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SOtM SMS-200
#21
I have sms-200 running for a day and I think its could be on par with my old squeezebox touch using USB out. It's nowhere close to AIR in terms of SQ. I'll receive Mutec MC3+USB on Monday and hopefully it can take things up a notch or two. Based on the comments, it looks like a good PS is a must for any streamer. I'll try to get LPS 1 when it becomes available again.
The only reason I went away from AIR is very occasional drop out which can spoil the experience. Plus, it blocks a computer.
Oppo-203 / SonicTransporter i7 Roon Core ->Trinnov Altitute-16->TAD M2500MK-1 -> TAD CR-1
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#22
AIR should be easy to beat. In a careful set up you can take the sMS-200 past most anything out there. It takes quite some effort though (studying/reading and learning from other people's experieces) and additional resources, the most important one being the best PSU one can afford to buy.

Anyone who's not up to that can IMO better stay with AIR or if one wants that level of SQ buy a very expensive but turn-key solution like for example the Aurender N10/W20.
PS Audio P3, Shunyata ΞTRON Alpha Digital and HC/Furutech power cables, Paul Hynes SR7EHD-MR4, DIY Roon Server & Roon Endpoint running AudioLinux Headless, Phasure Lush^2 USB cable, Audioquest Diamond RJ/E ethernet, Uptone Audio etherREGEN, Mutec MC-3+ USB, Shunyata ΞTRON Anaconda Digital XLR AES/EBU, Devialet Expert 250 Pro CI, Nordost Tyr Reference LS cables, Von Schweikert VR-5 SE Anniversary Edition, Anti-Mode Dual Core 2.0, JL Audio Fathom F112. More detail here.

The Netherlands
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#23
Thx Antoine. That's precisely my goal is, to beat AIR. Next step for me is to get a good PSU and MC3+. Hopefully I can get there. Whats your experience with LPS-1? I started with this project mainly based on posts from you and confused.
Oppo-203 / SonicTransporter i7 Roon Core ->Trinnov Altitute-16->TAD M2500MK-1 -> TAD CR-1
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#24
sam100 - it might be useful if you post your set up with the SMS-200. That is, what PSU are you using, are you using computer/ NAS / how connected / what music server software etc. I think you should be getting sound quality at least in the general region of AIR without too much tweaking.

I suspect something is slightly amiss?
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
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#25
I've spent a good bit of time comparing my Sonore microRendu using an iFi PS versus Devialet AIR 3.01beta.

I bought the uRendu because AIR 2.13 was just flakey.   But 3.01 beta seems quite stable -at least running on my Win 10 box. 

Sound quality wise, I do hear a slight difference between AIR and the uRendu and generally prefer the uRendu.  But, to be honest, I've heard some tracks where I liked AIR better.    If I had to be pinned down, I'd say the uRendu renders the bottom end a bit better/tighter.  

With that said, I generally use my 440 Pro with the uRendu and am now thinking of buying an Uptone LPS-1 power supply for it.

If I didn't already own the uRendu, I'd probably just stick with AIR if it's stable and wait to see how the SoTM SMS-200 "ultra" will be priced.  My guess is that Sonore will produce an upgraded uRendu as well.   If we're real lucky, we may also know by then what Devialet will do with the new OS/streaming board.
Devialet 440 Pro (two 220s)- Oracle CD transport - Kuzma Stabi S/Stogi S turntable - Von Schweikert VR-35 speakers - JPS SC3 SCs - PI Audio power conditioning -
Triode Wire Labs ICs and PCs - Roon on NUC 8i7beh running ROCK
Durham, NC USA
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#26
Yes, it feels like something is amiss.

-I'm using the PSU that came with SMS-200 (Plan to upgrade to LPS-1).
- SMS-200 USB output is going into Uptone Regen and then to Devialet USB.(Will add MC3+USB on Monday)
-Music is being streamed from NAS using SqueezeLite interface on SMS-200. (Will ROON make a difference in SQ?)
-I do not have direct Ethernet, but I'm using a wireless bridge. http://www.netgear.com/home/products/con...ar_organic

- BTW, AIR is also configured with wireless(which might explain very occasional drop off..but I never experienced any drop off with squeezebox touch)
Oppo-203 / SonicTransporter i7 Roon Core ->Trinnov Altitute-16->TAD M2500MK-1 -> TAD CR-1
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#27
(22-Feb-2017, 21:57)sam1000 Wrote: Yes, it feels like something is amiss.

-I'm using the PSU that came with SMS-200 (Plan to upgrade to LPS-1).
-USB output is going into Uptone Regen and then to Devialet USB.(Will add MC3+USB on Monday)
-Music is being streamed from NAS using LMS Lite interface on SMS-200. (Will ROON make a difference in SQ?)
-I do not have direct Ethernet, but I'm using a wireless bridge. http://www.netgear.com/home/products/con...ar_organic

- BTW, AIR is also configured with wireless(which might explain very occasional drop off..but I never experienced any drop off with squeezebox touch)

FWIW, I have tried to compare RoonRAAT on my uRendu versus the Squeezelite app on it.   I "think" I prefer the RoonRAAT app and generally use it that way on my Devialet.  But, I also have a couple other Squeezeboxes in the house so when I want them synced, I switch my uRendu app to Squeezelite so that Roon can sync them all.

I have not tried running LMS on the uRendu simply because I love Roon.

I do have everything ethernet wired these days, but at one time I did try using it via wifi.   Whether I was running LMS (before using Roon) or now Roon, I would always get the occasional stutter when playing back hi-res music (e.g. 24/96).   I do live in an urban area so my guess is wifi channels are just too overloaded, hence the switch to ethernet wired.   Very glad I did.
Devialet 440 Pro (two 220s)- Oracle CD transport - Kuzma Stabi S/Stogi S turntable - Von Schweikert VR-35 speakers - JPS SC3 SCs - PI Audio power conditioning -
Triode Wire Labs ICs and PCs - Roon on NUC 8i7beh running ROCK
Durham, NC USA
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#28
well... I ended up jumping in, this is my setup now

- sMS-200 w/Uptone-LPS1 > Curious USB > Devialet 120
- Ethernet Isolation - 2x TPLink MC210CS (w/Meanwell PSU on receiving end)

Like most users, I gave up on Air awhile ago just because I couldn't trust my experience with it, all it took was a drop out and it just ruined the experience. sMS-200/RAAT has been perfect, flawless and superior in SQ to Dev Air3... only thing I really don't like with it is its (Apple) AirPlay implementation.

Roon/RAAT is fine, but with AirPlay they've used an out of date daemon (server software) called ShairPort, it hasn't been updated in over 3 years, isn't compatible with iOS 9 or above etc etc.... the sound quality is generally terrible (despite being a lossless protocol, the implementation here is lossy) and is significantly outperformed by a $30 RaspberryPi w/HifiBerry Digi+ Pro running the newer ShairPort-Sync 2.8.6.

Sanghoon Lee at SoTM-Audio has advised me they are working to replace this software and should be released in early March after the current v0.3.3 SMS-200 firmware (right now they're working on implementing some sort of CD ripping functionality into the firmware, not sure how that would be implemented exactly?)

I dunno, I like Roon but for Redbook I'd rather have a superior App interface/UI on my iPad when I'm casually listening to non-Tidal streaming services, than be forced to use the Roon client... I guess I'm a bit outspoken here with that point of view... but thought I'd share my thoughts none the less Wink
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#29
(24-Feb-2017, 18:41)petersv Wrote: well... I ended up jumping in, this is my setup now

- sMS-200 w/Uptone-LPS1 > Curious USB > Devialet 120
- Ethernet Isolation - 2x TPLink MC210CS (w/Meanwell PSU on receiving end)

Like most users, I gave up on Air awhile ago just because I couldn't trust my experience with it, all it took was a drop out and it just ruined the experience. sMS-200/RAAT has been perfect, flawless and superior in SQ to Dev Air3... 

Can you comment on "superior in SQ to Dev Air3"?   I'm interested in what sounds different/better to you with the SMS-200/LPS-1 vs AIR 3.

But I totally agree on the dependability issues with AIR 3.
Devialet 440 Pro (two 220s)- Oracle CD transport - Kuzma Stabi S/Stogi S turntable - Von Schweikert VR-35 speakers - JPS SC3 SCs - PI Audio power conditioning -
Triode Wire Labs ICs and PCs - Roon on NUC 8i7beh running ROCK
Durham, NC USA
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#30
(22-Feb-2017, 21:57)mdconnelly Wrote: I've spent a good bit of time comparing my Sonore microRendu using an iFi PS versus Devialet AIR 3.01beta.

I bought the uRendu because AIR 2.13 was just flakey.   But 3.01 beta seems quite stable -at least running on my Win 10 box. 

Sound quality wise, I do hear a slight difference between AIR and the uRendu and generally prefer the uRendu.  But, to be honest, I've heard some tracks where I liked AIR better.    If I had to be pinned down, I'd say the uRendu renders the bottom end a bit better/tighter.  

With that said, I generally use my 440 Pro with the uRendu and am now thinking of buying an Uptone LPS-1 power supply for it.

If I didn't already own the uRendu, I'd probably just stick with AIR if it's stable for you and wait to see how the SoTM SMS-100 "ultra" will be priced.  My guess is that Sonore will produce an upgraded uRendu as well.   If we're real lucky, we may also know by then what Devialet will do with the new OS/streaming board.

It's interesting that your observations re the mR vs AIR are more or less the exact opposite to what I found when I tried the mR vs AIR on my D800.  Then I found the bass to be more accurate via AIR, but had a marginal preference for the mR for just about everything else above about 200Hz.  The thing is though, I did briefly try the same with the 1000 Pro, and with the Pro the slight deficit in bass accuracy vs AIR was much reduced, additionally the bass 'punch' was a touch better via the mR, with some music at least. The differences are small, and I think what comes out best could easily be system dependant, rather than absolutes.  My theory is that something has improved with the USB implementation of the Pro, I notice you are running a 440 Pro, have you noticed anything in this regard?  It is worth mentioning that per the specs and other information from Devialet, the USB input is unchanged.  But I do wonder if maybe something has improved, maybe better galvanic isolation or something.
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
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