Orbiter = server (USB)
Rendu = bridge replacement
At least that is my simplistic understanding.
@stereophilus Occam’s Razor
@stereophilus Occam's Razor
Haha, sort of. I'll be a bit more specific:
The orbiter channels the output of another network server device playing LMS (Logitech media server), serving it to your DAC via USB.
The rendu is like an external bridge. It needs a DLNA server to send audio files to the rendu over a network. The rendu is the player. It then outputs i2s or spdif to your DAC.
The difference is where the player is.
@stereophilus
Spoke to Jesus(?) yesterday. He explained that what I want is the Rendu with I2S option & something else (which I do not remember).
Patricia says I never remember anything she tells me…at least that is what I think she says…
@dcastle “That’ll make Greenpeace happy?” Why? There are no whales involved that I am aware of.
I went with the Orbiter because I believe that the future is more USB than SPDIF or i2s… I like LMS it works and it’s stable, I can install it on my (coming soon) Synology NAS and run the system with no Mac on… I also like being able to use iPeng as my controller, again it’s a stable and proven controller…
@erikm Deleted eLyric over 6 months ago and never missed it. JRiver 19 has become the de facto standard for good reason…but you do have to buy it.
@stereophilus
Spoke to Jesus(?) yesterday. He explained that what I want is the Rendu with I2S option & something else (which I do not remember).
Patricia says I never remember anything she tells me...at least that is what I think she says....
;))
Jesus may have suggested the DC powered option with optional Sonore outboard DC power supply.
I personally think that the platform that runs the "player" is critical to SQ. The bridge is a high quality player on a Linux platform. The rendu is an even higher quality player (greater processing power) based on a Linux platform.
I was surprised when I found the W4S server beat the bridge for SQ on my system. I think that has to do with the processing power, Linux platform, and player.
I would think the orbiter could achieve similar results if the player is on a Linux platform (eg synology NAS), and the USB cable is good quality. I'm interested to hear how @erikm find the SQ of he orbiter compared to the bridge when the synology NAS is installed. My hunch is it will beat the bridge if the USB cord is a good one.
The W4S server is a NAS running LMS player on a linux platform with an i2s output. In my view, this means it has taken the best bits and put them in one package. It does mean less options to play with, but that could be a good thing. And of course, I am biased because I love the sound mine makes.
As time goes on I switched back to Squeezelite. Functionality just puts me there. DLNA via Jriver,at times, has gaps on some albums. Squeezelite via the Orbiter just works.