Sonore Streamers

[Antoine]

Nothing strange about it.

I read Confused's post as strange that the Mutec draws any power from the incoming USB, rather than strange the rendu gets hot?

I have to say I'm intrigued. I was under the impression that high-end USB devices would assume the worst of the USB power quality, and generate their own - except in maybe battery powered kit? Bearing in mind what the Mutec does I would have thought it definitely would ignore the USB bus. Once again I'm probably missing something as the general consensus is it's good.

PS looking forward to hearing how you're getting on with the new Paul Hynes Antoine. And Confusedseses 'Mutec critical listening report'.

The Mutec powers the USB input board with power from the USB bus. This board is galvanically isolated from the rest of the device which is powered by the internal SMPS supply. If I remember and have understood correctly this is done to create additional isolation between different power domains as different supplies and ground planes are used. I could imagine them using a separate power supply internally to achieve the same effect though perhaps their approach better separates the grounds. Signal ground in the Mutec is connected to protective earth so when one would use a computer powered by a different AC group you'd have full isolation.

Of course when we use a microRendu we're feeding the USB input of the Mutec clean and regulated power thanks to the "Regen v2" inside it especially when we use a high quality PSU to power the mR. Before selling it I did try my Intona USB Isolator in front of the Mutec (after sending it back to Germany for a firmware update) but I couldn't recognize any difference in SQ in this setup so at least for me and in my system it seems this isolation scheme works pretty well.

You're absolutely right, I still haven't shared any listening impressions of the Paul Hynes PSU yet. They'll come but since connecting it last week I've suffered "burn-in woes" (there's new regulator modules inside it) with the system clearly sounding different each day, at first bass was overwhelming, day later bass subsided to more normal levels but highs were a bit brittle so I'm giving it (or my brain ) time to settle. Since it's a power supply it's easy to burn in 24/7 by just leaving it (and the devices it powers) powered up.

This week I also haven't had time to listen to my system and when I could have I preferred running my airco since it's been 30+ degrees here in NL. Overal though there surely are very positive changes I've already heard however I think the microRendu itself will be this years winner for me. This weekend I'll probably "check" again.