The "Official" Aurender Discussion Thread

[ken6217]

7 hours ago, HDgeorge said:

If you wish to use a UPS though, there is a solution to avoid its negatives by using a Torus PB2 powerblock after the UPS. This way Torus provides clean AC unaffected by the UPS.

 

so, the route is : UPS —> Torus PB2 —> AURENDER.

 

In any case using a Torus powerblock powering an Aurender unit and other front end units as well, it makes the sound better. More substantial, with bigger soundstage and depth and more natural sounding.

Highly recommended.

I would demo first before buying. I never listened to this unit, but aI found that anything that I put into the chain will make it sound different. Sometimes better, and sometimes worse. It depends on your perspective and how you like to hear your music. 

 

[ken6217]

Now that I have my N20 up and running, I connected and setup my ACS100. However I cannot find where to change the ripping settings. 

[merge03]

It seems that a lot of people are concerned about disk failure/corruption in their audio gear due to various types of power interruptions.  I think these concerns are a little inflated.

 

Losing power during disk writes "can sometimes" result in an unrecoverable disk.  Linux fdisk, combined with modern caching drives, are a pretty robust system.  But not 100% failure proof.  Any system may exec fdisk if a prior power interruption is detected on startup.  Whether it is needed or not.  But in general, if the system wasn't writing to the disk during the power loss event, it's not an issue.

 

From an ownership perspective, it's easier to just make the Aurender a simple copy of your master music library.  And to also have a discrete backup of the master music library.  That way if you ever lose the Aurender copy, just make a fresh copy of the master library.  Linux rsync works great for this.  A PC copy works too (just mount both the Aurender and the master library).  Never treat the Aurender as the master copy of the library (very bad idea). 

 

Just skip the UPS entirely.  A solid backup strategy trumps a UPS any day for data protection & disaster recovery.

 

At work we found UPS technology to be unreliable and an environmental headache.  When you really need a UPS, they frequently don't work as hoped.  They aren't entirely without utility in a computer lab environment though, but good, large, flow through UPS systems are more of a headache than they are worth in a home environment.  Any UPS requires careful management, regular testing and maintenance, if you really need to rely on it for guaranteed uptime.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

13 minutes ago, merge03 said:

Any UPS requires careful management, regular testing and maintenance, if you really need to rely on it for guaranteed uptime.

Yup. Nothing sadder than calling on the UPS you were depending on only to find it's not working as required...and sadder still: it's your fault for not doing the routine maintenance, testing/auditing, etc. Those are stressful conversations...

[edje]

I am very curious which DAC you use with the N20. I now own an A10, and wonder if switching to an N20 with, for example, a Chord Qutest DAC would give a significant upgrade.

Or would the Qutest form a mismatch in terms of sound quality, and would it be a better option to go to a X100 with a better DAC like the DCS Bartok?

[ken6217]

14 minutes ago, edje said:

I am very curious which DAC you use with the N20. I now own an A10, and wonder if switching to an N20 with, for example, a Chord Qutest DAC would give a significant upgrade.

Or would the Qutest form a mismatch in terms of sound quality, and would it be a better option to go to a X100 with a better DAC like the DCS Bartok?

Of course everyone’s tastes are different. Some people like the clinical and analytical sound, and other people like more of a warm detail sound that’s not in your face. 
 

I’m not a Chord fan. That’s just me though. Bartok of course is in a whole other league. 
 

I’m a fan of R2R ladder NOS DAC’s. 
 

 

[michaelD]

Try a Bricasti M3, 12 or M21

[Vincent1234]

1 hour ago, edje said:

I am very curious which DAC you use with the N20. I now own an A10, and wonder if switching to an N20 with, for example, a Chord Qutest DAC would give a significant upgrade.

Or would the Qutest form a mismatch in terms of sound quality, and would it be a better option to go to a X100 with a better DAC like the DCS Bartok?

In your case I would indeed think about a better DAC (the Bartók is great!) first. Indeed the X100 could then be a good next move. I started with the X100L myself, then moved to the N10 and then to the W20. All are significant upgrades, but in your case I would think it would be more logical to start with a better DAC as the foundation first.

[edje]

Do you think that the Bartók with x100 will be a serious upgrade over the A10? I am not looking 

for a small update off course with this kind of money involved.

[ken6217]

3 minutes ago, edje said:

Do you think that the Bartók with x100 will be a serious upgrade over the A10? I am not looking 

for a small update off course with this kind of money involved.

That’s an understatement. 

[ken6217]

Well my ACS100 will be short lived. I decided to upgrade the audio on my motorcycle. I'll just go back to ripping CD's on my. computer and use the money from the sale towards the bike. I am going to list the ACS100 for sale if anyone is interested. It's 5 days old.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Not sure if anyone else has this "issue" but I'll post it anyway. I'd love for the person tabs in Qobuz to be accessible without scrolling. When I use Qobuz, I frequently go to the stuff I purchased or have in my favorites. I really don't care about many of the other tabs. 

 

Perhaps the ability to drag and drop the tabs to reorder them would be even better :~)

 

 

 

 

[udis]

5 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Not sure if anyone else has this "issue" but I'll post it anyway. I'd love for the person tabs in Qobuz to be accessible without scrolling. When I use Qobuz, I frequently go to the stuff I purchased or have in my favorites. I really don't care about many of the other tabs. 

 

Perhaps the ability to drag and drop the tabs to reorder them would be even better :~)

 

 

 

 

I agree. it seems that the most relevant ux tabs (Fav. Purchased) are the ones most hidden and require unnecessary scrolling. 

[Vincent1234]

23 hours ago, edje said:

Do you think that the Bartók with x100 will be a serious upgrade over the A10? I am not looking 

for a small update off course with this kind of money involved.

As indicated by Ken: the Bartók is one hell of a DAC. So yes, it will be a huge upgrade. Considering the X100: if your budget allows you could consider listening to an N10 too (maybe a used one!) or even an N20. The N10 does sound considerably better than the X100 (which uses an SMPS instead of an LPS). But again, it's about budget. The N10/N20 would be a great match with the Bartók, but you could also be happy with an X100.

[P951C]

You also can use the A10 with the Bartók. I use my A10 with a Moon 750D is a beautiful combination.

[AurenderAmerica]

3 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I'd love for the personal tabs in Qobuz to be accessible without scrolling.

@The Computer Audiophile I agree 100%. I will log this thoughtful feature request with Aurender's software team.

 

By the way, as a general note to the community here: Conductor Version 4 is currently in development. It is still in an early phase of development, but it's a real thing! I've seen it! It's a true cross-platform app (as opposed to the current version for which we have completely different apps for iOS and Android). As such, we will be able to add and change features much more efficiently. In the meantime, there will be very little focus on non-essential app changes for the current Version 3, with all development resources being dedicated to the forthcoming new version. 

 

Now is a great time for feature requests for Version 4...we have a lot up our sleeve already, and I do always log feature requests when I say I do, but further user feedback is always most welcome!

[AurenderAmerica]

11 minutes ago, Vincent1234 said:

The N10 does sound considerably better than the X100 (which uses an SMPS instead of an LPS)

Right, X100[L] is a great sounding digital transport. It has the same filtered & isolated USB audio port found on other Aurender models. But, due to its relatively basic power supply, it is out-shined by every other Aurender model from an audio performance perspective, with the exception of ACS100 (which uses an outboard SMPS power supply and does not use Aurender's hallmark USB Audio port). 

 

6 minutes ago, P951C said:

You also can use the A10 with the Bartók. I use my A10 with a Moon 750D is a beautiful combination.

True, A10 is simply an N100 + a DAC section. If you have a use for the Analog Outputs from A10, by all means, it's also a great digital transport. However, if you do not intend to use the Analog Outputs, obviously you'd save your budget and go for an N100 series digital-only source component. 

[udis]

4 minutes ago, AriMargolis said:

@The Computer Audiophile I agree 100%. I will log this thoughtful feature request with Aurender's software team.

 

By the way, as a general note to the community here: Conductor Version 4 is currently in development. It is still in an early phase of development, but it's a real thing! I've seen it! It's a true cross-platform app (as opposed to the current version for which we have completely different apps for iOS and Android). As such, we will be able to add and change features much more efficiently. In the meantime, there will be very little focus on non-essential app changes for the current Version 3, with all development resources being dedicated to the forthcoming new version. 

 

Now is a great time for feature requests for Version 4...we have a lot up our sleeve already, and I do always log feature requests when I say I do, but further user feedback is always most welcome!

Hi Ari, here's my short wish list:

1. sort by "most played"
2. favorite a whole album and be able to use the yellow star to view list
3. ability to toggle different cover art size (I prefer slightly larger than current)
4. res/format indicator in covert art grid (I have multiple versions of the same album - currently, need to click on each to decide which res)
5. customize the "pills"  - "All" | "Steaming" etc. when viewing local files
6. combine view of qobuz/tidal with local files.

[ken6217]

23 minutes ago, Vincent1234 said:

As indicated by Ken: the Bartók is one hell of a DAC. So yes, it will be a huge upgrade. Considering the X100: if your budget allows you could consider listening to an N10 too (maybe a used one!) or even an N20. The N10 does sound considerably better than the X100 (which uses an SMPS instead of an LPS). But again, it's about budget. The N10/N20 would be a great match with the Bartók, but you could also be happy with an X100.

The N20 is significantly better sounding than the N10. I’ve owned the N10 and have the N20. 

[tms]

I'm very interested in a comparison of the N20 and W20se. Does anyone here have thoughts or experiences to share? Currently have N10, which I like, going to Benchmark DAC3B (which I also like), but considering an upgrade to one of the above. Thanks in advance!

[ken6217]

I haven't compared the two, however I was all set to buy the W20se and called Aurender to ask their opinion of the two. They told me that the bass was more refined on the W20se, but the N20 bass was more pronounced and fuller. He said if you like listening to Rock type music that I might prefer the N20. I bought the N20. Sounds amazing with less than 100 hours on it.

[AurenderAmerica]

9 minutes ago, tms said:

I'm very interested in a comparison of the N20 and W20se. Does anyone here have thoughts or experiences to share? Currently have N10, which I like, going to Benchmark DAC3B (which I also like), but considering an upgrade to one of the above. Thanks in advance!

I normally try to stay out of these types of conversations as people seem to view manufacturer's or rep's comments on these matters with some cynicism. But, it occurs to me that very few listeners will really be in a position to do a thorough comparison the way I have. So, I will share my personal opinion here. Take it or leave it!

 

In my system, N20 is a LOT closer to W20SE than N10. I will not attempt to quantify it in numbers or percentages, but suffice it to say that after being totally spoiled by W20SE, I could happily live with N20 without an overwhelming itch to upgrade. I can't say the same for N10, though of course it is still an AWESOME way to listen to music! 

 

W20SE is easily the best digital source component I have ever heard, bar none. It is conspicuously quieter, more relaxed, more transparent, and more detailed than anything else I have heard. Even if you aren't using the unique dual AES/EBU output and clock input features, the battery power supply contributes to its impeccable ease and flow on every output, including USB. It is a thing of great beauty and simplicity!

 

I will admit that I was a little skeptical when I first learned of W20SE's product development. How could it be better than the original W20?! The moment I auditioned W20SE in my system, I realized how wrong I was!  As some reviewers have noted, it is such a significant improvement over the original W20 that a brand new model name instead of the "SE" add on would not have been inappropriate. 

 

Now, again, N20 is quite close to W20SE in audio performance. Perhaps it even has more "jump" and saturation to it, but it lacks W20SE's supremely relaxed and effortless presentation. Only a direct side-by-side comparison to W20SE would leave any listener wishing for better performance than what N20 delivers. N20's 8.8" color screen is absolutely gorgeous...a major plus for those who consider visual aesthetics important in their system. 

 

N20 and W20SE are both significant steps up from N10. You will hear the difference immediately without doing a side-by-side comparison. If and when you are bored enough to do that A/B comparison, you will notice even more tangible differences in soundstage, noise floor, precision and clarity. 

[agladstone]

That is an excellent explanation and description of the differences between models Ari! 
There is a career as a professional reviewer in your future! 

[AurenderAmerica]

21 minutes ago, agladstone said:

There is a career as a professional reviewer in your future! 

@agladstonehaha thanks bud. It sure would be fun to get to spend quality time with a variety of fun audio toys!

[michaelD]

Yes Ari great explanation!!