Functionality of microRendu vs Mutec MC-3+ USB

Audio Gear Talk Sonore
1

I am using a Mutec MC-3+ USB between a Mac Mini (with Roon core and HQP) and a Chord 2Qute. Files are on a NAS, wired ethernet.
The Mutec takes care of USB galvanic separation and reclocking. It works wonders on the SQ. Low noise floor, air and energy.

What would a microRendu additionally do for my SQ from a functional point of view?

2

The typical use case for the microRendu is where you have a separate music server connected by Ethernet to one or more microRendus (two in my case, one for the living room speaker system and another for the home office headphone system). I use the Roon app on my mobile phone to control what I’m listening to. My server is an Intel NUC running Ubuntu, and my music lives on a Synology NAS (it could be on a drive directly connected to the NUC, but the NAS offers more capacity and flexibility). MY whole house is wired with Cat 6, a pro router (Ubiquiti Edgerouter PoE-5) and pro Netgear switches. It all works like a charm. In your case, the one possible microRendu benefit is that you could move the Mac Mini away from your music gear, taking advantage of the fact that Ethernet is galvanically isolated by design. But your Mutec might already be doing as much for keeping computer noise away from your DAC as you can hear. Only experiment would tell.

3

Thanks Fernando,

So if it is only noise that the microRendu lowers I think the Mutec has it covered.
By having the microRendu in the chain because of location of Macs and Roon endpoints, I wonder if going through a microRendu would double network traffic.
If the audio file is retrieved from the NAS and the HQP stream goes to the microRendu over the network at the same time, would I have to worry about dropouts?

Ruud

4

There’s no reason to worry about dropouts with a decent wired Ethernet. We are talking about ~5Mb/s max for digital audio on a network capable of carrying orders of magnitude more.

5

Hi I’m about to set up a Mutec MC-3 USB and microRendu in my windows based system. As the music files are managed by Roon do I need to download the Mutec driver?

6

When the mR connects to the Mutec, you will not need the driver. Similar setup as I use, but my ‘dac’ is a Devialet amp.

7

Thanks ogs, does that mean I do need to download the drivers?

Rob

8

No need for drivers in this setup so you do not have to download. If you at some point want to connect the Mutec directly to your Windows PC (USB) you will need the driver (as it is Windows specific).
Roon will see the mR via your network and mR has no problem seeing the Mutec connected via USB.

9

Thanks that very useful.

Rob