The "Official" Aurender Discussion Thread

[AurenderAmerica]

@udis you can find all release notes here (and there's a link to access this page on Aurender.com): https://www.notion.so/aurenderteam/Public-Release-Note-3f6678a5745d401895e64c7c848c2e8e

[udis]

44 minutes ago, AriMargolis said:

@udis you can find all release notes here (and there's a link to access this page on Aurender.com): https://www.notion.so/aurenderteam/Public-Release-Note-3f6678a5745d401895e64c7c848c2e8e

 

Thank you. update V.4.21.266 for W20SE seems to be significant. Are you able to elaborate on this improvement? "Improved the sound quality of AES/SPDIF signal with updated FGPA firmware"

[tungbim83]

Has anyone here had a problem with the Aurender?

Right now I'm having a problem with the N100. I emailed support to Aurender but it's been 2 days since I haven't received any response?

Usually, how often will they respond?

[The Computer Audiophile]

23 minutes ago, tungbim83 said:

Has anyone here had a problem with the Aurender?

Right now I'm having a problem with the N100. I emailed support to Aurender but it's been 2 days since I haven't received any response?

Usually, how often will they respond?

It's a national holiday here in the US, so I'm guessing @AriMargolis has some time off. 

[tungbim83]

I think Aurender's technical support team is based in Korea?

[Anonamemouse]

39 minutes ago, tungbim83 said:

I think Aurender's technical support team is based in Korea?

It is, and in California, and in Spain. 

[AurenderAmerica]

Yes, I work for Aurender America and primarily handle North American support cases. I receive and assign cases that come in to [email protected] and help out with simple questions from customers in other countries from time to time as well. But, Aurender has support reps for the rest of the world to more efficiently support customers and dealers. @tungbim83 I see you sent 5 emails yesterday and I have left a note to our Asian support rep that you are expecting a response. I'm sure you will hear from them soon. Thank you very much!

[tungbim83]

5 hours ago, AriMargolis said:

Có, tôi làm việc cho Aurender America và chủ yếu xử lý các trường hợp hỗ trợ ở Bắc Mỹ. Tôi nhận và chỉ định các trường hợp gửi đến [email protected] và thỉnh thoảng cũng giúp giải đáp các câu hỏi đơn giản từ khách hàng ở các quốc gia khác. Tuy nhiên, Aurender có các đại diện hỗ trợ cho phần còn lại của thế giới để hỗ trợ khách hàng và đại lý hiệu quả hơn. @ tungbim83 Tôi thấy bạn đã gửi 5 email vào ngày hôm qua và tôi đã để lại lời nhắn cho đại diện hỗ trợ châu Á của chúng tôi rằng bạn đang mong đợi phản hồi. Tôi chắc rằng bạn sẽ sớm nhận được phản hồi từ họ. Cảm ơn rât nhiều!

 

Thank you so much!

[Anonamemouse]

Yay! My new toy finally arrived! 
First challenge... How do I connect my NAS using Android... I don't get the "Connect manually" option in the NAS part of the settings. 

[kilroy]

@AriMargolis Ari, we all appreciate your help, my only help request was a while back and you were on top of it.

Are you in a position to speak about the app design, or is there anyone else. That's my sole complaint, in that it seems fairly basic and has not too many options for the music interface itself. I'm coming from using JRiver for many years and to Aurender just this year, but what I've given up in the JRiver app for options and flexibility pains me. In Conductor, for example, there's not even a basic ability to look at a file tag. Just having that would be a big benefit. And the user control, all in the top square inch of space, the fast forward is unusable and the other controls are tiny, why can't this be improved for easier use? There's more, but I'm not trying to pile it on. And not trying to put you on the spot at all, just my thoughts. Maybe you could pass this along, or have someone else get in touch if they're interested. Any other users that agree please chime in as well.

[Anonamemouse]

6 hours ago, kilroy said:

@AriMargolis Ari, we all appreciate your help, my only help request was a while back and you were on top of it.

Are you in a position to speak about the app design, or is there anyone else. That's my sole complaint, in that it seems fairly basic and has not too many options for the music interface itself. I'm coming from using JRiver for many years and to Aurender just this year, but what I've given up in the JRiver app for options and flexibility pains me. In Conductor, for example, there's not even a basic ability to look at a file tag. Just having that would be a big benefit. And the user control, all in the top square inch of space, the fast forward is unusable and the other controls are tiny, why can't this be improved for easier use? There's more, but I'm not trying to pile it on. And not trying to put you on the spot at all, just my thoughts. Maybe you could pass this along, or have someone else get in touch if they're interested. Any other users that agree please chime in as well.

I do think it is "interesting" how Aurender builds such phenomenal streamers but expects us to control them with such crappy apps. I honestly don't understand why companies like Aurender continues to be dead set on designing their own apps, when apps like JRiver exist and with some adaptations can easily be used to operate anything. We spend thousands of dollars on this gear, how hard can it be to pick up the phone, call JRiver Inc (+1 612 677 8200) and make things happen... 

As mentioned yesterday my N100SC arrived yesterday. I do not own an iPad and am now suffering through the Android version of the app, which I really think is a total abomination, there is no excuse for it whatsoever. I can't even manually add a path to my NAS! 

Even the bluesound app is better than the Aurender one... 

[rwwjr44]

Concerning the Conductor app.

 

I think (conjecture here) Aurender and many other "streamer" manufacturers build apps that are purposely less complicated and powerful than JRiver and similar apps. Aurender equipment is not aimed at the person who wishes to finely control the software (meta data and such). Sure it would be nice to have more control within Conductor but with more control and power comes more complications. Sometimes I long for past versions of JRiver where it was simple to get things done and not have to revert to the "support" system and try to get it done. 

 

The Conductor app is (IMHO) sufficient for its purpose. Playing music without undue complications and without a stiff learning curve. Just what many purchasers of High-End equipment want. In fact, there are some people that think it is too complicated.

 

The fact that the Android version is said to be poor a legitimate concern and should be fixed.

[Mazza]

10 minutes ago, rwwjr44 said:

The Conductor app is (IMHO) sufficient for its purpose. Playing music without undue complications and without a stiff learning curve. Just what many purchasers of High-End equipment want

 

+1

 

if I want to edit meta data, I use a dedicated app. I use audirvana on my pc for playback and it would never even occur to me to use it for meta data manipulation and I don’t remember that being raised as an issue by its users.
 

Please aurender, keep it focused, like it currently is! That’s my vote!

[The Computer Audiophile]

I like JRiver Media Center. I like Aurender Conductor. I wouldn’t like JRMC running on an Aurender server. 

[Ponzi]

Having just replaced my N10 with a W20SE, I offer these initial impressions about how these two machines compare.

 

I have listened to Glen Gould’s Goldberg Variations (1982 recording) easily 200 times.  An acquaintance of mine once asked, upon hearing this recording for the first time, “is that a harpsichord?” The question annoyed me, but I said “no, it’s a piano, although tuned and played in a particular way.” The same person asked me the same question when hearing this recording for a second time.  I was even more annoyed.  But the truth is that the recording sounds like, if not a harpsichord, then not exactly a piano either.  

 

When I played this recording through the W20SE, Gould was playing a piano. I could have wept.  Really, the middle registers were fuller and rounder.  The overall upper register tilt of the recording was abated.  Actually, it was still there but other energy around the notes was added. Or revealed.  It was as if the lid on the piano had been raised.  Gould’s left hand, always a marvel, was more so.  Right then and there I set aside the worry that I was chasing too tittle improvement with too much money.

 

But then . . .

 

I played “For unto us a child is born” on the Hyperion recording, conducted by Stephen Layton.  I love this recording for is it intimacy.  It sounds like chamber music.  Close, delicate, beautiful.  That, anyway, is how the N10 presented it.  Through the W20SE, however, this charming presentation was gone.  There was more but less.  Mind you, this is a first impression.  I need more time to sort things out.  But I like the Handel better through the N10.

 

So I played Chick Corea Trilogy 2, the 500  Miles High cut.  Oh my!!!  I laughed out loud.  What a delight.  Some of the rim shots caused me to duck.  

 

So here is my initial assessment.  These two machines are both outstanding.  That thing we hi-fi folks are searching for is in the W20Se, more than the N10, but no lover of music could be unhappy with the N10. It remains a singular delight.  

 

How nice it is to have a choice where one can’t go wrong.  

 

 

[MarkusBarkus]

For my use, I think the Conductor app is fine. I have used JRiver in the past, which was also good for me. 
 

I appreciate the easy learning curve and good overall functionality. (Of Conductor)

 

I used to manage software dev projects, develop new projects, etc. and given the choice, I wouldn't shoe-horn someone else's app into "my" streamer, as I would lose control of "my" vision, and now be impacted by another company's vision, dev cycles, budget, etc.

 

Is the Conductor app missing some of the top-level features of other apps? Maybe, but only if you crave/value those features, IMO. I like the "closed" eco-system, and it's a

major reason why I bought Aurender. 

[merge03]

I'm quite happy with the Conductor App on my iPad.  It serves its purpose of selecting an queuing music to listen to quite well.

 

When I need to manage our storage and other IT tasks, I use the desktop machine.  Personally, I would hate to see Aurender pollute the simplicity and reliability of the Conductor App.  I also agree with prior comments that all that extra code should not be executed on an embedded RTOS.

[Anonamemouse]

3 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I like JRiver Media Center. I like Aurender Conductor. I wouldn’t like JRMC running on an Aurender server. 

So do I.

I want the functionality of JRiver, but not the mysery of having it running as a server on my streamer (or anywhere else). What I would like to see is that Aurender takes care of the hardware (because I LOVE the sound of my new toy, even though I had to slide in an SSD to get some music from it, I cannot connect to the NAS through the Android app), and then have a company with over 40 years of experience in this field to design the software running and controlling it.

For some reason every company is dead set on re-inventing the wheel, and more often than not the new wheel is triangular... 

 

 

3 hours ago, Mazza said:

+1

 

if I want to edit meta data, I use a dedicated app. I use audirvana on my pc for playback and it would never even occur to me to use it for meta data manipulation and I don’t remember that being raised as an issue by its users.
 

Please aurender, keep it focused, like it currently is! That’s my vote!

Metadata editing is not something this app should do, that is what software like Tag&Rename is for. But a normal functioning app for Android would be really really nice. I don't want to spend another few 100 on a fruit tablet which I won't use for anything else.

 

 

[michaelD]

Ponzi I agree totally with your assessment of the W20SE.  I too started with the N10 and loved that unit then moved on the W20 and now the W20SE.  Both large steps up from the N10 each time.  I've more recently been listening to it in the Critical Listening mode and find that that adds just a bit more resolution.  However I did try the upscaling that the reviewer in TAS did and rave about but did not hear much difference so I'm back to no upscaling.  Be interested in hearing your comments on these options.

 

As far as the Conductor app I agree with merge03 and some others its designed to be less complicated so yes there maybe some things you can't do but just because you could was it necessary?  the iPhone app is flawless so far for me also by the way.

[Ponzi]

Michael:

 

I will have to look into the critical listening mode.  Thanks for pointing it out to me.  MMC

[MarkusBarkus]

I have been using the critical listening mode for almost a year with ACS10 and I seem to find a little clarity on some files or streaming.
 

I find no down-side to the feature, so why not?

 

I was interested to read community

comments on the SE upscaling, as I use a DAVE and HMS. I was considering looking for the previous model, feeling the upscaling was a redundancy in my system.

[kilroy]

Regarding Conductor, I'm not looking to manage my library with it, just looking for basic functionality of reading tags and changing the play controls to something a bit more usable. I have multiple versions of some recordings, and aside from the catalog number there's just no way to tell which is which unless you memorize them. But all my tags (made in Tag n Rename usually) contain all this info. That's why tag reading would be such a benefit.

[Mazza]

On 12/3/2020 at 1:33 PM, MarkusBarkus said:

I appreciate the easy learning curve and good overall functionality. (Of Conductor)

 

I used to manage software dev projects, develop new projects, etc. and given the choice, I wouldn't shoe-horn someone else's app into "my" streamer, as I would lose control of "my" vision, and now be impacted by another company's vision, dev cycles, budget, etc.

 

@markusbarkus ..... absolutely spot-on 

 

IIRC this was the fundamental reason given by Aurender for the development of Conductor; ie not being tied to someone else's technology as a minority stakeholder and the associated loss of control of the impact/influence on Aurender's product's!

 

Albeit, those Aurender comments were made in the context of 'why not Roon?'; but it gives some insight as to why-not. 

[Mazza]

1 hour ago, kilroy said:

Regarding Conductor, I'm not looking to manage my library with it, just looking for basic functionality of reading tags and changing the play controls to something a bit more usable. I have multiple versions of some recordings, and aside from the catalog number there's just no way to tell which is which unless you memorize them. But all my tags (made in Tag n Rename usually) contain all this info. That's why tag reading would be such a benefit.

 

As a 'fix' ... perhaps could alter the 'genre' meta-data? to replicate the indexing/grouping/tags that is needed?

 

[Anonamemouse]

29 minutes ago, Mazza said:

 

@markusbarkus ..... absolutely spot-on 

 

IIRC this was the fundamental reason given by Aurender for the development of Conductor; ie not being tied to someone else's technology as a minority stakeholder and the associated loss of control of the impact/influence on Aurender's product's!

 

Albeit, those Aurender comments were made in the context of 'why not Roon?'; but it gives some insight as to why-not. 

There is quite a difference between a "hostile Roon takeover" and asking another company to develop and design an integral part of the end product according to your set specifications. There are very few loudspeaker builders that actually manufacture their own woofers, mid units or tweeters. Those usually are built by a third party to specifications. 

 

I was an internet developer for little over a decade. I worked on the very first version of the online banking site for the Bank of Canada. They told us what they wanted, we built it, they tested it, we tweaked it (repeat quite a few times), and in the end released a site they were happy with and which worked pretty well given the early stages of doing things like online banking. 

There really isn't much difference here. Stick to what you do well (banking // build streamers), and have other people do what they do well (build websites for online banking // build user interfaces).