PS Audio LANRover: Small box, big difference

The PS Audio LANRover makes it easy to overcome the 5m distance limit between connected USB devices. But there’s a lot more to this little box of tricks …

Anyone who has wanted to a laptop or a desktop computer to a standalone DAC via USB will know that this link-up is often hampered by the 5m cable length limitation between USB connections.

That’s fine if you DAC is a USB DAC/headphone amp parked on your desktop, next to your Mac or PC. But what if the DAC is in an equipment rack on the other side? Or if your computer/music server is actually in a different room altogether?

Because USB often offers the highest-resolution D/A conversion path, it’s often preferred above coaxial, AES/EBU or Toslink options. Yes, you could set up a headless Mac or PC in your audio rack to serve music to the DAC via USB, but that would be considered overkill by many.

Enter the PS Audio LANRover – a USB extender system that comprises a sender and receiver unit. Sender and receiver are linked using CAT5e or CAT6 network cabling, which allows a cable distance of up to 100m between sender and receiver.

In other words, you could have a computer in your study, and an audio system in the lounge, and link the two via your Ethernet-based home network using the LANRover sender/receiver system. Problem solved.

But the LANRover offers more than just a convenient, network-based USB connection. In fact, it’s what it does to the sound that is actually its strongest talent.

AT FACE VALUE

The two units that make up the LANRover system are small and innocuous, but well finished. Both sender and receiver feature all-metal enclosures with ribbed sides, and exude a reassuring air of robust build quality.

The sender unit is self-powered (it draws the 5V it needs from the computer’s USB port) and connects to a laptop via a USB Type B. There’s an RJ45 Ethernet socket at the other end. Four LED indicator lights indicate power, signal lock, host status, and signal transmission status.

The receiver unit is powered by a wall wart-type PSU, and also offers an RJ45 socket for accepting Ethernet-borne signals. It features the same array of indicator LEDs, and a USB Type B socket which outputs the digital audio signal to a USB-equipped DAC.

The LANRover comes with a short Ethernet cable, and a slightly longer USB Type A/B cable. PS Audio says the cable between the source component and the sender unit is less critical than the USB link between the receiver unit and the DAC, so if you have a fancy aftermarket cable, use it between the LANRover receiver and your DAC.

UNDER THE COVERS

There are two reasons to use a LANRover system, but they’re not mutually exclusive. Firstly, it offers a convenient and effective way to use USB connectivity to link a source component (like the MacBook Pro in my system) to a DAC that’s some distance away.

However, perhaps even more importantly, the LANRover gets rid of computer-generated noise in the process. It does so by isolating the source of that noise – the computer – from the DAC. The sender and receiver are galvanically isolated from the source computer and DAC respectively.

In that role, it therefore acts as what PS Audio terms an isolation regenerator. The LANRover creates a new, packetized data stream that doesn’t utilise the usual USB protocols, and thus sheds any noise, jitter or current and voltage spikes present in the data stream.

The clean, newly generated digital data stream is transmitted to the receiver via Ethernet, and is impervious to any interference, regardless of distance. The receiver reconstructs the packetized data stream and feeds it to the DAC – thus ensuring flawless transfer of a pure digital data stream, without any artefacts.

So, you get the convenience of long-range USB-based asynchronous data transfer without the usual 5 m restriction, as well as a cleaner, purer digital data stream.

Even if you don’t need the extended cable distance, then the isolation of source and endpoint, together with the regeneration of the data stream should be more than enough reason to consider the (significant) investment in a LANRover.

SETTING UP

I tested the LANRover by hooking up my 13-inch MacBook Pro to the sender unit using a Furutech GT2 USB Type A to Type B cable, and then connecting the sender to my wired listening room network via a D-Link switch located close to my desk with a generic Ethernet cable.

The receiver unit was also connected to the same network via Ethernet, but this time to a TP-Link switch located on the audio equipment rack. A Furutech GT2 Pro USB cable was then used to couple the LANRover receiver to my PS Audio DirectStream DAC.

The DAC in turn fed a Naim Uniti2 operating as a pre-amp, with a PS Audio Stellar 300 power amp delivering the urge to a pair of Vivid Audio V1.5 speakers.

SOUNDS LIKE …

While I initially assumed that the LANRover’s core role would be to overcome the 5m USB cable length limit, it turns out that the system’s real benefit lies in the way it isolates the source computer from the receiving DAC, ridding the digital data stream of all artefacts in the process..

This enhanced signal transfer process, and especially the absence of noise and jitter, makes a substantial, audible difference to the sound. The delivery is smoother, more detailed and more transparent than any conventional USB connection between a computer and a DAC I’ve heard.

I’d wager that anyone who hears the difference will want a LANRover for the sonic improvements it offers alone, regardless of the added convenience provided by an almost unrestricted data transfer distance.

Listening to JazzMeia Horn’s acrobatic vocals on ‘Tight’ off her debut set, A Social Call,  the bustling upright bass sounded better defined, with improved detail microdetail, while Horn’s voice soared with greater freedom. The stage gained enhanced three-dimensionality, leading to a greater sense of engagement. The little boxes not only allowed the USB connection to reveal more detail, but also to contextualise that information more effectively, so that the music sounded more authentic.

Steven Wilson’s To The Bone was delivered with an almost visceral intensity that captured the complex harmonies, heroic guitars, crashing percussion and intricate arrangements to thrilling effect. The approach was lean, pacey and muscular, with a strong thread of transparency ensuring full, glorious access to the music.

Tonally, the high frequencies sounded smoother but also more clearly defined, allowing greater insight into the soul and the subtleties of the recording. Tonal linearity appeared to benefit too, and the overall presentation was both more impactful, and more believable.

These traits remained consistent regardless of the material listened to. Large scale recordings with complex arrangements such as the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto  became more lucid and approachable, while clarity was a particularly consistent theme throughout.

I thought that DSD files benefited most from the LANRover’s attentions, perhaps because the additional resolution they offer provided greater scope for the system’s revelatory talents. But the improvements were equally unequivocal when listening to normal 16/44 WAV files or 192/24 FLACs.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The LANRover system is an outstanding example of intelligent engineering addressing the inherent shortcomings of USB-based signal transfer in both practical and sonic terms.

While extending USB cable range beyond the usual 5m margin is an attractive feature, it’s the impact the LANRover has on sound performance that is its primary talent. Indeed, it becomes very difficult to live without it once you’ve experienced those sonic benefits.

Yes, the pricing is on the steep side, but think of it this way: many audiophiles spend a lot more on a single pair of interlinks. Given the practical and sonic benefits, investing in a PS Audio LANRover system will always be money well spent. But you’ll have to hurry – according PS Audio, production is ending, due to limited demand. Which makes the LANRover all the more desirable.

 

By DEON SCHOEMAN

 
PROS
Empathically unveils USB-delivered music. Extends USB range, too.
CONS
More expensive than expected.

PRICE
R10 900
SUPPLIED BY
PL Computer Systems.

TESTED WITH
Late 2011 13-inch MacBook Pro, 2,7 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, 1TB SSD
TP Link and D-Link 10/100/1000 Ethernet switches
PS Audio DirectStream DAC
Naim Uniti2
PS Audio Stellar S300 power amp
Vivid Audio V1.5 speakers
Furutech GT2 and GT2 Pro USB cables

SOFTWARE
Steven Wilson – To The Bone (Caroline 44/16 FLAC)
Jazzmeia Horn – A Social Call (Prestige 44/16 FLAC)
Tchaikovsky – Violin Concerto – Nemanja Radulovic/Sascha Goetzel/Istanbul Philarmonic (DG 96/24 FLAC)
Boston – Boston (Epic/Sony DSD64)