rayhil

I just finished listening to this podcast. Thanks much for all the great info. While I have posted similar comments before, I will shout my praise of Aurender from any mountain top about their products and support. From my purchase experience to my continued use and comment, Aurender and its team have been totally supportive every step of the way. I am totally blind an use Apple's text to speech program, VoiceOver, to read the screens on all my Apple devices. Before I purchased my Aurender, I contacted John as head of sales and he told me the Conductor app was fully accessible with VoiceOver, but recommended I go to Take5Audio, my nearest dealer, to test it out. He was right; I turned VoiceOver on with the dealers iPad and up came the app with speech output. So I bought a N100H. Getting the unit up and running on my network was easy, simply following the instructions. The ripping experience for about 600 CDs was equally smooth using an old MacBook Pro and iTunes ripping everything in AIFF. I then simply copied the files to the Aurender with no problem. When I sadly had a problem with my unit that Aurender couldn't solve, I returned the unit and they moved my music to a new unit without question or problem. The beauty was in the access of music from the Conductor App and the listening experience. All the features of the app are totally accessible and I can use the app just like a sighted user. While I haven't tested lots of other products or apps, this is rather unique for Aurender and the Conductor app. For example, Roon is totally inaccessible and when I contacted them about this, my take on their response is they simply didn't care. Admittedly, the way in which they display content is not a text application, so screen reading software can't interact with Roon. When I have experimented with other software, none come close to Conductor. When I have sent requests to Aurender about access or use, they are extremely responsive. In almost every case when I let them know that an update had a glitch with VoiceOver, it was fixed in the next release. The release of Conductor for iPhone is another excellent step forward for me. Less screen space makes it easier to navigate through my music. Thanks Ari for all your support and thanks Chris for holding Aurender up as the example of a great product with great support.

I am posting my perspective because excellent products and even better customer service and care deserve praise! As I have posted before, I am fairly rare as a totally blind audiophile. Before going further, I contacted the national rep and had a good conversation but he couldn't assure me that the app would work for me. He did ask that if I tested it out, would I please let him know as accessibility is important to the company. As an aside, and I understand why, when I contacted Roon, they politely informed me that Roon isn't accessible and, because of its design, it won't be. So I auditioned an Aurender a few months ago at Take5Audio (where the sales team was great in setting up Aurender with VoiceOver on their iPad) to both listen to the unit but, more importantly, test the interface for accessibility with Apple's text to speech VoiceOver application. It worked perfectly and, as a result, I purchased a N100. Followed the online instructions and installed easily. Likewise transferred my roughly 600 albums from my Mac to the Aurender. As I have used the unit, I have found a few little glitches in the way the Aurender app reads certain elements. In every case, I contacted Aurender and every time Eric replied quickly and helpfully. In the latest upgrade, most of the glitches have been fixed. This is remarkable for a relatively small company and an even more limited user group. My highest compliments for a great product an great service.

I am considering adding room correction to my system to get improved sound quality. I'd appreciate any opinions on the topic. I have no real need to replace my MX119. That said, the MEN220 appears a very good choice, but being several years old appears to potentially lack the newest capabilities and doesn't seem to be upgradeable with software. I'd like a hardware, rather than PC-based, solution. Thanks in advance Ray

Hoping for some feedback on the topic of separates driving passive speakers and headphones or a single volume-control DAC with active speakers and headphones. Ray

Thanks so much Chris for the excellent Alchemy DDP-1 and all the other reviews that you and others post. Using them as a solid starting point as you suggest is a great way to narrow options and consider other alternatives. That review prompted me to post a few questions for you and the other members. I am going to add a headphone/desktop system to my collection and I’d appreciate everyone’s views on the topic. My first decision is whether to go with a single unit such as the Alchemy and add active speakers (such as Dynaudio or Focal) or, alternatively, use separate components (such as the Schiit Gungnir or Yggdrasil and Ragnarok) with probably either Kef LS50s or Alec desktop speakers. All of this will be fed by USB input. My specific question on the DDP-1 arises from an omission in your review that I’m hoping can be supplemented. While the Alchemy site shows both balanced and unbalanced headphone outs on the DDP-1, you don’t mention them in your review. I am hoping you or another poster can comment on the quality of the headphone amp in the DDP1. I have Hifiman 560s (with a higher end balanced cable), Sennheiser 650s and higher end Westone in-ears, and headphone listening will be a big part of the system. The only review I could find that addresses the headphone outs didn’t seem that impressed Review: Audio Alchemy DDP-1 Digital Pre/DAC/Headphone Amplifier | Reviews | StereoNET Reading the Oppo HA-1, Meridian Prime and Grace 920 reviews makes me wonder whether one of these (compared to the DDP-1) would be a good choice or if a separates system would be superior for both uses. Hoping to keep my entire budget (for dac, amplification and speakers) in the $5-6K range. I know there is no absolute answer to this question, just trying to lean on this great community for perspectives. Thanks

Thanks for checking Tidal too. That is also on my list to explore. This info is getting me closer to an Aurender. Appreciate all the time you spent giving this a try. Ray

Thanks so much for trying. I'm guessing that the reason it doesn't work smoothly is likely the fact that you haven't used Voiceover before - it takes some getting familiar with how to double tap to activate a button. The very good news is that it is reading aloud from the screen - some programs don't work at all. And how do you like the X100 - that's the unit I'm considering.

I suspect nobody has an immediate answer to this, but as I consider upgrading my 2009 MacBook Pro using iTunes, I’m hoping someone will run an experiment for me. I am totally blind and use Apple’s Voiceover to read the screen. iTunes works very well as an interface to select and play music. However, I am looking to upgrade the sound quality of the music and the Aurender systems look like an excellent choice. What I am wondering is whether the Conductor app on the iPad works with Voiceover. For anyone willing to try, go to Settings, General, Accessibility and turn Voiceover on. Now your iPad will act very strangely in terms of tapping the screen; where a sighted user just touches any button, the blind user can move a finger around the screen to find the desired button and then tap anywhere on the screen to activate an item. I am hoping someone will turn on Voiceover and then go to the Conductor app. Moving your finger around the screen, can you “read” the information presented? Glad to discuss off-line if anyone is willing to try. Thanks so much Ray

And my compliments to Alex at Ayre! I posted my question to Ayre's site and got a call back the same day with answers: don't worry about the 24 bit setting - the DAC handles it; The source clock should be Default. THAT'S WHAT I CALL CUSTOMER SERVICE. It makes the price of their products much more worthwhile. Ray

While I'm admittedly slow in getting full value from computer music, I entered the 21st century this weekend and downloaded several pieces of 24-96 music from HDTracks. I reset the output to 24-96 in Audio Midi and everything worked like a charm. Display on QB-9 showed 96 and sound was notably better. Can't believe it took me this long. Now my questions: When I wanted to switch back to 16-44.1 music, I closed iTunes and went into Audio Midi. Changed the 96 back to 44.1 with no problem. However, the 2ch 24 bit pop up doesn't show the 16 bit choice. If I change from the QB-9 to internal then the pop up choices are there. Does anyone know how to fix this. Also, I noticed that the Source Clock is Default and there is no other choice. Is this correctly using the QB-9 to control data flow. Thanks for any help. Ray

I have roughly 300GB of music on an external drive which is just over 500 ripped CDs in AIFF. With the dramatic reduction in price for SSDs and my quest for more simplicity, I have the following question. Is there any other positive reason for going to an internal SSD for music and the system? alternatively, are there material negatives? Any perspective on this issue is much appreciated.

I am looking for a new set of in-ear phones. My current favorite is the Nuforce 700, where I find the fit to be very good but sound quality lacking. After reading Chris's review of the JH Audio JH13s, I am tempted, but not sure I want to spend that much. Looking in the $400 range. I have read several good reviews of the Sennheiser IE80s, but can't find much here. Any thoughts or recommendations?

Well let's see now, Apple is putting billions into new and very high definition video. Yet, we haven't seen better speakers on an iPad (probably not very possible) or a simple and high quality means supported by the iPad to get high resolution audio off the iPad. This should tell us about the [not] future as far as Apple and high quality audio are concerned.

Thanks for the replies/recommendations. I had looked at the Zeppelin Air and Mini and both look very impressive (and you can't beat B&W sound and quality). However, I'd prefer a one-box solution with separate speakers because of both placement and footprint. I also don't see that I could drive a second pair of speakers from either Zeppelin. The Outlaw also could be a very good choice, particularly with its dual speaker outputs, but lacks the iPod dock. I fear I'm looking for the ultimate in compromises which probably doesn't exist. I did come across the Marantz m-CR603 which looks like it might work - any experience with or comments on it?

We are doing some remodeling and my wife has decided that we will have in-wall speakers in our bedroom (or maybe a set of relatively flat on-wall speakers). I, of course, would like reasonable sound quality at a reasonable price. She wants a single box solution with an iPod dock; I want USB into a reasonable DAC that will then allow computer input into the system. I'd like to stay in the $500 range for the single box and, while I would truely like to step up to a Peachtree unit, not sure it will happen. A big plus would be the ability to run two sets of speakers, the other for the bathroom, but not a must. Any recommendations for the single box DAC/Pre/Amp are appreciated. I really haven't found much that seems to fit the bill. Likewise speaker recommendations appreciated, but there are several out there that appear fine and these are easier to find. Thanks in advance.