The innous pulsar and N200 seem to be targeted at the same folks who are looking for many of the same features (server, streamer, and quality sound). From my limited research, they both seem to have developed their own in house apps. The Aurrender app works great, but requires a wired internet connection. The Pulsar seems to focus on power supply while the N200 focuses on cache data to minimize noise. My experience is that the n10 produces a dark background, but don’t have much to compare it to.
Were you planning on putting your music on the hds, use your laptop, or stream? This might help with your decision making.
Just a quick update to this, I now have had some time with the AliExpress fiber isolators between my ultraRendu and my DAC. The only thing that’s keeping me from giving my overall impressions is that I’m using mismatched USB cables from the rendu to the input isolator and from the output isolator to the DAC. I will say that there is a pretty significant difference in sound with the isolators in the chain vs out of the chain, but I won’t be going too in depth with the differences until the matching pine tree audio USB arrives so the same cable is being used at the input and output devices, this way I’d be purely hearing the differences between with/without it in my chain and less so the differences + the difference in USB cable. Other PTA arrives over the weekend (hopefully), so I may have my thoughts posted by the end of the weekend if I find the time.
To give some quick initial impressions I do notice that there is an increase in soundstage, warmth, and punch. But there is less sizzle (no loss in detail retrieval, it’s just a little less snappy I guess). Without has flatter stage and everything is more forward in the mix. I can see these isolators being a good match for an almost fatiguingly detailed system. So far I prefer the sound with it vs without it, but I’ll post my final impressions once the matching USB has been integrated. More to come!
Interesting to see what happens if different USB cables change the sonic characteristics they way they would were they connected directly. The conventional thinking me say no but nothing ceases to amaze in the hobby with in comes to the level of impact just about everything has on everything. lol
Yeah, I’ve noticed this as well. Unfortunately my Lampizator Amber 3 doesn’t have an i2s input (otherwise I’d totally try something like ultraRendu > isolators > SU6 > DAC). I have tried using the other inputs on the Amber 3, and have come to prefer USB. This is why I use USB from my ultraRendu, and BNC SPDIF from my SU6/PC. It’s also why I didn’t really draw any conclusions when using the isolators between my PC and SU6 to my DAC (via BNC) since I think the Amber 3 preforms better when being fed USB.
If (I should probably say when lol) I do end up upgrading/switching DACs and I end up with one that has an i2s input, I’d definitely give it a try. I’d also be curious to find out if my impressions of the isolators change as well by using them between a clean source and DDC rather than straight into the DAC.
Pine tree USB arrived today and was able to do a little bit of A/Bing. I will say that the isolators do make the differences between USB cables quite apparent. But those differences are only really noticeable with the USB cable that goes between the output isolator and DAC/DDC.
My impressions more or less match my initial impressions after the cable change though. Soundstage opens up a bit, and there seems to be more punch and warmth. Without the isolators things sound flatter, and voices seem to have less depth to them. The impressions that have changed since swapping cables has been improved separation with the isolators (was there before, but wasn’t as noticeable), and the sizzle I mentioned that decreased made a comeback. Now it’s close being equal to the sizzle that I had without the isolators in the mix, but not fully since the flatter presentation of the no isolator setup brings those things more forward in the mix.
I could see these isolators being a better match for certain systems than others. But like all things audio, it’s up to whatever your ears prefer. For me though, I prefer the sound of my system with them in the mix. If I do end up upgrading to a different isolator like the Innuos Phoenix USB or something in the future I’d be sure to compare it to these fiber isolators (assuming they’re still working by then lol).
Hope this helped anyone curious about the AliExpress Fiber Isolators!
Thanks for the review! I think by the time I buy all the components for the aliexpress version, I’ll be close to getting an afterdark diretta bridge which includes the fiber isolation. I’m curious how much better the afterdark stuff is.
One of the intended benefits when I switched to the Sonore opticalRendu was being able to go go directly from my switch with an SFP to the opticalRendu with the SFP and forgo the supporting cast of boxes and power supplies.
One downside, or perhaps upside depending on your chain and how you look at it. I like my DAC’s SPDIF and AES inputs more than the USB input so I have an Alpha USB DDC being fed by the Sonore’s USB out. I did notice that both the USB cable into the DDC and the SPDI or AES cables out of the DDC had a noticeable impact on the sound, so 2X expense on the cabling depending on what one is looking for.
Worthwhile experimenting with this setup @EstrangedBaron thank you for sharing your results.
I can totally see that. If you do wind up doing that I would be curious about your impressions since I haven’t heard much about their products.
100%, and a consolidated system is just easier to deal with in general. Maybe sometime in the future I’ll just upgrade to a Signature Rendu and be done lol (but that’s probably not going to happen for a while unless I find one used).
Thank you for the kind words though, it’s always fun experimenting with new things.
Currently I only have a DDC in front of my DAC. PC → Hydra Z → Directstream. My friend was telling me you can actually use Diretta as a way to stream from your PC so it would be PC streaming → Switch. Switch → Diretta box (ethernet or fiber) → DDC → DAC. Apparently he liked it enough to keep diretta in his chain. It seems like a best of both worlds, fiber isolation while streaming and diretta is supposed to lower noise even more.
Looks interesting, but meant for use with peripherals like external drives and such in order to separate those items from being plugged directly into your PC or Server. The fiber solution also looks like it would only work with one of their streamers. While you probably could connect your DAC to the device after plugging the fiber into the streamer, you’d probably get better performance just using their dedicated “Audio USB” output on their streamers to connect to your DAC instead. Interesting product though, would love to see an all in one box solution that has the fiber inside the box instead of having two boxes to worry about lol (even though I know they’re probably separated for improved performance).
Gun to your head you’re getting a DAC to connect to your new OLED TV. Both of these meet the criteria of balanced and SE out, optical in, AK449X, preamp, remote and they’re in the same under $300 used price ballpark.
Honestly I’m asking more for known red flag as they’re about the same feature wise so it’s more about build quality, longevity and aethetics. I’d be fine with either but figured I’d ask cause, you know. It’s a forum.
BTW it’s pretty remarkable to me how people that spend hours geeking on TV tech forums and discussing the benefits of one technology over another, processing etc for the most part all agree that TV sound means… just put a sound bar on it.
I went with a used Parasound Halo P5 unit for the added features for about double the cost and could not be happier with both the versatility and performance. It’s large-ish though. Can’t speak to either unit you asked about🤷
