The "Official" Aurender Discussion Thread

[DancingSea]

I asked Eric Shim about HQPlayer implementation and he said he's going to ask for it to be done.  Fingers crossed.  

[mike1127]

I'll try to contact Aurender support as well, but wanted to check with this forum.

I just received a used N100H with 2 TB storage. I've got it set up and working with radio, but I'm at the point of trying to copy my music to the internal drive.

 

Note that my music library is organized on the disk into folders. It's not all in one folder. Structured by things like genre, composer, artist, etc. 

 

I started by attaching a USB drive with my music, about 500 GB, to the Aurender. I then went into the Conductor, selected the top-level folder of my library on the attached drive, and selected "copy files." I selected Music1 (root) as the destination.

 

Both the Aurender display and the Conductor app said "preparing to copy". Less than 30 seconds later, they said "copy finished." 

 

I tapped away from my USB drive and then back to it. There was a message saying "no result." There appeared to be no music copied based on trying to use the Conductor app to find albums. I rebooted the Aureneder. The USB drive was there again. I repeated selecting my top-level folder to copy, and same thing happened again. 

 

So there's something wrong with copying from a USB drive.

 

I thought, maybe I can copy over the network. I used FreeFileSync on my MacBook to sync the Aurender (visible as a nework drive on my Mac) with my library (which is attached to my MacBook as a USB drive). I synced just a few albums, then stopped the sync. It worked: I was able to play music that I had synced to the Aurender.

 

Then I started the sync with my whole library. It estimated 14 hours to copy the 500 GB. Hmm, maybe over the network is not a good way to do this. I let it run and noticed it was syncing again the same files I had synced in the first experiment. Concerned why it would attempt this and not see that I had already copies them, I checked the "last modification" time on the files on the Aurender.

 

So it turns out, the Aurender changes the last modification to the present time. The files actually show as the proper last modification time when they are first copied, but within a few minutes the Aurender has changed them to the present time.

 

That is going to be a problem. FreeFileSync only copies files that are modified based on the last modification time, and leaves files that are already there alone. (other sync programs behave similarly) I depend on this, because I often change parts of my library (change tags or create new folders here or there) and I don't want to copy the entire library to the synced device. I only want to copy the changed files. But I tend to make a lot of changes all over the library. I would have to keep notes on every modified folder and do a regular copy, folder by folder.

 

So I'm looking for help either with the USB copy or with a network copy that can sync only modified or new files.

[DancingSea]

7 minutes ago, mike1127 said:

So I'm looking for help either with the USB copy or with a network copy that can sync only modified or new files.

 

I've tried USB drive, connecting an external HD to the Aurender, as well as using ChronoSync for incremental additions.

 

The only thing I've found to reliably and quickly work is manually transferring files over the network to the mounted Aurender HD on my Mac desktop.  Incremental backups with Chronosync are spotty, and eventually entered into some sort of permissions purgatory.

 

I'm resigned to this just being how it is, with manual transfers being best.  Not ideal to say the least.

 

 

[Anonamemouse]

1 hour ago, DancingSea said:

 

I've tried USB drive, connecting an external HD to the Aurender, as well as using ChronoSync for incremental additions.

 

The only thing I've found to reliably and quickly work is manually transferring files over the network to the mounted Aurender HD on my Mac desktop.  Incremental backups with Chronosync are spotty, and eventually entered into some sort of permissions purgatory.

 

I'm resigned to this just being how it is, with manual transfers being best.  Not ideal to say the least.

 

 

A mounted drive indeed works the easiest. It also gives you most control over what is copied to your Aurender.

If you download Fileboss you can set filters for everything you copy, so your player won't get cluttered with stuff that has nothing to do with music and only takes up space.

[mike1127]

1 hour ago, DancingSea said:

 

I've tried USB drive, connecting an external HD to the Aurender, as well as using ChronoSync for incremental additions.

 

The only thing I've found to reliably and quickly work is manually transferring files over the network to the mounted Aurender HD on my Mac desktop.  Incremental backups with Chronosync are spotty, and eventually entered into some sort of permissions purgatory.

 

I'm resigned to this just being how it is, with manual transfers being best.  Not ideal to say the least.

 

 

I don't have wired access to my router. I'm using a Wireless -> Ethernet converter. Maybe that's why it's so slow. It says 14 hours to copy 500 GB. I hope I can get the connected USB drive option working at some point. I'm letting it run for now.

 

Sometimes when I update my library I remove files. I ended up with some albums having two copies of each track, say one FLAC and one WAV. I still need to go through the library and clean all those up. I see the conductor app has no option to sync the library by removing files. I'll probably need to do the option to resync the entire library starting from scratch to pick up removed files.

 

The Conductor app sure is a battery hog on my 8" iPad gen 10.

 

The sound is awesome though. Only problem is that I'm getting some shrillness, which I'm guessing is not the Aurender but actually in some downstream component, and the higher extension of the Aurender is bringing it out. Maybe it's my DAC. I'm using a highly tweaked-out Gustard x20pro (bypass caps, damping, ERS fabric). The guy who did the modification for me said it sounded really good in his system, but I've since seen some people who think the Gustard ESS-chip based DACs can have shrillness.

 

I'm seeing some advantages to Windows and Foobar2000 or JRiver at this point... many options to filter the output, even though I think the sound doesn't approach the Aurender or even a Zen Stream (I tested the Zen Stream playing from an attached disk).

[mike1127]

32 minutes ago, Anonamemouse said:

A mounted drive indeed works the easiest. It also gives you most control over what is copied to your Aurender.

If you download Fileboss you can set filters for everything you copy, so your player won't get cluttered with stuff that has nothing to do with music and only takes up space.

Have you encountered the issue of the Aurender changing the file modification time on every file you copy? That really damages some of the efficiency of file syncing, as without setting the sync software to read the entire contents of each file (much slower), it doesn't know which files have changed.

[Anonamemouse]

1 hour ago, mike1127 said:

Have you encountered the issue of the Aurender changing the file modification time on every file you copy? That really damages some of the efficiency of file syncing, as without setting the sync software to read the entire contents of each file (much slower), it doesn't know which files have changed.

Nope. Whatever I copy over to my N100SC (very soon to be replaced with an N200) stays exactly the same as what I have on my NAS. I copy via Win11.

 

[Anonamemouse]

2 hours ago, mike1127 said:

I don't have wired access to my router. I'm using a Wireless -> Ethernet converter. Maybe that's why it's so slow. It says 14 hours to copy 500 GB. I hope I can get the connected USB drive option working at some point. I'm letting it run for now.

 

Sometimes when I update my library I remove files. I ended up with some albums having two copies of each track, say one FLAC and one WAV. I still need to go through the library and clean all those up. I see the conductor app has no option to sync the library by removing files. I'll probably need to do the option to resync the entire library starting from scratch to pick up removed files.

 

The Conductor app sure is a battery hog on my 8" iPad gen 10.

 

The sound is awesome though. Only problem is that I'm getting some shrillness, which I'm guessing is not the Aurender but actually in some downstream component, and the higher extension of the Aurender is bringing it out. Maybe it's my DAC. I'm using a highly tweaked-out Gustard x20pro (bypass caps, damping, ERS fabric). The guy who did the modification for me said it sounded really good in his system, but I've since seen some people who think the Gustard ESS-chip based DACs can have shrillness.

 

I'm seeing some advantages to Windows and Foobar2000 or JRiver at this point... many options to filter the output, even though I think the sound doesn't approach the Aurender or even a Zen Stream (I tested the Zen Stream playing from an attached disk).

A wired connection is a LOT nicer when copying large amounts of data. In a home setting the difference is very noticable. In your case I'd find a long cable and run it through the house until the bulk of the copying is done.

 

Really the easiest is to mount the SSD inside the Aurender. You can access it like a regular HD/partition on your computer and just drag and drop albums. If you are rigid on using sync software (which can go HORRIBLY wrong) you'll have to look into something third party.

 

I would LOVE to see Aurender team up with JRiver and work on a JConductor!

[mike1127]

39 minutes ago, Anonamemouse said:

A wired connection is a LOT nicer when copying large amounts of data. In a home setting the difference is very noticable. In your case I'd find a long cable and run it through the house until the bulk of the copying is done.

 

Really the easiest is to mount the SSD inside the Aurender. You can access it like a regular HD/partition on your computer and just drag and drop albums. If you are rigid on using sync software (which can go HORRIBLY wrong) you'll have to look into something third party.

 

I would LOVE to see Aurender team up with JRiver and work on a JConductor!

Hi, I don't like drag/drop or copy operations that take multiple hours as if they error out, there's no way to restart them where they left off. Maybe it's the only way. I'll see.

 

I'm not sure what you are referring to about sync software. I'm not talking about an OS driver than monitors the disk state or anything like that. I run FreeFileSync and set a destination and source folder, and it first checks what is already in the source folder, then copies over what's not already in it. If you stop it, you can start it later and it will continue where it left off. It's working fine, except for two possibilities: maybe it takes longer than drag/drop (it's says it will take about 14 hours) or maybe this has something to do with the file modification time issue. I'm not getting any permission errors. I'm on macOS, not sure if that has anything to do with it.

 

I'd really like to get copying off an attached USB drive working. That will probably go faster than WiFi. 

 

[DancingSea]

7 minutes ago, mike1127 said:

Hi, I don't like drag/drop or copy operations that take multiple hours as if they error out, there's no way to restart them where they left off. Maybe it's the only way. I'll see.

 

I'm not sure what you are referring to about sync software. I'm not talking about an OS driver than monitors the disk state or anything like that. I run FreeFileSync and set a destination and source folder, and it first checks what is already in the source folder, then copies over what's not already in it. If you stop it, you can start it later and it will continue where it left off. It's working fine, except for two possibilities: maybe it takes longer than drag/drop (it's says it will take about 14 hours) or maybe this has something to do with the file modification time issue. I'm not getting any permission errors. I'm on macOS, not sure if that has anything to do with it.

 

I'd really like to get copying off an attached USB drive working. That will probably go faster than WiFi. 

 

 

Wired is best for the initial big move, with the Aurender HD mounted on the desktop.  Conductor sounds great, but this file adding bit is dated for sure.  It's things like this that make Roon a welcomed option.

 

I gave up on sync software.  The Aurender doesn't seem to work well with that sort of thing.

 

But once the initial big move is done, then small changes are easy - once again, manually.

 

Do you know about the first 10 folders in "Music1" thing?  That they show up in alphabetical order on the upper bar in Conductor?  You can use brackets to move folders to the front of the line.  You can use the first 10 folders to organize by genre, or whatever you wish.

[Anonamemouse]

Is it possible to move SSDs between players?

I have an N100SC, which will soon be replaced with an N200 and I am not really looking forward to re-copying everything to the same SSD...

[mike1127]

25 minutes ago, DancingSea said:

 

Wired is best for the initial big move, with the Aurender HD mounted on the desktop.  Conductor sounds great, but this file adding bit is dated for sure.  It's things like this that make Roon a welcomed option.

 

I gave up on sync software.  The Aurender doesn't seem to work well with that sort of thing.

 

But once the initial big move is done, then small changes are easy - once again, manually.

 

Do you know about the first 10 folders in "Music1" thing?  That they show up in alphabetical order on the upper bar in Conductor?  You can use brackets to move folders to the front of the line.  You can use the first 10 folders to organize by genre, or whatever you wish.

Didn't know about the first 10 folders. I might have to erase what's there and start the copy over. I think I'll wait to hear from Aurender support about why I can't copy off an attached USB disk. 

 

Do you know anything about networking? Perhaps I could attach a Windows NUC I have and the Aurender to a LAN... both in the same room, and not the same as the house WiFi.. and get a faster copy that way without having to route a giant cable through the house which will annoy my roommates.

 

I have some non-small changes, specifically I have a lot of duplicates of tracks that came about when I was converting file types, when I was using Foobar2000 on a Win 10 machine. It wasn't a problem in Foobar2000 but it will be a problem in the Conductor app. I was erasing the duplicates on my Win machine on a "just in time" basis.. i.e. whenever I played an album I took the opportunity to erase the duplicate files. I don't want to spend the time block to go through my entire library, but no way around it if I use the Aurender. Well, I'll see what I want to do.

 

Regarding the sound quality of the Aurender, it immediately was dramatically better in terms of extension, dynamics, and naturalness or live music feel. However, there was a shrillness on strings. I suspect this is in my DAC, a Gustard x20pro (tweaked out). 

 

I was using my best power chord on the DAC and one of my lower tier power cords on the Aurender. I tried the lower tier on the DAC and there was less extension and excitement but the shrillness was gone. I then put my best power chord on the Aurender and lo and some of the extension came back but still without the majority of the shrillness. 

 

These are custom-made power chords by a guy in the N.J. Audiophile Society.

[DancingSea]

8 hours ago, mike1127 said:

Do you know anything about networking?

 

I do not.  I only know that a wired connection for the initial big move is best.

 

You can name the 10 folders like this (just an example):

 

Blues

Jazz

Rock

[World]

 

They will appear in alphabetical order.  Because of the brackets, [World] be displayed ahead of the other three.  Only the first 10 will show up on the Conductor menu bar.

[krass]

On 4/9/2024 at 4:53 AM, mike1127 said:

So it turns out, the Aurender changes the last modification to the present time. The files actually show as the proper last modification time when they are first copied, but within a few minutes the Aurender has changed them to the present time.

 

With my X100L I never had that problem using “Carbon Copy Cloner” (a proprietary application that uses rsync on a Mac).

 

It worked flawlessly having a “master” set of files on a Mac, rsync’ing to the Aurender disks mounted across the network.

[krass]

On 4/9/2024 at 10:39 AM, Anonamemouse said:

Is it possible to move SSDs between players?

I have an N100SC, which will soon be replaced with an N200 and I am not really looking forward to re-copying everything to the same SSD...

 

I believe there is a “Clone” function in the Conductor app menu.

I never used it and no longer have my Aurender to check, but pretty sure I saw a function that is used to transfer across to a new Aurender….

[Anonamemouse]

5 minutes ago, krass said:

 

I believe there is a “Clone” function in the Conductor app menu.

I never used it and no longer have my Aurender to check, but pretty sure I saw a function that is used to transfer across to a new Aurender….

I guess I'll just try and if it doesn't work, I'll simply format the drive and let it run for a night with a fan pointed at the N200 because it will get too hot without that. 

3 Tb is gonna take a while... 

[HifiVoice]

8 minutes ago, krass said:

 

I believe there is a “Clone” function in the Conductor app menu.

I never used it and no longer have my Aurender to check, but pretty sure I saw a function that is used to transfer across to a new Aurender….

 

Yes, I used it to copy the files from my old N100H to my new N200 (about 2,5TB of music). When I tried to this via WiFi, it anticipated a disastrous couple of days copy time. I acquired a Ethernet hub, and the copy was done in about a night. 

 

What is missing (due to legal reasons), is the option to copy the music to an external disk, and then copy it from there to the new Aurender. 

[Anonamemouse]

10 hours ago, HifiVoice said:

 

Yes, I used it to copy the files from my old N100H to my new N200 (about 2,5TB of music). When I tried to this via WiFi, it anticipated a disastrous couple of days copy time. I acquired a Ethernet hub, and the copy was done in about a night. 

 

What is missing (due to legal reasons), is the option to copy the music to an external disk, and then copy it from there to the new Aurender. 

I don't want to copy the files, I just want to turn off the N100SC, pull out the SSD, plug it in the new N200, turn it on and play my music...

[krass]

4 hours ago, Anonamemouse said:

I don't want to copy the files, I just want to turn off the N100SC, pull out the SSD, plug it in the new N200, turn it on and play my music...

 

well there doesn’t seem to be any way to “prepare” an SSD for such a swap, so your only choice is to either try it or not !

 

If it works: ✅ 

if it doesn’t: you’ve lost nothing & would anyway have to reload the music from your master

 

But do let us know ? It’d be useful info for others I’m sure.

[DancingSea]

13 hours ago, Anonamemouse said:

I don't want to copy the files, I just want to turn off the N100SC, pull out the SSD, plug it in the new N200, turn it on and play my music...

 

Best to ask Aurender directly, I'm sure they know.

[NTWrong]

On 4/11/2024 at 12:37 AM, Anonamemouse said:

I don't want to copy the files, I just want to turn off the N100SC, pull out the SSD, plug it in the new N200, turn it on and play my music...

I think this came up before, and it is possible. The challenge is that when you install an SSD the Aurender wants to format it, which of course will delete its contents. So you have to decline the format request. 
 

Then, as I recall, the Aurender device may not immediately recognize that the SSD has files on it. The previous commenter said it took a few hours (days?) before the device ‘saw’ the files. But I wonder about using the ‘search for new files’ function in Conductor. Maybe that would do the trick. 

[Anonamemouse]

12 minutes ago, NTWrong said:

I think this came up before, and it is possible. The challenge is that when you install an SSD the Aurender wants to format it, which of course will delete its contents. So you have to decline the format request. 
 

Then, as I recall, the Aurender device may not immediately recognize that the SSD has files on it. The previous commenter said it took a few hours (days?) before the device ‘saw’ the files. But I wonder about using the ‘search for new files’ function in Conductor. Maybe that would do the trick. 

I'm hoping my N200 arrives today or tomorrow, I'll just try switching it over. 
If it doesn't work I'll try the search for new files (excellent idea!), and if that doesn't work I'll format it and copy a few fav albums and listen to those, and then when I go to bed I'll let it pump the rest over.

[scoc]

The solution is so simple.

 

Just use the clone option in Aurender settings and select source and target Aurenders on your network. To speed up the cloning process just make sure both units are on the same network switch. You need to add new storage to your new unit of course but that’s it. I have used this Aurender cloning option when moving from my N100 to N200 and later on to my N20.

[The Computer Audiophile]

36 minutes ago, scoc said:

You need to add new storage to your new unit of course

I think this is what they are trying to avoid. 

[Anonamemouse]

1 hour ago, scoc said:

The solution is so simple.

 

Just use the clone option in Aurender settings and select source and target Aurenders on your network. To speed up the cloning process just make sure both units are on the same network switch. You need to add new storage to your new unit of course but that’s it. I have used this Aurender cloning option when moving from my N100 to N200 and later on to my N20.

 

On 4/11/2024 at 6:37 AM, Anonamemouse said:

I don't want to copy the files, I just want to turn off the N100SC, pull out the SSD, plug it in the new N200, turn it on and play my music...

 

Wellicht moet ik Engels met een Vlaams accent typen?