My audio pc with pcie ssd hard drive on the same rack as my direct stream. Usb is 1 meter wireworld platinum. Is there any real advantage to running another cat5 cable to the router 40’ away to utilizes the Rendu? Read the review on Computer Audiophile and was intrigued.
Welcome, ehous
The primary advantage to using an Ethernet input based media renderer such as the Rendu is the ability to play music stored on a remote PC. That is, the PC itself is in a different location from the listening room.
In your case, your PC is quiet SSD based and, unless it has a noisy fan, there is no reason to move it to a remote location - unless for some other reason you want to.
As a practical matter, it comes down to your preferred location of the PC, and - everything else being equal - whether you think the S/PDIF via the Rendu or USB via the PC sounds better with the DirectStream.
My guess, unless your PC is carefully setup for USB, the Rendu would sound better. This is not because S/PDIF is inherently better, but because the Rendu is an excellent carefully designed unit with low jitter.
Thanks for the prompt response, the pc is the computer audiophile Zuma with the SOTM pice usb card. I appreciate your input.
I am using the Rendu Signature connected via i2s. I compared it extensively to a Sony laptop connected via usb to my DS. The difference was not enormous, but I consistently preferred the sound with the Rendu. Slightly more open sound-stage and more natural sound. I suspect if I weren’t doing a careful a/b comparison, I would be hard-pressed to identify which source was playing.