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

[k-man]

Chris, I do believe Andy has a point about component stacking. It would adversely affect both Rossini and DV2, because the footers cannot completely eliminate resonance, although designed to do their best to their own unit. Placing a weight or unit compromises things further. dCS even mention it in their manuals - why go through the trouble writing it and not mention other elements such as cabling etc. ?

 

Vibration control would have played less importance in your previous setup with TAD monitors and matched stands. But you now have Wilsons that have orders of magnitude of energy moving the air and floor. You done the hard bit with acoustic management, but if you speak to your expert networks, they might offer more physics-based knowledge on this.

[Andy Yuen]

Hi Chris,  to test whether stacking the DV2 on top of the Rossini DAC is a good thing or not, why not put them on separate shelves and then give them an extended listen to find out? 

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 hour ago, Andy Yuen said:

Hi Chris,  to test whether stacking the DV2 on top of the Rossini DAC is a good thing or not, why not put them on separate shelves and then give them an extended listen to find out? 

Why not? Time 😁

 

I hear you. It’s something I should do. 

[20hertz]

Thanx Chris,

Do you think that software and players upstream are still just as important with the Sonore in the system?

Is there still a big sonic difference between say,

1. ROCK / NUC

2. CAPS Cortes / Windows 10 Pro

3. QNAP NAS

Thanx

[barrows]

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.

[barrows]

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...

[Superdad]

6 minutes ago, barrows said:

3.  Tier 2 upgrade, adds the Turbo power supply

 

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.

[Foggie]

5 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Why not? Time 😁

 

What?  I thought you just sat around and listened to tunes all day 😂😉

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 minute ago, Foggie said:

What?  I thought you just sat around and listened to tunes all day 😂😉

😂😂😂

[vortecjr]

1 hour 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.

I’m a car guy...can you tell from my account name? 

[barrows]

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.

[k-man]

8 hours ago, Andy Yuen said:

Hi Chris,  to test whether stacking the DV2 on top of the Rossini DAC is a good thing or not, why not put them on separate shelves and then give them an extended listen to find out? 

Give the guy a break! 😀 Cable swapping's a bit of a chore in this hobby, let alone moving around 17kg components.

[MarkS]

Would love to learn impressions of the Sonore offering via its preferred USB output vs. the Innuos Statement via its Ethernet output on the Rossini.  I’m looking for best possible SQ with all else secondary, though Roon is a plus. 

[Redphu]

Thanks Chris. I’ve been waiting for the 2nd part of this review.  Would you have any experience with Innous or Pink Faun player; I’m looking for some comparisons. Thanks. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

21 minutes ago, Redphu said:

Thanks Chris. I’ve been waiting for the 2nd part of this review.  Would you have any experience with Innous or Pink Faun player; I’m looking for some comparisons. Thanks. 

I’ve heard Innous many times at shows. Good stuff, but I can’t do the comparison. 

[charles rollo]

Using a Aqua Acoustic FormulaxHD DAC with iPeng not Roon. DAC can use Roon however very happy with iPeng. Using an Innuos Zenith mk3  music server. Where would this device be used in that set up ? Thank you.

 

charles

[The Computer Audiophile]

5 minutes ago, charles rollo said:

Using a Aqua Acoustic FormulaxHD DAC with iPeng not Roon. DAC can use Roon however very happy with iPeng. Using an Innuos Zenith mk3  music server. Where would this device be used in that set up ? Thank you.

 

charles

Hi Charles - This device wouldn't fit in your current setup, unless you could somehow output audio from the Innuos to the Rendu over Ethernet. Perhaps you can use DLNA or Roon to try this. 

[EvilTed]

@vortecjr

Would an Optical Rendu + Optical Module + Uptone JS2 powering both with high end cabling be pretty close in performance to the Signature Rendu SE Optical?

 

 

[RichardK]

Hi Chris,

thanks for the wonderful review(s) which I now read more than once 🙂   I am currently trying out an opticalRendu which I like a lot. I got a basic ifi Power Supply. 

After all the information in the review I would say I have one question left: Would you say that the opticalRendu with the Turbo Power Supply provides the same sound quality as the Signature Rendu SE with that same power supply (both with the optical connection. Signature Rendu with the Tier 2 upgrade)

 

Thanks in advance for your reaction

 

Kind regards

[The Computer Audiophile]

32 minutes ago, RichardK said:

Would you say that the opticalRendu with the Turbo Power Supply provides the same sound quality as the Signature Rendu SE with that same power supply (both with the optical connection. Signature Rendu with the Tier 2 upgrade)

 

 

Most likely yes. I think the only difference between the two systems I have is that the power supply is inside the SE rather than external to the oR.