microRendu - Sound Quality observations and comparisons

[PhilP]

Some interesting comments.  First to consider PhilP's point;

'I understand you're a PC-user and so perhaps can't easily try it but AIR 3 offers very significant SQ improvements over AIR 2 which, based on the observations you've made, should put it ahead of MR/iFi.'

Maybe, yes, but maybe not!  For a while I have suspected that Windows AIR 2 sounds a lot better than Mac AIR 2.   OK, I think those that have tried Mac AIR 3 have almost universally reported an improvement in SQ, to it would seam quite a respectable level.  The thing is, I suspect that this simply puts Mac AIR 3 in the same ball park as Windows AIR 2.  I have posted about this elsewhere, and indeed laid down a challenge for anyone with both a Mac and a PC to do a back to back test.  Unfortunately, nobody had has actually tried this.  So I have a different perspective, I think that finding that the mR, with iFi power, sounds similar to Windows AIR 2 is possibly just more evidence that Windows AIR 2 is already performing at reasonably high level.  OK, all a bit evidence based and theoretical, indeed, it would be great if someone could put this to the test!

Yes, you're right - it is surprising that no one seems to have done a straight comparison between AIR on OSX and Windows. 

I don't remember anyone else suggesting that Widows AIR sounds better than OSX AIR but it's certainly possible. I had always assumed that, if there was any difference, then AIR OSX would be better as that was the platform it was originally written for.  Then again the AIR 2 re-write was done so that it would run on both platforms - which is,apparently, where things started to go wrong...

I don't know many people with Windows PCs nowadays (everyone's moved to Apple - mainly iPads - and I got rid of mine several years ago) but I think my brother has one and will try to set up an AIR comparison for fun later in the summer.