The "Official" Aurender Discussion Thread

[JS21]

I think I may be pulling the trigger on the A10 sometime in the next few days. I like the fact that it's mostly a one box unit. My pre/pro is the Classe ssp800, but it's pretty long in the tooth I think. Bypassing it would be the way to go for me from what I've heard about the A10 DACs.

Curious to know why more people don't own them here, or at least it seems like it. I'd be interested to hear more opinions about them.

[JS21]

Chris will have his review up in a bit I am sure. Most people will not pull the trigger on a 5500( street price a little less) piece until they see professional reviews. I already had a N100s and was coming from a Bryston ,Mac Mini ,Aires , streamers so I knew I liked the Aurender sound. The A10 is a great piece but really shines with a good pre-amp( as most 1 box solutions do).

Hopefully after a few reviews and maybe some press at Axpona it will take off. Looking at other MQA solutions for streamer, dac, and storage it looks like quite a value.

 

Great. Thanks for the head's up man. Looking forward to the review.

[JS21]

I'm curious to know what cables you guys find mate well with Aurender.

[JS21]

What cables do you mean? Power, USB, SPDIF, Ethernet..?

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Computer Audiophile mobile app

 

Analog ICs, PCs.

Sorry for not being clear.

[JS21]

Upgrade your power cord to something decent ( entry level Shunyata, or one of the many makers on Audiogon ) . Analog IC's are up to you and your beliefs. I use Audience Au24se but there are many fine cables out there, but to get to a decent level of performance you have to spend some dough.

I just installed Stillpoints Ultra Mini's (Set of 3)( 337.00 Shipped w/ coupon), underneath the A10 and a huge upgrade over the Synergistic MIG I was previously using.

I had to send in the Microzotl pre for a remote swap and went back to listening as a standalone. I have to say with the Stillpoint upgrade the A10 sounds pretty freaking good by itself. It certainly is amazing how power cables, IC , vibration control can affect the sound of a particular piece, and we are not talking subtle.

I guess that is what makes this hobby fun. It certainly takes a while as our systems evolve and keep improving as our knowledge and finances allow. I just wish more people enjoyed the hobby as most of my friends think I am nuts showing off a new power cord I got for Xmas. I am fortunate enough to have 3 good friends with nice systems ( Wilson, Martin Logan, Krell , tubes and SS) that we get together at least every 6 weeks or so. But most of the listening is done alone ( that's ok too... no fighting over the sweet spot).

The A10 has made the rounds and impresses in all their systems. Just waiting for the Software update for full blown MQA. I still do not think it will rival a 24-192 wav file rip from a 45 rpm album locally stored, but should be interesting to find out.....

 

No prob. I have an N10, and upgrading the PC twice was a very worthwhile investment. I'm using AQ, but indeed lots of good choices are available. Same goes for analog IC's. I would suggest to try as many types as possible at home in your own setup (when you have the chance to do so) before you spend your money. Cable performance is very much system dependent IMO.

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Computer Audiophile mobile app

 

Thanks guys. My A10 is scheduled for delivery this Friday. Can't wait!

 

As far as PC's, I have a Lessloss DFPC that I was using for the mac mini so I might try their ICs. Maybe see what Wireworld can bring to the table.

 

russellbobby, have you tried Symposium? I really liked what the Svelte Plus did for the mini so I might try that again. Thing is, they recommend that the chassis sits flat on top of the shelf for maximum benefit so I have to remove the feet on the A10. Got great results from the Rollerblocks+ also with previous CD players.

I'm curious about the Stillpoints now that you've mentioned it.

[JS21]

Ugh!!! All this talk and I'm just staring into an empty shelf again because fedex updated delivery status of A10 to Saturday instead of today. LOL. Counting the minutes....

[JS21]

So my A10 finally came in about 3 hours ago. Beautiful piece, very impressive, all 22 lbs of it. The pics do it no justice.

Fired it up and it sounds great out of the box and this thing was still cold to the touch from being exposed outdoors. Initial setup was fairly easy but have to figure out how to copy files from external drive.

A few quick impressions. I can say that the SQ has definitely exceeded my expectations so far. Very airy and transparent. Love the pre-loaded tracks. Going back and forth quickly between the A10 DAC and my Classe's, there's definitely more bloom with the A10, a lot quieter too. Not sure how much it can better after another 300 hrs of break-in but if it improves another 20%, I'd be ecstatic.

[JS21]

Congrats! My bet is that you're going to fall in love If you have the chance later on, try it with a good external pre. Cheers.

 

Thank you. I have a big smile on my face.

 

Tough thing getting a new pre as my Classe does double duty for HT. I've done the pre with HT bypass many years ago and I'm not sure I want or need to complicate my system again.

[JS21]

Just leave it on 24/7 and give it a few weeks. To copy from the hard drive go to Disk info in settings. Look at the USB. Drive should be there. Hit copy. Done

 

Thanks for the tips. Greatly appreciated. Can't wait to hear what a few hundred more hours will bring.

I spoke to John-Paul at Aurender and he walked me step by step on connecting to my mac server and dragging albums over to genre folder, which I find really efficient. He was very helpful and patient.

 

Waiting for delivery of my Symposium svelte shelf. Should be interesting once I get it under the A10.

[JS21]

Glad that you got away with this, but in the future, please be aware that no electronic equipment that has been exposed to cold weather like that should ever be powered up until the unit itself reaches room temperature, internally and externally. Not following this can lead to internal condensation and resulting damage. It's a good general rule, especially for audio electronics, to let you equipment warm up for an extended period (6 hours minimum, and overnight is better, depending on when it was delivered).

 

JC

 

I actually gave it about an hour under my comforter, but yeah you're right, I should've given it more time but I just could wait anymore. LOL

[JS21]

Received the svelte shelf plus earlier today and slid it under the A10, sans feet. I had mentioned before that I had the same shelf under my now-retired mac mini with excellent results and I'm not disappointed. Midway into the first track and it's clearly obvious that the symposium brings the A10 to another level.

[JS21]

I just stumbled across this tutorial the Chris put out awhile ago for the Aurender Conductor app. Nice overview!!. Found a few tips I was not aware of. Thanks Chris

 

Good find.

 

Thanks Russ. Any news on the new version of the app or the new firmware?

 

 

Yes, please Aurender. First thing that came to mind when I saw the aurender app was the why the brown color.

[JS21]

Awesome!!! Thank you Chris.

[JS21]

Well it looks like the brown background peeps are not going to be happy with the upgrade

 

Yeah, I kinda saw that. I'll take MQA or now.... Hopefully that's in the pipeline.

[JS21]

 

Finally, for me, the A10 is pretty much the end of the road for source...

 

I wholeheartedly agree.

 

I've had many, many different 2ch configurations in the 20+ years I've been in this hobby. From an Audio Note 2.1 balanced DAC/VAC Renaissance pre/Placette Audio Passive pre paired with an excellent Proceed transport. I also had a modded 3910 Denon tubbed APL CD player that I enjoyed immensely but had to sell after a few years because of repair and warranty concerns. They all produced a glorious, "analog like" sound, especially the APL, but they also complicated my system to an extent because I'm also a home theater guy. Space is a premium in NYC . I eventually ended up with a mac mini/Audirvana combo a few years ago. I convinced myself simplicity would be the way to go this time but the novelty quickly wore off. I sometimes went weeks even months without listening to music because music wasn't as involving anymore.

 

With over 450 hrs on my A10, I feel it's well broken-in now. The bass, which initially concerned me, has tightened up after the first 250 hrs and the midrange has improved as well. The deep black background really stands out. The SQ is at least on par with the APL from what I remember. The ease of use, simplicity and integration with Tidal is just cherry on top for me. I've once again rediscovered my passion for music and I don't even look at the clock anymore. The music just flows now..

 

Just my 2 cents.

Now if Aurender can only change that brown background color...

[JS21]

firmware upgrade for Aurender A10 just appeared

new firmware is 5.9.27 replacing 5.7.29.2

takes about 10 minutes

updated successfully

 

playing MQA track Joni Mitchell River from Tidal: front panel of A10 reads:

 

 

MQA Studio 192 Khz

 

Yes!!!! Thanks for the heads up.

[JS21]

...The A10 now has analog filter settings so if someone from Aurender can come on and enlighten us that would be great.

 

 

 

Pretty sure the analog filter settings were always there. Unless you're seeing something I'm not.

Overall, MQA update is very nice. SQ between 44.1 and 88.2 is even noticeable on songs I've listened to so far.

 

Was expecting the volume setting(when used with external pre) to be addressed with this SW.

Also, would've been nice, as Chris mentioned in his review, to have the MQA logo/blue dot on MQA tracks displayed in the now playing window. Can anyone confirm differently?

[JS21]

**Correction from my above post.

 

Above features have loaded a few hours after I updated SW. Sorry if I caused any confusion.

 

I was listening to Miles Davis' Kind of Blue earlier and it read 88.2 on the front panel. Now it's just reads "HIFI". There is a difference in SQ though between the 2 albums.

[JS21]

Is it only me? How can they change this behavior from one minor version to another? Do they really expect me to change my entire file structure to comply with how they think the music should be organized?

 

No you aren't. I've also run into it with Tidal albums when "added to my library". What's worse is some of the "2nd album" artwork does not show, just the gold record jpg.

 

Though my HD files are still being displayed and playing properly for now, when I scan, it shows that I have 900+ unrecognized files. Obviously not as much as many of you, but that's what I have for now and I'm not about to edit over 900 files.

I emailed Aurender about this last week and they said they weren't sure why it was happening and it could be just the system database updating.

[JS21]

Can you tell me if your master database happens to be on a Mac and if you used Finder to copy the files? I had about twenty thousand unrecognized files after the upgrade and was able to remove them all with a single command. In my case the files were always on the Aurender however the updated scanner now notices them and they are not music files. I can explain in much more detail if you fit the scenario.

 

Also can you reply with one of the unrecognized file names likely will begin with ._

 

 

Carlin "Rick" Smith

 

Yes, from a Mac. Here's a screenshot..

[JS21]

....Hope this helps and happy to help others further. After the upgrade did this procedure on 3 different Aurenders.

 

Carlin "Rick" Smith

 

Thank you Rick. I appreciate the help.

[JS21]

I can't make a comparison but I have a DSD album (via DL). I gave it a quick listen and can't say it sounds any different than before I upgraded the SW.

Hopefully Aurender will get this sorted out quickly for u.

[JS21]

52 minutes ago, bigblue said:

Could he be referring to the S10?

Could be. I mix those 2 up myself sometimes. 

 

Anyway, I'm hearing there might be a new update soon that will enable internet radio streaming in the US. Should be exciting. 

[JS21]

36 minutes ago, agladstone said:

Thanks for the suggestion! I actually borrowed 10 USB cables from them when trying to decide which USB cable to buy, I'll give them a call and get some stillpoints on loan to try! 

 

Try them on Symposium svelte shelf plus too. The Cable Co. is having a free upgrade special on them if you buy the standard svelte. I have my A10 on one and the plus really brings out the best in them. 

[JS21]

12 minutes ago, Indydan said:

 

The brown background with yellow letters... It looks like chopped up bananas in chocolate!

 

I am considering buying the N100H. The Conductor app looks great, except for the colours. I hope that it is possible to choose background and font colours eventually. 

I can think of worst things. Hahaha. Of all the colors to choose...

 

Yeah, according to aurender, they're working on color options but not sure when it'll be available.