Focusrite REDNet

[mourip]

The main reason for me is AES which I currently prefer with Mutec and Yggy. The only "spec" difference I am aware of between the two cards (Brooklyn I Module of Rednet 3 and Brooklyn II of D16) is that the Brooklyn II will handle sample rates of 176kHz. I can't comment on SQ yet because D16 is still in transit.

 

Another nice feature of the D16 is that it has two ethernet ports. This allows you to direct connect the D16 to your server and then use the other port as a "switch" making your LAN accessible to your PC. putting an un-managed switch between your PC and D16 may affect your ability to get beyond 96K according to the Sweetwater Rednet tech I spoke to.

[mourip]

Glad you are getting very good results with Rednet and Rednet/Mutec combo. Almost exclusively positive reports from what I have read so far.

 

FedEx tracking is showing the Rednet D16 should arrive Friday which means I'll have the weekend to play around with the unit. Looking forward to it.

 

Especially looking forward to your thoughts regarding the D16 vs uRendu. I think you will be the first to have both!

[gldgate]

Another nice feature of the D16 is that it has two ethernet ports. This allows you to direct connect the D16 to your server and then use the other port as a "switch" making your LAN accessible to your PC. putting an un-managed switch between your PC and D16 may affect your ability to get beyond 96K according to the Sweetwater Rednet tech I spoke to.

 

Yes, forgot about the extra ethernet port feature. Side note, those who want to purchase this item should make sure they order the D16 and not the D16R which comes with redundant power which will empty your wallet to the tune of an additional $500.

[Qhwoeprktiyns]

I never got AirFoil to work on my pc. I also don't like the fact that you need to switch the microRendu's output anytime you want to use AirPlay. The point is: added bonus... I should have tempered my enthusiasm!

 

I installed AirFoil again on my PC and got it to work...

As far as switching output modes in the microRendu, that is a, really minor point, and I guess it is more optimal to only have one software running at a time.

 

Still, I find Via appealing, and it is good to know that it is available under Dante.

[gldgate]

Here is a post that will probably be of some interest from "Atomic Bob" on other thread:

 

XMOS XU208 USB BRIDGES - THE LATEST GEN HAS ARRIVED! - Page 180

[Dev]

I have the Focusrite and Dante DVS software successfully installed on my Win2012R2 server. SQ is stunning.

 

Installed without issue except for a couple of nag screens about firewall but works perfectly.

 

I did try running Audiophile Optimizer but it broke DVS. Might still work with tweaking but I have been too busy listening to music to worry about that :-)

 

Great news then. On the AO, we should involve Phil and see if there is something he can do about it. What DAC and s/w player are you using ? Will Roon/HQP combo work with the ASIO drivers ?

[mourip]

Great news then. On the AO, we should involve Phil and see if there is something he can do about it. What DAC and s/w player are you using ? Will Roon/HQP combo work with the ASIO drivers ?

 

Using JRiver and a Schiit Yggy. No experience with Roon/HQP.

 

Seems like Phil has his hands full getting Win10 to work. Someone suggested that AO turned off one of the DVS services so I will start with that. It is also possible that ethernet is less susceptible to the OS. It sure sounds good using the D16 with none enabled...

[jaynyc]

To those who are running (or might soon run) Dante Virtual Sound Card under Windows, be aware that DVS can be active for either WDM or ASIO, not both simultaneously. I learned that tonight trying a Focusrite AM2. I literally have to go to the DVS applet and stop WDM then start ASIO, or vice versa. Every USB, Firewire, and PCI interface I've ever tried (RME, M-Audio, TC, etc.) always makes both WDM and ASIO available. And of course OSX Core Audio doesn't have this issue. If anyone here has a contact at Audinate, it might be useful to find out if this DVS constraint is going to be permanent or not.

[Qhwoeprktiyns]

To those who are running (or might soon run) Dante Virtual Sound Card under Windows, be aware that DVS can be active for either WDM or ASIO, not both simultaneously. I learned that tonight trying a Focusrite AM2. I literally have to go to the DVS applet and stop WDM then start ASIO, or vice versa. Every USB, Firewire, and PCI interface I've ever tried (RME, M-Audio, TC, etc.) always makes both WDM and ASIO available. And of course OSX Core Audio doesn't have this issue. If anyone here has a contact at Audinate, it might be useful to find out if this DVS constraint is going to be permanent or not.

 

How dies the AM2 perform?

[jelt2359]

Here is a post that will probably be of some interest from "Atomic Bob" on other thread:

 

XMOS XU208 USB BRIDGES - THE LATEST GEN HAS ARRIVED! - Page 180

 

 

Thanks. This will have to do while we wait for your microrendu comparison.

 

No pressure.

[jaynyc]

How dies the AM2 perform?

 

short version: my use case is different than a normal home playback system, I am trying out this AM2 for an easily carried portable sound device using Dante Virtual Soundcard with an iFi iPower PS, instead of an RME Babyface or similar. Headphone jack is 5 ohms btw, so for those who follow the 8x rule, that means minimum 40 ohm headphones. I definitely hear layers and details I cannot hear with the Babyface. No question. That said, I would not consider this a "high end" audiophile or studio DAC equivalent, it doesn't sound like my Bryston BDA-1 in my main system, nor a Lavry DAC for example, or anything like that. It's clear, non-spectacular, neutral, not-hyped, reliable, stable, and basically perfect for it's $400USD intended use (studio extension listening). Also keep in mind:

**Sample rates must be set manually in Dante Controller because right now the AM2 (a Rednet device) cannot Sample Rate Follow Dante Virtual Soundcard. There's some belief that Focusrite is going to release a fix/patch in a few months that will allow a Rednet device to do Sample Rate Follow of DVS.

**For Windows users like myself, DVS is available by manually setting ASIO or WDM, not both. So you can't be using your computer listening with Foobar or Roon using ASIO, then quickly open a browser tab and check Soundcloud, Youtube, or Netflix. I have no idea if Audinate will ever change this, so it makes Dante for primary audio on a multi-use Windows PC not really viable. I really hope they change DVS to load ASIO and WDM simultaneously.

Overall the Rednet AM2 works amazingly well and sounds better than any other portable/recording/DJ audio interface I've heard (USB, Firewire, even ExpressCard PCI). Audio over IP is very impressive, and DVS seems very stable.

[gldgate]

Rednet D16 is up and running. While I will need a day or two to put it through its paces, I wanted to give some operational details. First, it took me about 90 minutes to set up (unpack, physical connections, product registrations, software downloads and sw set-up). In this regard it's not as plug n play as the uRendu. However, I got there. Second, the ASIO virtual sound card has successfully worked with JRMC, HQPlayer, Bug Head/Infinity Blade, and Roon/Tidal. For some reason (not sure why) I thought the Rednet would not work with Roon/Tidal but it does - no problem. So every player I've tried works without any hiccups or drop-outs. As several others have said above, sample rates need to be set manually in the SW - it does not do so automatically. As has also been mentioned before, this product is for PCM only (No DSD) with 192MHz limit. I'm currently running the Rednet D16 to the Mutec MC3 USB + (for reclocking) and the Mutec into an Yggy. All connections are AES (no USB what so ever).

 

I needed to contact Focusrite support because I could not find the "token" needed for free Audinate Virtual Sound Card download. I actually called up and got a live person to talk to right away. Sweetwater Audio (where I bought the product) also provides free 24 month phone support (and a bag of candy inside the delivery box).

 

More to come...

[jelt2359]

Rednet D16 is up and running. While I will need a day or two to put it through its paces, I wanted to give some operational details. First, it took me about 90 minutes to set up (unpack, physical connections, product registrations, software downloads and sw set-up). In this regard it's not as plug n play as the uRendu. However, I got there. Second, the ASIO virtual sound card has successfully worked with JRMC, HQPlayer, Bug Head/Infinity Blade, and Roon/Tidal. For some reason (not sure why) I thought the Rednet would not work with Roon/Tidal but it does - no problem. So every player I've tried works without any hiccups or drop-outs. As several others have said above, sample rates need to be set manually in the SW - it does not do so automatically. As has also been mentioned before, this product is for PCM only (No DSD) with 192MHz limit. I'm currently running the Rednet D16 to the Mutec MC3 USB + (for reclocking) and the Mutec into an Yggy. All connections are AES (no USB what so ever).

 

I needed to contact Focusrite support because I could not find the "token" needed for free Audinate Virtual Sound Card download. I actually called up and got a live person to talk to right away. Sweetwater also provides free 24 month phone support. This shows I believe the Pro Audio roots of the product.

 

More to come...

 

Roon/tidal is on local machine?

[gldgate]

Roon/tidal is on local machine?

 

Yes, Roon is on the PC attached to the D16 via ethernet. The Rednet does not come with Roon SW. However, I am just confirming that within Roon the Audinate Virtual Sound Card was easily identified as an audio zone. For some reason I thought Roon/Tidal would not work with the Dante device but I am happily mistaken.

[mourip]

I was able to run Audiophile Optimizer on my Win2012 server using DVS with my D16 today. Previously I had tried it and got no sound out. This time I did not disable "drivers and services". I will try it again and enable that feature to see if it turned off one of the DVS services.

 

Truthfully it did not make much if any difference compared to when I had my USB chain in place. It is possible that AOIP makes these server tweaks less necessary ... and possibly entirely unnecessary.

 

I will experiment more.

[jelt2359]

Yes, Roon is on the PC attached to the D16 via ethernet. The Rednet does not come with Roon SW. However, I am just confirming that within Roon the Audinate Virtual Sound Card was easily identified as an audio zone. For some reason I thought Roon/Tidal would not work with the Dante device but I am happily mistaken.

 

got it. Meaning that Roon works- just gotta attach the Rednet to the Roon server. Was NAA the same?

[gldgate]

got it. Meaning that Roon works- just gotta attach the Rednet to the Roon server. Was NAA the same?

 

Yes, Roon works with local PC (RoonServer) connection to Rednet. No official Roon Ready implementation like uRendu. I was able to play HQP within Roon (or as stand alone player) without issue. All audio connections so far with DVS/Ethernet have been (knock on wood) rock solid.

[Qhwoeprktiyns]

Have you tried using Via from another PC?

[jelt2359]

Yes, Roon works with local PC (RoonServer) connection to Rednet. No official Roon Ready implementation like uRendu. I was able to play HQP within Roon (or as stand alone player) without issue. All audio connections so far with DVS/Ethernet have been (knock on wood) rock solid.

 

nice. So works as it should, then.

[Dev]

Rednet D16 is up and running. While I will need a day or two to put it through its paces, I wanted to give some operational details. First, it took me about 90 minutes to set up (unpack, physical connections, product registrations, software downloads and sw set-up). In this regard it's not as plug n play as the uRendu. However, I got there. Second, the ASIO virtual sound card has successfully worked with JRMC, HQPlayer, Bug Head/Infinity Blade, and Roon/Tidal. For some reason (not sure why) I thought the Rednet would not work with Roon/Tidal but it does - no problem. So every player I've tried works without any hiccups or drop-outs. As several others have said above, sample rates need to be set manually in the SW - it does not do so automatically. As has also been mentioned before, this product is for PCM only (No DSD) with 192MHz limit. I'm currently running the Rednet D16 to the Mutec MC3 USB + (for reclocking) and the Mutec into an Yggy. All connections are AES (no USB what so ever).

 

I needed to contact Focusrite support because I could not find the "token" needed for free Audinate Virtual Sound Card download. I actually called up and got a live person to talk to right away. Sweetwater Audio (where I bought the product) also provides free 24 month phone support (and a bag of candy inside the delivery box).

 

More to come...

 

Great to hear. Any initial impression ? How do you like the sound so far ?

[gldgate]

Here is my subjective assessment (rank order):

 

1) D16>Mutec MC3 + USB> Yggy

2) uRendu>Mutec MC3 + USB>Yggy

3) Dual PC (CAPS Pipeline)>Mutec MC3+ USB>Yggy

 

I went deep into last night and this morning listening, comparing and taking notes. What struck me is that while my notes for uRendu and my Dual PC set-up contained comments about frequency extention, tonality, noise floor and timing, my comments on the D16 set-up were much less technical and much more emotional. I wrote down "engaging", "immersive","fluid" and "liquid". I connected more to the music with the Rednet set-up.

 

All the usual caveats apply. This is one persons opinion and I'm not making any definitive declarations about products or technologies.

 

 

For those interested in Rednet (AOIP) solutions, I will say the following:

 

a) The market for Rednet (Dante) gear is Pro Audio - not consumer. The D16 is overkill from a consumer standpoint. I really only need a small 2 channel device with AES. I have a full, very solid 1 rack unit device with 16 channels and connections I will never use. The uRendu by comparison is the size of a pack of cards.

 

b) As has been mentioned before but bares repeating - The device does not auto-switch for varying sample rates. If you are playing a 44Khz track and want to play a 192Khz track you need to go into the SW and manually switch 44 to 192. Not a big deal for me but for some this may be problematic. There is talk that there may be firmware later this summer that will address this. However, I have not seen confirmation in writing from the Mfg.

 

c)The D16 took a bit of time to set up and configure. While the uRendu was plug and play (10 minutes) It took me about an hour and a half to be up and running with the D16. It's not really that complicated after the first couple of times. There are even you tube videos available to help you get oriented. In comparison, dual PC systems in my experience with SW like Jplay, AO, and Bitsum are at least if not more complicated and more finicky.

 

d) As with many pro devices, you will not find a USB connection anywhere. This means no DSD.

 

If you have no problems with any of the above, you may want to check out AOIP products like the Rednet. The D16-Mutec-Yggy combo is now my main system with the following benefits:

 

 

- Best SQ that I have experienced to date in my system.

- I can still use all the playback SW I have with the free ASIO Virtual Sound Card that comes with unit (Roon/Tidal, Infinity Blade, JRMC, HQP).

- Connection is rock solid. No musical drop outs or sw glitches/crashes. Infinity Blade which I've always liked was very temperamental in dual PC/Jplay set up. It runs like a dream with D16.

[Dev]

Here is my subjective assessment (rank order):

 

1) D16>Mutec MC3 + USB> Yggy

2) uRendu>Mutec MC3 + USB>Yggy

3) Dual PC (CAPS Pipeline)>Mutec MC3+ USB>Yggy

 

I went deep into last night and this morning listening, comparing and taking notes. What struck me is that while my notes for uRendu and my Dual PC set-up contained comments about frequency extention, tonality, noise floor and timing, my comments on the D16 set-up were much less technical and much more emotional. I wrote down "engaging", "immersive","fluid" and "liquid". I connected more to the music with the Rednet set-up.

 

All the usual caveats apply. This is one persons opinion and I'm not making any definitive declarations about products or technologies.

 

 

For those interested in Rednet (AOIP) solutions, I will say the following:

 

a) The market for Rednet (Dante) gear is Pro Audio - not consumer. The D16 is overkill from a consumer standpoint. I really only need a small 2 channel device with AES. I have a full, very solid 1 rack unit device with 16 channels and connections I will never use. The uRendu by comparison is the size of a pack of cards.

 

b) As has been mentioned before but bares repeating - The device does not auto-switch for varying sample rates. If you are playing a 44Khz track and want to play a 192Khz track you need to go into the SW and manually switch 44 to 192. Not a big deal for me but for some this may be problematic. There is talk that there may be firmware later this summer that will address this. However, I have not seen confirmation in writing from the Mfg.

 

c)The D16 took a bit of time to set up and configure. While the uRendu was plug and play (10 minutes) It took me about an hour and a half to be up and running with the D16. It's not really that complicated after the first couple of times. There are even you tube videos available to help you get oriented. In comparison, dual PC systems in my experience with SW like Jplay, AO, and Bitsum are at least if not more complicated and more finicky.

 

d) As with many pro devices, you will not find a USB connection anywhere. This means no DSD.

 

If you have no problems with any of the above, you may want to check out AOIP products like the Rednet. The D16-Mutec-Yggy combo is now my main system with the following benefits:

 

 

- Best SQ that I have experienced to date in my system.

- I can still use all the playback SW I have with the free ASIO Virtual Sound Card that comes with unit (Roon/Tidal, Infinity Blade, JRMC, HQP).

- Connection is rock solid. No musical drop outs or sw glitches/crashes. Infinity Blade which I've always liked was very temperamental in dual PC/Jplay set up. It runs like a dream with D16.

 

Thanks for the impression. How much would you say the Mutec contributes in your chain ? By any chance did you run without the Mutec and did not like it ?

[gldgate]

Thanks for the impression. How much would you say the Mutec contributes in your chain ? By any chance did you run without the Mutec and did not like it ?

 

IMO, the Mutec reclocking was a positive across all chains. If the Mutec were removed, the relative ranks (D16>uRendu>dual PC) would remain intact. It's hard for me to attach sound quality % for every component. I agree with the old adage "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture". I'll just say music with the Mutec has always moved me a little bit more when it is in the chain.

[jelt2359]

IMO, the Mutec reclocking was a positive across all chains. If the Mutec were removed, the relative ranks (D16>uRendu>dual PC) would remain intact. It's hard for me to attach sound quality % for every component. I agree with the old adage "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture". I'll just say music with the Mutec has always moved me a little bit more when it is in the chain.

 

thank you again. How much of an improvement would you say the Rednet was, over the microrendu?

 

this piques my interest but I am probably going to wait until, like Mutec with the 3+ USB, they build an audiophile device. Smaller, 2 ch only, multiple sampling modes.

[gldgate]

thank you again. How much of an improvement would you say the Rednet was, over the microrendu?

 

this piques my interest but I am probably going to wait until, like Mutec with the 3+ USB, they build an audiophile device. Smaller, 2 ch only, multiple sampling modes.

 

As I mentioned, it is hard to quantify because it's ultimately going to be subjective for each listener. I found the uRendu to have a lower noise floor and slightly smoother presentation compared to my Dual PC config. The RedNet kept that lower noise floor but seemed to have a more flowing, liquid presentation. If you are an old JPLAY user a good comparision would be between the engines they had. One was called "Beach" and the other "River". The RedNet in this comparison would have qualities of "River". Another comparison would Infinity Blade. Even though IB can be a pain in the *** to deal with it I just find it a more emotionally involving player (when it is working). Because this is Audio, I don't expect opinions to be uniform. All I can say is that I'm glad I rolled the dice with the RedNet. It's definitely not going back. I don't know what this says about me but over the past 6 months Pro Audio gear is becoming much more prevalent. I am not unhappy to see USB out of my system.