Sonore ultraRendu v1.3

[Sloop John B]

Anywhere between 5.43% and 17.69% depending on your system topology, upsampling capacity and the listeners ability to appreciate

transient progressions. 

 

.sjb

[left channel]

15 hours ago, Confused said:

Yes, Shareport works fine with iTunes and actually sounds pretty decent.  It is not the best protocol to use and it is restricted to 16/48, so something like Roon RAAT is superior.  So there is a small SQ penalty, but it works fine and it has rock solid stability.

 

1 hour ago, jamesg11 said:

Thanks for info, re Shareport.

 

*Shairport. Shareport is also a thing. But it's a different thing. :-)

[Confused]

8 hours ago, left channel said:

 

 

*Shairport. Shareport is also a thing. But it's a different thing. :-)

AirPlay is a lot harder to misspell, that's for sure. 

[rodrigaj]

4 hours ago, Confused said:

AirPlay is a lot harder to misspell, that's for sure. 

 

Or ShairPlay? Oops... I see it's already taken by GitHub.

[InnocentBlood]

I'm currently connecting my ultraRendu to the Chord BluDAVE using a Curious Cable USB cable. the ultraRendu is powered by the LPS-1. I really like what I hear in this current setup. I'd like to ask if anybody else with a similar setup is using the USPCB A>B Adapter made by Uptone Audio in place of a regular USB cable? how do you manage to make the connection? is it a tight/ awkward fit? some pics would be welcome  

 

thank you all for your input and enjoy the music!  

[Frojo]

I am running an UltraRendu -> curious cable->isoRegen -> curious link cable into a Chord Hugo. I found that switching my curious link to the USPCB was  a subtle, all-round improvement. 

[Albrecht]

4 minutes ago, Frojo said:

I am running an UltraRendu -> curious cable->isoRegen -> curious link cable into a Chord Hugo. I found that switching my curious link to the USPCB was  a subtle, all-round improvement. 

 

11 hours ago, InnocentBlood said:

I'm currently connecting my ultraRendu to the Chord BluDAVE using a Curious Cable USB cable. the ultraRendu is powered by the LPS-1. I really like what I hear in this current setup. I'd like to ask if anybody else with a similar setup is using the USPCB A>B Adapter made by Uptone Audio in place of a regular USB cable? how do you manage to make the connection? is it a tight/ awkward fit? some pics would be welcome  

 

thank you all for your input and enjoy the music!  

I have the Sonore Cardas USB adapter and the USBPC was a significant step down in SQ in my system.

[barrows]

I have not tried the USBPC, but it is curious to me.  Typically, a PCB construction has more parasitics than an appropriately engineered wire, as the mass of the substrate material in close proximity to the trace is much higher.  AFAIK the USBPC is also made of ordinary FR4, right?  It might be a bit better if it was FEP/Teflon substrate.

I am not certain of these thoughts, perhaps a good high speed PCB designer like @marce, could comment.

[André Gosselin]

6 minutes ago, barrows said:

I have not tried the USBPC, but it is curious to me.  Typically, a PCB construction has more parasitics than an appropriately engineered wire, as the mass of the substrate material in close proximity to the trace is much higher.  AFAIK the USBPC is also made of ordinary FR4, right?  It might be a bit better if it was FEP/Teflon substrate.

I am not certain of these thoughts, perhaps a good high speed PCB designer like @marce, could comment.

 

Curious to read that. On the Uptone site one can read :

Quote

Carefully designed with a 4-layer circuit board, we took into account even the mass of the connectors and the widths and thicknesses of the traces. So this new adapter perfectly preserves signal integrity and impedance match.  IT IS BETTER THAN ANY USB CABLE!

 

[Albrecht]

2 hours ago, André Gosselin said:

 

Curious to read that. On the Uptone site one can read :

 

Hi,

I want to emphasize that I had to use the USBPC with the 5v power pass-through turned ON as I am/was running an unpowered F-1 USB to SPDIF converter.

Whether or not turning off the 5v power pass-through in my system would make a positive SQ change is something I wouldn't know: and something I cannot test.

Cheers,

 

[marce]

2 hours ago, barrows said:

I have not tried the USBPC, but it is curious to me.  Typically, a PCB construction has more parasitics than an appropriately engineered wire, as the mass of the substrate material in close proximity to the trace is much higher.  AFAIK the USBPC is also made of ordinary FR4, right?  It might be a bit better if it was FEP/Teflon substrate.

I am not certain of these thoughts, perhaps a good high speed PCB designer like @marce, could comment.

The best control of a signal is no connectors, no wire, a nice controlled path from transmitter to receiver. From measurements I have seen the USPCB does seam to have the best controlled impedance path...

That said the only caveat I have is stress on the connectors, that could cause long term problems unless all forces are removed from the connectors. I prefer flexi-rigid designs, all the high vibration, critical stuff uses it... Again the single (or almost) box construction with isolation, LVDS digital signalling across the flexis, no GND connection, all signals through a common mode choke. You controll everything apart from input and output devices...

[barrows]

12 minutes ago, marce said:

The best control of a signal is no connectors, no wire, a nice controlled path from transmitter to receiver. From measurements I have seen the USPCB does seam to have the best controlled impedance path...

That said the only caveat I have is stress on the connectors, that could cause long term problems unless all forces are removed from the connectors. I prefer flexi-rigid designs, all the high vibration, critical stuff uses it... Again the single (or almost) box construction with isolation, LVDS digital signalling across the flexis, no GND connection, all signals through a common mode choke. You controll everything apart from input and output devices...

Thanks!  Are you talking FFC style for internal connections?

[marce]

The double sided ones with the controlled impedance connectors are OK, but for the best a proper flexi-rigid PCB, no connectors flexible arms connecting rigid PCB sections, just finished a 14 layers one, expensive, because its large, 1 per manufacturers std 18x24 panel. But done smaller cheaper ones, did a set for racing steering wheels, basic SBC in the middle with display, then flexi limbs for the switched etc. No connectors, vibration proof and total control of he signals.

[barrows]

8 hours ago, marce said:

The double sided ones with the controlled impedance connectors are OK, but for the best a proper flexi-rigid PCB, no connectors flexible arms connecting rigid PCB sections, just finished a 14 layers one, expensive, because its large, 1 per manufacturers std 18x24 panel. But done smaller cheaper ones, did a set for racing steering wheels, basic SBC in the middle with display, then flexi limbs for the switched etc. No connectors, vibration proof and total control of he signals.

Thanks for sharing your experience.  I have never liked it when I looked in some very high end DACs and saw I2S/clock signals being carried on ordinary pin headers and ribbon cables, it seemed to me at least that FFC would be better.  I have seen some 5 figure DACs using up to 5"-6" ribbon cables carrying I2S between boards-it always made me wonder...

[el_cato]

On 04/04/2018 at 3:06 AM, Frojo said:

I am running an UltraRendu -> curious cable->isoRegen -> curious link cable into a Chord Hugo. I found that switching my curious link to the USPCB was  a subtle, all-round improvement. 

 

It took me a while to figure out how to make a reclocker work in the chain... (I do like the  improvement to the sound, to my ears the SoTM tx-USBultra adds more air and more separation). 

So for the benefit of others:

 

UltraRendu -> FigaroUSB -> SoTM tx-USBultra -> Curious USB -> Chord Hugo 2

 

To make it work:

1. The SoTM USB port into which the Curious connects has to be powered ON
2. Hugo ON *before* powering up the UltraRendu. (It seems the Hugo 2 should appear in the UltraRendu "Known Issues" on Sonore's support page (https://goo.gl/jrkr3v) at point 6, "these devices need to be on when the unit boots up".)

For the record, using UpTone JS-2 to power UltraRendu, but waiting for a LPS-2 for the SoTM and using Chord's SMPS for the Hugo 2.

 

[vortecjr]

What are you powering the DAC with? 

[el_cato]

1 hour ago, vortecjr said:

What are you powering the DAC with? 

 

Chord Hugo 2's own wall-wart (see last parag.), continuously plugged in.

Rob Watts, in many different forums, argued against using a different power supply for the Hugos (or Mojo) because of the internal architecture of his products (i.e. they can run on their own battery power for several hours).

 

By the way, I used the exact same chain with the exact same powering sequence as above with a microRendu (running SO v2.6) instead of the UltraRendu, and it fails to see the Hugo 2 through the SoTM...

 

Now using the mR in the office straight into a Mojo (no reclocker, just an AQ jitterbug). Using Audirvana and the DLNA renderer, there's a bit of clipping when playing DSD64 files...

[vortecjr]

8 hours ago, el_cato said:

 

Chord Hugo 2's own wall-wart (see last parag.), continuously plugged in.

Rob Watts, in many different forums, argued against using a different power supply for the Hugos (or Mojo) because of the internal architecture of his products (i.e. they can run on their own battery power for several hours).

 

By the way, I used the exact same chain with the exact same powering sequence as above with a microRendu (running SO v2.6) instead of the UltraRendu, and it fails to see the Hugo 2 through the SoTM...

 

Now using the mR in the office straight into a Mojo (no reclocker, just an AQ jitterbug). Using Audirvana and the DLNA renderer, there's a bit of clipping when playing DSD64 files...

It’s probably best to disconnect it when you are using the battery. My recommendation is to run it straight to the DAC. Our units already have a regenerative circuit built in. If playback via A+ is clipping with resampling then you need to adjust the Safe volume for DSD upSampling. 

[al210]

I'm considering getting the ultraRendu. Most of my files are CD rips to flac and some 96KHZ hi res downloads also in flac.

I use A+ on a macmini now that feeds my Chord 2Qute DAC. Am I wasting my time with just the CD ripped flac files or does ultraRendu only benefit from Hi Res like DSD and such? 

[mtcs]

I've used  a MacBook with hqPlayer for both CD and hi res for some time. Adding a microRendu was an improvement in overall quality for both. I upgraded to an ultraRendu with even  more  improvement for both. So, I recommend that you try it. It is important, though, to get get a good power supply to make it worthwhile. I'm very happy with the Uptone LPS-1. Incidentally, I recently upgraded the the MacBook to a SonicTransporter (with Uptone power supply) which was a further improvement in SQ.

[R1200CL]

1 hour ago, al210 said:

Am I wasting my time

No only ours ?

 

And yes you will benefit using the UltraRendu on everything. 

And maybe consider the LPS-1.2 and the USPCB as well.

And move the MAC away from your stereo. 

 

I think there here is a money back guarantee in any case, so why not place an order today. 

[al210]

30 minutes ago, R1200CL said:

No only ours ?

 

And yes you will benefit using the UltraRendu on everything. 

And maybe consider the LPS-1.2 and the USPCB as well.

And move the MAC away from your stereo. 

 

I think there here is a money back guarantee in any case, so why not place an order today. 

Thanks for the advice. I was looking at using the HD Plex power supply since it has 2 variable outputs. One for the ultraRendu and a second at 12v for my Chord DAC.

[soares]

2 hours ago, mtcs said:

I've used  a MacBook with hqPlayer for both CD and hi res for some time. Adding a microRendu was an improvement in overall quality for both. I upgraded to an ultraRendu with even  more  improvement for both. So, I recommend that you try it. It is important, though, to get get a good power supply to make it worthwhile. I'm very happy with the Uptone LPS-1. Incidentally, I recently upgraded the the MacBook to a SonicTransporter (with Uptone power supply) which was a further improvement in SQ.

Same evolution, but I end up preferring an Sbooster. My LPS 1 is currently feeding my 2 TP Links with great success. I use a HDPlex with my STi5.

[barrows]

For an affordable LPS the Booster is fairly good.

[soares]

3 hours ago, al210 said:

I'm considering getting the ultraRendu. Most of my files are CD rips to flac and some 96KHZ hi res downloads also in flac.

I use A+ on a macmini now that feeds my Chord 2Qute DAC. Am I wasting my time with just the CD ripped flac files or does ultraRendu only benefit from Hi Res like DSD and such? 

The ultrarendu will transfigure the sound of your 2Qute.  I could not believe how good was the 2Qute sound after the upgrade. Chose carefully a better power supply for the uR. I bought an LPS-1 and an Sbooster. In my system the Sbooster sounded better. Cheers