Article: Sonore opticalRendu & Signature Rendu SE Optical Review | Part 2

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I just checked my notes, and Chris' Signature Rendu SE is an original unit (pre-optical), then upgraded to the optical version, with the full tier 3 upgrade.

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On 10/10/2019 at 2:58 PM, k-man said:

"For example, using Roon to send audio to the dCS Rossini's Ethernet interface versus using Roon to send audio to the "SE optical" that sends it on to the Rossini's USB interface, I'm 100% positive the path through the Sonore component is much better. This source selection is a real-world decision people will make, should they use Roon directly or through an optical Rendu?"

 

My takeaway from Part 1 and 2 of the Review is that the optical element can raise the level of performance significantly. Do you have a Sonore OpticalModule on hand to feed the Rossini's Ethernet input from Ubiquiti?

 

Hi,  While it is true that using an optical interface does improve performance, there are a lot of other improvements (besides the addition of the optical interface) in the new optical Renderers from Sonore.  There is more adding to the performance here than solely the optical interface.

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On 10/11/2019 at 9:41 AM, fpalm69 said:

Signature with Tier 2 upgrades is $4,490.  I don't see Tier 3 offered.  Adding an opticalMoudle and FO cable brings it to $4,740.

Sorry about any confusion here:

 

For upgrades there are 3 tiers:

1. Is the main board is replaced with the new optical board

2. As above, plus, the addition of an RF damping materiel added to reduce RF from the processor inside the case.

3. As 2, plus the addition of the Turbo power supply (an entirely new power supply board.

 

For new Signature Rendu SEoptical there are two levels of upgrades to the basic unit:

 

1.  Basic unit, Signature Rendu SEoptical

2.  Tier 1 upgrade: the addition of RF damping material added to reduce RF from the processor inside the case

3.  Tier 2 upgrade, adds the Turbo power supply

 

I know it is confusing, sorry!

 

As to the differences from the Signature to the opticalRendu, they are:

 

Single chassis unit with very very sophisticated power supply, including a very expensive, custom, made in the USA EI style transformer.  Expensive and very handsome case, also custom and made int he US.  The performance improvement comes from 3 things: The better vibration control offered by the heavy gauge case, and the internal mounting,  the close coupling of the power supply to the main board, which reduces power supply impedance, and the very high performance of the power supply itself (which is not available for the opticalRendu).  And of course there is the advantage of the cleaner set up with less boxes and cabling running everywhere...

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2 hours ago, Superdad said:

 

What makes the power supply “turbo?”

Is there a turbine in there? Do you get the boost from compressing exhaust gas? If not than I guess it’s more of a “supercharger.” 

(Sorry, I’m an old car guy...)

 

Very nice review. Congrats.

Yes indeed Alex, we actually have a turbine in there, we run venturi style ducting to increase the airflow around the heatsink, and then use that airflow to spin a turbine which then spins a generator to increase the available voltage when the thing gets gong really fast... err, uh, hard...

 

Uh no.  We use "Turbo" with a capitol "T" as name, not a descriptor!

 

Anyway, the Turbo supply has about 50% more capacitance in the supply (more energy storage being mildly analogous to a turbocharger), and the capacitors themselves are upgraded from very good industrial grade parts to even better ones from Mundorf.  There are some other parts differences as well, but the basic circuit remains the same.