Renderer of Choice?

[DavidL]

I auditioned several renderers (all ethernet-to-SPDIF functionality) before buying one - Cyrus, Naim and Krell which were available in the UK. I heard differences: I felt the Krell was best, closely followed by the Naim with the Cyrus a poor 3rd. I bought a Sonore Rendu unheard and found it as good as the Naim and Krell, and less expensive. I recently replaced my DAC with one that had an on-board renderer - the PS Audio DirectStream DAC fitted with the Bridge 2 board. (I've just updated the firmware to the latest version with a concomitant jump in sound quality - it was already excellent!)

The basic Rendu is no longer available from Sonore and the replacement Signature is much more expensive, so I can see the attraction of the relatively inexpensive microRendu, however I do wonder whether using USB output rather than SPDIF or I2S can compromise sound quality by reducing the isolation from power- & earth-borne interference. I found that by putting optical isolation in the last leg of the ethernet connection to the renderer/DAC I got a small but worthwhile improvement in sound quality.