The "Official" Aurender Discussion Thread

[kipdent]

Hello, everyone--

 

I know this is not a support forum for Aurender, and like many have stated, Ari at Aurender is just a fabulous and tireless source of help. However, he has been stumped at an issue I have been having, so I thought I'd share it here to see if others have either resolved it or at least experienced it.

 

I started creating some "Favorites" radio stations for my N100C. Many work right away, while others only work after sleuthing to find a radio station's "hidden URL" from their website (usually using the "Inspect Element" command and locating the streaming URL they are using). However, some I cannot get to work no matter what I try. What's odd is these problematic URLs all work on my network through a browser on my computer (on macOS or Windows), but simply will not function on the N100C. Here is an example for a classical radio station I like, New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR), that does not work:

 

https://nhpr.streamguys1.com/classical.m3u

 

I find it odd that several other links ending in ".m3u" work fine on my N100C, but this one does not. I wondered if it was something their provider, "Streamguys" does behind the scenes, but after talking with their support department, it doesn't appear they are doing anything unusual.

 

Could anyone here confirm that this URL does not work on their Aurender, or that it does work? Has anyone discovered a URL format trick that seems to allow radio stations to always work on an Aurender? I'm sure anything you can share would help me and perhaps Ari and Aurender, too, to track down what is happening.

 

Thanks--

[kipdent]

Ari--incredible! Yes, now it works fine. Thank you! Isn't it strange that the "https" is the one reported on their own website, yet dropping the "s" also works and, most importantly, on the Aurender! Is this a universally applicable tip do you think?

[kipdent]

@JS21--

 

Though I don't have the N200 (I have the N100C), I am interested in your question because I am astonished at how good some radio streams sound from the Aurender. Better than the some of the best over-the-air FM stations when I used to listen that way. This begs another question: Do Aurender radio streaming fans here have some favorite stations? I am loving WERU, a tiny station from Blue Hill, Maine, which plays a variety of eclectic music and great jazz, and NHPR classical form New Hampshire which provides as much education about the artists it plays as it does in providing good sound. For someone who lives in California, these are just wonderful. I'd love to hear about others...

[kipdent]

@KenCyclingNYC

I am both sorry you are experiencing this occasional dropout issue and happy to hear I am not the only one!  Ari and Aurender have been fantastic in helping me nearly eliminate this issue from my N100C, but the truth is, even with a SSD storage for my library, I occasionally experience the same issue. Though he did not experience this issue during his recent review of the N20, Chris mentioned some personalities like arm wrestling these issues with digital music which, to me, implies it happens with a variety of digital playback systems regardless of brand. So I can sleep at night, I try to rationalize it by saying analog, like vinyl skips or pops, is not perfect, either. But is is very frustrating to me. I wish there were a way to truly diagnose what is happening in our systems, then completely fix it. For now, that appears to only be a wish. In the meantime, my Aurender is the best-sounding digital playback I’ve ever had in my listening room, so I put up with the occasional dropouts! 

[kipdent]

I, too, love Ravenna and the Merging+NADAC I use with my Aurender. Yes, the volume control and mute functions within Conductor work flawlessly; however, I much prefer using the NADAC iOS app to control the NADAC (for example if I want to change the input from the Aurender's Ethernet connection to another optical or coaxial device), so I never use these controls. Additionally, I always leave the NADAC volume at "0 dB" for no attenuation, and use the volume control on my preamp to adjust listening levels.

[kipdent]

I concur that being able to access pdf booklets from your own albums is a top request. I suspect this next idea will be viewed as quite minor, but I would like to see the ability to choose which album artwork is displayed in genre view instead of Conductor randomly (or however it does it) choosing an album cover. 

[kipdent]

9 minutes ago, Bling said:

Hi, Sean--

 

As long as your MacBook is running macOS Big Sur or later (I'm running Monterey), iOS apps run transparently on a Mac. Conductor operates and looks great on my new MacBook Pro.

 

Kip

 

------------

 

Hi all,

 

I just got a W20, pretty amazing piece of kit.!! I think I've finally reached the end of my front end search.Im just loading my music on the drives and getting set up.

 

I have a question though, will the Conductor App work on a surface pro or MacBook. Currently I have the lite version on my I phone but not the nicest experience with small screen etc.

 

Thanks

Sean

 

 

[kipdent]

2 hours ago, stefano_mbp said:

@kipdent on Mac only if it is a new M1 version …

Absolutely correct, @stefano_mbp. Sorry I did not make that clear.

[kipdent]

22 minutes ago, Len44 said:

Apologies for the question -- Does anyone have a good way of backing up the music files from an A30 (as Aurender strongly recommends, but with no guidance to make this happen.

 

Very interested in doing this backup, but could certainly use some assistance on this topic.

What computer platform do you use? If Mac, I can highly recommend the method I use: Mount the Aurender's internal drive and use the fabulous Chronosync application to create a backup task from it to a hard drive attached to your Mac. It will create a bit perfect backup of the Aurender which then you can store somewhere safely. I'm sure Windows has an application that functions similarly. The Aurender online support files give great directions on how to mount your Aurender's drive to either type of computer.

[kipdent]

Hello, Aurender Forum members, and Happy Holidays!

 

First, I wanted to say I have learned so much from so many of you here and want to express my gratitude. Thank you.

 

Next, I suspect I am part of a tiny subset of Aurender users who uses the RAVENNA protocol over Ethernet with Merging Technologies' NADAC as my DAC. I would very much like to connect with anyone else on this Forum who does the same. Even if we only exchange private messages I think it would be beneficial to learn best practices from one another or share how any challenges were overcome. I hope to hear from some of you!

 

kipdent

Aurender N100C with 8TB Samsung SSD

Merging Technologies NADAC

 

 

[kipdent]

11 minutes ago, DancingSea said:

 

Aloha,

 

I just bought a N100H from Aurender and am in my 30 day trial period.  A couple of questions:

 

1) Could Chronosync be used as a way to sync the self made Aurender music folder on my Mac’s external HD to the Aurender internal hard drive mounted on the desktop (Music1 folder)?  I was hoping that might serve as a manually operated watched folder.  Rather than having to go through and manually drag folders to the Aurender, could Chronosync do all that for me?  In theory Chronosync would be on top of only adding new albums.

 

Thanks!

Precisely! You set up automated “tasks” in Chronosync with a chosen schedule, and as long as the volumes are available, Chronosync scans the source and destination disks and quickly adds only changes since the last synchronization. Plus, the company is an outlier—no subscription required. Pay for it once and free updates for life. (PS—I have no association with the company; I’m just a very happy customer.)

[kipdent]

How frustrating! Sorry to hear it. In fact, your experience is the opposite of mine over the years. Though slow, for me Chronosync has been rock solid and reliable. 
 

All software up-to-date, both Chronosync and macOS?

 

[kipdent]

Hello, jmhbpc--

 

Your experience must be quite frustrating and hopefully the gang here can help, but I feel confident there must be something amiss in your network or configurations or your specific macOS/computer setup that is contributing to most of these issues. For example, one of the nicest convenient and efficient ways to connect to the Aurender is to make an alias of its hard drive bis to mount it, then drag it to the Dock (on the right side of the vertical line near the Trash can) which will create an alias to it. You can unmount the drive then, but once the alias is in your Dock, anytime you want to connect to your Aurender you just click on it in the Dock and its hard drive will instantly appear on your desktop. More tips will certainly come flowing in from other experienced users.

[kipdent]

Before I make my comment which I don't want misinterpreted, especially by Aurender, I will raise my hand as yet another owner experiencing the same exact issue. It waxes and wanes, but never completely disappears. I have learned to live with it as all the suggested steps to correct the issue have failed. With acceptance comes more enjoyment--it is frustrating, but the N100 sounds so great and is so convenient, I will always tolerate it.

[kipdent]

This discussion piqued my interest, too, so I purchased an iFi LAN iSilencer this week. Rarely do the claims of immediately noticing something very different hold true, but I have to admit its introduction into my system (directly into my Aurender N100C Ethernet port) did make an immediate difference. My setup is a likely a bit different than most, though, in that my Ethernet connection actually *does* carry a signal to my DAC because I am using a Merging Technologies NADAC, using Aurender's RAVENNA support within Conductor. Nonetheless, here is what I heard:

 

- Instant change in the character of the midbass. For example, Mark Knopfler's vocal on "Iron Hand" from the album On Every Street was much easier to follow, as if someone had slightly raised the 250Hz area on an equalizer.

 

- A slightly brighter and more open presentation in the 3000Hz to 4000Hz range, making, in the track above, Knopfler's voice have just a smidge more presence. 

 

- Probably due to the improved presence, the soundstage seemed a tad wider, though that was probably from noticing the cleaner edge on widely spaced instruments in this mix.

 

Overall, my first impressions are positive. But here's the thing--whether in a USB-based DAC or an Ethernet-based DAC, what's really happening here? Are all these changes due to a lower noise floor (as claimed by the manufacturer), or is the LAN iSilencer somehow acting as some sort of equalizer (which it sure sounds like to me)? Regardless, seems like a small investment to make to hear these interesting differences.

[kipdent]

A followup to my first post to further substantiate the comments of the positive sonic impacts of the LAN iSilencer. I invited two friends to my listening room last night who are professional musicians and very good listeners. I did not tell them I had made any changes to my system and said nothing about the LAN iSilencer. Unsolicited, they both asked if I had made any recent changes because they felt the system was sounding better than it ever had. They described the same improvements I mentioned in my previous post. For me, this is about as independent a confirmation I could get that indeed, this thing really works as claimed. I am very pleased with this addition!

[kipdent]

CP010--I don't know if the N100C has a double isolated LAN port. Aurender's official specifications do not call that out, so I suspect the answer is no.

[kipdent]

I was able to update my N100C on the first attempt. In reading the release notes, it was noted “Consume mode” would be removed (even though I sort of like that feature). However, after the update, it remains. Anyone else notice this?

[kipdent]

Thanks, Shane F!

[kipdent]

Maybe I’m an outlier, but Aurender’s approach to curating music you own and integrating the leading streaming services into an attractive interface is so much  more enjoyable than the mess—and I mean mess—that is Roon. Roon, I believe, is geared to a listener who wants to learn as much as possible about the musicians and history of a performer than just listen to music, which is all I really want to do. The extra visual baggage that Roon requires to accomplish those features is a huge distraction to me. And finally, sorting and browsing and searching your own music is the most frustrating exercise in Roon. That it still does not support Genres is, in my opinion, its most onerous flaw. 
 

Keep it simple, Aurender, please. 
 

Just my two cents!

[kipdent]

43 minutes ago, GJo said:

No doubt that is all true.

 

However, it takes both companies to make it work, and Aurender Inc's failure to get Conductor 4 working correctly for so many users makes me wonder where the responsibility lies on the Roon certification spectrum.

 

Admittedly harsh on my part, but my patience is tested while my N30SA continues to require repeated re-connecting during listening sessions.

I’m guessing every defender of Roon, which you’ll intuit I greatly dislike, must have no problem curating their libraries of music with no facility for genres. To me, this is the definition of a deal breaker. 

[kipdent]

24 minutes ago, GJo said:

 

Libraries of music can be sorted by genres in Roon. I don't know if sorted is synonymous with curated in your statement.

 

Hi, GJo—

 

I should have been more specific. “Genres” in the Roon world is what Roon thinks they should be. You cannot create and sort by genres that make sense for your personal library in Roon unlike, say, Conductor or Audirvana which honors whatever genres you have tagged for your personally-owned music.