New streamers from Aurender!

[blaven]

Again, beating a dead horse, but my gosh, I am sifting through all the online CES coverage, and there are so many streamers-servers coming out with album art display...I gotta wonder why Aureneer does not offer it with that awesome OLED display.

 

Whether one likes it or not, you can always toggle it off to love lovely meters. There must be enough people asking for it based upon the number of new players that display it.

 

At this price point, if you want to be known as king of the hill, AND you have already elected to have a display, how do you not offer it?

 

[Music Matters]

For me Aurender servers are looking perfectly, the cover art and all the info should be on tablet.

[blaven]

For me Aurender servers are looking perfectly, the cover art and all the info should be on tablet.

 

I get that, people may have different opinions, but what is the downside of offering it? You can set up your screen however you want. If a person does not like it, one can choose the other screen settings they offer: turn the screen off, have the trippy blue McIntosh meters, or perhaps the mellow pale yellow ones.

 

Answer me this: What downside is there to having the option to view album art on the physical player?

[Music Matters]

There is no any downside, if producer makes it possible to remove it or turn it off. I'm just saying that I'm one of those who likes minimalism. From All the servers you showed in your post, I doubt that any of them has the option of removing album art, to turn the display completely probably yes.

 

For example I have North Star Design Supremo DAC, and it has minimal info INPUT and SAMPLE RATE, but I cannot turn it off, and I like to listen music in the evening in complete dark.

 

Don't take it personally, I'm just saying that form me Aurender lineup is perfect the way it is now.

[krass]

I get that, people may have different opinions, but what is the downside of offering it? You can set up your screen however you want. If a person does not like it, one can choose the other screen settings they offer: turn the screen off, have the trippy blue McIntosh meters, or perhaps the mellow pale yellow ones.

 

Answer me this: What downside is there to having the option to view album art on the physical player?

 

assuming the display can support it (yes), that the hardware interface to the display can support it (I assume they have not taken shortcuts at the pin-level of the OLED hardware interface) and the functionality can be added to the player OS (I guess yes), and the SW development cost is reasonable (I guess yes), then there should be no downside for the manufacturer to offer this.

 

so I agree, no (or insignificant) downside

[blaven]

"Don't take it personally"

 

I'm definitely not taking it personally, and very much agree with your opinion, and actually am rather minimalist myself. I have some older audio research gear, and have been very hesitant to upgrade to their newer stuff because I hate the bright green fluorescent displays.

 

I think the beauty of the Aurender, is that they have touted the display that you can change to suit your needs. That's why I find it so confusing. If you are touting the display that can be modified to an individual users taste, it would seem logical, that you would offer album art as so many other products in this space do that.

 

I would not be happy with a device where the album art and big bright display is on all the time. Heck, I use LED dimmers to calm down the lights on my Meitner DAC. But it is at least nice to offer album art display for the times that you might want to display it?

[bpw]

There is no any downside, if producer makes it possible to remove it or turn it off. I'm just saying that I'm one of those who likes minimalism. From All the servers you showed in your post, I doubt that any of them has the option of removing album art, to turn the display completely probably yes.

 

For example I have North Star Design Supremo DAC, and it has minimal info INPUT and SAMPLE RATE, but I cannot turn it off, and I like to listen music in the evening in complete dark.

 

Don't take it personally, I'm just saying that form me Aurender lineup is perfect the way it is now.

 

Agreed. Is viewing a stamp collection from 6 feet away of interest? As I said earlier, if enough people requested the feature they could do it, but so far very few have. Old timers like me remember the Osborne 1 luggable computer with its tiny 5" 52 column screen sold poorly because even from 2 feet away it could be hard to read.

[blaven]

Depends on your eyesight. If one argues that, then how helpful is the text identifying artist and song?

 

Depends how people use their server. Some people may not be sitting 6 feet away from it. Some people can see and recognize album art that far away. Again, there's no downside to offering it as users can toggle it off.

 

Regarding the benefit of offering it, and possible software development costs, that was kind of my point of noting the number of other companies that are starting to come out with an album art display on new offerings at CES. They must have been doing some form of market research and determining that there is a demand for it, otherwise they would not be offering it.

 

Again, I do believe that Aurender is trying to be king of the hill, cutting edge, with their offerings. There certainly is no need for the digital meters they are showing, or offering them into separate colors. They have obviously decided to include this because somehow there must be some perceived demand for it. It's not like they are offering a flat brushed metal front, like a Sonore type server. THEY ALREADY HAVE THE BIG OLED... Why not use it to its fullest extent.

 

my point in bringing it up, in a forum like this, is possibly to raise the interest level in it, gather a posse, and get more people asking for it, so that it possibly it will become an option in the future.

[rwwjr44]

I've had a few devices that put graphics, etc. on a small screen and it has always proved unsatisfactory when trying to view from 9 feet (2.7 meters) away. The non-graphical information displayed on the X100s screen is easy to read, when I happen to read it. I virtually always use the tablet app. I especially like the option to display the back of each album's cover.

 

In reference to Aurender's present inability to display album art and meta data from your NAS Server, Aurender uses its own database. Each folder has a .Aurender folder with a number of *.atc files (which I assume store album information). When the PC/Mac database program is available, you will be able to format your NAS' files in the appropriate Aurender database format. We spoke and Aurender complied.

[blaven]

I am certainly not trying to make this a "tit for tat" type thing. My point about the digital meters was NOT that other people in other cultures might not like them. My point was that Aurender has obviously done some research and decided that people DO like them, and thus elected to include them. The question is whether people also would like album art displayed there.

 

I don't think it is outlandish to say that there are people out there that like album art displayed on the component itself.

 

I am not knocking their product and anyway-I just purchased one.

 

If you believe the better avenue to pursue a desire for album art is to email Aurender, or talk with the dealer I purchased from, I can certainly consider that. I think there is a lot of power in this forum for potentially making changes to products as manufacturers frequently look through threads.

 

Again, my points are simple:

--Many people desire album art, on the server display itself

 

--Competing products offer album art on the component's front display

 

--Aurender's products are priced to be a best-in-class device-one would expect, with this pricing, to offer as many options as competitors --if there is demand (what I am trying to establish)

 

--Aurender already has a world-class display, and likely does not need to make major hardware modifications

 

--Album art on the component appears to be a personal taste for some users- the beauty is that users would have the option to toggle it on and off, and those that prefer digital meters can use that display instead - so again, what is the downside of having album art option?

 

--Once you decide that your device will display song/artist data on a beautiful, highly refined OLED screen, rather than brushed aluminum panel, why not use that screen to its fullest as long as there is no harm?

 

I was kidding about the posse analogy... It's only HiFi of course!!

 

[mabe]

I followed the same journey and have been using my X100L for a month now. Zero regrets (except the now redundant MacMini); the Aurender interface and ease of use is phenomenal.

 

My audio-PC journey started 7 years back running WinAmp on a Laptop first. Till end of last year I used a fanless and optimized HTPC for audio mainly.

 

During that time I spent a lot of effort tweaking/optimizing/updating the Systems as well as the remote APP’s. (Players used: WinAmp/ASIO4All -> XBMC/WASAPI -> JRiver/WASAPI)

 

Now, since Christmas I’m really very happy with the Aurender X100.

 

No blind tests or other findings for evaluations were required.

 

I had the chance to compare the S10 and the X100 site by site. Both Aurenders outperformed my existing optimised/tweaked HTPC (also playing music files from SSD) wrt SQ and ease of use easily.

And: the remote APP is the best I’ve seen/used so far.

 

In my former systems (HTPC) it has been proven to play the files from SSD cache rather than feeding the files via router from NAS. (from time to time I realised artifacts... may be coming from LAN HF noise...)

 

So, based on past experience I appreciate Aurenders concept playing music files directly from integrated SSD cache.

 

Current audio setup:

iPad -> Router -> Aurender X100 -> AR-T Legato -> Lyngdorf TDAI 2200 -> Piega Coax 90.2

[DanRubin]

So the main difference between the N100 and X100 is whether your files reside on a NAS or on the internal HDD, right? Does one approach yield better sound than the other?

[bpw]

So the main difference between the N100 and X100 is whether your files reside on a NAS or on the internal HDD, right? Does one approach yield better sound than the other?

 

Jumping in...

Just spoke with a customer in the area today who's strongly considering both. In view of the fact that the 120GB SSD caching drive is used for holding the music in the playlist, the difference between music stored on NAS vs. local HDD should be minimal. Even when a track that's not in the playlist is added, it gets copied to the SSD before being played. I can demonstrate both for comparison.

[craighartley]

I was wondering about these servers too.

 

If, like me, you mainly want to select and play music by selecting an album and clicking play (in Audirvana I double click on an album thumbnail and it plays, having been loaded into the playqueue behind the scenes; and the next album I choose like this relaxes it in the playqueue), can you do that with the Aurender remote app? I don't really like fiddling around with playlists.

[craighartley]

Oops, that should be 'replaces', not 'relaxes'! Sorry

[majnun70]

I just bought an Aries and will be returning it. Sound quality is fine, but its Tidal integration (i.e. the only reason I bought an Aries) is, well, poor. I have the following issues with it:

 

1) Various Artist albums do not display individual artist names (or when applicable, their respective album names either).

 

 

2) Individual artist names do appear on Tidal-curated playlists, but not on playlists I create.

 

 

3) In addition to missing artist names on playlists I create, their respective albums are missing (the latter applies also to Tidal-curated playlists).

 

 

4) On any various artist album display, I want to be able to link to any artist and/or album on that particular album. This includes Tidal-curated playlists (which does include individual artists, but the names are not linkable.)

 

 

5) Related Artists section on an artist page is missing.

 

 

6) Artist description is missing (when Tidal provides one).

 

 

7) Album overview is missing ( when Tidal provides one).

 

Now, admittedly, none of these issues prevent an enjoyment of Tidal, but given my extensive use of playlists (my own and Tidal's) the first four are actually important to me. And for me, I find the fifth issue (Related Artists) an valuable tool for discovering new music.

 

Can Aurender users of Tidal verify that these would not be an issue?

 

Thanks.

[krass]

I was wondering about these servers too.

 

If, like me, you mainly want to select and play music by selecting an album and clicking play (in Audirvana I double click on an album thumbnail and it plays, having been loaded into the playqueue behind the scenes; and the next album I choose like this relaxes it in the playqueue), can you do that with the Aurender remote app? I don't really like fiddling around with playlists.

 

yes Craig, that's the normal way i use the app. the app has nice features to find/browse music using all the usual methods (by genre, by album,by artist etc), it has a number of "quick buttons" to speed up some of the filtering, and it has a nice text search that can be combined with all the other filter options (ie type "gen" and it filters and refines all results as you type. Then click on the "Rock" button and all the non-rock results disappear, etc etc).

 

once you find what you want to play, just touch it and it gets put at the end of the queue. Or you can touch and hold and a lot if other options appear such as play next, add to end, add all tracks, etc etc.

 

it's very functional, fast and easy to use. in fact it's a joy to use and has changed the way I listen to music.

[krass]

I'm not an Aurender user of Tidal; I think that Tidal integration is not yet available but I'd love to find out I'm wrong.

 

from rumours I've seen around here, I'm expecting post CES firmware update sometime in the next month or so, that will include external music service integration (Tidal ?, others ?) and will provide the X100 with the same NAS interface capability as the new N models (cover art and browsing etc).

 

but it's all guesswork on my part.

[bpw]

I'm not an Aurender user of Tidal; I think that Tidal integration is not yet available but I'd love to find out I'm wrong.

 

from rumours I've seen around here, I'm expecting post CES firmware update sometime in the next month or so, that will include external music service integration (Tidal ?, others ?) and will provide the X100 with the same NAS interface capability as the new N models (cover art and browsing etc).

 

but it's all guesswork on my part.

 

Your guesswork is accurate. All Aurender models will have Tidal streaming integration, accomplished by a firmware upgrade and an upgrade to the Conductor app on the iPad. All models also will be set up with the same NAS interface capability, enabling the user to browse music stored on the NAS the same way as on any internal storage. They're getting close. You will be very pleased with the upgrades.

[blaven]

I kind of asked this question in a different way as a new thread. I'm curious if the Aurender will recognize any folder subdirectory system used in how an individual stores their music.

 

In other words, Aurender will stream your stored music from your NAS, but does it matter how your music is organized on the NAS. Or will Aurender simply recognize any folder and subfolder directory style?

 

Can you have multiple subfolders, or only an artist folder, with album folders within that artist folder?

[krass]

Your guesswork is accurate. All Aurender models will have Tidal streaming integration, accomplished by a firmware upgrade and an upgrade to the Conductor app on the iPad. All models also will be set up with the same NAS interface capability, enabling the user to browse music stored on the NAS the same way as on any internal storage. They're getting close. You will be very pleased with the upgrades.

 

very happy to hear that bpw !

 

and just today Tidal announced their arrival in the Netherlands, where I live. Good timing everybody............

[kenreau]

Brian,

 

Any known eta on this new NAS and Music services supporting software release? The Aurender website is lacking.

 

(I currently have system software version 4.1.65.)

 

Thanks

Kenreau

 

Yes, absolutely. I have had the beta software on the X100L and W20 here for some time.

[kenreau]

Are any Aurender users using an intermediary master clock before their DAC? I was noodling this around and wondered what DDC clock product would be an upgrade and work given its not being served by a PC (with necessary windows or OS X drivers).

 

The Aurender website has a typical system configuration/ set up diagram that even shows a Master clock (optional) between the Aurender S10 and a DAC, but no mention of requirements or recommendations. Hopefully something less sota than a dCS clock.

 

Thanks

Kenreau

[bpw]

Brian,

 

Any known eta on this new NAS and Music services supporting software release? The Aurender website is lacking.

 

(I currently have system software version 4.1.65.)

 

Thanks

Kenreau

 

It's not lacking, it simply doesn't indicate availability, which I don't yet know. I'd just check for updates through the iPad app, which will involve both the system software and the Conductor (iPad) app.

[wdw]

Your guesswork is accurate. All Aurender models will have Tidal streaming integration, accomplished by a firmware upgrade and an upgrade to the Conductor app on the iPad. All models also will be set up with the same NAS interface capability, enabling the user to browse music stored on the NAS the same way as on any internal storage. They're getting close. You will be very pleased with the upgrades.

Hello Brian,

Do you have the pricing for the N100 with the 1TB SSD and dates for availability?

Cheers,

Warren