The "Official" Aurender Discussion Thread

[Foxman50]

12 hours ago, AriMargolis said:

@Foxman50 I think the problem is that you are using beta firmware on your Aurender. As you can see from the other users who have chimed in above, this is not a universal problem. I will follow up with you via [email protected] to get you fixed up.

Hi Ari

Apologies, was not aware my N100 was on Beta version of firmware. 

 

All, please ignore me previous post I was obviously having a blonde moment 😉, other hair colours are available.

[blugosi]

23 hours ago, blugosi said:

iPad 6th generation, IOS 13

OK, I have just tried the new conductor app on  my wife’s iPad running iOS 12 and everything looks fine.

I am running iOS 13 beta on my iPad , so I guess that either the Apple developers will fix it , or the Aurender developers will fix it after iOS 13 is sent down the pipeline for everyone.

Should I report this as a bug to Apple?

[AurenderAmerica]

13 hours ago, Foxman50 said:

Apologies, was not aware my N100 was on Beta version of firmware. 

No worries! There will be an AMM update to go along with the new Aurender system software in a few days. Sorry for the inconvenience in the mean time! Sometimes being a beta tester has its pros & cons...

[AurenderAmerica]

2 hours ago, blugosi said:

the Aurender developers will fix it after iOS 13 is sent down the pipeline for everyone.

Should I report this as a bug to Apple?

@blugosi thank you very much for the heads up. I have reported it to our software team. I don't think you need to report it to Apple.

[mmeeks]

A comment and a question.  First, I have been using the new version of the Conductor app with my N10, and really like the visual upgrade.  Definitely a thumbs up here.  My question is regarding the Qobuz support.  I'm wondering if there are any plans to add the ability to sort favorite albums by artist and by title, similar to what is supported for Tidal? I subscribe to both, and navigating through my favorite albums (there are quite a few) is currently much easier with Tidal than Qobuz.

[AurenderAmerica]

2 hours ago, mmeeks said:

A comment and a question.  First, I have been using the new version of the Conductor app with my N10, and really like the visual upgrade.  Definitely a thumbs up here.  My question is regarding the Qobuz support.  I'm wondering if there are any plans to add the ability to sort favorite albums by artist and by title, similar to what is supported for Tidal? I subscribe to both, and navigating through my favorite albums (there are quite a few) is currently much easier with Tidal than Qobuz.

@mmeeks thank you very much for the feedback and feature request. In fact, you are not the only one who has requested better sorting options for Qobuz "favorite" content. Sorting options for streaming content favorites depends on the API provide by the streaming partner. Qobuz is currently working on expanded sorting functionality. It will just be a matter of time, and we don't have a timeline at this time. What time is it anyway?

 

In the meanwhile, did you know that with streaming content you can use the "Add to Library" feature to essentially import streaming content into your Aurender local library, which you can sort by artist, album, release date, composer etc. etc. To "Add to Library" press and hold on any album or song and then tap "Add to Library." You can use the "select multiple" function to select more than one item at a time to "Add to Library" in a batch of up to 10 items. 

 

I hope this helps.

[mmeeks]

@AriMargolis - thanks for the quick response!  I was not aware of this feature, but I will give a try tonite.  It sounds like what I am looking for.  Plus, I won't have to switch between my library and Tidal and Qobuz favorite anymore.  Can't believe I've had my N10 for over a year (and an N100 before that) and missed this feature.  Thanks!

[AurenderAmerica]

4 minutes ago, mmeeks said:

 Plus, I won't have to switch between my library and Tidal and Qobuz favorite anymore.

Exactly right. 

 

I'm in the process of putting together a short "intro to Conductor" video with both high-level overview of the app and also some more "advanced" tips. I would very much appreciate any ideas about EXISTING FEATURES ONLY that need better documentation. I will try to cover as much as possible. 

[Jeff_N]

16 minutes ago, AriMargolis said:

I would very much appreciate any ideas about EXISTING FEATURES ONLY that need better documentation.

 

Maybe everyone else already figured this out, but I like the fact that you can now change the number of days since new files were added to whatever you want, not just 30, 45, etc.

[lowviz_mcc]

5 hours ago, AriMargolis said:

Exactly right. 

 

I'm in the process of putting together a short "intro to Conductor" video with both high-level overview of the app and also some more "advanced" tips. I would very much appreciate any ideas about EXISTING FEATURES ONLY that need better documentation. I will try to cover as much as possible. 

Not sure if this is the right question, but what is the "Extreme Play Mode" ? Is it only available in W20SE?

[jfddoc]

@AriMargolis  I think some explanation of the "consume on/off" function would be good to go over.  

[mmeeks]

@AriMargolis - I was just looking at the consume on/off function and wandering what it was last night!

[rwwjr44]

When you select an album or construct a playlist the individual tracks are listed in the queue when “Consume On “ is selected each track is played and then removed from the queue. You only see the track that is playing and the remaining tracks. I use it all of the time.

[mmeeks]

@rwwjr44 - thanks for the info!

[SirAtilla]

For my fellow Aurender users I spent some time exploring the backups that can be created using Conductor V3.  I discovered while not necessarily the documented purpose of the feature I was able to successfully author a playlist on the computer and then restore to the Aurender essentially acting like an import.

 

I wrote up all the details in this blog article along with some other technical details about star ratings etc.

 

https://www.sound-lab.com/blog/aurender-playlists

[Ponzi]

Please pardon me if I am throwing too much of a curve ball here, but I have a different sort of question for our group.  It has to do with how difficult it is, for me anyway, to get recorded piano music to sound as good as  I would like it to sound.  Please understand that I could hardly be more pleased with my system (Aurender N10 and ASC-10, Luxman 900 series control and power amps, PS Audio Directstream DAC, Harbeth 40.2s, REL G2 subs, Kubala Sosna cables throughout, VPI turntable, Parasound phono amp, etc.).  I have things quite well dialed in I think.  The center fill, the sound staging, all of it, is better than I would have dared hope for.  There are surely much better systems out there, but really, I am often quite blown away by how good mine sounds.  I count myself lucky. 

 

Except when I put piano music on, which is often.  My complaint is not with the bottom 68 keys.   It is with the top 20, or maybe the top 15.  For some reason, those top keys tend, almost universally, to sound glaring, piercing.  Not so, however, when the same registers are played on other instruments.  It is true, I know, that even live, hammering D#, as in La Campanella, can be piecing in the same way.  So maybe it comes with the territory.  I would say, too, that is sometimes not so bothersome on my system, which I chalk up to power grid issues. 

 

What I think, however, is that these top piano keys are like the canary in a mine shaft.  They are telling us truths about our systems that other instruments hide.  So how does one deal with it?

 

And then there is this:  Generally, live piano music strikes us as less intimate than maybe we would like, more muffled or congealed.  I assume that is why it often gets miked.  We need to get closer to it.  Concert grands are so big for that same reason.  They are big for other reasons too, the over tones and such.  But no matter how big the piano gets, a tiny little violin dominates over it tonally.  Sit in the audience at an piano quintet and the piano is in the back ground.  I don't mean only physically but dynamically.  So, do sound engineers tweak things that results in glare?

 

I have come to prefer listening to piano music in my car.  It's almost like getting inside the instrument.  The glare is less, although still there.  I would say that the piano in the car sounds better but it is not how a piano really sounds, on an actual stage.  So am I just hoping for too much? 

 

Any thoughts or guidance would be much appreciated. 

[blugosi]

15 minutes ago, Ponzi said:I would say, too, that is sometimes not so bothersome on my system, which I chalk up to power grid issues. 

I have come to prefer listening to piano music in my car.  It's almost like getting inside the instrument.  The glare is less, although still there.  I would say that the piano in the car sounds better but it is not how a piano really sounds, on an actual stage.  So am I just hoping for too much? 

 

Any thoughts or guidance would be much appreciated. 

Since DAC and vinyl present the same issue, I will not raise a comment on the PS Audio DAC.

It seems you have reached , or exceeded, the limits of your room. You probably need room tuning.

 

[Vincent1234]

10 minutes ago, Ponzi said:

Please pardon me if I am throwing too much of a curve ball here, but I have a different sort of question for our group.  It has to do with how difficult it is, for me anyway, to get recorded piano music to sound as good as  I would like it to sound.  Please understand that I could hardly be more pleased with my system (Aurender N10 and ASC-10, Luxman 900 series control and power amps, PS Audio Directstream DAC, Harbeth 40.2s, REL G2 subs, Kubala Sosna cables throughout, VPI turntable, Parasound phono amp, etc.).  I have things quite well dialed in I think.  The center fill, the sound staging, all of it, is better than I would have dared hope for.  There are surely much better systems out there, but really, I am often quite blown away by how good mine sounds.  I count myself lucky. 

 

Except when I put piano music on, which is often.  My complaint is not with the bottom 68 keys.   It is with the top 20, or maybe the top 15.  For some reason, those top keys tend, almost universally, to sound glaring, piercing.  Not so, however, when the same registers are played on other instruments.  It is true, I know, that even live, hammering D#, as in La Campanella, can be piecing in the same way.  So maybe it comes with the territory.  I would say, too, that is sometimes not so bothersome on my system, which I chalk up to power grid issues. 

 

What I think, however, is that these top piano keys are like the canary in a mine shaft.  They are telling us truths about our systems that other instruments hide.  So how does one deal with it?

 

And then there is this:  Generally, live piano music strikes us as less intimate than maybe we would like, more muffled or congealed.  I assume that is why it often gets miked.  We need to get closer to it.  Concert grands are so big for that same reason.  They are big for other reasons too, the over tones and such.  But no matter how big the piano gets, a tiny little violin dominates over it tonally.  Sit in the audience at an piano quintet and the piano is in the back ground.  I don't mean only physically but dynamically.  So, do sound engineers tweak things that results in glare?

 

I have come to prefer listening to piano music in my car.  It's almost like getting inside the instrument.  The glare is less, although still there.  I would say that the piano in the car sounds better but it is not how a piano really sounds, on an actual stage.  So am I just hoping for too much? 

 

Any thoughts or guidance would be much appreciated. 

Well, that's a tough one.. 😬

My first guess would be to take a look at the DAC, maybe in combination with the Harbeths. There's a LOT of processing going on in the PS Audio and I've heard some people saying it's got some sort of unnatural glare in the higher tone regions. I haven't heard the PS Audio myself, so I really cannot comment on it myself. But if it's true it might be a sub-optimal match with your Harbeth tweeters. 

The rest of your system to me looks less likely to cause the glare you are talking about. But obviously there's a lot of if's and guessing from my side here.. 😉

[Vincent1234]

2 minutes ago, blugosi said:

Since DAC and vinyl present the same issue, I will not raise a comment on the PS Audio DAC.

It seems you have reached , or exceeded, the limits of your room. You probably need room tuning.

 

If indeed vinyl and DAC cause the same unnatural glare the issue would be likely in the Harbeth tweeters and/or the room.

[Ponzi]

The phenomena seems not to exist with vinyl, or to be much lower.  Also, I had the MSB Reference DAC in my house on loan for a while (it is a thing to beauty, BTW), and the glare seemed lower (even much lower) but not nonexistent. I would not have thought to single out the Harbeth  tweeters,  but that is worth looking into I suppose.  Let me add this too.  There are some recordings on which the glare is much worse, for example, Elisabeth Loenskaja's Chopin Nocturnes.  Mush less,  say, on Stewart Goodyear's "For Glenn Gould."  I hear it hardly at all on Angela Hewett's Art of the Fugue.

 

So one question might be:  Is recording the piano well tricky? 

[blugosi]

5 minutes ago, Ponzi said:

The phenomena seems not to exist with vinyl, or to be much lower.  Also, I had the MSB Reference DAC in my house on loan for a while (it is a thing to beauty, BTW), and the glare seemed lower (even much lower) but not nonexistent. I would not have thought to single out the Harbeth  tweeters,  but that is worth looking into I suppose.  Let me add this too.  There are some recordings on which the glare is much worse, for example, Elisabeth Loenskaja's Chopin Nocturnes.  Mush less,  say, on Stewart Goodyear's "For Glenn Gould."  I hear it hardly at all on Angela Hewett's Art of the Fugue.

 

So one question might be:  Is recording the piano well tricky? 

I would be extremely  surprised if the soft dome tweeter of the Harbeth would be the culprit.

It seems to me  you should start trying our other DACs.

[rwwjr44]

1 hour ago, Ponzi said:

The phenomena seems not to exist with vinyl, or to be much lower.  Also, I had the MSB Reference DAC in my house on loan for a while (it is a thing to beauty, BTW), and the glare seemed lower (even much lower) but not nonexistent. I would not have thought to single out the Harbeth  tweeters,  but that is worth looking into I suppose.  Let me add this too.  There are some recordings on which the glare is much worse, for example, Elisabeth Loenskaja's Chopin Nocturnes.  Mush less,  say, on Stewart Goodyear's "For Glenn Gould."  I hear it hardly at all on Angela Hewett's Art of the Fugue.

 

So one question might be:  Is recording the piano well tricky? 

 

It seems that you may have more than one contributor to your problem. If vinyl is better and the MSB is better, than one of the problems may be in the chain of cables and equipment leading to and including the speaker. Since the chain of of cables and equipment to and through your DAC seems to be a big contributor to the problem this may be your area of emphasis. You can always swap your cables (free if you use the Cable Company's lending library) but that may be your last recourse. Best of luck.

 

AND YES recording and reproducing the sound of a piano can be very difficult.

[Sounds2Good]

I fear we may be getting too afar afield, but I wanted to chime in to suggest I doubt the tweeters in the Harbeth 40.2 speakers are at fault for the "glare" in piano reproduction. I have these speakers and feel the tweeters are exemplary with their blend of detail and lack of fatigue inducing distortions. However, I have different electronics and other system components. I think I'd look into room treatments to damp first and second order reflections from the side walls and perhaps the ceiling if that hasn't been done already.

 

BTW, I'm interested in your thoughts on pairing the M40.2 speakers with REL sub-woofers. Perhaps you can message me so this topic doesn't stray too much further off.

[Ponzi]

The REL subs with the 40.2s is a great match.  I wish I had a better word.  I did not expect results like this.  If you are near west michigan I would be pleased to show you.  The G2s permit you to adjust both the crossover point and the volume.  With two subs, the trick is to cut the volume of each in half.  And set the crossover point low.  I have it at 28 cycles. The result is that the subs disappear.  There is no “big box in the room” phenomenon.  Yet, there is a foundation to the music that is intoxicatingly.  When Starker plays a low note with full bow, your chest vibrates, just like instrument we’re in the room with you. The base on Nora Jones’ “Painter” is present for the first time.  You will be shocked by what you were missing.  BTW, get the G2s or the bigger ones.  They are made in Whales.  All the others are not.  

[Blakcloud]

I have sent Aurender the same question but maybe some of you can answer it quicker. I am selling one of my two Aurender music servers and the potential buyer doesn't live in North America. They are wondering if it can be converted to 220 volts. I know much of our equipment is not capable but my NAD M2 integrated amp can be either or, so what about the Aurender N100H?