My biggest problem with Computer/Network audio has always been the need to have some sort of computer present in the listening room. Prior to the lightning strike, I had a custom built HTPC that was in an adjacent room, but was network-connected through the hardwired CAT-6 cable I ran through the entire house. My music was on an QNAP NAS that I'd hot-rodded for use with Roon, etc. At the point when I was still using that setup, JPLAY to me sounded as good as the microRendu I had in the system at the time. Regardless, I still had noise issues with certain setups (mainly Tidal playing MQA into an AudioQuest DragonFly Red). That's the point when I contacted Gordon Rankin, and he strongly suggested getting a laptop. I also thought it was ludicrous at the time, but when the lightning strike happened, from a cost standpoint, hot-rodding a laptop was a better cost option than rebuilding and replacing the HTPC and the NAS. It was an absolute fluke that the laptop I chose had an M2 connection slot -- I had no knowledge of M2 drives prior to that.

So in this same time frame, I ditched the NAS and HTPC, and went strictly with a laptop with nothing but SSDs on board. Because it generates no heat, there's virtually no noise; the only time the fan runs is when ripping a CD or during a system update. I rescued the WD Red drives from the NAS and have my music backed-up on those; but for everyday use, I use a 2TB Seagate Expansion external drive to port my music library about. And as far as music played through Tidal now -- zero noise. Gordon Rankin was correct from that respect. I thought about going the Intel NUC route, but for my personal use, the laptop gives me a better, more cost-effective option. And I can still hook the laptop up to my 27-inch HD monitor when I need a really large, higher-quality image for work.

In terms of my music listening, I have an available shelf on my rack that the laptop can be placed on (with the lid closed, usually); I usually only take it with a fully charged battery, so it's operating the entire time I'm listening to music on battery power, which I think is a total plus. I can get about five hours on a charge, because with no fans running, no screen active, and with the processor and drives generating very little heat -- battery life is pretty good. I have multiple ethernet connections available behind the equipment rack, so the UltraRendu is connected directly to my NetGear cable modem/router. The laptop is also directly connected; it'll work either hard-wired or wireless, but I really believe the sound quality is better with a hard-wired connection. I use the laptop as my music server, with mainly MinimServer managing the music library for me. I've also branched out a bit since the article was published; I now also use a 64GB Samsung 64 EVO MicroSD card plugged into the front of the laptop with music files stored on it, and I find that the resulting sound quality is quite nearly as good as with the Samsung 960 EVO M2 SSD 64GB partition.

This setup works great for me; I can access Tidal either through Roon or through the Bubble DS setup on an android tablet, and I can access the files on any of the connected drives with the assistance of MinimServer. I don't miss the NAS at all, in fact, I now regret ever buying it in the first place. I have Marcin's JCAT Galvanized USB Isolator in the loop between the UltraRendu and the PS Audio Gain Cell DAC and I'm loving the results. I can't really put my finger on it, but the sound quality gets a major improvement with the JCAT unit in the system.

I don't use JPLAY as often as I used to; I feel it was absolutely necessary prior to the arrival of the Rendu's in my system to get the kind of sound quality I needed. I still feel that JPLAY is the finest program of its kind that exists, and if I didn't have the Rendu in place, I could easily be completely happy with it. I just happen to loooove the sound I'm currently getting with the UltraRendu. The reason that I use the Rendu in combination with the laptop, is that you have to have some type of computer in place to serve as your music server. Yes, the Rendu contains what is essentially a micro computer, but that only handles managing on-the-fly presentation of your digital files to your DAC from multiple sources. You still need some sort of setup to manage your music library. There are elegant big-box solutions out there, but they usually come with a really big price tag. Having a great laptop gives me options that probably wouldn't be present in a much more expensive stand-alone piece of equipment.

It all comes down to sound quality, and while JPLAY sounds damn good, I just think that using a streamer -- like the UltraRendu -- gives your music a slightly less-colored and more transparent presentation to your DAC.

Tom, any thoughts here?

Also, I am considering a USB Isolator but still am not convinced they make a difference relative to the money spent.

Lastly, Marcin is not a big advocate of using a laptop for music playback. He much prefers a desktop PC. It's interesting to me that Gordon Rankin feels the polar opposite.

Thanks for the info Tom!

Acer Aspire A-515-51, Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB RAM, 500 GB HDD. There are only about a dozen A-515-51 variations on MicroCenter's website. At the time, MicroCenter had a deal for the unit for $369; I upped the RAM and switched out the drives. I now see that they have a similar build with an SSD versus the HDD (no info on the make/model) and 8GB RAM for about $550. I've had mine 9 months now and couldn't be happier. And when you connect the HDMI to a larger outboard monitor, the image quality is off the charts good!!

Have one, a really nice Rega and am reviewing a super, super nice ProJect "The Classic" Superpack edition. Loooove vinyl!!

Duly noted, and taken care of. Sorry, I wrote this at about 1 AM and was not entirely on top of my game in terms of abbreviations....Thanks!!

Yes, done that, tried that -- I know, it doesn't seem to make any sense, but it makes a huge difference in sound quality.

Right On!!

Sorry, just a technical note, all the "mbps" should be "MBps". that should be "somewhere between 1750 and 2500 MBps". 2500 mpbs would be 312.5 MBps. The difference is one, mb, is representing megabits and the other, MB or mB, is representing megabytes.

Anyway, enjoyed the article and reading about your experience. Thank you!