microRendu - Sound Quality observations and comparisons

[Confused]

The microRendu is a low cost item and will be used in low budget systems.  If your whole system costs £1.5k or if you are using a microRendu for a mini system in your kitchen, the iFi is surely just the job?  If you want to push the boundaries of performance in a more revealing system, spend more on a top notch PSU.

I'm not so sure Confused. To me several hundred pounds for a renderer is quite a lot of money and given the way it has been positioned and marketed I suspect it will end up in many high end systems - as we are witnessing here. If I were running a budget system I would probably look to use something like a Raspberry Pie or Cubox.

Given the fact that it seems as though this thing is very sensitive to mains noise, I would probably think about starting off with a "budget" LPS rather than use the iFi which Amir has shown injects a fair bit of noise into the system confirming Antoine's worst fears about the device. A device incidentally that I've bought too. 

I seem to remember reading a fair number of complaints relating to the iFi iPower on PFM.

Guillaume

Yes, thinking about it my kitchen system comment was probably a bit wide of the mark!  Anyway, for me it is simple, the microRendu is already on order with the iFi.  If after a few weeks I decide the microRendu is a keeper, then the iFi will be replaced.  I think I need to see how much I like the microRendu, this will then dictate how much I spend on the PSU.  By then, the UltraCap LPS1 should be available, although maybe not, it looks like they are having a few production issues with the thing.