Quick review of Sonore Sonic Transporter and Ultra Rendu

[Dyohn47]

I have hosted my music files in a Sonore SonicTransporter i5 using a Samsung 4Gb SSD for some time now, and thught it was worth posting a few impressions. First, if you are thinking about finding a simple, small, perfectly silent computer server you can do no better, in my opinion. I tried the DIY route with several home-baked solutions, but this server is plug and play simple and painless. It hosts Roon Core and serves files via my home network to three Roon endpoints, two made by Elac and the third a Sonore Ultra Rendu.

Of the three end points, the Rendu is by far the most stable and never fails to connect to the Roon Core. Plus the fact that it is surprisingly small - less than half the size of the Elac units - makes it simple to place in my headphone system hiding behind my DAC (which it drives via USB) and I never have to deal with it except through the Roon control app.

The Rendu is sample-rate-agnostic and passes whatever the server sends it to the DAC. I do not use MQA or other proprietary formats (all my files are FLAC.) I am a very happy, satisfied customer. It is "the best"? Well so far it is for me.

 

[vkennedy61]

I have had pretty much all of the Rendu products including the Signature Rendu SE, opticalRendu, ultraRendu, and microRendu. They all work as advertised. The Signature Rendu with the optical input is amazingly quiet.

 

[audiobomber]

I have hosted my music files in a Sonore SonicTransporter i5 using a Samsung 4Gb SSD for some time now, and thught it was worth posting a few impressions. First, if you are thinking about finding a simple, small, perfectly silent computer server you can do no better, in my opinion. I tried the DIY route with several home-baked solutions, but this server is plug and play simple and painless. It hosts Roon Core and serves files via my home network to three Roon endpoints, two made by Elac and the third a Sonore Ultra Rendu.

Of the three end points, the Rendu is by far the most stable and never fails to connect to the Roon Core. Plus the fact that it is surprisingly small - less than half the size of the Elac units - makes it simple to place in my headphone system hiding behind my DAC (which it drives via USB) and I never have to deal with it except through the Roon control app.

The Rendu is sample-rate-agnostic and passes whatever the server sends it to the DAC. I do not use MQA or other proprietary formats (all my files are FLAC.) I am a very happy, satisfied customer. It is "the best"? Well so far it is for me.

Congrats on the shill. I'm sure you will have qualified to get the $29 firmware upgrade for free.

https://audiophilestyle.com/uploads/monthly_2023_07/IMG_0193.jpeg.e6d36da8ad7ff94c1d2b716f9ec43ac0.jpeg

I'm not dissing you, I don't blame you for claiming free money. But what Sonore and Small Green Computer have done to buy "reviews" is unethical, IMO.

Release of Sonic Orbiter Operating System v2.9 for the Rendu Series

We are going to Release of Sonic Orbiter Operating System v2.9 for the Rendu Series very soon. Release Notes: 1. The Kernel adds supports more DSD devices. 2. The output protocols have been updated. 3. The Kernel has a new low latency USB stack that reworks the way playback starts. 4. Songcast ou...

audiophilestyle.com

 

[Dyohn47]

Congrats on the shill. I'm sure you will have qualified to get the $29 firmware upgrade for free.

https://audiophilestyle.com/uploads/monthly_2023_07/IMG_0193.jpeg.e6d36da8ad7ff94c1d2b716f9ec43ac0.jpeg

I'm not dissing you, I don't blame you for claiming free money. But what Sonore and Small Green Computer have done to buy "reviews" is unethical, IMO.

Release of Sonic Orbiter Operating System v2.9 for the Rendu Series

We are going to Release of Sonic Orbiter Operating System v2.9 for the Rendu Series very soon. Release Notes: 1. The Kernel adds supports more DSD devices. 2. The output protocols have been updated. 3. The Kernel has a new low latency USB stack that reworks the way playback starts. 4. Songcast ou...

audiophilestyle.com

Doesn't make what I wrote any less accurate.

 

[Daverich4]

Congrats on the shill. I'm sure you will have qualified to get the $29 firmware upgrade for free.

Thanks for the heads up. I wasn’t aware there was a new OS available. I just ordered 4 of them, didn’t write a review, paid cash. I’m really happy with their products and they don’t have to pay me to say so.

 

[audiobomber]

Thanks for the heads up. I wasn’t aware there was a new OS available. I just ordered 4 of them, didn’t write a review, paid cash. I’m really happy with their products and they don’t have to pay me to say so.

I respect Sonore for what they do and have regularly recommended their products. The uRendu changed streaming permanently for the better. The opticalRendu is a brilliant idea. I have an opticalModule Deluxe that I love. But what Sonore is doing with bought "reviews" is unethical IMO.

 

[Brucemck2]

I’ve used various Rendus in four different settings. Solid performing, bulletproof products with great after sales support.

That being said, their pay to promote won’t engender trust in their reviews and I won’t take them up on their freebie offer.

 

[DMan23]

I respect Sonore for what they do and have regularly recommended their products. The uRendu changed streaming permanently for the better. The opticalRendu is a brilliant idea. I have an opticalModule Deluxe that I love. But what Sonore is doing with bought "reviews" is unethical IMO.

Gotta disagree to some extent; WRITING untrue, disingenuous, or a misleading product ownership review when you don't own or have never owned the technology piece is improper and of course unethical.

Motivating current owners of a widget whom are satisfied with same and also interested in a modest update for their widget, the opportunity to share their historical ownership experience(s) on some social media sites to "spread the word" seems OK marketing.

Admittedly I'm taking into account, the perceived value of the marketing request, $29. Just MHO.

 

[audiobomber]

Being paid for a "review" is a clear conflict of interest. They want the $29, how likely are they to write anything negative? Not at all, from what I've seen so far, just pandering.

No product is perfect, all are flawed in some way. I've read several of these shill posts on the websites I frequent. Comparisons are never made with competing products, just glowing praise, which is exactly what I would expect from bought content. Much negative reaction too, also what I would expect, much of it from Sonore owners.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

I respect Sonore for what they do and have regularly recommended their products. The uRendu changed streaming permanently for the better. The opticalRendu is a brilliant idea. I have an opticalModule Deluxe that I love. But what Sonore is doing with bought "reviews" is unethical IMO.

Clearly you do not!

 

[Republicoftexas69]

Gotta disagree to some extent; WRITING untrue, disingenuous, or a misleading product ownership review when you don't own or have never owned the technology piece is improper and of course unethical.

Motivating current owners of a widget whom are satisfied with same and also interested in a modest update for their widget, the opportunity to share their historical ownership experience(s) on some social media sites to "spread the word" seems OK marketing.

Admittedly I'm taking into account, the perceived value of the marketing request, $29.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

Congrats on the shill. I'm sure you will have qualified to get the $29 firmware upgrade for free.

https://audiophilestyle.com/uploads/monthly_2023_07/IMG_0193.jpeg.e6d36da8ad7ff94c1d2b716f9ec43ac0.jpeg

I'm not dissing you, I don't blame you for claiming free money. But what Sonore and Small Green Computer have done to buy "reviews" is unethical, IMO.

Release of Sonic Orbiter Operating System v2.9 for the Rendu Series

We are going to Release of Sonic Orbiter Operating System v2.9 for the Rendu Series very soon. Release Notes: 1. The Kernel adds supports more DSD devices. 2. The output protocols have been updated. 3. The Kernel has a new low latency USB stack that reworks the way playback starts. 4. Songcast ou...

audiophilestyle.com

Only shilling going on is you for Audiophile Style..

 

[Daverich4]

Only shilling going on is you for Audiophile Style..

Actually, it’s not. I was just over on the Audiogon forums and there were half a dozen rave reviews of Sonore Rendu products, one after the other. I can’t remember the last time I read a Rendu review prior to last week. And as I posted earlier in this thread, I’m a fan of the Rendus and paid cash for four of the upgrades. That said, the whole idea doesn’t sit well with me as people who aren’t aware of the payment might take the reviews at face value.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

Actually, it’s not. I was just over on the Audiogon forums and there were half a dozen rave reviews of Sonore Rendu products, one after the other. I can’t remember the last time I read a Rendu review prior to last week. And as I posted earlier in this thread, I’m a fan of the Rendus and paid cash for four of the upgrades. That said, the whole idea doesn’t sit well with me as people who aren’t aware of the payment might take the reviews at face value.

Agon gives you zero cred. Thanks for the validation.

 

[Daverich4]

Agon gives you zero cred. Thanks for the validation.

Are you under the impression I just made up what I told you? Tell me what forum you would like me to go to and I’ll come back and tell you how many paid Sonore advertisements masquerading as reviews are there.

 

[adrianywu]

I had a Rendu. It kept dropping the connection and I had to go into the My Sonicorbiter to reconfigure it. It got to the point that I had to do it every time I used it, and I just took it out and connected my computer to the DAC via USB cable. I hope they have improved it since then.

 

[rgpit]

Been using a uRendu endpoint for a few years now and added a SonicOrbiter i5 server a while ago. The pair is rock solid, flexible, and feeds a Benchmark DAC2HGC, AHB2, and Sourcepoint 10 speakers. I've got about 2500 cds ripped to the i5. The Sonore products are really worth a look if you are interested in an audiophile grade streaming solution.

 

[Cedar]

Did the Rendu V2.9 software upgrade deliver any improvements to music quality?
I use an Ultrarendu (V2.8) and just sent in my $29. I'd like to leave the previous debate and focus on usefulness of the software change.

 

[Dyohn47]

Did the Rendu V2.9 software upgrade deliver any improvements to music quality?
I use an Ultrarendu (V2.8) and just sent in my $29. I'd like to leave the previous debate and focus on usefulness of the software change.

I noticed no changes in sound quality. YMMV.

 

[JeromeFrancis]

For what it's worth, I have the microrendu and Optical Module Deluxe with Optical Rendu getting the signal from a Roon Nucleus, no complaints whatsoever. Btw. did not upgrade the software but tried today reading this post but after the successful upgrade log, the version written on the Sonicorbiter front page still displays 2.8... did you experience a similar issue? Thanks.