The "Official" Aurender Discussion Thread

[isquirrel]

Okay have tested both high and low res Bit Perfect test tracks they all come up Bit Perfect Pass makes NO difference whether the MQA unfold switch is on or off.

 

So that means that no normal low or high res files are being affected in any way by the MQA unfold switch.

 

The only files which are affected and are upsampled are MQA files only.

 

There you have it.

[isquirrel]

12 hours ago, Foxman50 said:

 

Many thanks isquirrel for posting your findings. This is good news, and while it is the expected outcome, well its better to be safe than sorry. Thanks again for taking the time.

 

just out of interest how does the DAC know it’s a bit perfect rip.......

MSB have a built in system whereby you play from whatever your source is, in my case a W20 and the DAC knows from the MSB supplied Bit Perfect Test files wherever it has completed a Bit Perfect success or fail, the display once the file is played, comes up with Pass or Fail on it. 

[isquirrel]

10 hours ago, rwwjr44 said:

So they sound the same whether the MQA unfold switch is on or off?

Yes for non MQA files

[isquirrel]

Its not on line, the files are on MSB web site under support for the Select DAC. You download them and play them from your source and watch the screen on the DAC. There are no use to anyone who doesn't have a MSB DAC. 

[isquirrel]

14 hours ago, Vincent1234 said:

I agree that the N10 is great. However in my setup the W20 was a very big step up indeed and much more so than I expected. Much more analogue sounding, more quietness and blackness during soft or quiet passages, leading to more microdetails, more sound, detail and better soundstaging. Of course all will depend on the quality of ones own system.

My findings also, however the feature that sealed the W20 purchase was the Word Clock function which allows you to slave the Aurenders clock to your DAC's clock. Given my MSB Select has the optional Femto 33 clock it is much more accurate than the Aurenders clocks.

[isquirrel]

1 hour ago, Vincent1234 said:

Of course you are fully right. That goes for each and every component in your system, so a very expensive one as the W20 is no exception by any means. It all comes down to synergy. But in a high-spec system it literally took me 5 seconds (in a piece of Arvo Pärt) to be stunned by the improvement compared to my N10. I'm not exaggerating.

I can attest to that, I prefer to use AES 110ohm and Word Clock 75ohm BNC cables for my W20 to DAC connection, but the USB connection I have been exploring since the latest update for MQA files and I find USB with a cheaper cable to be within 90% of my expensive AES setup. BTW the word clock works for both connections.

 

I also added 4 x HRS Vortex feet and removed the standard feet and that made a very nice improvement.

[isquirrel]

Both HD Tracks and QOBUZ allow you to download in a number of formats. I always choose .AIFF as it sound the same as WAV is uncompressed and allows for easier tagging. QOBUZ allows you to download your files again in a different format.

[isquirrel]

New software available for all Aurender users. Upgraded mine just now and the system software to 4.13.31app software is now 2.9.7 (122) will advise of any changes to SQ etc.

[isquirrel]

See here for changes 

 

https://www.aurender.com/blog/new-software-release-note-4/post/system-sw-4-5-13-31-app-2-9-7-122-197

[isquirrel]

I can report that finally for me, streaming from Tidal is working with zero issues, beforehand I could not get my W20 + Tidal to stream.

[isquirrel]

8 hours ago, rwwjr44 said:

Conductor 3.0 on the way sometime this year????

 

Hopefully and with a modern makeover.

 

I have been exploring the benefits or otherwise of a Network Renderer as my MSB DAC now offers one with Roon Core on it. Having spoken at length to numerous industry friends as to the benefits of using a Network Renderer over a W20 using 110ohm AES and a 75ohm clock link. Not one person thinks it is even worth considering. The only time when you would use such a setup is for practicle reasons having a NAS drive located in a media roon but wanting to gain access to the files. I did work a small setup and the W20 with AES and clock link crushed it for SQ.

[isquirrel]

I have a W20 coupled to a MSB Select II DAC. I use the AES 110 ohm single connection and the word clock is synced via a 75 ohm BNC cable. Both cables are Shunyata's top end Sigma's which sound excellent and are an improvement over the Transparent Gen 5 cables which we used previously.

 

I have noticed that a couple off posts here have stated that the 75 ohm SPDIF connection is superior when using a single cable. I am trying to get some more information on this. I can also use the word clock with the 75 ohm SPDIF connection.

 

I do not have a spare 75 ohm SPDIF cable to try this out. 

 

Can anyone who has experience with this comment on their experience and the impact it has on Sound Quality please?

[isquirrel]

On 10/26/2019 at 12:48 PM, Custodian said:

I agree that footers make a significant difference. Also damping plates on top of the Aurender can help sound  quality. I use HRS support (equipment rack plus feet) and the HRS damping plates. All make a worthwhile difference for my W20.

I use the new HRS footers sitting on a HRS TOTL base MX3R on a Reference stand. The footers really helped SQ. 

[isquirrel]

I notice a nice SQ increase with the latest firmware on my W20. I noticed whilst it was upgrading that it also upgraded the FPGA. Anyone else noticed it?

[isquirrel]

I am not having any issues with playing High Res files, I have tested all the way up to 24/192 PCM and all is fine.

 

On another issue, I am about to upgrade my Aurender W20 to a Taiko Extreme which is a fair bit more expensive. My W20 is immaculate and available for sale. Colour is Silver. I have all the original packaging, box and manuals etc. PM me if you have any interest. 

 

 

[isquirrel]

2 hours ago, rwwjr44 said:

I use dBpowerAmp on my computer and it seems fine. I make sure the CD is clean and I degauss before ripping. I also rip to uncompressed FLAC. I have done a few thousand CDs this way and the results are very good. I really don’t know if deguassing does much good but it is now part of the ritual and doesn’t appear to do any harm. 🖖🏽 YMMV.

Could you explain your "degaussing" technique to us please?

 

I am interested. Thanks.

 

[isquirrel]

14 hours ago, bbosler said:

thanks everyone for the input and advice. So the search continues. Looks like a Roon server is the best option, not that I couldn't live without the library management even though I do really like Roon radio, but I am not going to give up the convolution filters. . The Innuos Statement looks like a candidate,, or just go old school and get the Nucleus

 

I have an Aurender W20 with MQA and used the 50 ohm Shunyata Clock cabers and AES 110 ohm signal cable. The Taiko Extreme unfortunately blows it away and the W20SE. The Taiko Extreme if you have the budget is a game changing product, first time I have heard my Digital system sound like my Rockport Sirius III TT but better! 

 

I understand Taiko are working on a lower priced model which retains 90% of the sound of the Extreme. They were going to release it at the Munich show..... ITs worth talking to Emile from Taiko about it. Here is his number ‭+31 6 50 60 12 37‬. They run Roon Core on their Servers and I love Roon and the ability to deep search for music and that's what its all about at the end of the day. PM me if you need help.