[punit]

To quote from the Darko article "With the new Roon update installed, KEF LS50 Wireless users will see their speakers show up as an output device in Roon’s audio settings panel. Enable this new endpoint and name it to stream digital audio directly and gaplessly from Roon server to KEF standmount – no interceding streamer required".

So, you do not need another UR or MR (if your LS50 has an ethernet port). Just connect the LS50 ethernet port to your router & it will show up on Roon as an end point. Pretty neat.

I have a Sonic transporter i7 & Andrew is a very helpful guy. You can reconfirm the above with him.

 

[canali]

To quote from the Darko article "With the new Roon update installed, KEF LS50 Wireless users will see their speakers show up as an output device in Roon’s audio settings panel. Enable this new endpoint and name it to stream digital audio directly and gaplessly from Roon server to KEF standmount – no interceding streamer required".

So, you do not need another UR or MR (if your LS50 has an ethernet port). Just connect the LS50 ethernet port to your router & it will show up on Roon as an end point. Pretty neat.

I have a Sonic transporter i7 & Andrew is a very helpful guy. You can reconfirm the above with him.

yes that was my impression, too.
Danny, from Roon's tech support, kindly replied to my query on the Roon forum just a moment agon
and he says i don't need another MR, for my situation:
If you don’t need to zone group, you don’t need the MR. You definitely don’t need the power supply for the kef since they have that built in.

 

[adamaley]

I agree with the recent comments on the value of the mR and the importance of the power supply.
I'd just like to clarify something to anyone about to take the plunge.The following is all IMO:

There is effectively only one model now for newcomers: that's the ultraRendu, which has in effect completely superceded the mR - becuase it gives an allegedly big SQ boost for a proportionately small incremental additional cost.

The clock upgrade in the mR v1.4 is really only there to keep existing mR v1.3 customers happy becuase there is no upgrade scheme from mR to uR - you just have to sell the mR (at probably quite a loss) and buy a uR at full price. So mR v1.4 is only there for v1.3 customers who want a SQ boost at a modest price, but don't want to lose money on their original investment. I can say this becuase Sonore don't sell v1.4 direct - you have to buy the v1.3 and then buy the upgrade, which makes no sense for a new customer, unless maybe they strongly value the small size of the original mR. It has got this way because of a quirk of history and the way designs in this area have rapidly evolved.

I'm very happy with my mR v1.3 + IsoRegen (IR) combination, and I don't at this stage want to spend significant hundreds of bucks to get the ultraRendu. But I may well get the interim boost of a v1.4 upgrade. This still costs a couple of hundred bucks or so, but will make it much easier to sell my mR should I choose to do that in the future.
But if I was starting from scratch, I'd go straight for the uR, or the various SOtM alternatives, and then see if the IR adds further value on top of that.

Could you break down what the IsoRegen does in the chain. I've been away from hifi for almost all year and just recently came back to find my mR 1.3 is obsolete, there is now an UltraRendu, and I hear of an IsoRegen. The last regen I knew of appears to be a different product. Also, I have a Mutec USB device - does it do something similar to what the IsoRegen does? I know I can simply go to CA and get this info, but....

 

[TheAttorney]

Could you break down what the IsoRegen does in the chain. I've been away from hifi for almost all year and just recently came back to find my mR 1.3 is obsolete, there is now an UltraRendu, and I hear of an IsoRegen. The last regen I knew of appears to be a different product. Also, I have a Mutec USB device - does it do something similar to what the IsoRegen does? I know I can simply go to CA and get this info, but....

I don't think I'm qualified to give a definitive answer. I don't know about the Mutec USB device. I don't know about the old regen, but lots of people have written that the ISO Regen is a big improvement over its older brother.
I've since upgraded my mR to v1.4 becuase it was relatively low cost. It seemed to give an incremetal improvement to SQ, but I had no way of doing a direct A/B comparison.

The ISORegen is simply a USB regenerator that has a better clock than the old version and it also provides galvanic isolation and comes bundled with a high quality hard USB connector that several people have said is an improvement over most USB cables.
Some people have written that the IR becomes redundant by the time you get to an ultraRendu. Others have said that the IR can still help. Just about everybody agrees that an IR can help a microRendu v1.3 or v1.4.

Anyway, I'm not intending to do any more upgrades of this type, so not going to even listen to ultraRendus or the SOtM ultra boxes. Instead I'll be concentrating on getting a source that's good enough for it not to need such downstream fixes.

 

[joseph69]

Anyone having issue with dropouts with 1.4 (build 300) and the uR?
Since the so called 'upgrade' to this version/build I have 1 drop out every single time I launch Roon.
Prior to the 'upgrade' I had absolutely no dropout issue whatsoever. I know it's only limited to 1 dropout (every time) but it's still most annoying, and I shouldn't have this issue at all. I also noticed yesterday and this afternoon that while playing 176kHz/DSD64 files they drop out at any given time and Roon automatically continues to the next track in the queue, which never happened before the 'upgrade' either. Any suggestions/input would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

EDIT: I shouldn't have said "dropouts". The issue I'm having is actually Roon pausing playback automatically 1 time every time I'm using it, sorry.
All I have to do is just click on the pause button to resume play. Anyone else having this issue?

 

[file1man]

I am using this unit to finally replace my aging and compromised from the start Apple Airport Express/AirPlay streamer solution. Pretty cool in 2006, not so much in 2016.

A recent intermediate step using the ChromeCast Audio offered an upgrade from the AE's 16-bit/48kHz upper limit. The CCA if configured as a DLNA renderer using BubbleUPnP is capable of playing 24/96 .WAV files, however I found the sound quality uninspiring and the implementation a bit of a kludge not to mention limited to Toslink output.

There is also the specter of Google eliminating that CCA functionality via a future firmware update that the end user is powerless to prevent. Google seems hell-bent on preventing local file playback of any kind, insisting they know it's best for us to stream everything from their cloud, which is crap and 100% useless to me personally.

So back to the drawing board it was, and I patiently waited for the Sonore microRendu to be available.

I'll skip to the conclusion, the mRendu trounces either the Airport Express/AirPlay, or the CCA as DLNA renderer by a country mile and half in terms of sound quality. NO contest at all, a completely different animal used with lossless files and DSD (.dsf) downloads.

Not that I was surprised, but this is really a whole different league and I've likely not reached the mRendu's full potential yet in pairing with the iFi iPower 9v PSU, and for the moment the Ethernet source is actually the Airport Express, still in the chain but now only acting as a WiFi Ethernet bridge.

I've so far had ZERO dropouts, glitches, or other anomalies playing back PCM up to 24/192, and DSD64, with the mRendu connected to the Fast Ethernet jack on the Airport Express (AirPlay now shut off but the AE admirably still performing yeoman's duty all these years later).

I'm a noob to high-end streaming, I always viewed the AE and streaming in general as a convenience feature. I now see the day of diminished disc player use, as I increasingly buy hi-rez downloads instead of SACD/DVD-Audio media, and I really like JRiver's media server controlled by iPad or smart phone in streaming files to the mRendu, and ultimately the iFi iDAC2 connected to my actual HiFi system rather than my computer/desktop set-up.

the microrendo by senora costs $640 and the recommended sbooster linear power supply is $325, total $965. My CCA, chromcast audio, costs $32, with very inferior sound. the uptone isogen $310 is a similiar usb decrapper ( usb in and usb out) placed just before your dac, usually used with the $425 uptone LP1.2 linear type power supply=total $735.Perhaps best help is the $1200 sms-200 ultra network audio adapter with a lan connector in & usb out to my dac. We persue the best sound. cd"s will be harder to buy(best buy will not sell cd's after july, 2018). Users now more often get their music from online services-tidal, spotify, Itunes, google music, or amazon music. so, seems for best online music, we must choose these expensive choices- $965 microrendo, uptone $735, sms-200 ultra $1200. Im wondering if we are buying these expensive addons for that last 5 percent better sound. I expect the technology must improve and evolve a lot more before we get our dollars worth. So buying used stuff, Ive spent between $12,000 and $25,000 on this hobby in the last 30 years, perhaps another $2000 for line decrappers, clock regenerator, and better linear supplies is the current price of admission to better internet based sound.

reminds me of, years ago, when better cables were a exaggerated pathway to better sound. Yes, I prefer wireworld and audioquest cinnamon cables, but they are a luxury, I hope to save up. Just hope the technology evolves so we all have superior sound from these internet sources at a reasonable cost. Reasonable cost seems hard to grasp in this hobby, err passion.

 

[file1man]

I don't think I'm qualified to give a definitive answer. I don't know about the Mutec USB device. I don't know about the old regen, but lots of people have written that the ISO Regen is a big improvement over its older brother.
I've since upgraded my mR to v1.4 becuase it was relatively low cost. It seemed to give an incremetal improvement to SQ, but I had no way of doing a direct A/B comparison.

The ISORegen is simply a USB regenerator that has a better clock than the old version and it also provides galvanic isolation and comes bundled with a high quality hard USB connector that several people have said is an improvement over most USB cables.
Some people have written that the IR becomes redundant by the time you get to an ultraRendu. Others have said that the IR can still help. Just about everybody agrees that an IR can help a microRendu v1.3 or v1.4.

Anyway, I'm not intending to do any more upgrades of this type, so not going to even listen to ultraRendus or the SOtM ultra boxes. Instead I'll be concentrating on getting a source that's good enough for it not to need such downstream fixes.

I like your suggestion from a dec, 2017 post that before I persue a $735 isoregen regenerator or $975 ultrarendu or $1200 sotm-200 ultra, I should get a souce that good enough for them. Now in March, 2018, what exactly did you do. Im out of this hobby for 9 years. My chain is music hall cd player & intel computer , schiit gungnir dac with no usb, (just coax/optical in on the dac), ead preamp, ati amp, thiel 2.3 floorstander speakers, svs subs, a yamaha avr with 11.2, a cambridge cxn dac/streamer, dbpoweramp,jriver ripper/player. And yes, a VIP turntable & record cleaner sit in the closet, never out of the box.

My cd/dac seems to be better sounding than tidal, spotify premium, not at all expected. where to next in my quest for superior sound at a reasonable cost.

Seems like your further down that road than I, please help with at lease getting a source good enough and some sense of where you would spend your dollars. I see a gungnir update with usb5 and the $500 dac update, but not certain what sb next.

 

[lcasadonte]

Anyone having issue with dropouts with 1.4 (build 300) and the uR?
Since the so called 'upgrade' to this version/build I have 1 drop out every single time I launch Roon.
Prior to the 'upgrade' I had absolutely no dropout issue whatsoever. I know it's only limited to 1 dropout (every time) but it's still most annoying, and I shouldn't have this issue at all. I also noticed yesterday and this afternoon that while playing 176kHz/DSD64 files they drop out at any given time and Roon automatically continues to the next track in the queue, which never happened before the 'upgrade' either. Any suggestions/input would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

EDIT: I shouldn't have said "dropouts". The issue I'm having is actually Roon pausing playback automatically 1 time every time I'm using it, sorry.
All I have to do is just click on the pause button to resume play. Anyone else having this issue?

I think this can happen when roon has a degraded network connection or your pc gets busy like running a virus scan. Basically anything that "interrupts" roon, roon pauses playback. Lots of things can happen in your network and if you are wireless you are at a disadvantage. Playing high res or mqa also increases the need for roon to have a solid network connection. Not sure if that helps, but hopefully a starting point.

 

[joseph69]

I use an Ethernet connection. The issue started prior to the last upgrade, but since the latest upgrade (1.4 build 306) I haven't had the issue at all.
I reported the issue to the mods at the Roon community when it was occurring and they were in the middle of trying to solve the issue. I. haven't heard back from them since they've told me they will contact me, so haven't let them know that the issue seems to be solved (in case it isn't) with the latest upgrade so far.

Seems every time there is an "upgrade" something else get negatively effected.

Thank you for the reply.

 

[TheAttorney]

I like your suggestion from a dec, 2017 post that before I persue a $735 isoregen regenerator or $975 ultrarendu or $1200 sotm-200 ultra, I should get a souce that good enough for them. Now in March, 2018, what exactly did you do

I've only done minor tweaks whilst I await delivery of my Paul Hynes SR7 powers supply that should give my system a new reference point from which to compare sources. You can track my progress on romaz's excellent thread:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/rev...r-auralic-aries-audiophile-vortex-box.787020/

It's a long thread, but absolutely worth reading end to end. The posts in the last few months in particular open up a mind boggling roller coaster of possibilities. Once you've read that, you'll realise why it's just abpout impossible for me to give a simple recommendation

 

[andyschaub]

I'm considering my first Sonore Rendu for use with a Woo Audio WDS-1 DAC, WA6-SE headphone amp, and Mr. Speakers open-back Ethers (original version). I'm trying to decide between the microRendu and the ultraRendu and am looking at three different power supplies:

• The iFi
• The Uptone LPS-1
• The Sonore Sbooster

I use Roon and my current streaming source are the analog outputs of the Bluesound Node 2. I used to use an Aurender N100H with the WDS-1 but I want a Roon-ready streamer with no storage of its own.

Does anyone think that either the microRendu or the ultraRendu with any one of the three power supplies would be a particularly good sounding and cost-effective choice? As an example, would the microRendu with the LPS-1 or the ultraRendu with the iFi likely sound better? The Sbooster is pushing the limits. Thanks very much.

 

[TheAttorney]

@andyschaub, part of the answer is a no-brainer: If you're starting from scratch, then get the utlraRendu over the microRendu (for the reasons I gave in an earlier post).
Power supply options have grown over the last year. I would go for either an LPS-1.2 or Paul Hynes SR4.

There are about a million tweaks and alternatives you can make to the above, but if you want to keep it simple, then you can't go far wrong with the above (but one simple tweak worth exploring is to get a high quality DC power cable, and one more complex tweak is to use direct bridge connection - these are explained in much detail over at CA).

EDIT: I take it that you're aware that the LPS-1.2 (and older LPS-1) itself has to be driven by a power supply? Such as the iFi 9v or the often bundled Meanwell?

 

[AFWannabe]

Before testing the ultraRendu (or microRendu), I would suggest testing an iPad (or iPhone) with iOS11 and Roon 1.5 app, and an Apple Lightning to USB interface (aka CCK)...

 

[sasaki99]

After reading many reviews and I bought one mR. I dont get it why mR users said the sound stage is wide and music become more musical. My setup is 2 CH, mR>Hugo2>integrated amp>805d3, I found that the sound stage is narrower, the treble is roll off which means the sparkling is gone, less dynamic. The only good thing is that the image has more precision. This thing helps you to see more precise shape of mouth (for vocal).

I also bought an Audioquest Diamond - Ethernet cable just for the mR. The mR just cant make me wow but the good thing I just found is that using ethernet cable connected to any pc or music server is superior than wifi in term of sound quality. It's more like seeing a ghost when 0101010 sound better with quality digital cables.

IMHO I would say mR may suit for headphone users only because HP doesnt need as much of 3D presentation as 2CH. Some people may say I might need an Uptone LPS for the mR to shine. I would say that if the mR has really has the potential, it should have shown me now with the ifi power supply. I believe that the LPS will make change to the SQ but it's not gonna change much of the characteristic and SQ that mR can offer now.

Well, it's a good unit with its price tho, just dont expect a miracle to compete other stuff at different price range.

 

[ATXKyle]

[

After reading many reviews and I bought one mR. I dont get it why mR users said the sound stage is wide and music become more musical. My setup is 2 CH, mR>Hugo2>integrated amp>805d3, I found that the sound stage is narrower, the treble is roll off which means the sparkling is gone, less dynamic. The only good thing is that the image has more precision. This thing helps you to see more precise shape of mouth (for vocal).

I also bought an Audioquest Diamond - Ethernet cable just for the mR. The mR just cant make me wow but the good thing I just found is that using ethernet cable connected to any pc or music server is superior than wifi in term of sound quality. It's more like seeing a ghost when 0101010 sound better with quality digital cables.

IMHO I would say mR may suit for headphone users only because HP doesnt need as much of 3D presentation as 2CH. Some people may say I might need an Uptone LPS for the mR to shine. I would say that if the mR has really has the potential, it should have shown me now with the ifi power supply. I believe that the LPS will make change to the SQ but it's not gonna change much of the characteristic and SQ that mR can offer now.

Well, it's a good unit with its price tho, just dont expect a miracle to compete other stuff at different price range.

I thought it sounded dreadful with the IFI power supply. It’s night and day if you put it onto a good PS like the Uptone.