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

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 minutes ago, charlesphoto said:

 

Paul Hynes barely has a website and people are paying and cueing up years in advance for his power supplies. Last least with Sonore one can see if the product is in stock and order from the site. Website aesthetics is really is a non-issue in this hobby, imo, esp for gear that works and is available now, and isn't just some magic pixie dust in an EE's imagination. 

In fact, one should be cautious about flashy websites when the company doesn’t have a proven track record. 

[daverich4]

1 hour ago, ArthurOtt said:

Talk about going back in time 15 years! Click on the link to Sonore's terrible website. They expect you to buy their $3445 Signature Rendu SE optical based on one low-res picture of the front of the unit. No picture of the rear of the unit and the connectivity. Yes, that website is a real blast from the past as it looks like it was designed by a high school kid in 2004. 

 

I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I clicked on the link you provided and there was a picture of the back as well as the front. Plus, I was able to zoom into what you described as a low-res image and see everything clearly. The connectivity is Ethernet in, usb out according to the pictures and the text if it matters. 

[Albrecht]

16 hours ago, vortecjr said:

SqueezeLite was the reason we made a renderer in the first place. I bet most people don't know the name of the first renderer we made that featured SqueezeLite. Maybe firedog knows:)     

You rock!

[The Computer Audiophile]

23 hours ago, rickca said:

I thought you were committed to Roon. 

I'm committed to everything. There isn't a "best" solution for me and I need to understand all the solutions inside and out. 

[R1200CL]

@The Computer Audiophile

If you are able to compare the SQ, using different power supplies, I think that would have great value for many of us. 

And comply with your statement in the above post as wel 😀

 

It’s my understanding that Sonore supplied you with a PS that won’t be available for sale, unless you purchase the Signature SE. (And hence maybe why you didn’t notice much difference between the two Rendu’s).

 

As we we all know, the chosen power supply for previous Rendu’s, did quite a noticeable difference to most people. 

 

Also, Would you happen to know if your DAC’s draw any Vbus power ?

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

39 minutes ago, R1200CL said:

@The Computer Audiophile

If you are able to compare the SQ, using different power supplies, I think that would have great value for many of us. 

And comply with your statement in the above post as wel 😀

 

It’s my understanding that Sonore supplied you with a PS that won’t be available for sale, unless you purchase the Signature SE. (And hence maybe why you didn’t notice much difference between the two Rendu’s).

 

As we we all know, the chosen power supply for previous Rendu’s, did quite a noticeable difference to most people. 

 

Also, Would you happen to know if your DAC’s draw any Vbus power ?

 

Great points, I will do my best to test these differences for Part 2. 

[vortecjr]

12 hours ago, bunno77 said:

I personally would be happy to pay for another SD card if the big streaming services Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer, Google Play and or Chromecast were added.
There is the thread about Chromecast so others are interested in this too but maybe not so happy to pay.

I want my car to run on water.

[vortecjr]

11 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I believe Google’s requirements to turn an endpoint into a Chromecast endpoint are quite steep and impossible for most. Plus, Google owns StreamUnlimited, the company that makes such endpoints. 

That is a hardware solution and not so much a software solution and there in lies the issues. 

[vortecjr]

10 hours ago, bunno77 said:

Yeah I wouldn't doubt it but more and more companies are beginning to incorporate it. I am just being hopeful.

Don't be because we will not implement that hardware solution. 

[vortecjr]

10 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I'm with you. I'd love it in the Rendu series. 

 

Perhaps Sonore can pull off a Wadia move (getting iPod digital output) and get Casting.

I'm not sure I understand this?

[vortecjr]

9 hours ago, rickca said:

But you can't get this power supply without buying a Signature Rendu SE optical, right?  You can only get the cost reduced version (ultraSupply) for $529.  Does Chris's unit include the Turbo option (Tier II upgrade)?

Pretty much. That cost reduced power supply is really good though:) I don't keep track of these things;) 

[vortecjr]

9 hours ago, ArthurOtt said:

Talk about going back in time 15 years! Click on the link to Sonore's terrible website. They expect you to buy their $3445 Signature Rendu SE optical based on one low-res picture of the front of the unit. No picture of the rear of the unit and the connectivity. Yes, that website is a real blast from the past as it looks like it was designed by a high school kid in 2004. 

If your going to be a dork at least get the website correct. That is the SGC website (our dealer and partner) and not our website. Mind you I'm not saying our website is any better:) However, if it comes down to spending $10,000.00 on a cute website or buying hight quality / expensive components for our units it's a pretty easy decision for me to make.

[vortecjr]

9 hours ago, charlesphoto said:

 

Paul Hynes barely has a website and people are paying and cueing up years in advance for his power supplies. Last least with Sonore one can see if the product is in stock and order from the site. Website aesthetics is really is a non-issue in this hobby, imo, esp for gear that works and is available now, and isn't just some magic pixie dust in an EE's imagination. 

LOL

[The Computer Audiophile]

20 minutes ago, vortecjr said:

I'm not sure I understand this?

It was a reference to Wadia back in the day when the company, out of nowhere, announced the world’s first device to take digital audio out of an iPod. All sanctioned by Apple. 

 

Thus, I was dreaming that you guys could be the new Wadia and work with Google on cast support 😁

[vortecjr]

24 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

It was a reference to Wadia back in the day when the company, out of nowhere, announced the world’s first device to take digital audio out of an iPod. All sanctioned by Apple. 

 

Thus, I was dreaming that you guys could be the new Wadia and work with Google on cast support 😁

That is a high bar to set:) I have customer that works at Google and he can’t help so...

[bunno77]

1 hour ago, vortecjr said:

I want my car to run on water.

If you're going to be a dork at least be funny

[vortecjr]

4 minutes ago, bunno77 said:

If you're going to be a dork at least be funny

You already knew the answer when you posted here so don’t expect any humor. If you don’t want to buy the upgrade card for what it is don’t buy it. If you want Chromecast contact them and ask them to open source it. 

[Josh Mound]

@The Computer Audiophile, I couldn’t help but chuckle and sit in awed reverence at your calling a system with TAD CR1s capable but “less than stellar.” 😛

[R1200CL]

16 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Perhaps Sonore can pull off a Wadia move (getting iPod digital output) 

 

The CCK and an iDevice pretty much get you there 😀

(And sounds fantastic). 

 

Good idea for a future product update, but then maybe iDevices has USB C. 

 

And why not not add AirPlay? Limitations in bitrate maybe ? (24/48 max ?)

 

Other possible future updates could be a second SD slot, and you can add your own SD card for music. And then why not another USB input for a SSD and a requirement for external power of that SSD. 

 

And further, how about external power for Vbus, so people can use two of LPS-1 series power supplies. On the other hand that would probably only please those that only owns one of those power supplies from before.

 

Unless such a setup beats a Uptone JS-2 or Sonore’s $529 PS 😀

[firedog]

3 hours ago, JoshM said:

@The Computer Audiophile, I couldn’t help but chuckle and sit in awed reverence at your calling a system with TAD CR1s capable but “less than stellar.” 😛

HiFi-

It's all relative to taste and budget.  mp3 is fine for some; DSD 512 is necessary for others. $500 is outrageous for some; $50000 isn't enough for others. 

[vortecjr]

15 hours ago, R1200CL said:

 

And why not not add AirPlay? Limitations in bitrate maybe ? (24/48 max ?)

 

Other possible future updates could be a second SD slot, and you can add your own SD card for music. And then why not another USB input for a SSD and a requirement for external power of that SSD. 

 

And further, how about external power for Vbus, so people can use two of LPS-1 series power supplies. On the other hand that would probably only please those that only owns one of those power supplies from before.

 

Unless such a setup beats a Uptone JS-2 or Sonore’s $529 PS 😀

We support Shairport Sync for those looking to stream from Apple devices. I assume you meant Airplay2.  Again, we are not going to add a chip level integration type features from third party companies. If an open source solution pops up we can look at it then. We would not add external power VBUS to a Rendu. The VBUS power output on the opticalRendu has dual low noise LDOs in parallel in a properly designed circuit from John S. That is not a feature you want to bypass with a hack.       

[The Computer Audiophile]

9 hours ago, JoshM said:

@The Computer Audiophile, I couldn’t help but chuckle and sit in awed reverence at your calling a system with TAD CR1s capable but “less than stellar.” 😛

The CR1s have been sold and I'm "stuck" with Focal Sopra N1 speakers until my new ones arrive :~)

 

The TADs were stellar.

[thotdoc]

On 6/27/2019 at 4:06 AM, vortecjr said:

Chris had a Sonore Signature power supply from the microRendu review. So we updated it for this review. It's more or less the PS in the Signature Rendu SE optical he will be reviewing in part two.  

Thank you

[jabbr]

On 6/26/2019 at 6:41 PM, The Computer Audiophile said:

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. 

 

 

Typically the OS (linux variant) loads the OS into RAM and doesn't actually make many filesystem accesses -- except to write to logs.

 

Consider that the newest "SD Express" (SD 7.1) has a speed of 1 Gbs ... and of course that isn't needed for audio ... and when you go to direct SD card access you totally give up the fiberoptic Ethernet isolation ... so actually "pulling file over network" into RAM, really is better than storing on SD card ... jus' sayin'  

[The Computer Audiophile]

16 minutes ago, jabbr said:

 

Typically the OS (linux variant) loads the OS into RAM and doesn't actually make many filesystem accesses -- except to write to logs.

 

Consider that the newest "SD Express" (SD 7.1) has a speed of 1 Gbs ... and of course that isn't needed for audio ... and when you go to direct SD card access you totally give up the fiberoptic Ethernet isolation ... so actually "pulling file over network" into RAM, really is better than storing on SD card ... jus' sayin'  

Not following you.