Choosing the Right Product(s) Based on Your Specific Needs
Choosing the right products
What do I need?
Most systems come down to two decisions: a server that stores your library and runs your playback software, and a player that sits beside your DAC and receives music over the network.
Find the situation below that sounds most like yours.
My music is on a computer, and I plug that computer into my DAC.
This is the most common starting point, and the easiest to improve. A general-purpose computer was never designed to be an audio component — its power supply, fans, and background processes all add noise to the signal your DAC receives.
An ultraRendu Plus between your network and your DAC.
- The ultraRendu Plus connects to your router by Ethernet and to your DAC by USB
- Your computer keeps serving the files, but it is no longer attached to your DAC
- Control playback from Roon, Audirvāna, or an app on your phone or tablet
Next step after that: move the library off the computer entirely onto a sonicTransporter i7, so nothing in the chain is a general-purpose PC.
My music is on a NAS or a USB drive.
Your files are already off your computer, which is a good start. What you need now is something to run the playback software and index the library, plus a player at the DAC end.
sonicTransporter i7 (Gen 4) plus an ultraRendu Plus.
- Attach your USB drive directly to the server, or point it at your NAS over the network
- The server runs Roon Server, HQPlayer, Audirvāna, Lyrion, Squeezebox, MinimServer, or Plex
- The ultraRendu Plus connects to your DAC by USB
- Both connect to your router by Ethernet — the server can live in another room
I have a stack of CDs and I want to go digital.
Ripping properly, once, gives you a library that will still play at full quality in twenty years — no licensing, no catalog changes, no albums quietly disappearing.
sonicTransporter i7 with the External CD Ripper, plus an ultraRendu Plus.
- Insert a disc and the server rips it to FLAC, tags it, and adds artwork automatically
- Files land on the server's internal SSD — up to 8 TB
- No computer is involved at any point
- The ripper attaches by USB and works with any sonicTransporter
I want the quietest possible connection to my DAC.
Your home network shares a copper path with your router, modem, and everything else plugged into the house. Fiber breaks that path completely, because light carries no ground noise.
An opticalRendu Deluxe fed by fiber, or a Signature Rendu SE Deluxe for the reference version.
- You will need a fiber source: either the opticalModule Deluxe or the 4-Port Gigabit Switch with Fiber Port
- The conversion to fiber happens before the signal reaches your player
- The Signature Rendu SE Deluxe has its linear power supply built in, so no outboard box is needed
I want music in several rooms of the house.
There are two ways to do this, depending on whether your rooms are wired back to a central rack or each has its own DAC.
A sonicTransporter WhirlWind for a central rack, or one server plus a player in each room.
- The WhirlWind is a server, streamer, and four DACs in one 1U rackmount box — four rooms of analog audio straight from the server, with no endpoints or outboard DACs
- Analog outputs run up to 24/192 PCM, on a custom four-zone audio board designed and built in the UK
- Each zone also has optical and coaxial S/PDIF outputs, so you can use your own DAC in any room where you prefer to
- For rooms with their own DACs on the network, add an ultraRendu Plus or opticalRendu Deluxe
- Roon handles multi-zone natively — play the same thing everywhere or something different in each room
I already have everything. What is the next upgrade?
Once the server and player are in place, power is usually the remaining variable. The adapters that ship with most network gear are switching supplies — efficient, inexpensive, and electrically noisy.
A linear power supply for whichever component sits closest to your DAC.
- A toroidal transformer and low-noise regulation in place of a switching adapter
- Available in the voltages our servers and players use
- Start with the player, then the server
Not sure which situation fits?
Describe your system and we will tell you honestly what will help and what will not. Every product includes lifetime free technical support from a person in the US, a one-year warranty, and 30-day returns. You can also read the Music Server Buying Guide or compare the three servers in the selection guide.