The "Official" Aurender Discussion Thread

[biosailor]

10 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

N100C is a response to consumer, dealer, and distributor demand. 

And the UC100 is no response to consumer, dealer, and distributor demand? I see the point that there is more money to be made with a 2.5 K streamer than with a what, a 600 $ piece of equipment. But as a consumer, I'd put my money into future proof equipment rather. Nevertheless, I don't want to start any discussions on the merits of USB versus SPDIF, or vice versa.

[mjb]

Why argue about the options a company decides to offer or not? I'm sure they can justify their reasons. However, for example, if you have a large capacity X100, your options to add SPDIF is to buy a cheap(ish) adapter or an expensive replacement. The choice is yours :-)

[classeaddict]

5 hours ago, mjb said:

Why argue about the options a company decides to offer or not? I'm sure they can justify their reasons. However, for example, if you have a large capacity X100, your options to add SPDIF is to buy a cheap(ish) adapter or an expensive replacement. The choice is yours :-)

I completely agree.its pointless to discuss!

 

steve

[biosailor]

5 hours ago, mjb said:

Why argue about the options a company decides to offer or not? I'm sure they can justify their reasons. However, for example, if you have a large capacity X100, your options to add SPDIF is to buy a cheap(ish) adapter or an expensive replacement. The choice is yours :-)

You‘re perfectly right!

[russellbobby]

Aurender debuted a Cd-ripper storage piece for 6400.00 Really shaking my head on this one. You would think they would work on a stand-alone DAC but they have no future plans for that.

Maybe the rest of the world thinks differently.

[Vincent1234]

11 minutes ago, russellbobby said:

Aurender debuted a Cd-ripper storage piece for 6400.00 Really shaking my head on this one. You would think they would work on a stand-alone DAC but they have no future plans for that.

Maybe the rest of the world thinks differently.

Hmm.. wouldn't be my first choice either.. 

[rwwjr44]

3 hours ago, russellbobby said:

Aurender debuted a Cd-ripper storage piece for 6400.00 Really shaking my head on this one. You would think they would work on a stand-alone DAC but they have no future plans for that.

Maybe the rest of the world thinks differently.

 

Aurender offers a CD ripper?

[The Computer Audiophile]

ACS (Aurender Content Server) is really cool. It's so much more than a CD ripper. I'm getting the first review unit in the world and look forward to writing about it.

 

I first heard about the concept roughly two years ago. It was a big undertaking for Aurender and is incredibly versatile and powerful. 

 

 

[rwwjr44]

1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

ACS (Aurender Content Server) is really cool. It's so much more than a CD ripper. I'm getting the first review unit in the world and look forward to writing about it.

 

I first heard about the concept roughly two years ago. It was a big undertaking for Aurender and is incredibly versatile and powerful. 

 

 

Thanks. Found a brief discussion here: http://www.audioshark.org/aurender-185/aurender-content-server-12460.html

[mabe]

...I couldn`t resist .....just bought a N10.

 

After comparing my X100 extensively with a N10 in my changed setup again the overall N10 presentation was much better than expected.

No blind test was necessary, the improvements (blackness, neutrality, micro details, quietness at low level signals etc) have been realized within seconds.

 

Setup:

1.      X100 à Devialet 220pro (USB input)    à Piega Coax 90.2

2.      N10   à Devialet 220pro (SPDIF input) à Piega Coax 90.2

3.      N10   à Devialet 220pro (USB input)     à Piega Coax 90.2

 

All output levels have been adjusted to ~ 0.1 dB (at 1 kHz)

 

Setup 2 was slightly better than 3. It seems the reclocking technic involved provides cleaner “signal purity”. But who knows?

 

Is the upgrade worth the extra amount of many?  For me and even for my “very old” ears, yes.

 

Now, looking forward to the installation by end of next week…..

 

Manfred

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Guys - Aurender just launched a Premium Brand Boutique at Superphonica, where the S5W wireless speakers are now available.

 

https://superphonica.com/brand-boutiques/aurender/

[Vincent1234]

1 hour ago, mabe said:

...I couldn`t resist .....just bought a N10.

 

After comparing my X100 extensively with a N10 in my changed setup again the overall N10 presentation was much better than expected.

No blind test was necessary, the improvements (blackness, neutrality, micro details, quietness at low level signals etc) have been realized within seconds.

 

Setup:

1.      X100 à Devialet 220pro (USB input)    à Piega Coax 90.2

2.      N10   à Devialet 220pro (SPDIF input) à Piega Coax 90.2

3.      N10   à Devialet 220pro (USB input)     à Piega Coax 90.2

 

All output levels have been adjusted to ~ 0.1 dB (at 1 kHz)

 

Setup 2 was slightly better than 3. It seems the reclocking technic involved provides cleaner “signal purity”. But who knows?

 

Is the upgrade worth the extra amount of many?  For me and even for my “very old” ears, yes.

 

Now, looking forward to the installation by end of next week…..

 

Manfred

Congratulations! I'm not really surprised by your findings as I made the same jump in the past. Enjoy! ?

[mjb]

2 hours ago, mabe said:

...I couldn`t resist .....just bought a N10.

Congratulations! This is where I’m aiming for too, but I need a bigger piggy bank....

[rwwjr44]

23 hours ago, mabe said:

...I couldn`t resist .....just bought a N10.

 

After comparing my X100 extensively with a N10 in my changed setup again the overall N10 presentation was much better than expected.

No blind test was necessary, the improvements (blackness, neutrality, micro details, quietness at low level signals etc) have been realized within seconds.

 

Setup:

1.      X100 à Devialet 220pro (USB input)    à Piega Coax 90.2

2.      N10   à Devialet 220pro (SPDIF input) à Piega Coax 90.2

3.      N10   à Devialet 220pro (USB input)     à Piega Coax 90.2

 

All output levels have been adjusted to ~ 0.1 dB (at 1 kHz)

 

Setup 2 was slightly better than 3. It seems the reclocking technic involved provides cleaner “signal purity”. But who knows?

 

Is the upgrade worth the extra amount of many?  For me and even for my “very old” ears, yes.

 

Now, looking forward to the installation by end of next week…..

 

Manfred

 

You'll love it. The Aurender and Devialet match sounds great. The upgrade to the N10 is one I will never regret. I am still debating the upgrade to the 220 Pro.

[mabe]

On 26.4.2018 at 5:28 PM, rwwjr44 said:

 

You'll love it. The Aurender and Devialet match sounds great. The upgrade to the N10 is one I will never regret. I am still debating the upgrade to the 220 Pro.

 

...I got it.

Even out of the box the N10 upgrade is really a significant improvement in SQ.

It kept me awake long after midnight. During the first hours (after installation) my wife wanted to listen her favorites too.

Now, she is very much in favor of this upgrade as well.

The overall installation in the network and the cloning of my X100 music library went very well.

It has been proven to stay in the aurender family. No negative surprises, no new learning curve, valuable upgrade path etc.

[AudioDoctor]

I see I am not alone in my travels from the X100 to the N10.  I agree with the statements above, the difference is obvious and clear.

 

What is this I see about purchasing a software upgrade to enable MQA decoding in software?

[AudioDoctor]

I use AIFF because I find they sound better than either ALAC or FLAC, and I lose nothing regarding tagging.

[AudioDoctor]

Regarding MQA vs Hi-rez files on the hdd.  While I did not conduct this test on the Aurender, I did on my iMac using A+ with the direct mode re-enabled on a downloaded AIFF file I have in 24/96 matching the MQA file and found I liked the local file better than the MQA version.  My opinion, your mileage may vary, etc.

[Vincent1234]

3 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

I see I am not alone in my travels from the X100 to the N10.  I agree with the statements above, the difference is obvious and clear.

 

What is this I see about purchasing a software upgrade to enable MQA decoding in software?

If you want your Aurender to do the first MQA unfold you need to buy that option. You can do that straight from the Conductor app.

[mjb]

10 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

I use AIFF because I find they sound better than either ALAC or FLAC, and I lose nothing regarding tagging.

Do you/your ears find that FLAC converted externally to AIFF, and saved back to the Aurender for playback, sound better as well? I just can’t face re-ripping everything, but manually converting my favorite stuff might be an option. 

[Platek]

In order to get Tidal to sound nearer to my stored music on my N10 I've done tweaks such as isolating the router from the Ethernet cable and upgrading that cable to an audiophile level.  But while the sound has gotten significantly better it  still seems to lack the "body" of played stored music.  I'm seeking and open to all suggestions.

[AudioDoctor]

48 minutes ago, mjb said:

Do you/your ears find that FLAC converted externally to AIFF, and saved back to the Aurender for playback, sound better as well? I just can’t face re-ripping everything, but manually converting my favorite stuff might be an option. 

 

All the music I have downloaded is in FLAC and then converted to AIFF, so yes.

[Vincent1234]

19 minutes ago, AudioDoctor said:

 

All the music I have downloaded is in FLAC and then converted to AIFF, so yes.

Nothing wrong with using AIFF, but as mentioned here before: WAV also supports metadata for years already and your Aurender will show them perfectly.

[Vincent1234]

51 minutes ago, Platek said:

In order to get Tidal to sound nearer to my stored music on my N10 I've done tweaks such as isolating the router from the Ethernet cable and upgrading that cable to an audiophile level.  But while the sound has gotten significantly better it  still seems to lack the "body" of played stored music.  I'm seeking and open to all suggestions.

I think you've taken the right measures. I did the same and Tidal sounds almost equally good as local files now. However, I think there will always be some differences between streaming from Tidal and local files. Have you considered the fact that Tidal is FLAC-based? When you compare the same CD album through Tidal with a proper local WAV rip of the same album, the latter will sound slightly better just because of the format.

[Mazza]

11 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

I use AIFF because I find they sound better than either ALAC or FLAC, and I lose nothing regarding tagging.

 

Hi Audiodoctor ....

 

I don't know what you mean about tagging, but all 3 formats have the same capabilities for tagging? I universally use FLAC and I am not wanting for any tagging options. The Aurender doesn't read all of the fields anyway, AFAIK. 

 

The point raised on audio formats is much much much discussed on this and umpteen other audio forums. The subject must have cropped up hundreds/thousands of times across all the different Audio forums. Basically, everybody expresses subjective opinions on the difference. A few think there are differences, a few think there are none. And most peoples views contradict the others, so make what you will about that fact.

 

The reality is probably that the differences between the major uncompressed formats on whatever platform are imperceptible and such differences if there are any are attributable to other variables.

 

For example, I can listen to a MQA track from Tidal and compare it to the same recording on my HDD and do you know what, sometimes they sound (subtly) different and sometimes they do not, sometimes one sounds 'better' and sometimes the other one does .... but here's the rub ....

 

.......  I have not changed the audio format, but there are variables in the audio chain somewhere doing something. Mains quality, internet traffic, temperature, air pressure, humidity, my mood, my head having moved back 3-inches, my ears having a p**sed off day.... who the hell knows .... but somewhere there is a variable and it's not the audio format.

 

Do I care, no! I just let my ears adjust for 5 mins and get on with the listening!