microrendu to dac v1

Brubacca posted:

Last time I checked mR is backordered. (i'm already angling to get a second one). I also have just ordered Teddy Pardo 7V supply.  The iFi sounds good, but in combination with my DAC ( Schiit Gumby) the mR runs hot.  By all reports getting a better supply yields sonic benefits, which I'll be ably to test when the TP gets here. Also depending on DAC you choose the unit can run hot on a 9V supply.  

Not sure shipping time to east coast USA from Israel, but I'm hoping that I'll have the TP in the next two weeks.

Good Luck.

The iFi is 9V. The 2 extra Vs account for the heat.

Your setup is pretty much what I had in mind. I was trying to save a few bucks by opting for a Mojo instead of the Schitt MB but I'm afraid its 3V output into a Naim pre might be a bad match. In addition Chord DACs seem to lean towards the cool side of neutral so I need to be cautious with system matching. Haven't been able to get any feedback around here regarding the Naim/Mojo combination.

I still have one other nagging concern. Someone over on the CA forum commented that his mR sounded thin and harsh, that he was really disappointed and was watching more TV since acquiring it. He's feeding it into a Bricasti DAC and is using high end cables throughout. Defective unit, software issues?

The last thing I want is to spend money only to end up with a very detailed but brittle, thin, clinical sound. But this seems to be an isolated case so I'm not too worried.

For what it’s worth my kit’s in a closed cabinet. In degrees Celsius:

39 - microRendu (iFi PSU)
33 - DAC-V1
34 - Sonos Connect

Iconoclast, FWIW over at SinS towers the Hugo is pretty neutral, the TT leaned ever so slightly to the warm side in the mids.. however this would be easy to get used to. Setting the level correctly for Naim and using the correct interconnect (Hiline in my case) appears crucial for the optimum presentation.

Mr Underhill, I can't help feeling 50 degrees C is too hot. Without any forced air flow or fans that would imply some internal components are a lot hotter, and that sort of temp is going to shorten their life. Also where precision clocks are involved, as in audio transports, it's usually best to avoid relatively extreme temperatures.

Simon

Hi Simon,

I agree. In fact John Swenson did give a commentary about the mR temparature, including:

Temperatures above the "I can't hold my finger on the surface" will not immediately fry the microRendu, but they will decrease it's operating lifetime. It's a cumulative thing, finding out that it was running really for a few hours is not going to cause any problem, it is the running really really hot 24/7 for months that will shorten the lifespan.

The 50c is an guesstimate - I'll apply a bit more science. In the meantime I have taken to turning it off between listening sessions. Looking forward to getting the 6v SBOOSTER.

M

Turned the mR off overnight. Turned it on this morning before I headed out. Came back two hours later:

32.5 C

Played music for ninety minutes:

40.5.

Which feels as it did yesterday. Need to reprogram my hand brain interface.

M

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

Iconoclast, FWIW over at SinS towers the Hugo is pretty neutral, the TT leaned ever so slightly to the warm side in the mids.. however this would be easy to get used to. Setting the level correctly for Naim and using the correct interconnect (Hiline in my case) appears crucial for the optimum presentation.

In the Chord lineup I'm only interested in the Mojo and after checking owner's manual it appears that line level output is fixed at 3V.

As for the interconnect, the only possibility for Mojo > Nait XS 2 would be a 1/8" (3.5 mm) plug to dual RCA.

For each solution one or more problems arise.

Ok, I don't think 3 volts is going to get the best from a Naim NAC.. perhaps the Nait XS2 is different. I find setting the Hugo to peaking at around 500mV has sounded best for both my 282 and 252.

Simon

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

Ok, I don't think 3 volts is going to get the best from a Naim NAC.. perhaps the Nait XS2 is different. I find setting the Hugo to peaking at around 500mV has sounded best for both my 282 and 252.

Simon

Good morning Simon,

I currently have a Chord 2Qute (Roon > microRendu > 2Qute) as a source into my 272 so your comment re 3v caught my eye.

The 2Qute has been in place for some 6-weeks now and I've not had any issues with the 3v as far as i'm aware. In fact my system is sounding the best it has ever done.

Can I ask why 3v is an issue and in what way would it manifest itself?

Thanks

Paul

Paul, there is no issue with 3 volts as such, it's just many of us have found on the Hugo and TT with their Naim NACs (282, 252, 552) setting the line output voltage to turquoise (approx 500mV) seems to provide the best SQ.. The DAC seems to ebb and flow better into the NAC , there is often greater space around instruments or mix channels and genereally seems to sound more open. At this level I think  it would be a crying shame if one couldn't reap the benefits of these incredible sources. Of course the N272 could be designed differently from the NACs so perform differently.

Simon

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

Paul, there is no issue with 3 volts as such, it's just many of us have found on the Hugo and TT with their Naim NACs (282, 252, 552) setting the line output voltage to turquoise (approx 500mV) seems to provide the best SQ.. The DAC seems to ebb and flow better into the NAC , there is often greater space around instruments or mix channels and genereally seems to sound more open. At this level I think  it would be a crying shame if one couldn't reap the benefits of these incredible sources. Of course the N272 could be designed differently from the NACs so perform differently.

Simon

Thanks for that Simon,

I'll contact Naim HQ and ask their opinion in context of the 272.

Is it worth looking at Rothwell in-line attenuators or are they going to degrade the SQ?

Thanks again.

I can't help feeling inline attenuators are not going to be ideal.. you might need to suck it and see.

i think the NACs and probably also the N272 have a huge input headroom, so I doubt you will have clipping issues, and these would be very audible... but it might be also a load/impedance thing between the Hugo and the Naim NAC.. and obviously our ears are very sensitive to the effects of this.

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

I can't help feeling inline attenuators are not going to be ideal.. you might need to suck it and see.

i think the NACs and probably also the N272 have a huge input headroom, so I doubt you will have clipping issues, and these would be very audible... but it might be also a load/impedance thing between the Hugo and the Naim NAC.. and obviously our ears are very sensitive to the effects of this.

Thanks and I'll see what Naim HQ have to say.

I've tried Rothwells in the past(still own them) and didn't like what they did to the sound. In any case I think it would be a shame to introduce an extra connector/resistor between a high end cable/source. Sort of defies the purpose and I'd only use them as a last resort.

Paulebarrow posted:

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

I can't help feeling inline attenuators are not going to be ideal.. you might need to suck it and see.

i think the NACs and probably also the N272 have a huge input headroom, so I doubt you will have clipping issues, and these would be very audible... but it might be also a load/impedance thing between the Hugo and the Naim NAC.. and obviously our ears are very sensitive to the effects of this.

Thanks and I'll see what Naim HQ have to say.

Please see below the response from Phil Harris.

"The analogue input on the 272 is good for over 9v RMS before clipping" 

Just to be sure I would like to ask if for Tidal my Lenovo laptop - JRiver - Chord silver USB Cable - DAC-V1 would have benefit from microRendu + good 7V power source?

When I bought my DAC-V1 I understood that Audiophilleo in my DAC and BitPerfect takes care about all what I need in digital side.

Tuomo posted:

Just to be sure I would like to ask if for Tidal my Lenovo laptop - JRiver - Chord silver USB Cable - DAC-V1 would have benefit from microRendu + good 7V power source?

When I bought my DAC-V1 I understood that Audiophilleo in my DAC and BitPerfect takes care about all what I need in digital side.

I haven't got a DAC V1 but, given that it is already galvanically isolated, I would look at USB reclockers/rebalancers/RFI filters like the Audioquest Jitterbug or ifiAudio iPurifier2 first .. lots cheaper, and easy to return if you buy them online and find no benefit.

A dumb question, my forte, my present system comprises a dedicated Macmini, running Audirvana which Id like to keep, into a Gustard U12 into a nDac etc.  From what Ive read the Microrendu could be a good upgrade, however could I integrate it into my present system, if so how?

I forgot to mention music files are stored on a dedicated hard drive linked straight into the MacMini

@ROBH

if you get a microRendu...  The Gustard connects the mR to the nDAC.  

Now you can set the mR in Dlna mode.  The MAC should be able to directly control the mR over an ethernet connection (I have not done this). 

Another control option would be to run a dlna server on the Mac.  Use Lumin or Linn Kazoo to control the mR on a phone or tablet. If you do it this way you can move the MAC (and all its power supply noise) away from the HiFi.

RobH posted:

A dumb question, my forte, my present system comprises a dedicated Macmini, running Audirvana which Id like to keep, into a Gustard U12 into a nDac etc.  From what Ive read the Microrendu could be a good upgrade, however could I integrate it into my present system, if so how?

The microRendu is RJ45 in and USB 2.0 out. I'm not familiar with the Gustard or what it does, but it accepts USB in. If you want to connect directly to the nDAC, you could use a USB-to-whatever converter. That said, I can't get away from the idea that there is overlap between your various components once we include a mRendu. After all, the mRendu is essentially a streamer device. And you have that already with your Mac Mini.

In your system, the mRendu would probably replace the Mac Mini, provided you have a NAS or some other network storage (e.g. USB connected HDD to your router).

Brubacca posted:

@ROBH

if you get a microRendu...  The Gustard connects the mR to the nDAC.  

Now you can set the mR in Dlna mode.  The MAC should be able to directly control the mR over an ethernet connection (I have not done this). 

Another control option would be to run a dlna server on the Mac.  Use Lumin or Linn Kazoo to control the mR on a phone or tablet. If you do it this way you can move the MAC (and all its power supply noise) away from the HiFi.

The Mac Mini only has 1 RJ45 port. You either connect it to the internet with that or to the mRendu. So, in your first solution you make streaming of e.g. Tidal impossible.

Your second solution effectively turns the Mac into a NAS. But this requires a network of a minimum of Mac Mini --> router --> mRendu. And the last connection must be hardwired. Also, you don't need DLNA. You could also stream from the mRendu using MPD and map a network drive from the mRendu to the Mac Mini. But then Audionirvana really serves no purpose anymore for playback.

Long story short: better to just choose either Mac or mRendu as a streamer rather than try and shoehorn the mRendu into an architecture with duplication.

The problem is the files are stored on a dedicated hard disc linked to the Macmini, linked via thunderbolt.

Rob

I am assuming that you have the Mac Mini attached to a network switch.  You would also attach the microRendu to the switch.  If you are willing to control the mR via a app (tablet or phone) you can then move the Mac Mini to another location (and the hard drive) and connect it to your switch to serve up the data as the Tablet calls for it.  

If you really still want to sit at your Mac Mini and direct what files are to be played you would then need 2 network connections (1) for the Mac and another for the mR.  In this scenario the output of your Mac Software would send the music to the mR.

I am also assuming that the Gustard is a USB --> S/PDIF interface.

Tell us how you are controlling the Mac Mini now and we can be more specific.

LIKESMUSIC

Thanks for advises. Has maybe someone tried different sources connected with the same cable to DAC-V1 and bit perfect. Any differencies found?

We assume that software does not change. I have noticed that different softwares give some different results.