Sonore ultraRendu Review

I love my Sonore ultraRendu.  It is an audiophile microcomputer music player with Ethernet input and USB audio output.  Been using it without any problems since sometime in 2018.  At that time, I had a PS Audio Direct Stream DAC with their internal streamer board called a Network Bridge II.  The input to that device is an Ethernet cable from your home network.  I was streaming from Tidal and locally stored music files from a Mac Mini on the network.  

A friend was using a Rendu and his system always sounded amazing.  He brought it over and we tried it in my system.  I thought it sounded much better than the Bridge II.  I sold the Bridge II and bought the ultraRendu which sits out of sight behind my DAC. 

In 2019 I bought a sonicTranspoter i7 with internal SSD drive from Andrew at Small Green Computer.  It is located in another room near the router.  It is a music server with my Roon core and HQPlayer installed, and is designed specifically to run the best available filters in Roon and HQPlayer. It has a very fast processor and will have no problems running whatever filters you want.  It’s the perfect solution for what I’m trying to achieve.  Using it with the ultraRendu results in a streaming solution that sounds great and is totally reliable.  It’s like set it up and forget about it, never have to mess with it except to power it back up in the event of a power outage.  I can’t see any reason to have a different streaming device.  Highly recommended.

I sold the DirectStream DAC a few years ago and now have a Denafrips Pontus II.  My system sounds the best it ever has.  My speakers and amp have a lot to do with that.  Spatial Audio X3 open baffle speakers and a Dennis Had Inspire 300B amp.

I have a microRendu in a second system that my wife mainly uses.  Once I showed her how to use Roon she seldom spins CDs or her small vinyl collection.