Jump to content
IGNORED

Article: Sonore opticalRendu & Signature Rendu SE Optical Review | Part 1


Recommended Posts

Of course, by saying you didn't really hear a sonic difference with the Signature Rendu SE optical, you may have really hurt the sales of that item and boosted the sales of the OR. I do agree the one box solution with the high end PS is worth something, the question is how much. 

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

Link to comment
42 minutes ago, firedog said:

Of course, by saying you didn't really hear a sonic difference with the Signature Rendu SE optical, you may have really hurt the sales of that item and boosted the sales of the OR. I do agree the one box solution with the high end PS is worth something, the question is how much. 

I should've noted that I'm using the very upgraded PSU with the opticalRendu.

Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems AudiophileStyleStickerWhite2.0.png AudiophileStyleStickerWhite7.1.4.png

Link to comment

Is the 400GB microSD card included on all opticalRendu and Signature Rendu SE optical units, including the ones that have already shipped?  If so, nobody noticed?  I did see your comment about introductory upgrade pricing, but that seems to apply to the 512GB microSD.

Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs

 

i7-6700K/Windows 10  --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's 

Link to comment
1 minute ago, rickca said:

Is the 400GB microSD card included on all opticalRendu and Signature Rendu SE optical units, including the ones that have already shipped?  If so, nobody noticed?  I did see your comment about introductory upgrade pricing, but that seems to apply to the 512GB microSD.

@vortecjr?

Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems AudiophileStyleStickerWhite2.0.png AudiophileStyleStickerWhite7.1.4.png

Link to comment

How does using music files on the microSD card sound compared to having them on your NAS?  Is there a perceptible difference in sound quality?

 

I thought you were committed to Roon.  Now you're using iPeng/LMS/Squeezelite.  How do Roon users use this local storage option?  Can you explain the potential conflict between Roon Rock and your local storage option configuration?

 

Do you have an ultraRendu for a comparison between it and the opticalRendu?

Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs

 

i7-6700K/Windows 10  --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's 

Link to comment
5 hours ago, firedog said:

Of course, by saying you didn't really hear a sonic difference with the Signature Rendu SE optical, you may have really hurt the sales of that item and boosted the sales of the OR. I do agree the one box solution with the high end PS is worth something, the question is how much. 

 

.....and he didn’t tell us how he powered the OR. 

 

Link to comment

This may appeal to some but I don't think Roon with its robust functionality need be concerned. Also, this is totally against the whole reason for the Rendu series of products. The Rendus were supposed to be an endpoint quiet zone with all the storage, retrieval and associated processing happening elsewhere. This puts it all back in one place.

 

There is still the problem of back-up and additions/deletions. The material for the SD card will have to be archived somewhere else and new material will have to be obtained on a real computer and then moved to the SD card.

 

I tried this for streaming only with both of my Rendus a long time back (it has always been possible to run both Squeezelite and LMS together on a Rendu) and it worked fine but I thought that it sounded better with LMS running on another machine (a sonicTransporter) elsewhere on the network.

 

In the end, no matter how you dress it up, it is still LMS.

 

For those asking if this will work with Roon, I doubt it. Roon core does not run on the Rendus, only Roon Ready which is strictly a rendering function.

Link to comment
5 minutes ago, bobflood said:

Also, this is totally against the whole reason for the Rendu series of products.

 

Is this documented somewhere?

 

 

 

5 minutes ago, bobflood said:

The Rendus were supposed to be an endpoint quiet zone with all the storage, retrieval and associated processing happening elsewhere.

 

Storage on the sd card is happening no matter what because of the operating system. Now storing music there for super quick access isn’t worse than pulling a file over the network to be stored temporarily on the sd card / RAM. There isn’t any processing. Just reading the file that has to happen anyway. 

 

 

 

 

6 minutes ago, bobflood said:

There is still the problem of back-up and additions/deletions.

 

Mathis is an issue with every audio system ever made as long as you have local files. I just setup my NAS to reach out to the Rendu to back it up. Set it once and forget it. New music is added to the sd card over the network and automatically backed up the same way. 

Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems AudiophileStyleStickerWhite2.0.png AudiophileStyleStickerWhite7.1.4.png

Link to comment
1 hour ago, R1200CL said:

And why can’t we have the option for a bigger one ?

(Or did I misunderstood there was a limitation? )

 

The current limit for these sd cards is 1TB. 

 

 

1 hour ago, R1200CL said:

Any discussion with Roon, to make them open for using this storage option ?

 

Technically you could point Roon to Rendu’s storage and have the Roon core index it, but this doesn’t make much sense. Just attach storage to the Roon core. 

Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems AudiophileStyleStickerWhite2.0.png AudiophileStyleStickerWhite7.1.4.png

Link to comment
1 minute ago, R1200CL said:

I wonder if MQA support now make more sense for Sonore, as you could also play Tidal through iPeng ?

 

I don’t speak for them but I’m unsure why Sonore would want to go through the huge hassle and development work (ask any other mfg on Earth) to implement MQA. 

Founder of Audiophile Style | My Audio Systems AudiophileStyleStickerWhite2.0.png AudiophileStyleStickerWhite7.1.4.png

Link to comment
4 hours ago, rickca said:

Is the 400GB microSD card included on all opticalRendu and Signature Rendu SE optical units, including the ones that have already shipped?  If so, nobody noticed?  I did see your comment about introductory upgrade pricing, but that seems to apply to the 512GB microSD.

The high capacity cards will be offered as upgrades only for now. Also, these will be available for all Rendu in the current line up. You can buy it for the microRendu, ultraRendu, and Signature Rendu SE (Ethernet or optical).

 

The pricing will be what we pay for the microSD card plus 99 USD. As an introductory offer it will be cost plus 75 USD.

Link to comment
4 hours ago, rickca said:

How does using music files on the microSD card sound compared to having them on your NAS?  Is there a perceptible difference in sound quality?

 

I thought you were committed to Roon.  Now you're using iPeng/LMS/Squeezelite.  How do Roon users use this local storage option?  Can you explain the potential conflict between Roon Rock and your local storage option configuration?

 

Do you have an ultraRendu for a comparison between it and the opticalRendu?

I'll let Chris comment on sound quality when his speakers arrive;) What I can say is that the network is not involved in local playback and instead it's only used for control signals when sent.

 

Roon can't be used in combination with local storage as far as I know. Remember though it's easy to switch between these outputs modes. For now you can use MPD and SqueezeLite with local storage. When you are using Logitech Media Server you need to shutdown Roon if it has support for Squeeze Box devices enabled or conflicts will occur.

Link to comment
4 hours ago, rickca said:

@vortecjr occasionally people run into problems with their microSD card, and you suggest they order a new one from your website.  Looks like the current price is $29.95 for the non-optical Rendus.

 

How are you going to handle this situation when someone is running a 512GB or 1TB microSD that costs a lot more than $29.95?

Yes, that is correct. Since this is an upgrade you will be able to use your standard card and ship the high capacity card to use for a look see. These cards have a serial number and they will be logged at the factory. The customer is responsive for keeping a backup of the data in a separate location. We will not try to recover files on the micro SD cards and will more likely than not just refresh the cards.  

Link to comment
4 hours ago, bobfa said:

Excited.  I did not know the the Signature Rendu had been released with optical update.  The squeezebox stuff re-affirms some things others have found.  SOOO TEMPTING!  A new Single Box solution!

 

Also cannot wait to hear about your new speakers!

What exactly was re-affirmed?  

Link to comment
2 hours ago, R1200CL said:

@vortecjr how will the new card affect the power draw ?

 

And why can’t we have the option for a bigger one ?

(Or did I misunderstood there was a limitation? )

 

Any discussion with Roon, to make them open for using this storage option ?

A, it's a micro SD card of course there are limitation. No discussion with Roon, but that doesn't mean we are done:)   

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...