Rendu Support Thread

[Joaovieira]

You'll find the sound improves if you eliminate the stock AirPort Extreme power supply. I use a JS-2 to power one Extreme and HD Plex for the other. Both raised performance of the system.

Thank you for sharing. I only have an IFI LPS that could be used on the router. My Sonore LPS has only one output for the MRendu.

I will try to get a better PS to it.

[Cool3r King]

I've got one for you all! I've got the microRendu running Squeezelite. My server is a Pi2 with max2play and LMS. I had previously an Intenso 1TB portable HDD being powered by a USB hub into the Pi.. it sounded great. As I've almost run out of space I bought a WD Red 2TB drive and simply transferred all my music from the original drive to this one. I use a HDD powered docking station into the Pi.. it doesn't sound as good! It's still good, maybe a little 'cleaner' sounding. But it's lost a little warmth and some 'whoomf'! So I've put the Intenso on my main PC and downloaded a trial of Roon.. the slight roundness and 'whoomf' (my word) has returned!

I'm using the iFi 9v until my LPS-1 arrives, but what to do? Am I imagining it? I can quickly change between the two and I can here it repeatably. The WD sounds more fatiguing, I turn it down a bit, whereas I don't with the Intenso...

Any thoughts would help please, thank you.

[Cool3r King]

I use a HDD powered docking station into the Pi

 

Just wondering, does anyone think this could be a cause? I read somewhere that because it's stood upright and can vibrate, it may have an effect? I've got a HDD caddy arriving next week, it'll then be laid flat and be more secure... Just a thought.

[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.

[Cool3r King]

Well I'm not going mad. Just been listening with my wife and she said to turn it down, 'it sounds harsh, or hard'.. So I swapped back to my Intenso 2.5" USB portable drive and voila! She says straight away, 'that's much better, easier to listen to, not as harsh!'

I'm struggling with this one, is it the fact that it runs on 5v USB, as opposed to 12v from the 3.5" WD Red? Is it the HDD docking station? Man I'm stuck...

[Joaovieira]

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.

 

My experience is that your server has to be capable of running the software you play. If It is out of the room no problem, the SQ is very high due to mRendu. No need to expensive servers.

[d_elm]

Ellsworth, my experience has been there may be noise delivered by wired ethernet but you can eliminate that with optical isolation, eg two TP-LINK mc200cm and better power for the mc.. closest to the microRendu. Then it does not matter what the server is and how it is powered.

[Cool3r King]

Well I'm not going mad. Just been listening with my wife and she said to turn it down, 'it sounds harsh, or hard'.. So I swapped back to my Intenso 2.5" USB portable drive and voila! She says straight away, 'that's much better, easier to listen to, not as harsh!'

I'm struggling with this one, is it the fact that it runs on 5v USB, as opposed to 12v from the 3.5" WD Red? Is it the HDD docking station? Man I'm stuck...

 

Anybody have any idea about my particular conundrum?

[Ellsworth]

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

[earnmyturns]

Well I'm not going mad. Just been listening with my wife and she said to turn it down, 'it sounds harsh, or hard'.. So I swapped back to my Intenso 2.5" USB portable drive and voila! She says straight away, 'that's much better, easier to listen to, not as harsh!'

I'm struggling with this one, is it the fact that it runs on 5v USB, as opposed to 12v from the 3.5" WD Red? Is it the HDD docking station? Man I'm stuck...

Your server is relatively lightweight, I wonder if it's struggling with managing the load of managing the bigger drive while streaming to the uRendu. I'm not very familiar with the Squeezelite protocol, but from the docs I found it seems that endpoint control uses TCP, but streaming is done via UDP. Unlike TCP, UDP has no (built-in) error recovery. If for some reason (overload?) the server fails to send a UDP packet, the uRendu has no way to let it know to retransmit that packet, so there would be a corruption of the stream that could distort what you hear. But this could be a wild guess.

 

In general, err on the side of oversizing your media servers (CPU, main memory, ...) to make sure that they operate in a low load regime.

[Cool3r King]

Your server is relatively lightweight, I wonder if it's struggling with managing the load of managing the bigger drive while streaming to the uRendu. I'm not very familiar with the Squeezelite protocol, but from the docs I found it seems that endpoint control uses TCP, but streaming is done via UDP. Unlike TCP, UDP has no (built-in) error recovery. If for some reason (overload?) the server fails to send a UDP packet, the uRendu has no way to let it know to retransmit that packet, so there would be a corruption of the stream that could distort what you hear. But this could be a wild guess.

 

In general, err on the side of oversizing your media servers (CPU, main memory, ...) to make sure that they operate in a low load regime.

 

I think this might just be it! I put the WD drive on my main PC (i5 16GB RAM) running a trial of Roon ......and it's just like the small portable drive on the Pi and LMS. So the Pi must just be running out of steam. Also with Max2Play, it specifies that you can't exceed a 2TB drive, otherwise it needs to be partitioned or it can cause errors with the data. So next up is partition the drive and put it back for the final test.

 

Thank you earnmyturns...

[earnmyturns]

I think this might just be it! I put the WD drive on my main PC (i5 16GB RAM) running a trial of Roon ......and it's just like the small portable drive on the Pi and LMS. So the Pi must just be running out of steam. Also with Max2Play, it specifies that you can't exceed a 2TB drive, otherwise it needs to be partitioned or it can cause errors with the data. So next up is partition the drive and put it back for the final test.

Glad you are making progress! For reference, I use an i5 16GB RAM, 250GB SSD NUC as my Roon music server (total hardware cost ~$500). My music is on a Synology NAS, but it could be as easily on a USB external drive on the NUC. Works like a charm.

[Cool3r King]

Glad you are making progress! For reference, I use an i5 16GB RAM, 250GB SSD NUC as my Roon music server (total hardware cost ~$500). My music is on a Synology NAS, but it could be as easily on a USB external drive on the NUC. Works like a charm.

 

Ive been looking at the NUC, might have to invest! Can it be left on 24/7? I have an old Qnap 409 which served me well for nearly 10 years, and it was on for most of that time.. the Pi is more powerful than the Qnap though now!

[earnmyturns]

Ive been looking at the NUC, might have to invest! Can it be left on 24/7? I have an old Qnap 409 which served me well for nearly 10 years, and it was on for most of that time.. the Pi is more powerful than the Qnap though now!

My NUC sits on a well-ventilated rack in my home office, it's quiet and just does its job, no fuss. I run Ubuntu Linux on it because I know how to manage Linux systems, but many people are happy with Windows NUCs for Roon.

[jcn3]

Ive been looking at the NUC, might have to invest! Can it be left on 24/7?

 

yes, it can be left on all of the time.

[Cyrus]

Basic question: Are there any SQ differences between running Roon off a PC wireless to the router / mR vs running Roon via an attached device to the router / mR? I have to make a decision about going with an i5 sonicTransporter vs another Roon ready product vs just running Roon off of my PC. Thanks.

[jcn3]

Basic question: Are there any SQ differences between running Roon off a PC wireless to the router / mR vs running Roon via an attached device to the router / mR? I have to make a decision about going with an i5 sonicTransporter vs another Roon ready product vs just running Roon off of my PC. Thanks.

 

there's a thread discussing the ST here that may be helpful: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f22-networking-networked-audio-and-streaming/sonictransporter-vs-macmini-29256/

[Cyrus]

there's a thread discussing the ST here that may be helpful: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f22-networking-networked-audio-and-streaming/sonictransporter-vs-macmini-29256/

 

 

Thanks, jcn3. The thread was helpful.

[vortecjr]

Basic question: Are there any SQ differences between running Roon off a PC wireless to the router / mR vs running Roon via an attached device to the router / mR? I have to make a decision about going with an i5 sonicTransporter vs another Roon ready product vs just running Roon off of my PC. Thanks.

 

I would not worry about this to much. The microRendu is a simple and compact device that goes in the main room and connects to your USB audio device. The intent for the server is that you use anything you want...sonicTransporter, NAS, and/or computer. Tweaking is optional IMO.

[Cyrus]

I would not worry about this to much. The microRendu is a simple and compact device that goes in the main room and connects to your USB audio device. The intent for the server is that you use anything you want...sonicTransporter, NAS, and/or computer. Tweaking is optional IMO.

 

Thanks! That helps.

[R1200CL]

I most likely have convinced my friend to go for the MR. However he has the same DAC as me, (yes my fault:) ), and he also need an USB/SPDIF converter.

We found some reasonable priced Bel Canto m.Link.

 

Will the Bel Canto work with the MicroRendu ?

 

Alterativily how about the Musical Fidelity VLink 192 USB/SPDIF ?

[vortecjr]

I most likely have convinced my friend to go for the MR. However he has the same DAC as me, (yes my fault:) ), and he also need an USB/SPDIF converter.

We found some reasonable priced Bel Canto m.Link.

 

Will the Bel Canto work with the MicroRendu ?

 

Alterativily how about the Musical Fidelity VLink 192 USB/SPDIF ?

 

I don't see why not. You can look at Audiophilleo, M2Tech, iFi, etc. There is also one on eBay people have been talking about.

[clipper]

I don't see why not. You can look at Audiophilleo, M2Tech, iFi, etc. There is also one on eBay people have been talking about.

 

This might be what Jesus is talking about: Singxer F-1 XMOS XU208 USB Digital Interface 384K Coaxial I2S DSD256 With case | eBay.

 

It's GREAT.

 

When used with the microRendu powered by a good power supply (UpTone LPS-1, in this case), I prefer it to the Berkeley Alpha USB and one of Singxer's other converters (the SU-1).

[earnmyturns]

I most likely have convinced my friend to go for the MR. However he has the same DAC as me, (yes my fault:) ), and he also need an USB/SPDIF converter.

We found some reasonable priced Bel Canto m.Link.

 

Will the Bel Canto work with the MicroRendu ?

 

Alterativily how about the Musical Fidelity VLink 192 USB/SPDIF ?

I have an mLink that i use with another Sonore product, the Sonicorbiter SE, on my speaker system. I used to have another mLink that I used on my headphone system, but I didn't have a real need for it when I got the microRendu for this system, because my headphone system DAC also takes USB, and so I didn't do extensive tests of the microRendu with the mLink. It should work fine, though.

[abnab]

Hi there, a newbie question. I'm looking to move to a Roon system and use a Sonicorbiter SE to connect my MacMini via ethernet to my DAC. It's currently running Audirvana directly connected via USB - happy with that but wanting to go to Roob for the "experience" and metadata.

 

Here's the problem / question. My DAC (Meridian Director) takes its power via USB (there's no other option). Will the SE also supply power or do I have a problem with only one input (I don't want to use the optical input because of its limitations for high res files)??

 

Thanks very much

Best regards

Andrew