SOtM SMS-200

[mdconnelly]

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-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.

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.

You'll probably find a post here somewhere where I said exactly what you're saying.   When I just had the 200, I did prefer AIR 3 beta slightly.  With a 220 Pro and now a 440 Pro, I'm leaning more  toward USB via uRendu.  So I think I agree that the USB on the Pro sounds better, but whether they actually changed the USB integration or it's just the result of the way the Pro sounds, I can't say.   Hell, it could also just be my imagination.

As I said, I think I would be totally happy with AIR 3 beta now if I had never bought the uRendu.