Sonicorbiter - High Capacity Micro SD Card

[vortecjr]

The Sonore Rendu series just got a whole lot bigger. Well actually, the units are the same size, but now you can update them with a 400 GB micro SD card. These high capacity micro SD cards allow you to store and play music directly from the Rendu. This upgrade is available for the microRendu, ultraRendu, opticalRendu, and the Signature Rendu SE.  The high capacity micro SD cards can be purchased from the Sonore website here: https://www.sonore.us/SonicOrbiter-OS.html

 

Local Playback with MPD 

Here is an example of how to use the Rendu with MPD as the onboard player and YMPD as the onboard controller. You can also use Rigelian as the controller on your iPad or any other MPD client for control.

 

From the Rendu web interface in Apps, you will see a new icon named Local Storage.

 

Clicking on Apps / Local Storage lets you see the size of your storage drive, how much space is used, and how much space is available on the micro SD card.

My drive was empty so I dropped some content into the default shared folder over the network. Here is some FLAC / Blues ready for use in playback. 

 

  

 

In order to control playback on the unit, I'm going to install YMPD from Apps / Software Manager.

 

 

If you have another controller like Kazoo open stop playback and close the app. Also, go to Settings / DLNA MPD and press Save to assure MPD is running on your Rendu.

 

When you first open YMPD click on it's Settings tab and then click on Update DB so MPD can see your newly added content. Press Save for good measure.

 

 

Now go to the Browse Database tab and click on Root and your content should be listed. Click on something to play and enjoy the music!

 

 

[vortecjr]

Local Playback with Logitech Media Server (LMS)

Here is an example of how to use the Rendu with LMS as the onboard player and onboard controller. You can also use other LMS compatible apps, such as iPeng, on your mobile device to controller playback. 

 

From the Rendu web interface in Apps, you will see a new icon named Local Storage.

 

Clicking on Apps / Local Storage lets you see the size of your storage drive, how much space is used, and how much space is available on the micro SD card.

My drive was empty so I dropped some content into the default shared folder over the network. Here is some FLAC / Blues ready for use in playback. 

 

  

 

In order to control playback on the unit, I'm going to install LMS from Apps / Software Manager.

 

Go to Settings / SqueezeLite and press Save to assure SqueezeLite is running on your Rendu. 

 

Go to Apps and click on LMS to open it. At the top right corner of the application select the Rendu as the output device.

 

 

At the bottom right corner click on Settings to open it. 

 

Rescan the Media Folder so LMS sees your newly added content and exit by pressing close at the bottom right corner.

 

When the scan is complete you can go to My Folder / My Music and you should see your content there available for playback.

 

 

Click on something to play and enjoy the music!

 

 

 

[Confused]

OK - I must admit that I know very little about MPD or YMPD, so I would like to check if I understand the above post correctly.

 

If I set up my 'Rendu exactly as detailed in post #1 above, I presume that I can then shut down the PC (or Mac) that has been used for the set-up and transferring the music files, and then play music, effectively using the 'Rendu as a music server, with just an iPad (with Rigelian or similar) for control / selecting music.  Assuming the 'Rendu is left powered up and connected to Ethernet for control, it would then be a case of picking up the tablet, select select Rigelian, select music and play.  You could alternatively use the PC (or Mac) for control, playing files locally stored on the 'Rendu 

 

Later, I could go back to the PC, run Sonicorbiter, select Roon Ready, and run the 'rendu as a Roon endpont with Roon core on the PC.  (or similar options with other modes)

 

Is this correct?  Or have I missed the point completely?😊

[vortecjr]

3 hours ago, Confused said:

OK - I must admit that I know very little about MPD or YMPD, so I would like to check if I understand the above post correctly.

 

If I set up my 'Rendu exactly as detailed in post #1 above, I presume that I can then shut down the PC (or Mac) that has been used for the set-up and transferring the music files, and then play music, effectively using the 'Rendu as a music server, with just an iPad (with Rigelian or similar) for control / selecting music.  Assuming the 'Rendu is left powered up and connected to Ethernet for control, it would then be a case of picking up the tablet, select select Rigelian, select music and play.  You could alternatively use the PC (or Mac) for control, playing files locally stored on the 'Rendu 

 

Later, I could go back to the PC, run Sonicorbiter, select Roon Ready, and run the 'rendu as a Roon endpont with Roon core on the PC.  (or similar options with other modes)

 

Is this correct?  Or have I missed the point completely?😊

You can do all the above because the combinations are endless. 

[John A]

Jesus besides being able to load music on the microSD card to play is there any additional reason to upgrade to the new cards?  Are there any other features that come along for the ride that the standard cards can't support?   I must admit that I came late to the party so I didn't read anything about this before now.  

[vortecjr]

1 hour ago, John A said:

Jesus besides being able to load music on the microSD card to play is there any additional reason to upgrade to the new cards?  Are there any other features that come along for the ride that the standard cards can't support?   I must admit that I came late to the party so I didn't read anything about this before now.  

No because the functionality was there all along on the standard cards. What was missing was the space to put the content. 

[John A]

Cool.  Thanks.   

[Confused]

I notice that on the Sonore website there is a pull down menu when selecting the SD card for purchase, this allows you to select for the microRendu, ultraRendu, and so on.

 

Is this just to clarify which models of 'Rendu the SD cards can be used with, or is it a case that the SD card for a microRendu would not work in the opticalRendu or other models?

 

I was thinking of buying a card to try in my microRendu, to see how I got on with functionality etc.  This would be with a view of maybe moving up to the opticalRendu, but it would be a little annoying if this meant buying a second $275 SD card.

[Summit]

Jesus as I believe in this concept that no server at all can provide best SQ. I want to buy the bigger card. I have read that you are going to have bigger cards. Am I correct and can I use a 1T card with my uR?

[vortecjr]

1 hour ago, Confused said:

I notice that on the Sonore website there is a pull down menu when selecting the SD card for purchase, this allows you to select for the microRendu, ultraRendu, and so on.

 

Is this just to clarify which models of 'Rendu the SD cards can be used with, or is it a case that the SD card for a microRendu would not work in the opticalRendu or other models?

 

I was thinking of buying a card to try in my microRendu, to see how I got on with functionality etc.  This would be with a view of maybe moving up to the opticalRendu, but it would be a little annoying if this meant buying a second $275 SD card.

The cards will each run on all the units, but if you swap them between units the product names will get all messed up. 

[vortecjr]

1 hour ago, Summit said:

Jesus as I believe in this concept that no server at all can provide best SQ. I want to buy the bigger card. I have read that you are going to have bigger cards. Am I correct and can I use a 1T card with my uR?

The 1tb cards are not available yet and have also not been tested yet. 

[Summit]

1 hour ago, vortecjr said:

The 1tb cards are not available yet and have also not been tested yet. 

 

What will the price be for the 1 Tb SD card and when will you test it?

[vortecjr]

3 minutes ago, Summit said:

 

What will the price be for the 1 Tb SD card and when will you test it?

I don’t expect them to be available for another month. These are cost plus and the cards are currently $449 so the final price will be $549. As the cost of these goes down over time we will evaluate thing again. 

[cat6man]

so.................does SD card audio sound better?

[vortecjr]

25 minutes ago, cat6man said:

so.................does SD card audio sound better?

They sound fantastic. 

[Confused]

On 7/6/2019 at 12:49 PM, vortecjr said:

The cards will each run on all the units, but if you swap them between units the product names will get all messed up. 

Thanks for clarifying.  This is ideal I think.  I could buy the opticalRedu card for my microRendu, and every time I used it, it would remind me that I should really upgrade.🙂

[Melvin]

@vortecjr .. this interests me greatly. I would love to take my Mac mini out of the equation entirely and this seems to be a perfect solution for me. Apologies up front for my lack of understanding .. I'm a networking idiot.

 

The Mac mini is used only for audio/NAS duties and is located on another floor of my house. I use Asset UPnP and my library of WAV files are located on an Oyen Digital hard drive tethered to the Mac via FireWire. I use a Chromebook for general computing, including mRendu management, but I can also use the Mac, of course.

 

I don't understand how to get my current library of music onto the SD card using the "default shared folder" mentioned in your post and was hoping you would elaborate further. Is this done through the new "Local Storage" section? Alternatively, can you load music files onto the SD card using the Mac's SDXC card slot? Sorry, I'm clueless and would like to understand before ordering the high capacity SD card. Thank you.

 

FWIW, I've enabled my WAV folder as a share on the network and was able to find and use the files on my Chromebook (amazingly, I might add) so I do understand a little bit.

 

On 7/4/2019 at 5:59 PM, vortecjr said:

Local Playback with MPD 

Here is an example of how to use the Rendu with MPD as the onboard player and YMPD as the onboard controller. You can also use Rigelian as the controller on your iPad or any other MPD client for control.

 

From the Rendu web interface in Apps, you will see a new icon named Local Storage.

 

Clicking on Apps / Local Storage lets you see the size of your storage drive, how much space is used, and how much space is available on the micro SD card.

My drive was empty so I dropped some content into the default shared folder over the network. Here is some FLAC / Blues ready for use in playback. 

 

[Melvin]

Just placed an order for the new high capacity SD card. While I'm still pretty clueless how to get my music onto the card I'm sure @vortecjr, @barrows, or one of you fine gentlemen will assist. Can hardly wait for it to arrive.

[vortecjr]

On 8/3/2019 at 11:36 AM, Melvin said:

@vortecjr .. this interests me greatly. I would love to take my Mac mini out of the equation entirely and this seems to be a perfect solution for me. Apologies up front for my lack of understanding .. I'm a networking idiot.

 

The Mac mini is used only for audio/NAS duties and is located on another floor of my house. I use Asset UPnP and my library of WAV files are located on an Oyen Digital hard drive tethered to the Mac via FireWire. I use a Chromebook for general computing, including mRendu management, but I can also use the Mac, of course.

 

I don't understand how to get my current library of music onto the SD card using the "default shared folder" mentioned in your post and was hoping you would elaborate further. Is this done through the new "Local Storage" section? Alternatively, can you load music files onto the SD card using the Mac's SDXC card slot? Sorry, I'm clueless and would like to understand before ordering the high capacity SD card. Thank you.

 

FWIW, I've enabled my WAV folder as a share on the network and was able to find and use the files on my Chromebook (amazingly, I might add) so I do understand a little bit.

 

 

Currently the micro SD card is ready only since they are limited in space to the operating system only. The high capacity micro SD card has a read / write storage partition. You will see the storage partition in Finder and will be able to drop the files in over the network.

[Melvin]

Just a brief follow-up .. new card arrived yesterday. Added a few test albums and is working as expected. So far so good. I'm now adding the rest of my library which, of course, will take some time. I'm going to give Rigelian a spin as well. 

[vortecjr]

17 minutes ago, Melvin said:

Just a brief follow-up .. new card arrived yesterday. Added a few test albums and is working as expected. So far so good. I'm now adding the rest of my library which, of course, will take some time. I'm going to give Rigelian a spin as well. 

Cool.

[Axiom05]

2 hours ago, Melvin said:

Just a brief follow-up .. new card arrived yesterday. Added a few test albums and is working as expected. So far so good. I'm now adding the rest of my library which, of course, will take some time. I'm going to give Rigelian a spin as well. 

 Don't overlook Soundirok as an excellent MPD client. I will be interested to know what access speeds and database updates are like with the local storage.

[Melvin]

19 minutes ago, Axiom05 said:

 Don't overlook Soundirok as an excellent MPD client. I will be interested to know what access speeds and database updates are like with the local storage.

 

Thanks. I'll check it out. Access speed with both Rigelian and YMPD (if that's what you mean) is instantaneous. Updates aren't particularly slow or fast .. not bad at all so far.

 

@vortecjr .. the only glitch so far is with cover art not showing up. Rigelian shows it's finding folder.jpg but it's not displaying the cover. My files are .wav and all cover art is in the appropriate folder. Any tips?

 

[Doak]

33 minutes ago, Melvin said:

 

Thanks. I'll check it out. Access speed with both Rigelian and YMPD (if that's what you mean) is instantaneous. Updates aren't particularly slow or fast .. not bad at all so far.

 

@vortecjr .. the only glitch so far is with cover art not showing up. Rigelian shows it's finding folder.jpg but it's not displaying the cover. My files are .wav and all cover art is in the appropriate folder. Any tips?

 

No tips, sorry, but am very curious to know if there is a difference in sound quality with playback with local SD card compared to network storage. 

[Melvin]

2 hours ago, Doak said:

No tips, sorry, but am very curious to know if there is a difference in sound quality with playback with local SD card compared to network storage. 

 

My first listen this morning was quite positive but it was much too brief to declare/decide anything just yet. I look forward to some play time this evening and over the weekend. I'd like to sort out the cover art issue first.