Sonore OpticalRendu
When I decided to go to digital streaming, I was looking for the best turnkey system for my budget. When I came across The Small Green Computer Company and Alex, I was intrigued. And then I saw the optical setup with the Sonore Rendu offered in a bundle with The Small Green Computer Company. That sealed the deal for me and I have not looked back. Having used it for over a year now the quality of the digital source in my system is very close to the analog side. And Alex could not have been more helpful when I did have questions.
If you are looking into starting the digital journey, I highly recommend looking at The Small Green Computer Company offerings.
When I first switched to Roon, I thought that an "Audiophile Grade" silent PC running Roon Bridge would be perfect between Roon Core and my DAC. I then tried the UltraRendu from Sonore-SGC... what a difference ! Every aspect of it was better soundstage, tighter bass, smoother highs. So impressive for such a small device! Last year I decided to go optical, and bought a OpticalRendu. Again, what a HUGE improvement, especially a much lower noise floor. Following Andrew's advices at SGC it was frankly easy to change from Ethernet to Optical, ans SO worth it. My budget won't allow for the Signature Rendu, so I'm a bit jealous ;) but not too much, since the OpticalRendu is quite an amazing device. |
quintiqI just spoke to Adrian @ Sonore, and he said they hope to have the new OpticalRendu out by this fall. They have had supply chain issues and the parts costs have gone way up. It will be about $500 more than the current OpticalRendu. In the meantime, I will upgrade my power supply for my MicroRendu (which I love) to the Sonore external supply (about $800!), which I can use with the new OpticalRendu when it comes out. Adrian says upgrading the power supply (from the SGC external PS) will be very noticeable. |
I have experimented a lot with my opticalRendu (oR) setup. 1. Power supply quality makes a bit difference. I feel that the Sonore Audiophile Power Supply (SAPS) is a great match for the oR and the opticalModule (oM). 2. The type of SFP matters a great deal to the sound quality. Some sound digital with a low noise floor and a relatively flat soundstage. Others sound more natural, with better timbre, more euphonic with a better depth in soundstage. The best SFP I have that exhibits the latter is the Cisco SFP-10G-AOC1M. I prefer that over the others I’ve tried. And yes: please be very careful and buy the original one - the ones from China on eBay appear to be fake. Soon, I’ll be placing my oR/oM setup with 2 SAPS, SFP / fiber up for sale to move to the signatureRendu. |
