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The Aurenders S10 & W20


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Anyone know if the Aurender software works with an EMM Dac 2x (or any Meitner DAC)?

Chris lists the Aurender as a source when he reviewed the EMM DAC 2x and the Meitner is mentioned in the review of the Aurender S10.

 

Eloise

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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Now April 1, did you receive any joy from Aurender?

 

Thanks for asking. Your enquiry is very timely because Aurender upgraded my W20 yesterday and it's now capable of playing at higher resolutions via USB. It sounds superb.

 

Sadly the communication from Aurender has not been good. Chord were prepared to work with them and told me that they were a little disappointed that Aurender couldn't send them some code first (before sending Aurender a DAC) since they felt sure that it would be an easy fix. However, Aurender wouldn't play ball until the DAC was in their possession. I know Aurender were working on the DAC on 6th March because Chord told me.

 

Aurender had mentioned that they estimated it would take a week to upgrade so I sent them several reminder emails which were simply ignored. I had given up on them but they came good in the end.

 

Would I buy an Aurender again? Yes, it's a lovely bit of kit. However, I'd be prepared to have my patience tested in the event of ever having to deal with their service department.

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Anyone know if the Aurender software works with an EMM Dac 2x (or any Meitner DAC)?

 

I have one with me.. I can confirm it works with the EMM DAC2X via USB. Front display also shows the device name.

 

I've not tried DSD though.

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Thanks, Quest and Eloise.

 

Quest, Please let me know if you can play DSD... I'm about to pull the trigger on an Aurender.

Have you seen Chris' review of the Aurender W20?

 

Eloise

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

Link to comment
Thanks, Quest and Eloise.

 

Quest, Please let me know if you can play DSD... I'm about to pull the trigger on an Aurender.

 

As it's not my Aurender, it's not so nice for me to just add in files. :) Hi-res runs fine via usb.

It should work.. driver is working and it now supports DSD, etc.

 

 

Just to make a comment about the sound. I've a bit of experience with the S10 over the years. Personally I find its digital outputs pretty normal sounding, but via USB, if either using a usb/spdif converter or using a usb power device, you can get pretty good sound. It's also quite sensitive to vibration isolation.

 

What's interesting to me is that while performance is undoubtedly quite good, there is a certain tonality about the S10 which isn't neutral to my ear. The sound is also less effortless. The sound is better in my system with the LAN cable unattached as well, so I usually queue up my tracks then disconnect it. If I need to fast forward or pause I just use the controls at the front.

 

Putting the LAN cable aside, at first I thought maybe some of the sound is because the S10's usb outputs aren't optimised for audio (whereas the X100L and W20 are), but interestingly enough, when I use Airplay on the Aurender (yes, it's a neat feature to have) and stream from something like an iphone (diff devices do sound a bit different, but I like the iphone), the sound doesn't have these issues. The tonality is nice and I don't really have a problem with it even while the LAN cable is attached.

 

Wonder if anyone else has had similar experiences.

 

The sound difference between Airplay vs local playback makes me wonder if it's the software that makes more difference, or just the local harddisks. I did try playing back via NAS and it does sound different, but I couldn't get the sound I wanted (didn't really try optimising the NAS for audio playback).

 

I'll have to try the X100L and W20 to figure out part of the answer I guess.

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Hi MIke,

 

I am playing DSD files ( 64 and 128, both DSF and DFF) using Auralic Vega as DSD DAC via usb from W20. Flawless, very good reproduction of space in classical music.

W20 and Vega also play DXD up to 24/384 kHz.

Aurender W20 -> AudioAero La Fontaine, Lampizator  Pacific SE->Ayon Crossfire III or  Circle Labs A100 >Avantgarde Acoustic Trio LE 26 with 4x REL Carbon Special

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As it's not my Aurender, it's not so nice for me to just add in files. :) Hi-res runs fine via usb.

It should work.. driver is working and it now supports DSD, etc.

 

 

Just to make a comment about the sound. I've a bit of experience with the S10 over the years. Personally I find its digital outputs pretty normal sounding, but via USB, if either using a usb/spdif converter or using a usb power device, you can get pretty good sound. It's also quite sensitive to vibration isolation.

 

What's interesting to me is that while performance is undoubtedly quite good, there is a certain tonality about the S10 which isn't neutral to my ear. The sound is also less effortless. The sound is better in my system with the LAN cable unattached as well, so I usually queue up my tracks then disconnect it. If I need to fast forward or pause I just use the controls at the front.

 

Putting the LAN cable aside, at first I thought maybe some of the sound is because the S10's usb outputs aren't optimised for audio (whereas the X100L and W20 are), but interestingly enough, when I use Airplay on the Aurender (yes, it's a neat feature to have) and stream from something like an iphone (diff devices do sound a bit different, but I like the iphone), the sound doesn't have these issues. The tonality is nice and I don't really have a problem with it even while the LAN cable is attached.

 

Wonder if anyone else has had similar experiences.

 

The sound difference between Airplay vs local playback makes me wonder if it's the software that makes more difference, or just the local harddisks. I did try playing back via NAS and it does sound different, but I couldn't get the sound I wanted (didn't really try optimising the NAS for audio playback).

 

I'll have to try the X100L and W20 to figure out part of the answer I guess.

 

I never tried my W20 and S10 with LAN cable unattached.

However, to my great surprise I did observe the improvement of the SQ with a good LAN cable. I did not pay attention to that until the friend of mine proposed to audition at home the JCAT LAN cable. Before I had a " no name " cable and after changing it the sound was clearly better .

Aurender W20 -> AudioAero La Fontaine, Lampizator  Pacific SE->Ayon Crossfire III or  Circle Labs A100 >Avantgarde Acoustic Trio LE 26 with 4x REL Carbon Special

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I can second Marslo commits, we use our Aurender X100S via Nordost Blue Heaven USB to the Auralic VEGA with zero problems. From DSD to dare I say regular old MP3 files the setup has been rock solid. I am now experimenting using Nordost Sort Kones under the X100S as an inexpensive addition.

 

I will note that I recommend something more than the stock power cord, it makes a difference.

photo (1).JPG

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I never tried my W20 and S10 with LAN cable unattached.

However, to my great surprise I did observe the improvement of the SQ with a good LAN cable. I did not pay attention to that until the friend of mine proposed to audition at home the JCAT LAN cable. Before I had a " no name " cable and after changing it the sound was clearly better .

 

For what it's worth, I did try many different LAN cables with the S10. :) Different topic though.

 

So you feel no difference between remote and local playback?

 

Are there any major differences between W20 and S10 for usb in terms of sound character? (I'd expect performance to be better)

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For what it's worth, I did try many different LAN cables with the S10. :) Different topic though.

 

So you feel no difference between remote and local playback?

 

Are there any major differences between W20 and S10 for usb in terms of sound character? (I'd expect performance to be better)

 

The difference in sonic performance between S10 and W20 is obvious from the first minute of the audition.

First of all, there is a darker background , then the sound is much less technical, fuller , more edmotionally involving .

As far as remote and local playback are concerned ,imo the big advantage of Aurender is its remote ipad application and I couldn't be happy without it:)

Aurender W20 -> AudioAero La Fontaine, Lampizator  Pacific SE->Ayon Crossfire III or  Circle Labs A100 >Avantgarde Acoustic Trio LE 26 with 4x REL Carbon Special

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The difference in sonic performance between S10 and W20 is obvious from the first minute of the audition.

First of all, there is a darker background , then the sound is much less technical, fuller , more edmotionally involving .

As far as remote and local playback are concerned ,imo the big advantage of Aurender is its remote ipad application and I couldn't be happy without it:)

 

When I was asking about remote vs local playback, I was referring to playback on NAS or Airplay vs via the files stored on the Aurender. :) I guess you did not try this.

 

Has the Aurender X100 been released yet? I don't see any information on the Aurender page. All I see is press release. Where can I see detailed info on the specs and where to purchase it from?

 

It's released in my country.. but I'm in Asia.

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When I was asking about remote vs local playback, I was referring to playback on NAS or Airplay vs via the files stored on the Aurender. :) I guess you did not try this.

 

 

 

It's released in my country.. but I'm in Asia.

 

 

Quest ,

 

You' re right, I have not a NAS at home . I tried to stream music from Spotify installed on Ipad, but the SQ has nothing to do with files from Aurender SSD.

Aurender W20 -> AudioAero La Fontaine, Lampizator  Pacific SE->Ayon Crossfire III or  Circle Labs A100 >Avantgarde Acoustic Trio LE 26 with 4x REL Carbon Special

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Has the Aurender X100 been released yet? I don't see any information on the Aurender page. All I see is press release. Where can I see detailed info on the specs and where to purchase it from?

 

Shaded99:

 

Yes, the X100 series has been officially released for about a month now. Additionally, as of just last night the Aurender website has been updated to reflect the new models.

 

With respect to playing music from your NAS, you can do it. However you miss out on cover art and metadata information. You see all your files from a folder perspective. Lastly, for me there is a difference in sound from playing music from the NAS vs. the X100 internal memory.

 

You can also use Airplay but WIFI sometimes introduces its own issues, for all of our listening we use direct connections.

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Lastly, for me there is a difference in sound from playing music from the NAS vs. the X100 internal memory.

 

Could you please ellaborate a possible explanation?

What is different in processing? Isn't the file, originally from the NAS, be processed throughout X100 internal memory, exactly in the same way?

Thanks..

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  • 1 month later...
Which dac do you recommend to pair with an Aurender? Feedback from users welcome.

My local Aurender dealer, Brian Walsh of Essential Audio, uses the Bricasti M1 DAC in his reference system. He had this combination on display in his room at the recent AXPONA show.

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Regarding DACs & Auenders: I have used the old tried & true Alpha DAC from Berkeley Audio Design version 1 & it has worked very well that past year or so. The Reference DAC is due any day now & I will post my user experience with it when time premits!

thanks

Francisco

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  • 3 weeks later...

Has anyone compared the W20 with a fully optimized CAPS, MacCAPs, or a 2 server/renderer setup?

 

I saw that the W20 has a switching PSU in it for the computer side and no shielding for SATA cables, with power cables running next to them. Not sure whether the harddrives are separately powered or SATA filtered either. Is USB powered by the switching PSU?

 

On paper it is a huge step in the right direction for an off the shelf solution, but I do wonder whether it outshines the many DIY rigs used by CA members from a purely audio (low electrical noise, low noise floor, low fatigue) perspective.

 

Cheers

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Has anyone compared the W20 with a fully optimized CAPS, MacCAPs, or a 2 server/renderer setup?

Did you see Chris's review -- Computer Audiophile - Aurender W20 Review

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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