[dmhenley]

Thanks!
I kept it brief - tried to focus on the key points.

 

[canali]

I was going to buy a Naim Muso for my kitchen..and use the 
Microrendu with it...so I then went onto the naim forum and asked about it
and pairing with the MR.
 
seems it won't work ....
(see below 2 comments: one from naim forum member
and other from naim tech support) 
 
as a result my friend (who has the Auralic Aries which can do wireless) is suggesting I get an Aries Mini to solve this as I need some sort of wireless bridge.
 
QUESTION:
so is the MR team coming out with any wireless add ons or solutions for these sorts of pairings?
 
1/ The muso USB port is like all Naim USB ports except on the DAC-V1, that is they accept USB sictks and iPod etc but NOT asynchronous USB which is what the mR outputs. 
  2/from naim when i enquired if they'll upgrade the firmware or other to accept products like the microrendu with their MUSO:

''We will not be adding Asynchronous USB to the Mu-so or Mu-so Qb as it does not have any USB slave functionality – the USB port is USB Host only

 

[Charente]

  I was going to buy a Naim Muso for my kitchen..and use the 
Microrendu with it...so I then went onto the naim forum and asked about it
and pairing with the MR.....
 
seems it won't work ....
 

The MUSO is a nice unit...much better SQ than the Sonos's I have around the house (and a lot more expensive !) Pity about the USB port for your mR. As an aside...Won't the MUSO stream from a files location on your network like the Sonos ? Not really familiar with its functionality

 

[canali]

  The MUSO is a nice unit...much better SQ than the Sonos's I have around the house (and a lot more expensive !) Pity about the USB port for your mR. As an aside...Won't the MUSO stream from a files location on your network like the Sonos ? Not really familiar with its functionality

I think so...Tidal is built right into the unit...sorry to sound naive. i mean the MUSO is 3 yrs old ...and these newer techs MR/Auralic Aries, Regen, etc are much more recent.
 
on a differetn topic, the upcoming ISO REGEN looks to be an interesting product, too...still trying 
to fully understand how i'd implement it (i have the MR and ultracaps and DC4 cable already tethered to laptop as NAS)

 

[Charente]

  ..., the upcoming ISO REGEN looks to be an interesting product, too...still trying 
to fully understand how i'd implement it (i have the MR and ultracaps and DC4 cable already tethered to laptop as NAS)

Yes, I'm keeping an eye on this as well and waiting for some feedback/impressions on Uptone's CA thread. It will be quite a chain of little boxes ! @SuperDad insists that the SQ improvement is good/worthwhile.

 

[Superdad]

  Yes, I'm keeping an eye on this as well and waiting for some feedback/impressions on Uptone's CA thread. It will be quite a chain of little boxes ! @SuperDad insists that the SQ improvement is good/worthwhile.

Hey, that's not fair.  I NEVER "insist" anything.  Much rather wait for all the users to hear and report for themselves!  

 

[Charente]

 
Hey, that's not fair.  I NEVER "insist" anything.  Much rather wait for all the users to hear and report for themselves!  

Apologies...I take that back @Superdad... 'insists' is too strong...you're quite right. A touch of 'poetic-licence' too far on my part. 

 

[rsbrsvp]

If I understand correctly, a streamer delivers a clean signal from noise and jitter before the USB out- at the processing stage.  An Iso-Regen cleans up the signal in the cable stage after it has already left the computer.
 
Which is better?   On one hand- it seems more correct to start clean rather than correcting later.  On the other hand- an ISO Regen can clean the signal at the last stage right before entering the dac- especially if we use a ultra short USB adaptor from Regen to Dac- and that would seem a preferable time to have a clean signal.
 
Please help explain to me which is the better way to go- or equal but different.

 

[canali]

anyone using the MR with an iFi micro iDSD in direct mode (not preamp mode) to powered desktop speakers?
(in one of iFi's tech discussions they suggested often using direct mode..something about less signals conflicting)
 
when setting up my MR just recently it suggest to use full volume, which i did...
but as soon as i turn on the iFi micro, even at 1%, my powered speakers  (Focal Alpha 50s) blasts at full volume.....
 
 

 

[TheAttorney]

If we put aside the mR for a moment...
 
If you set the iDSD to Direct Mode, then this will bypass its preamp section (including its volume control) and so it will always output at full volume.
Bypassing it's preamp section should give a slight performance boost, but you have to have a volume control somewhere, so Direct Mode is normally used when the iDSD is outputting to a preamp, or an integrated amp that include its own volume control. I'm assuming your powered speakers in effect include a built in amp with volume control?.  
 
I don't think the mR will affect this one way or the other (although it's not clear to me in which part of your chain has your volume control), as you appear to have set Roon Ready to be 100% volume, but anyway you could also use Roon as a software digital volume control, which will certainly control the volume of your music, but may still leave you with one potential issue:
 
Even if Roon volume control is set to minimum, the iDSD in Direct Mode itself is always at full volume, so if you have no volume control (set to minimum) further downstream then you may get an almighty bang through your speakers when you switch on your iDSD (this is a general issue with any switch-on spikes - I don't know how much the iDSD is affected by this - I would never dare to try it for fear of blowing up my speakers|.
 
So in short, I suggest you start with iDSD in Preamp Mode and work from there.        

 

[canali]

  If we put aside the mR for a moment...
 
If you set the iDSD to Direct Mode, then this will bypass its preamp section (including its volume control) and so it will always output at full volume.
Bypassing it's preamp section should give a slight performance boost, but you have to have a volume control somewhere, so Direct Mode is normally used when the iDSD is outputting to a preamp, or an integrated amp that include its own volume control. I'm assuming your powered speakers in effect include a built in amp with volume control?.  
 
I don't think the mR will affect this one way or the other (although it's not clear to me in which part of your chain has your volume control), as you appear to have set Roon Ready to be 100% volume, but anyway you could also use Roon as a software digital volume control, which will certainly control the volume of your music, but may still leave you with one potential issue:
 
Even if Roon volume control is set to minimum, the iDSD in Direct Mode itself is always at full volume, so if you have no volume control (set to minimum) further downstream then you may get an almighty bang through your speakers when you switch on your iDSD (this is a general issue with any switch-on spikes - I don't know how much the iDSD is affected by this - I would never dare to try it for fear of blowing up my speakers|.
 
So in short, I suggest you start with iDSD in Preamp Mode and work from there.        

thanks for this...but no, my focal alpha 50 speakers (with built in amps) have no volume control.
so i might just do that: change the ifi micro idsd from direct to preamp.
i've also sent this to the iFi team, and will share once i hear back.

 

[ATXKyle]

  Has anyone else found the microRendu a little too harsh in their setup?  I got mine yesterday and the detail and noise floor are definitely improved .. but I'm also experiencing listening fatigue very quickly.   
 
Setup is PC Roon Server -> microRendu (iFi power supply) -> Basic/Generic USB cable -> Chord 2qute -> Arcam A29 -> Elac UF5 towers.
 
If others have not experienced this phenomenon, I'm guessing I need to look at the power supply and/or the USB cable?

  Beyond the warmup/breakin, which I think was a factor - two things that I've tried so far that have made good strides to smooth out the harshness.  1) I replaced the basic USB cable (that I think came with an old printer?) with a $20 Schiit PYST USB cable and 2) instead of connecting my Roon server PC and the mr directly to my router, I'm connecting through an unmanaged switch powered by an iFi low-noise power supply.  
 
I also have an LPS-1 on order and have high hopes for that based on all the comments!

Final update on my microRendu saga.  I now have swapped out the iFi power supply for the UpTone LPS-1 and the Schitt PYST cable for the Curious 200mm USB link.  I expected the power supply to make a difference and it most certainly did!  In the same ways others have describe.
 
I did not really expect the cable change to make a difference. My son and I did some a/b testing (although not blind) and after a few back and forths we agreed that the Curious cable was clearly better.  It only took a few minutes to decide we didn't want to take it back out of the system any more.  I guess I am now an audiophool cable believer ... oh well. 
 
At this point I am very happy with the combination of microRendu, LPS-1, Curious USB 200mm.  I'd recommend the combo as an excellent digital source for ~$1160 ($640 mr, $400 LPS-1, $120 curious 200mm link).

 

[Charente]

  Final update on my microRendu saga....
 
......
 
At this point I am very happy with the combination of microRendu, LPS-1, Curious USB 200mm.  I'd recommend the combo as an excellent digital source for ~$1160 ($640 mr, $400 LPS-1, $120 curious 200mm link).

Excellent...great news ! 

 

[canali]

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[MikeyFresh]

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