Sonore Streamers

[Confused]

Paul is certain it will.  He's never had one back after the 45 day (or whatever it is) trial period apparently.

You probably can't say as I guess you never used the Mutec directly, but I wonder what's having most influence in the sound you like - the Mutec or the rendu (or the ifi). Did you ever have the 'wow' moments with your previous setup, or is this a completely new phenomenon?

Hard to know what to try first for biggest bang for my buck - a new PSU for the rendu, or a USB>AES/Ebu.

One thing is for certain, I will be interested to see what difference a PSU will make, currently this is an unknown for me.  Although I did spend a happy evening reading through all the mR / PSU stuff on Computer Audiophile, and there was not a single post that said something like 'I replaced the iFi power supply for PSU XX and the results were stunning', not one.  It was all subtle stuff at best, and some negatives for people switching away from the iFi.  As for my experience, I was actually a little disappointed with the mR on it's own, many aspects were good, but the bass issues were significant enough that it was probably a case that I would prefer music with thunderous bass via AIR, and other music with the mR.  Add in the Mutec, the bass issue was gone, in fact replaced with the most accurate and defined bass my system has ever produced, and all the other positive aspects of the mR were retained and enhanced.  It is worth noting that previously I found the Melco N1Z to be quite stunning in some areas, quite exceptional, but even the mighty N1Z suffered some of the bass issues I noticed with the mR, so I am guessing this is more to do with Devialet USB implementation than the mR or N1Z. 

So my conclusion is that going AES/EBU is the best bang for the buck.  Lets put it this way, the Paul Hynes option I am looking at is much the same cost as a Mutec MC3+USB.  If I was offered a swap, the PSU for the Mutec, I would not swap, not a chance!

As for using the Mutec directly, I had actually thought of trying it with some other kit, for example I have a CD player & Blu Ray player I could run through the Mutec.  The Blu Ray player might be interesting actually, because you can plug in a USB stick and it will act as a music server.  It is not a particularly expensive player either, so this might give an interesting indication of what the Mutec can do and what the mR brings to the party.

As for your dilemma with the Singxer.  I would guess that it would produce an improvement with the mR, if only for moving away from USB.  As good as the Mutec?  Hard to say, but what is clear is that there are now lots of reports that the Mutec works well, and very importantly, it works well with a Devialet.  So although the Mutec is a little more cash, I see it as the low risk option in this case.