to reboot the unit. If you continue to have issues let me know and we will try a unit swap with some secret sauce:)  

 

Also, it was reported that the USB DAC is also not playing nice with a pi based unit. That is okay though because we are not just some other pi based Linux unit and we will get this working for him.

 

A little update: I've got a Topping D90 on a loan and I can confirm that the problem I was having (I still have it) with my Chord Qutest DAC when playing 768 PCM—getting random static noise from the speakers—is realted to the DAC and not to the Ultrarendu. While using the Topping DAC, I never encountered this problem so the Ultrarendu is not to blame and it is a wonderful product.

 

I thought this information might be useful for other users.

[vortecjr]

6 hours ago, Sebastian T. said:

 

A little update: I've got a Topping D90 on a loan and I can confirm that the problem I was having (I still have it) with my Chord Qutest DAC when playing 768 PCM—getting random static noise from the speakers—is realted to the DAC and not to the Ultrarendu. While using the Topping DAC, I never encountered this problem so the Ultrarendu is not to blame and it is a wonderful product.

 

I thought this information might be useful for other users.

Thanks for the follow up. 

[soares]

7 hours ago, Sebastian T. said:

 

A little update: I've got a Topping D90 on a loan and I can confirm that the problem I was having (I still have it) with my Chord Qutest DAC when playing 768 PCM—getting random static noise from the speakers—is realted to the DAC and not to the Ultrarendu. While using the Topping DAC, I never encountered this problem so the Ultrarendu is not to blame and it is a wonderful product.

 

I thought this information might be useful for other users.

I already sold my Qutest, but I can confirm the white noise issue. It effects several DACs incluindo oppo 205 with firmware 0118 or 0119. 

[Guidof]

[I am posting this on both the Sonore and Uptone threads as it involves both manufacturers' equipment]

 

Here is my digital chain: modem, NAS, and WIN 10 desktop, all plugged into router. From router, WiFi bridge to Uptone etherREGEN (CAT6a) switch powered from Uptone "brick", to Sonore ultraRendu (CAT6a) end point powered from Uptone LPS-1.2 energized from Uptone "brick", to Benchmark DAC 2D (Phasure Lush^2). Playback (Squeezelite) controlled with SqueezePad on iPad Air)

 

Everything worked perfectly until yesterday when the local utility suddenly cut power for about two minutes. When power came back, nothing worked and multiple attempts to restore the system were unsuccessful. Eventually, power cycling everything starting from the DAC backward did succeed in restoring music. HOWEVER, attempting to play DSD files (DoP encapsulated) resulted first in bricking everything again and later in "playing" music (as shown from progress in SqueezePad) but with no sound. Every other file plays fine.

The DAC diagnostics seem OK (see below)

 

Jesus R., Alex C., anyone else? Any suggestions for fixing this issue will be greatly appreciated.

Benchmark DAC2 Benchmark DAC2 USB Audio 2.0 at usb-ci_hdrc.1-1.1, high speed : USB Audio

Playback:
  Status: Running
    Interface = 1
    Altset = 1
    Packet Size = 144
    Momentary freq = 95998 Hz (0xb.fff0)
    Feedback Format = 16.16
  Interface 1
    Altset 1
    Format: S32_LE
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 1 OUT (ASYNC)
    Rates: 44100, 48000, 88200, 96000, 176400, 192000
    Data packet interval: 125 us

access: RW_INTERLEAVED
format: S32_LE
subformat: STD
channels: 2
rate: 96000 (96000/1)
period_size: 960
buffer_size: 3840

Simple mixer control 'Benchmark DAC2 Audio 2.0 Output Playback Sw',0
  Capabilities: pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback [on]
  Front Right: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'Benchmark DAC2 Audio 2.0 Output Playback Sw',1
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'Benchmark DAC2 Audio 2.0 Output Playback Vo',0
  Capabilities: volume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: 0 - 127
  Front Left: 127 [100%]
  Front Right: 127 [100%]
Simple mixer control 'Benchmark DAC2 Audio 2.0 Output Playback Vo',1
  Capabilities: volume volume-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Capture channels: Mono
  Limits: 0 - 127
  Mono: 127 [100%]
Simple mixer control 'Benchmark DAC2 Internal Clock Validity',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]

[vortecjr]

3 hours ago, Guidof said:

[I am posting this on both the Sonore and Uptone threads as it involves both manufacturers' equipment]

 

Here is my digital chain: modem, NAS, and WIN 10 desktop, all plugged into router. From router, WiFi bridge to Uptone etherREGEN (CAT6a) switch powered from Uptone "brick", to Sonore ultraRendu (CAT6a) end point powered from Uptone LPS-1.2 energized from Uptone "brick", to Benchmark DAC 2D (Phasure Lush^2). Playback (Squeezelite) controlled with SqueezePad on iPad Air)

 

Everything worked perfectly until yesterday when the local utility suddenly cut power for about two minutes. When power came back, nothing worked and multiple attempts to restore the system were unsuccessful. Eventually, power cycling everything starting from the DAC backward did succeed in restoring music. HOWEVER, attempting to play DSD files (DoP encapsulated) resulted first in bricking everything again and later in "playing" music (as shown from progress in SqueezePad) but with no sound. Every other file plays fine.

The DAC diagnostics seem OK (see below)

 

Jesus R., Alex C., anyone else? Any suggestions for fixing this issue will be greatly appreciated.

Benchmark DAC2 Benchmark DAC2 USB Audio 2.0 at usb-ci_hdrc.1-1.1, high speed : USB Audio

Playback:
  Status: Running
    Interface = 1
    Altset = 1
    Packet Size = 144
    Momentary freq = 95998 Hz (0xb.fff0)
    Feedback Format = 16.16
  Interface 1
    Altset 1
    Format: S32_LE
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 1 OUT (ASYNC)
    Rates: 44100, 48000, 88200, 96000, 176400, 192000
    Data packet interval: 125 us

access: RW_INTERLEAVED
format: S32_LE
subformat: STD
channels: 2
rate: 96000 (96000/1)
period_size: 960
buffer_size: 3840

Simple mixer control 'Benchmark DAC2 Audio 2.0 Output Playback Sw',0
  Capabilities: pswitch
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback [on]
  Front Right: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'Benchmark DAC2 Audio 2.0 Output Playback Sw',1
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'Benchmark DAC2 Audio 2.0 Output Playback Vo',0
  Capabilities: volume
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: 0 - 127
  Front Left: 127 [100%]
  Front Right: 127 [100%]
Simple mixer control 'Benchmark DAC2 Audio 2.0 Output Playback Vo',1
  Capabilities: volume volume-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Capture channels: Mono
  Limits: 0 - 127
  Mono: 127 [100%]
Simple mixer control 'Benchmark DAC2 Internal Clock Validity',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]

What version of Sonic Orbiter are you on?

[Guidof]

20 hours ago, vortecjr said:

What version of Sonic Orbiter are you on?

Version 2.7

[vortecjr]

11 hours ago, Guidof said:

Version 2.7

I would like you to update to 2.8 so we are all on the same page. Please purchase a new SD card from our website under Software. 

[Guidof]

13 hours ago, vortecjr said:

I would like you to update to 2.8 so we are all on the same page. Please purchase a new SD card from our website under Software. 

 

Thanks.

 

Will do, but please see also my reply to Alex in the Uptone. Forum.

[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.

[Superdad]

32 minutes ago, Ellsworth said:

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.

 

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?

[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.

[jiminlogansquare]

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.

[adeeb]

In any case, it seems like:

1. The electrical noise I mentioned below is still there — it appear a couple of seconds after I plug in the USB cable (this does not happen when I connect to my laptop) but it seems to fade when Roon starts playing (even if the volume is set to 0). 

2. It does not seem to be playing Native DSD even though the setting has been enabled. 

 

Thanks again!

 

 

Hi @vortecjr,

 

I am trying to use my Fiio Q5s with my mR (hw v1.4 & sw v2.7) with Roon but I am unable to get any music to play through. I only hear some faint but obvious electrical noise when it is plugged in.

 

Can you confirm if this is a supported DAC?

 

As well as the SonicOrbiter DAC diagnostic:

DAC description: FiiO Q5      2972:0031

Diagnostic information for this DAC

GuangZhou FiiO Electronics Co.,Ltd FiiO Q5 at usb-ci_hdrc.1-1.1, high speed : USB Audio

Playback:
  Status: Stop
  Interface 1
    Altset 1
    Format: S32_LE
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 1 OUT (ASYNC)
    Rates: 44100, 48000, 88200, 96000, 176400, 192000, 352800, 384000, 705600, 768000
    Data packet interval: 125 us
  Interface 1
    Altset 2
    Format: S16_LE
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 1 OUT (ASYNC)
    Rates: 44100, 48000, 88200, 96000, 176400, 192000, 352800, 384000, 705600, 768000
    Data packet interval: 125 us
  Interface 1
    Altset 3
    Format: SPECIAL
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 1 OUT (ASYNC)
    Rates: 44100, 48000, 88200, 96000, 176400, 192000, 352800, 384000, 705600, 768000
    Data packet interval: 125 us
Status: Unknown (status not available when device is not playing)
Simple mixer control 'GuangZhou FiiO Electronics Co.,Ltd Interna ',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]

 

I would appreciate your feedback. Thank you.

[vortecjr]

9 hours ago, Ellsworth said:

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.

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. 

[vortecjr]

6 hours ago, adeeb said:

In any case, it seems like:

1. The electrical noise I mentioned below is still there — it appear a couple of seconds after I plug in the USB cable (this does not happen when I connect to my laptop) but it seems to fade when Roon starts playing (even if the volume is set to 0). 

2. It does not seem to be playing Native DSD even though the setting has been enabled. 

 

Thanks again!

 

 

Hi @vortecjr,

 

I am trying to use my Fiio Q5s with my mR (hw v1.4 & sw v2.7) with Roon but I am unable to get any music to play through. I only hear some faint but obvious electrical noise when it is plugged in.

 

Can you confirm if this is a supported DAC?

 

As well as the SonicOrbiter DAC diagnostic:

DAC description: FiiO Q5      2972:0031

Diagnostic information for this DAC

GuangZhou FiiO Electronics Co.,Ltd FiiO Q5 at usb-ci_hdrc.1-1.1, high speed : USB Audio

Playback:
  Status: Stop
  Interface 1
    Altset 1
    Format: S32_LE
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 1 OUT (ASYNC)
    Rates: 44100, 48000, 88200, 96000, 176400, 192000, 352800, 384000, 705600, 768000
    Data packet interval: 125 us
  Interface 1
    Altset 2
    Format: S16_LE
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 1 OUT (ASYNC)
    Rates: 44100, 48000, 88200, 96000, 176400, 192000, 352800, 384000, 705600, 768000
    Data packet interval: 125 us
  Interface 1
    Altset 3
    Format: SPECIAL
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 1 OUT (ASYNC)
    Rates: 44100, 48000, 88200, 96000, 176400, 192000, 352800, 384000, 705600, 768000
    Data packet interval: 125 us
Status: Unknown (status not available when device is not playing)
Simple mixer control 'GuangZhou FiiO Electronics Co.,Ltd Interna ',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]

 

I would appreciate your feedback. Thank you.

1. Electrical noise comes from power supplies / ground loops. If you have a pre-amp in the system this can also cause noise. Sonic Orbiter OS and the Rendu itself does not output noise. 

2. Native DSD on your device is not currently supported because the unit's USB VID is not included in the operating system. We can add it, but it will take some. Another option is to ask GuangZhou Flio Electronics to use one of the following USB VID.

Generic VID	Company
0x20b1	XMOS
0x16d0	Amanero
0x152a	Thesycon

 

 

[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.

[adeeb]

3 hours ago, vortecjr said:

1. Electrical noise comes from power supplies / ground loops. If you have a pre-amp in the system this can also cause noise. Sonic Orbiter OS and the Rendu itself does not output noise. 

2. Native DSD on your device is not currently supported because the unit's USB VID is not included in the operating system. We can add it, but it will take some. Another option is to ask GuangZhou Flio Electronics to use one of the following USB VID.

Generic VID	Company
0x20b1	XMOS
0x16d0	Amanero
0x152a	Thesycon

 

 

 

Thank you. I have not experienced the electrical noise previously either with the mR or the Q5s --- it is just the combination that is using this. I will try to change the cables to see if that can be a factor. I will also try it with my uR to see if it is any different.

 

As for the native DSD support, I would appreciate it if you can add the USB VID -- I'm not in a hurry and asking Fiio to change it would be a fool's errand.

 

Thanks again.

[Superdad]

3 hours ago, Ellsworth 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.