[paulchiu]

  Chris Connaker is the founder of computeraudiophile.com.  He is also the driving force behind the CAPS music server and many consider him among the foremost authorities in music servers.  Some people hire him (even fly him) to destinations to tune their custom built servers for them.  He has heard many things and he is suggesting this microRendu that was just released by Sonore is the best music server he has heard.

 
Roy,
 
How are you connecting the microrendu with DAVE?  CAT(?) wiring?  What server?

 

[romaz]

 
Yes, I did see Connaker's comments regarding the mR's apparent immunity to what comes before it. I was just looking for some corroboration or another opinion. Roy, since you have the SOtM CAT6 + filter and have used optical isolation, I'd be interested in your findings regarding the mR's (and/or DAVE's) sensitivity or lack thereof to these tweaks. 
 
I'm also guessing that most people will be using the mR with its short, hard adapter to connect to the USB input on their dac. I haven't seen any reports so far of people comparing this mode of connecting the mR to using an audiophile USB cable between the mR and the dac. Another point of curiosity. 
 
Mostly, though, I'm interested in just how sensitive or insensitive the DAVE is to the mR. For example, with DAVE is there any real sonic difference between the SonicOrbiter SE and the mR? A laptop computer and the mR? If so, how big of a difference might this be and how much might it vary depending on the power supply used with the mR? I think these would be the primary considerations in deciding whether to purchase the mR for use with DAVE, and deciding how much to spend on a power supply. 

We have almost the exact same questions, Jon.  It will take some time for me to fully answer these questions as my preferred power supply won't be ready for another 6 weeks but if a solid difference can be heard with the DAVE even with the basic iFi power supply, it will probably be worth $640 for me.  
 
Both Jesus and John have been clear that if you are going to use the hard USB adapter that comes with the mR, you will want to support the mR or you will void its warranty.  With yours (and my) situation specifically, since we use High Fidelity RCA analog interconnects which have long magnetic connectors, I believe this will preclude use of this hard USB adapter.  For what it's worth, although I never tested this with my USB Regen, some have reported that the hard USB adapter that came with the USB Regen did not sound as good as other solutions.  Curious USB, for example, makes a 200mm "Regen link" specifically to replace this hard adapter.

 

[paulchiu]

  We have almost the exact same questions, Jon.  It will take some time for me to fully answer these questions as my preferred power supply won't be ready for another 6 weeks but if a solid difference can be heard with the DAVE even with the basic iFi power supply, it will probably be worth $640 for me.  
 
Both Jesus and John have been clear that if you are going to use the hard USB adapter that comes with the mR, you will want to support the mR or you will void its warranty.  With yours (and my) situation specifically, since we use High Fidelity RCA analog interconnects which have long magnetic connectors, I believe this will preclude use of this hard USB adapter.  For what it's worth, although I never tested this with my USB Regen, some have reported that the hard USB adapter that came with the USB Regen did not sound as good as other solutions.  Curious USB, for example, makes a 200mm "Regen link" specifically to replace this hard adapter.

 
You could actually make the curious Regen length down to 140mm.
I am using that now with DAVE.  There is a bit of extra air using the curious Regen vs. Hard stubbed Regen vs Straight AQ Diamond vs. Radio Shack.
 
Paul

 

[romaz]

   
Roy,
 
How are you connecting the microrendu with DAVE?  CAT(?) wiring?  What server?

If the claims are true that the microRendu is immune to network noise, many on the microRendu thread are suggesting using a simple Belden CAT6A cable from Blue Jeans cable because of the superior shielding that this inexpensive cable utilizes.
 
Because I already own an SOtM dCBL CAT-6 cable ($170) with SOtM iSO-CAT 6 LAN isolation filter ($350), it would be a shame not to use them, especially as I have verified their effectiveness.  Of the two, however, I will say that the SOtM dCBL CAT 6 cable has the greater benefit and I wouldn't miss the ISO-CAT 6 LAN isolation filter if I didn't have it.
 
Even more effective and less expensive is optical LAN isolation (about $100).  The parts to buy are detailed here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/787020/review-comparison-of-5-high-end-digital-music-servers-aurender-n10-cad-cat-server-totaldac-d1-server-auralic-aries-audiophile-vortex-box/270#post_12401123
 
Again, all of this might be overkill with the microRendu but I would say that for $100, there's little to lose with getting optical isolators.
 
As for my server, I have one of these on order.  I ordered one with a 2TB SSD card so that I don't have to deal with a NAS.  In a few months, 4TB SSDs will be released and so there is a nice upgrade path that will soon be available for when I outgrow 2TB of storage.  It appears you don't use Roon which is what makes this server particularly attractive to me but you can use JRiver with it as well:
 
http://microjukebox.com/products/sonictransporter

 

[paulchiu]

  If the claims are true that the microRendu is immune to network noise, many on the microRendu thread are suggesting using a simple Belden CAT6A cable from Blue Jeans cable because of the superior shielding that this inexpensive cable utilizes.
 
Because I already own an SOtM dCBL CAT-6 cable ($170) with SOtM iSO-CAT 6 LAN isolation filter ($350), it would be a shame not to use them, especially as I have verified their effectiveness.  Of the two, however, I will say that the SOtM dCBL CAT 6 cable has the greater benefit and I wouldn't miss the ISO-CAT 6 LAN isolation filter if I didn't have it.
 
Even more effective and less expensive is optical LAN isolation (about $100).  The parts to buy are detailed here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/787020/review-comparison-of-5-high-end-digital-music-servers-aurender-n10-cad-cat-server-totaldac-d1-server-auralic-aries-audiophile-vortex-box/270#post_12401123
 
Again, all of this might be overkill with the microRendu but I would say that for $100, there's little to lose with getting optical isolators.
 
As for my server, I have one of these on order.  I ordered one with a 2TB SSD card so that I don't have to deal with a NAS.  In a few months, 4TB SSDs will be released and so there is a nice upgrade path that will soon be available for when I outgrow 2TB of storage.  It appears you don't use Roon which is what makes this server particularly attractive to me but you can use JRiver with it as well:
 
http://microjukebox.com/products/sonictransporter

 
Yes, I do not use Roon but I am still having trouble running Audirvana Plus with 2.8mhz files through MBP to DAVE.  With Media Center, no issues but to me, Audirvana sounds better,
 
My MBP maybe underpowered for all this.
 
Paul

 

[romaz]

   
You could actually make the curious Regen length down to 140mm.
I am using that now with DAVE.  There is a bit of extra air using the curious Regen vs. Hard stubbed Regen vs Straight AQ Diamond vs. Radio Shack.
 
Paul

I found the same thing you did when I tested the Curious USB against my TotalDac USB, AQ Diamond and a few others but the Curious USB has now been slightly improved upon by the Audience AU24SE USB that I am currently testing and handily beaten by the Clarity "Organic" USB I recently tested.  I have a Transparent Premium USB and a Clarity Natural USB coming in for comparison soon.  High Fidelity Cables is working on a prototype USB device for me to test in the next few weeks that will utilize its magnetic conduction technology on whatever USB cable you may be using and so I will probably withhold from buying any new USB cable because it may not matter at all with this new device.

 

[romaz]

   
Yes, I do not use Roon but I am still having trouble running Audirvana Plus with 2.8mhz files through MBP to DAVE.  With Media Center, no issues but to me, Audirvana sounds better,
 
My MBP maybe underpowered for all this.
 
Paul

You should give Roon a try.  On the DAVE, it sounds splendid.  You can open a trial account and compare it against Audirvana and hear for yourself.  The latest version 1.2 that just came out is really top notch.  Also, no other product I have come across manages your library + Tidal anywhere as well.  
 
For those that have Aurenders and are waiting for Roon integration, they announced at AXPONA a couple of weeks ago that they have decided not to move forward with Roon incorporation.  They had hinted at this when I spoke with Eric Shinn (head of software development for Aurender) at CES in January but now it's official.

 

[romaz]

   
Yes, I do not use Roon but I am still having trouble running Audirvana Plus with 2.8mhz files through MBP to DAVE.  With Media Center, no issues but to me, Audirvana sounds better,
 
My MBP maybe underpowered for all this.
 
Paul

Also, with Roon 1.2 and my Sonicorbiter SE (this should apply to the microRendu as well since the software is the same), I have no problems at all playing DSD up to DSD256 (11.2 MHz) on the DAVE using a Mac.  I have several natively recorded DSD256 files and they render beautifully with no skips or drops.

 

[paulchiu]

  Also, with Roon 1.2 and my Sonicorbiter SE (this should apply to the microRendu as well since the software is the same), I have no problems at all playing DSD up to DSD256 (11.2 MHz) on the DAVE using a Mac.  I have several natively recorded DSD256 files and they render beautifully with no skips or drops.

 
I just scanned through a bunch of pages talking Roon, offerings, partners, and reviews.  Words that my eyes noticed were Sonore, Cary, Microrendu but no Nagra or Chord.  OK, I gather the last two are not network related.
 
I will wait for your report after your wires come in Roy.
 
Paul

 

[paulchiu]

  I found the same thing you did when I tested the Curious USB against my TotalDac USB, AQ Diamond and a few others but the Curious USB has now been slightly improved upon by the Audience AU24SE USB that I am currently testing and handily beaten by the Clarity "Organic" USB I recently tested.  I have a Transparent Premium USB and a Clarity Natural USB coming in for comparison soon.  High Fidelity Cables is working on a prototype USB device for me to test in the next few weeks that will utilize its magnetic conduction technology on whatever USB cable you may be using and so I will probably withhold from buying any new USB cable because it may not matter at all with this new device.

 
Roy,
 
How does the Mapleshade 14 footer toslink compared to all the above?
 
Paul

 

[romaz]

   
I just scanned through a bunch of pages talking Roon, offerings, partners, and reviews.  Words that my eyes noticed were Sonore, Cary, Microrendu but no Nagra or Chord.  OK, I gather the last two are not network related.
 
I will wait for your report after your wires come in Roy.
 
Paul

Roon has more to do with the music server than the DAC and so very little will be said about Roon and a certain DAC unless there are compatibility issues.  I can assure you Roon + DAVE is excellent.  I suspect Nagra would have no problems either.  My reporting on the microRendu will largely focus on how much better (if at all) it will be compared against the Sonicorbiter SE and Aurender N10/W20 with the DAVE.

 

[paulchiu]

 
.... Aurender N10/W20 with the DAVE.

 
Ah!
So that Romaz is you, as mentioned on AudioAdvisor.com.

"Detail was exquisite, especially the layering of detail."
 
You now have both Aurenders?  
 
Paul

 

[romaz]

   
Roy,
 
How does the Mapleshade 14 footer toslink compared to all the above?
 
Paul

Unlike USB cables, I have not heard any difference at all among toslink cables from a SQ standpoint.  By their nature, they provide complete noise isolation.  They are historically poor with jitter but as we know, DAVE handles this very well but it handles jitter best with USB.  Where the quality of the toslink cable matters is with the integrity of signal transmission.  With a well made toslink cable, you should be able to easily pass 24/192 PCM and DSD64.  With the Mapleshade, I can easily pass 24/192 PCM and also DSD128 with zero skips or drops.  I could easily be content with toslink but because most of us bought the DAVE to achieve the best sound possible, then USB it is.  Also, it's a shame to be limited to 24/192 PCM and DSD128.
 
How does toslink compare against USB in terms of SQ?  They're very close but if you listen to USB vs toslink on your Mac, I believe you will hear a slight difference as I have in favor of USB.  Here is Rob's explanation why this is the case:
 
 
"Agreed on the USB input - it is a tad more detailed with more clarity than the optical - but we are talking small differences here. Using the jitter test you can measure v tiny degradation using optical, but its barely detectable. The reason USB is slightly better is because the timing comes from the FPGA, and of course they are both galvanically isolated."  Rob

 

[romaz]

   
Ah!
So that Romaz is you, as mentioned on AudioAdvisor.com.

"Detail was exquisite, especially the layering of detail."
 
You now have both Aurenders?  
 
Paul

Guilty.
 
I have sold my previous Aurender although I still have ready access to them and I consider the N10 and W20 to be excellent music servers.  I have taken a few apart and I know them very well.  They are useful for comparison as they represent a known high-end point of reference for many.  If I were to say the microRendu is better than a Sonicorbiter or a CAPS server, it probably would not mean that much for many but if I say it is better than an Aurender W20, many more people would find that to be significant.

 

[paulchiu]

  Guilty.
 
I have sold my previous Aurender although I still have ready access to them and I consider the N10 and W20 to be excellent music servers.  I have taken a few apart and I know them very well.  They are useful for comparison as they represent a known high-end point of reference for many.  If I were to say the microRendu is better than a Sonicorbiter or a CAPS server, it probably would not mean that much for many but if I say it is better than an Aurender W20, many more people would find that to be significant.

 
Wait. Did you just say this other thing is better than an Aurender W20.
 
Paul