The "Official" Aurender Discussion Thread

[r_w]

Good Job... enjoy!

 

;-)

 

The new Aurender N10 music server is installed in the studio sound system making sweet music.

[r_w]

Agree,

 

I really would love to compare my N100 setup against an N10.

 

 

 

It's a good point though, and I certainly would be very interested if someone from Aurender (or a technically knowledgeable dealer) would step in here and explain to us if there are different technical solutions applied in the several Aurender models w.r.t. USB implementation and isolation. It's clear the more expensive units sound even better, but some more technical reasons why would be great info for this forum! [emoji4]

 

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[Vincent1234]

Agree,

 

I really would love to compare my N100 setup against an N10.

So would I. [emoji6]

 

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[r_w]

I think next year I'll see if I can get a home demo N10 for a few days so I can do this much needed comparison.

 

 

So would I. [emoji6]

 

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[Vincent1234]

I think next year I'll see if I can get a home demo N10 for a few days so I can do this much needed comparison.

Let me know, I'm really curious! [emoji4]

 

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[Yippedidou]

Hi all. First post here. I had a X100L for the past 2 years, sold it last week. Loved it but I now need something with a dac and balanced outputs. So I'm looking closely at the A10 but I can't find any reviews or comments on its performance, especially the dac part. Why is that? Anyone tried it yet?

Thanks in advance for the replies

[Vincent1234]

Hi all. First post here. I had a X100L for the past 2 years, sold it last week. Loved it but I now need something with a dac and balanced outputs. So I'm looking closely at the A10 but I can't find any reviews or comments on its performance, especially the dac part. Why is that? Anyone tried it yet?

Thanks in advance for the replies

It's still pretty new, so formal reviews will probably take a bit more time to appear. My dealer just received it and they were pretty happy with its performance, although it will need some more playing time to properly settle in.

 

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[bmichels]

Hi all. First post here. I had a X100L for the past 2 years, sold it last week. Loved it but I now need something with a dac and balanced outputs. So I'm looking closely at the A10 but I can't find any reviews or comments on its performance, especially the dac part. Why is that? Anyone tried it yet?

Thanks in advance for the replies

 

I will also be VERY interested to know how well the A10's Internal DAC compares with TOL external DACs.

[russellbobby]

Just installed a A10 this weekend. Will have plenty of updates coming...

[Vincent1234]

I will also be VERY interested to know how well the A10's Internal DAC compares with TOL external DACs.

That will certainly depend on your definition of 'TOL external DAC's'. [emoji6]

 

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[russellbobby]

Ok so just a little back ground. Started about 3 years ago getting serious again about audio. Started with a Mac Mini- Eastern Electric Dac combo( not the supreme, the top one prior). Found the Mac to be to confusing and glitchy for my limited computer knowledge. Then tried a Bryston BDP-1 which reminded me of the early days of CD, kinda flat and un-involving. From there I went with an Oppo Modwright tube DAC and a top Auralic Aries Streamer. Ok... ease of use, petty good sound. The Aries would change signatures with every software upgrade. Very detailed but forward sound.

Then I checked out an Aurender N100S (Solid state internal storage drive). Yea here you go .. laid back easy to listen too.. no fatigue.

 

Then I heard about the A10 late last year and thought how cool it would be to have a 1 box solution, but had my doubts it could match or exceed the Modwright/N100S combo but sure would clean up the rack.

 

Just installed on Saturday. First tried as a stand alone directly into the Odyssey Kismet Mono Blocks. Sounds pretty good out of the box. Most folks would be very happy with the sound. I now have plugged it in to the Modwright 9.0 anniversary pre-amp and will report back as I can spend more time with it. ( early results are outstanding).

My dealer offered me a 30 day trial period and all I do is pay for return shipping if I am not happy. Cant beat that!!

[Vincent1234]

Ok so just a little back ground. Started about 3 years ago getting serious again about audio. Started with a Mac Mini- Eastern Electric Dac combo( not the supreme, the top one prior). Found the Mac to be to confusing and glitchy for my limited computer knowledge. Then tried a Bryston BDP-1 which reminded me of the early days of CD, kinda flat and un-involving. From there I went with an Oppo Modwright tube DAC and a top Auralic Aries Streamer. Ok... ease of use, petty good sound. The Aries would change signatures with every software upgrade. Very detailed but forward sound.

Then I checked out an Aurender N100S (Solid state internal storage drive). Yea here you go .. laid back easy to listen too.. no fatigue.

 

Then I heard about the A10 late last year and thought how cool it would be to have a 1 box solution, but had my doubts it could match or exceed the Modwright/N100S combo but sure would clean up the rack.

 

Just installed on Saturday. First tried as a stand alone directly into the Odyssey Kismet Mono Blocks. Sounds pretty good out of the box. Most folks would be very happy with the sound. I now have plugged it in to the Modwright 9.0 anniversary pre-amp and will report back as I can spend more time with it. ( early results are outstanding).

My dealer offered me a 30 day trial period and all I do is pay for return shipping if I am not happy. Cant beat that!!

Sounds good! And I trust that the DAC section will sound pretty good too. [emoji4] However, I would like to add a remark here. The convenience of a 1 box solution of course also has some downsides. Especially DAC's are evolving in a very fast pace nowadays. So having your server and DAC separated can be a good choice over the long run, since you can upgrade your DAC easily w.o. changing your server. It's a personal matter of the SQ level at which you would like to end your audio journey. [emoji6]

 

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[russellbobby]

Hear ya there but also has a USB out so you can hook up an external dac. I will hook this up to the Oppo Modwright so can compare the dac section. I am hoping the Pre-amp section shuts down when using the USB out.. am thinking it will.

[Yippedidou]

Me, I already have a pretty good dac, Chord Hugo TT in my 2 channel set up and I will be able to compare the two dacs when the A10 gets here. If the A10 is as good as the TT (which I would be really be surprised), i'll be able to use the A10 as a one box solution with my 2 ch. and my HP set up. If not, the TT will stay as the dac for my 2 channel feeded by the A10 and I'll use the dac of the A10 for my headphone set up. My only solution since both set ups require balanced outputs and my TT only has one balanced output.

Can't wait to read your comments russelbobby. But my mind is pretty much set on the A10.

[Vincent1234]

That's fine... I'm not saying it doesn't sound excellent and definitely not meant as a dig.

 

;-)

 

... but, I would invite you/them to do what I have done and then compare.

 

I'm as sure as can be that my USB signal path is unlikely to improve at any price (save for perhaps how it's powered).

 

If you think about it, galvanically isolating the source, making runs as short as possible and completely cutting the GND connection throughout has to be at least as effective than what any single piece of wire (regardless of materials or construction) is capable of doing.

 

Once the GND line is broken, the electrical relationship is completely altered - the Intona works wonders and is loved By a great many.

 

The point was there are many ways to achieve truly great results... but only one can be the most cost effective.

Hi r_w. Getting back to our previous discussion w.r.t. the importance of USB isolation. I read today in an official dCS press release that the Ethernet and USB interfaces of the new network board of the Vivaldi 2.0 Upsampler are both galvanically isolated. This exact same network board is used in my Rossini player, for which it was actually initially designed. So, it's official now: isolated it is. [emoji6] Probably further isolation would reap little rewards if at all. However, I can assure you that still this certainly cannot be said of using the Crystal monocrystal USB cable compared to a lesser cable. The difference really is night and day.. [emoji4]

 

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[Yippedidou]

Hear ya there but also has a USB out so you can hook up an external dac. I will hook this up to the Oppo Modwright so can compare the dac section. I am hoping the Pre-amp section shuts down when using the USB out.. am thinking it will.

 

I asked a question regarding the volume control to Aurender. What happens if I connect the A10 to an existing pre, a pre/dac or an integrated. Here's Jesse's response:

 

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[TD]We will have an option to do what you are requesting more easily, and so it makes more sense, but for the time being, simply raise the volume of the A10 to 0.0db (max level) and in the Settings of the App, under Music Player, change the option to “Save last volume level"

 

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[russellbobby]

Yes I have it playing that way now using it as a DAC/streamer into the Modwright Pre. I wondered how it would act if only using as a streamer into a separate dac. Jessie told me the analog outs are still active.

[russellbobby]

I have a bunch of stuff I no longer need, Curious USB cable w/ W4S recovery link, Keces 116 power supply, W4S Recovery, Sbooster, but can't quite figure out how to post to classifieds. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Russ

[bmichels]

Me, I already have a pretty good dac, Chord Hugo TT in my 2 channel set up and I will be able to compare the two dacs when the A10 gets here. If the A10 is as good as the TT (which I would be really be surprised), i'll be able to use the A10 as a one box solution with my 2 ch. and my HP set up. If not, the TT will stay as the dac for my 2 channel feeded by the A10 and I'll use the dac of the A10 for my headphone set up. My only solution since both set ups require balanced outputs and my TT only has one balanced output.

Can't wait to read your comments russelbobby. But my mind is pretty much set on the A10.

 

 

This comparaison with the TT will be very interesting. I indeed have today a HUGO as a DAC and also I will be more than interested to finally find a very good " 1 box solution ". But of course this is possible only if the DAC inside the A10 is top quality and top musicality (I find the HUGO (and the DAVE that I tried several time) very precise but...boring. At least with my STAX Set-up).

[Pat Case]

I'm sorry if I'm breaking up a conversation here. I'd be interested in people's impressions about the SQ between Tidal and the same music run losslessly from the Aurender. I've run a number of comparisons, with mostly classical music. It could be my ears or my crappy equipment but, I detect only a slight (but consistent) diminution in quality with Tidal.

 

I'd be glad to get into details with willing participants.

[Yippedidou]

This comparaison with the TT will be very interesting. I indeed have today a HUGO as a DAC and also I will be more than interested to finally find a very good " 1 box solution ". But of course this is possible only if the DAC inside the A10 is top quality and top musicality (I find the HUGO (and the DAVE that I tried several time) very precise but...boring. At least with my STAX Set-up).

 

My new A10 should show up anywhere around Dec 10. I'll be happy to report comparison between the TT and the A10 internal dac. I'll be able to report on precision, sound stage, decay, instrument placement and stuff like that but not on the "boring" part as for me, the perception of "being boring" is a matter of taste. I had the Mojo, the Chordette and the Hugo TT and heard the Hugo many times and for me, it's not boring. So we dont have the same perception or taste. Different ears for sure. Stay tuned.

[Vincent1234]

I'm sorry if I'm breaking up a conversation here. I'd be interested in people's impressions about the SQ between Tidal and the same music run losslessly from the Aurender. I've run a number of comparisons, with mostly classical music. It could be my ears or my crappy equipment but, I detect only a slight (but consistent) diminution in quality with Tidal.

 

I'd be glad to get into details with willing participants.

Hi Pat, I for sure think your equipment is far from crappy.. [emoji6] My own experience with Tidal (also mostly classical music) is more or less the same. In general Tidal to me seems to sound a bit less 'grounded' and substantial than locally stored files. However, it does depend very much on the specific album or edition. Sometimes Tidal sounds even better than my local files. What I would also like to suggest is to rip your own CD's in WAV instead of FLAC. WAV sounds slightly more detailed in my system, regardless of all the discussions of FLAC being decompressed in a bit-perfect way. Since storage is so cheap it's certainly worth trying.

 

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[r_w]

Kit list looks lovely to me mate... I'll take your word for it (I'm not on Tidal)

 

 

 

It could be my ears or my crappy equipment but, I detect only a slight (but consistent) diminution in quality with Tidal.

[jfaok]

I'm sorry if I'm breaking up a conversation here. I'd be interested in people's impressions about the SQ between Tidal and the same music run losslessly from the Aurender. I've run a number of comparisons, with mostly classical music. It could be my ears or my crappy equipment but, I detect only a slight (but consistent) diminution in quality with Tidal.

 

I'd be glad to get into details with willing participants.

 

I believe that files streamed from storage have an advantage because they are loaded to and played from the SSD. Tidal is not.

[Pat Case]

Thanks for the compliment. I was being needlessly self deprecating. I'm going to try ripping to WAV. Frankly, the only reason why I haven't done so, in the past, is because I'm a little OCD and I like to keep an orderly and pretty narrow lineup of files. It's also because I've read a number of opinions that state that there is no audible difference between FLAC & WAV. I guess that I'll be in a position to judge.

 

I do do agree that the provenance of music is of primary importance. The ECMs, Pentatones and Harmonia Mundis of the world have a distinct advantage over many others if only in virtue of the scrupulous care that they take in every stage of the production process. Keith Jarrett (if he allowed streaming of his important work) might found as hood if he were streamed or played in hi res.