If that really is a hub, then yes everything is sent to all ports, like a bridge. A switch on the other hand is more selective in distribution so does not flood all ports with ‘everything’
Just to round off: I own a microRendu. Use it with Roon (not Rock yet). Upgraded to 1.4 hardware recently. I love it!
There are audio usb card put there with the possibility to use external power. These together with clean power will give you the same effect or better than using the microrendu… Some of these cards together with external clean power is even better performing than the microrendu. The external power would in any case be needed on a microrendu to make it acceptable to electrical noise.
The audio usb pci card should go on a separate internal bus than your regular usb so they don’t have to compete with any other devices (ex external HD if that is in use).
Yes, it’s feasible. However, the sound produced by your DAC will be identical whether you connect it directly to the NUC via USB, or via USB to the microRendu and then Ethernet (using a switch or direct cable makes no difference) to your NUC.
With respect, you are trying to find the solution to a problem that does not exist outside your head.
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There’s nothing special about these cards: They’re functionally identical to a $20 externally-powered USB hub. They just have a PCI interface to the host computer instead of a USB cable.
Guys – eyes on the ball please, not on the players.
My personal preference is to keep things as simple as possible. I connect power to my unit, which today is an ultraRendu, in the form of a custom (long story) built Sonore linear supply (now discontinued). I connect Ethernet directly from my router via Bluejeans Cable’s (tested and certified cables). I then connect the ultraRendu directly to my DAC via a USB cable (nothing special). All of our products in the “Rendu” series are meant to be remote endpoints. If you don’t want or need a NAS, desktop or laptop in your audio room these are great options. That is the intent.
Having said that “some” of you are experimenting and who am I to judge…it’s hobby after all! Please do not take this as we offer support for it:)
BTW Andrew at Small Green Computer has added this preconfigured on one of the sonicTransporters so you can easily try it. You can contact him via his website. I see no reason why ROCK could not do it and seem to recall Roon saying it could.
SONORE computer audio - ultraRendu | microRendu | Sonicorbiter SE
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@simoneratti, It’s unclear to me if the original question was actually answered. The answer is easy however:
if the device (in this case, the microRendu) can have it’s IP settings set statically, then yes, otherwise no.
ROCK does do IP forwarding between interfaces, but it does not provide DHCP.
Then the answer is no. The Rendu series does not have an option to set the IP statically.
SONORE computer audio - ultraRendu | microRendu | Sonicorbiter SE
Got it! Thank you all for the feedback. I have just purchased a used unit of microRendu and I am eagerly waiting for its delivery. I will connect it to the wifi router, as a remote endpoint. I am now trying to find a Blue-jeans cat6 cable in Italy… often a market overlooked.
@Jesus_Rodriguez
Just for curiosity, why aren’t you considering the static IPs option for the microRendu? Direct connection apart, static IPs are often a quicker option than DHCP especially when network devices stay within the home environment. With PCs I have often experienced a quicker powerup sequence with static IPs.
Yes, sure. DHCP is provided by router in network. Do ROCK have the network bridge setting between network interfaces (ethernet, wifi, usb ethernet adapter, etc.)?
no, it IP forwards, it does not bridge.
Got it! Thank you all for the feedback. I have just purchased a used unit of microRendu and I am eagerly waiting for its delivery. I will connect it to the wifi router, as a remote endpoint. I am now trying to find a Blue-jeans cat6 cable in Italy… often a market overlooked.
Wifi routers do not tend to be the best hubs/switches, I would purchase a cheap 8 port switch connect the Roon core and microrendu to it and then connect the switch to the router.
So… is IP forwarding the same as routing?
Yes. IP forwarding meaning moving IP packets between machines, using routing tables as the rules of where to send the packets.
Brilliant! Good to know and thanks. It appears that the lack of static IP configuration on rendu’s site is the only blocker.
How do you IP forward with ROCK?
Is it only for ROCK in NUC or for ROCK in any computer with two or more ethernet (network) controllers?
IP forwarding is on by default.
I turned on ip forwarding for any interfaces. Note that although I can not support ROCK on non-NUC, if you can get ROCK running there, the forwarding will just work and has nothing to do with hardware.
OK. I have installed ROCK on PC: Gigabyte GA-1037UN-EU with two ethernet ports and PCI ethernet card TP-Link TF3239DL, 4GB RAM, SSD 32GB for OS, two SSDs for libraries (2TB and 1TB). All successfully working if I connect patch cord from internet router to one ethernet port and patch cord from my music PC with RoonBridge to another ethernet port. 
(strange ip address 169.254.197.82 but working
)But there are no networked devices if I connect patch cord from my music PC to ethernet port of PCI ethernet card TP-Link
Does this mean that there are no drivers for this card in ROCK or something else?
And is it possible to support both SSDs for libraries (currently only one 2TB SSD is supported)?