ZEN Mini S vs. Small Green Computer Sonic Transporter i5 music server/Ultra Rendu Streamer


Good evening forum members.

Looking for any experience and/or opinions on these two music servers/players/streamers.

My plan is to rip 3,000 rare and collectible CDs to FLAC files or better.  I would also like to integrate Tidal and Qobuz into the mix using Roon.

The ZEN Mini S has a built in CD ripper/server/streamer ($3,548 total cost).  The SGC Sonic Transporter server and Ultra Rendu streamer bundle does not have a built in CD ripper.

I'm leaning towards the SGC Sonic Transporter/Ultra Rendu Streamer because of the following:

- Cost.  the cost for the SGC ST/Ultra Rendu option is $2,097, which includes the server and streamer, plus a linear PSU.  The ZEN Mini S is $3,548 all up (ripper, server, streamer, etc.).  This amounts to a $1,451 difference in price. 

Subtract from this difference the cost of an internal 4TB SSD ($300), an external and portable 4TB SSD ($300), dbpoweramp ripping and music management software ($75), and a USB CD/DVD drive ($75) and the difference is now becomes $701 between the ZEN Mini S and the Small Green Computer solution.  Significant.  

- My preference is to rip the CDs using my Windows laptop (no additional cost), the portable 4TB SSD, a better, well-known software package, and a USB CD drive at my desk.  This is it more significantly more convenient and ergonomically friendly to my bad back. 

My plan is to transfer the ripped files from the portable 4TB SSD to the ST i5 internal 4TB SSD in my stereo cabinet when done,  Going forward, I don't plan on buying any more CDs and will fill in the gaps and explore new music with Tidal and Qobuz.

- features on the ZEN Mini S ripping software are unknown. dbpoweramp is a well known product with a plethora of useful features.

- the CD Drive used in the ZEN Mini is $240 when bought separately.  This is significantly more than a good USB CD/DVD drive ~ $75.

My main system is a Rotel Pre-amp, Rotel Power-amp, B&W 804 speakers, an Oppo 105 SACD/DVD-Audio/CD/Blu-ray player, EAT C-Sharp turntable and a Sutherland Phono Pre-amp.

Your thoughts on anything I've discussed above?  I am not a DIY type and prefer an out of the box solution.

Thanks for your help!

Rich

 

Ag insider logo xs@2xdrlou77

op

if you are truly ripping 3,000 cd’s maybe the innuos with built in/integral cd slot is more convenient

optical rendu >> ultrarendu for network noise suppression - if you go in this direction i suggest you wait for the optical rendu (search youtube for andrew gillis’ explanation of how/why it works, and works better than the lesser micro and ultra rendus) -- important point here is the rendus all take a home network lan feed and give you a cleansed usb output to drive a dac (like a qutest, or any other modern dac with usb input)

you can also search for ’uptone audio ether regen’ here or on the web, much is written... it is a lan signal cleanser - gives you a purified ethernet feed (lan, not usb) -- this is useful if using some streamer/dac combo unit as front end (i.e. a cambridge audio cxn v2), which take a lan input directly -- so then you want a clean lan feed

network acoustics (eno or muon) - their two models, they do the same thing, same thing as the ether-regen - but do it passively -- much written about these here and elsewhere too, just search

you don’t need all three (i have them all as i am off the deep end, like to have every option to feed different dacs, some with, some without streamers)... what you want is one form of well cleansed digital feed compatible with your chosen dac, so you use the properly chosen filter device to deliver that

I believe it’s often better to go for the best you can afford or save up your $ until you can buy what you really want & is good quality. 

You don’t always get what you pay for but you definitely don’t get what you don’t pay for!

I waited & saved for the Innuos Zenith  Mark III & couldn’t be happier! Works flawlessly, sounds great, their app for an iPad is excellent. Eventually ripping all my 1000 or so CD’s & Qobuz is lots of fun & often sounds outstanding. I think the lower tiered Innuos models are also really good. 
 

Best of luck!

@jonwolfpell, thank you for your comments.  I'm glad you waited and saved for the Zenith.  I just took a look at it on the Innuos website and it looks great.  I can only imagine what it sounds like.

I've now got to process all of this great information, do some research and make a decision.  I've enjoyed interacting with all of you on this forum.  I feel like I have gained a new group of friends for what is a very important part of my life - music.

 

Regardless of the outcome, thank you all for sharing your passion, knowledge and kindness.

 

I have a man cave that's about 1,000 sq.ft.  I think I could get by with one of the simpler models, agree?  Looks like I should be able to pick one up for ~ $20.  Do I need a minimum on terms of Mbps for data transfer rate?

Ugh.  So sorry to hear about your back issues.  That sucks and hope you feel better soon.  My guess is you can hook up the Zen where your most comfortable chair is, and as long as there’s an outlet available I’d think you could rip to your heart’s content without needing to be hooked to the internet, but that’s a semi-educated guess.  For the extender, as long as it’s not a large distance from your router or multiple floors away it should work just fine. Also, if you’re vying for Wi-Fi bandwidth with other people gaming, streaming movies, etc. in your house you might consider going with a Mesh system instead.  Anyway, here’s the extender I got just fyi.  It’s probably overkill and a cheaper one would probably work just as well, but for the few added $ I just splurged for the higher performance to help avoid potential issues.. 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MR90E3A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Also, I just saw this Ethernet cable highly recommended by another respected member here that’d probably be great to start running from the extender to your streamer and will save you $$$…

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VVFB8VX/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_6?smid=A1EA54VWB150Z7&amp=undefined&th=1

Anyway, hope this fills in some gaps, and best of luck in whatever direction you choose.