The "Official" Aurender Discussion Thread

[HDgeorge]

That is a very strong statement !

 

Yesterday I compared the dCS Rossini against the NAGRA HD DAC, booth feed by an Aurender, and the NAGRA DAC Is so much (to my taste) better that I am almost about to order the NAGRA. It bring saoul and spirit in my music that I do not get with other DACS !

 

But... If you say that the A10 "kill" the Debussy, then I should try it. This solution will save me a LOT of money and will make my system much simpler with this 1 box solution (I hate câbles :-)

 

Could le you tell us in more details what you liked in the A10's DAC sound ? Warm ? Precise ? ...

 

thanks

 

Debussy is NOWHERE near Rossini as for performance and specs as well.

 

Rossini is a killer dac, Nagra it's a good dac, but I prefer from both the EmmLabs DA-2 , most natural sound ever heard from any dac.

 

The A10 overall performance, with less cables and cables interference produces greater sum than its parts. Debussy should be replaced soon, Aurender A10 as dac has more depth, more organic and natural sound and more open midrange and highs.

Listen to a drum set through A10 and Debussy and you will notice immediately what I'm saying.

 

Also women voices are more natural and glare-free to A10 comparing with Debussy.

 

I think the level of less noise is , that derives from latest dac chips and most of all of the synergy between streamer/server and internal integrated dac, makes more natural sound.

And more natural sound is both more warm and precise altogether.

That is with low hours. Some more body is missing overall from A10 but isn't there with Debussy either (or T+A dac8 DSD) , but again I'm spoiled at sounds of EmmLabs dA-2, Msb Select and others.

Nagra is too sweet and soft for me. I'd choose Rossini over Nagra. But then again I'd go the extra mile for a DA2 from Meitner.

[russellbobby]

I love the A 10 but not as a standalone. Hook it up to a quality pre and you will go to another level.

[HDgeorge]

I agree completely.

I liked the A10 as one unit for server and dac.

Not as a preamp.

Although it might work well as preamp too, but have no extensive experience .

 

In all listenings heard as server/dac with integrated amps or pre/power combos.

[Pat Case]

Aurender app and experience comes also with the best sound quality.

You can have Roon on another device, with great features but worse sound.

 

In this hobby sound comes first.

Imagine other servers/ streamers with much lesser application than Aurender's.

 

While I agree that sound comes first, I think that experience with the user interface is a very close second. I used to own the Moon Mind and let me tell you, the daily frustrations that I experienced using Moon's app used to make me scream. I changed from Moon to Aurender largely because I could see that the latter paid frequent attention to improving their app while the former didn't seem to give two hoots about user interface.

 

From an SQ point of view, the Aurender and the Moon were very close with the Aurender a nose ahead of the Moon, at the finishing line. I could certainly have lived with the Moon's output.

[HDgeorge]

Aurender 's app is much better than any Moon, also sound quality.

 

You haven't experienced what Aurender can offer soundwise. Aurender needs :

A great power cord,

Great isolation,

Great USB cable,

Giso LAN isolation,

Etc.....

Then you will see the sound quality elevate. Aurender has more sound capabilities if someone wishes to go the extra mile......

 

Same case as with amplifiers,dacs, pre amplifiers, speakers etc....

[Vincent1234]

Aurender 's app is much better than any Moon, also sound quality.

 

You haven't experienced what Aurender can offer soundwise. Aurender needs :

A great power cord,

Great isolation,

Great USB cable,

Giso LAN isolation,

Etc.....

Then you will see the sound quality elevate. Aurender has more sound capabilities if someone wishes to go the extra mile......

 

Same case as with amplifiers,dacs, pre amplifiers, speakers etc....

You seem to be assuming a lot about what others might or might not be using in their Aurender based systems, while you simply don't know..

 

Fact is that Roon is leading the market with their user interface and others (including Aurender) can only dream about the user experience Roon is offering currently. The only reason Aurender is not offering Roon integration can IMO only be explained by financial reasons (likely Aurender not willing to pay the money Roon was asking). There was a time that it was rumoured that Roon and Aurender would cooperate. Now I'm not saying Roon is mandatory for Aurender's survival or to continue their success. But competition is really fierce and if they don't rebuild their app in a more modern way and include more metadata power I do think they will be getting a hard time. Even cheap streamers are offering Roon now and yes, besides SQ the user interface is absolutely key in this business. Not only Aurender makes great sounding servers!

 

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[Pat Case]

You seem to be assuming a lot about what others might or might not be using in their Aurender based systems, while you simply don't know..

 

Fact is that Roon is leading the market with their user interface and others (including Aurender) can only dream about the user experience Roon is offering currently. The only reason Aurender is not offering Roon integration can IMO only be explained by financial reasons (likely Aurender not willing to pay the money Roon was asking). There was a time that it was rumoured that Roon and Aurender would cooperate. Now I'm not saying Roon is mandatory for Aurender's survival or to continue their success. But competition is really fierce and if they don't rebuild their app in a more modern way and include more metadata power I do think they will be getting a hard time. Even cheap streamers are offering Roon now and yes, besides SQ the user interface is absolutely key in this business. Not only Aurender makes great sounding servers!

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Computer Audiophile mobile app

 

Yes, I agree with what you are saying. It's quite probably the case that Aurender cannot afford the Roon licensing fees and that they are working hard to upgrade Conductor. If Aurender can develop something close to Roon, so much the better for us.

 

 

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[The Computer Audiophile]

Yes, I agree with what you are saying. It's quite probably the case that Aurender cannot afford the Roon licensing fees and that they are working hard to upgrade Conductor. If Aurender can develop something close to Roon, so much the better for us.

 

 

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There are no Roon licensing fees for hardware partners. Roon only charges the end user a yearly or lifetime subscription price.

[Vincent1234]

There are no Roon licensing fees for hardware partners. Roon only charges the end user a yearly or lifetime subscription price.

Thanks for clarifying that, Chris! Do you happen to know more about why Aurender is not Roon compatible? And do you know if Aurender is working on another app? Thanks.

 

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[Pat Case]

Thanks for clarifying that, Chris! Do you happen to know more about why Aurender is not Roon compatible? And do you know if Aurender is working on another app? Thanks.

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Computer Audiophile mobile app

Yes, thanks for that information. Some months ago, Aurender told me that the reason why they had not added internet radio for North America and why they had not added Apple Music was because of fees. I mistakenly assumed that the same barrier existed with Roon.

 

But, come to think of it, I can't see Apple charging fees. Wouldn't Apple simply reap its profit from subscribers?

[r_w]

I don't think Conductor is so bad that you would actually avoid Aurender... it seems to do what I need it to, but yes a refresh and for sure Internet radio should really be added.

 

Personally I don't get why roon should be compulsory, I simply don't need it or want it.

 

Speaking as a business software developer it would be easy for any manufacturer to provide similar functionality to roon, if they wanted to.

 

Just my 2p

 

besides SQ the user interface is absolutely key in this business. Not only Aurender makes great sounding servers!

[Vincent1234]

I don't think Conductor is so bad that you would actually avoid Aurender... it seems to do what I need it to, but yes a refresh and for sure Internet radio should really be added.

 

Personally I don't get why roon should be compulsory, I simply don't need it or want it.

 

Speaking as a business software developer it would be easy for any manufacturer to provide similar functionality to roon, if they wanted to.

 

Just my 2p

I'm not saying their GUI is 'bad'. It's certainly doing the job. But that Seventies brownish look is really looking pretty outdated now.. [emoji6] And although I'm not a Roon user myself yet, I do think that Roon is paving the way of the future. If you are connected to the internet anyway why not use all that big data about artists, composers, producers etc. in a user friendly and accessible way? And I don't think it's easy to build your own 'Roon-like' application. I've been working in IT for 27 years and developing such an app using so many data sources and maintaining all that code to keep providing a seamless user experience is actually a hell of a job. If it was so easy, why haven't we seen similar apps yet? [emoji6] For me: using Roon with my dCS Rossini network player is currently still slightly behind in SQ compared to the N10. But that will probably be a matter of time, since dCS regularly provides software updates improving SQ. If and when the Rossini/Roon combination sounds as well as (or even better than) the N10 I will sell it including my exotic USB cable; then I will buy a great Melco Ethernet isolating NAS and Roon lifetime and will still have good money left to buy some great music. [emoji4]

 

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[Cycleman]

I've used a fair amount of different iOS apps over the years to control various music servers.

 

And from my POV, the Aurender Conductor app is clearly better in many ways than the following apps:

 

* Apple Remote

* Squeezebox

* iPeng

* Audirvana Plus

* Lumin

 

Better to me means clearer in usage, more functions (such as creating playlists), fast operation, and more. Here's one simple function that I've not seen implemented the same way in other apps: When you tap on "Clear" the resulting dialog box gives you the choice of clearing the entire queue (common) or everything but the track currently playing. That latter choice, not seen in other apps, is the one I often use.

 

Yes, an improved Conductor would be great, more modern colors as well. But I'm another person who doesn't need Roon, especially since I've carefully cultivated the metadata in music library -- at least the metadata that matters to me -- over the course of many years.

 

Dave

[Vincent1234]

I've used a fair amount of different iOS apps over the years to control various music servers.

 

And from my POV, the Aurender Conductor app is clearly better in many ways than the following apps:

 

* Apple Remote

* Squeezebox

* iPeng

* Audirvana Plus

* Lumin

 

Better to me means clearer in usage, more functions (such as creating playlists), fast operation, and more. Here's one simple function that I've not seen implemented the same way in other apps: When you tap on "Clear" the resulting dialog box gives you the choice of clearing the entire queue (common) or everything but the track currently playing. That latter choice, not seen in other apps, is the one I often use.

 

Yes, an improved Conductor would be great, more modern colors as well. But I'm another person who doesn't need Roon, especially since I've carefully cultivated the metadata in music library -- at least the metadata that matters to me -- over the course of many years.

 

Dave

Fair enough. Maybe I'm being a little bit too harsh on Conductor. It's just that I'm really surprised why they never thought about offering users other color schemes, which would be a very easy way to get a more modern feel in the current app. I agree that there's a lot of clever functionality in there.

As explained however, I'm in the situation that probably I can choose another way of playing and accessing my music not only easier but also cheaper in the near future. But for now the N10 is staying since its SQ is still superior.

 

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[mabe]

Yes, an improved Conductor would be great, more modern colors as well. But I'm another person who doesn't need Roon, especially since I've carefully cultivated the metadata in music library -- at least the metadata that matters to me -- over the course of many years.

Dave

 

+1

Fully agree. The overall objective of my music system is to be able to enjoy music.

 

Finding/selecting music on a fast, reliable and easy way (also for my wife) is essential as well.

 

My workflow: ripping (dBpoweramp) -- tagging (Mp3tag) -- NAS + Aurender HDD provides/enables all flexibility to cultivate the metadata to my taste i.e. by defining specific Genres.

 

Additional information re composer, whatever…is available via internet anyway.

So with the Aurender I ever nether missed something…

 

mabe

[The Computer Audiophile]

As used car salesmen say, there's an ass for every seat.

 

Aurender most definitely has a place in the market, as not everyone is thrilled with Roon or JRiver etc... Aurender offers a single box solution to many people really love and I don't see that going away any time soon.

 

I agree Conductor should be updated a bit. If for no other reason than it's nice to look at something different once in a while. An "Add to library" feature would be really nice for Tidal integration as well.

 

The people at Aurender still have plenty of goodies up their sleeves. I promise :~)

[HDgeorge]

I don't think Conductor is so bad that you would actually avoid Aurender... it seems to do what I need it to, but yes a refresh and for sure Internet radio should really be added.

 

Personally I don't get why roon should be compulsory, I simply don't need it or want it.

 

Speaking as a business software developer it would be easy for any manufacturer to provide similar functionality to roon, if they wanted to.

 

Just my 2p

 

+1

[HDgeorge]

I've used a fair amount of different iOS apps over the years to control various music servers.

 

And from my POV, the Aurender Conductor app is clearly better in many ways than the following apps:

 

* Apple Remote

* Squeezebox

* iPeng

* Audirvana Plus

* Lumin

 

Better to me means clearer in usage, more functions (such as creating playlists), fast operation, and more. Here's one simple function that I've not seen implemented the same way in other apps: When you tap on "Clear" the resulting dialog box gives you the choice of clearing the entire queue (common) or everything but the track currently playing. That latter choice, not seen in other apps, is the one I often use.

 

Yes, an improved Conductor would be great, more modern colors as well. But I'm another person who doesn't need Roon, especially since I've carefully cultivated the metadata in music library -- at least the metadata that matters to me -- over the course of many years.

W

Dave

 

+1

 

Listening to music is all want it is about!

[HDgeorge]

+1

Fully agree. The overall objective of my music system is to be able to enjoy music.

 

Finding/selecting music on a fast, reliable and easy way (also for my wife) is essential as well.

 

My workflow: ripping (dBpoweramp) -- tagging (Mp3tag) -- NAS + Aurender HDD provides/enables all flexibility to cultivate the metadata to my taste i.e. by defining specific Genres.

 

Additional information re composer, whatever…is available via internet anyway.

So with the Aurender I ever nether missed something…

 

mabe

 

+1

[Vincent1234]

As used car salesmen say, there's an ass for every seat.

 

Aurender most definitely has a place in the market, as not everyone is thrilled with Roon or JRiver etc... Aurender offers a single box solution to many people really love and I don't see that going away any time soon.

 

I agree Conductor should be updated a bit. If for no other reason than it's nice to look at something different once in a while. An "Add to library" feature would be really nice for Tidal integration as well.

 

The people at Aurender still have plenty of goodies up their sleeves. I promise :~)

What more can you tell us, Chris...? Did you sign an NDA..? [emoji1]

 

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[The Computer Audiophile]

What more can you tell us, Chris...? Did you sign an NDA..? [emoji1]

 

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I hope to write about some stuff at CES :~)

[Yippedidou]

25 hours now on the A10. There's something in the presentation that I really enjoy. Very musical and dynamic. A natural delivery. Music just flow, balanced. Voices are a treat. Soundstage is almost perfect. It's hard to explain and dont expect me to go technical. But I'm impressed. Playing a DSD64 right now (Patricia Barber, Companion). Marvelous...

 

Just a word on the A10 volume control (or pre if you prefer). Is doing a great job on my Chord SPM 1050 power amp. Could it be better with a dedicated pre? Maybe... Probably. But at what cost? Me I prefer not to put another unit and cable in the chain. I had many pre amp and yes, a couple made a nice difference (Jadis JP15 was my best). But today, with the quality of digital volume controls, do we really need a separate pre amp? If you need more connections, yes, for sure but if for SQ, I'm not sure. I guess to each his own.

[coot]

What I can add is that this

 

preamp Remote Volume Control - Placette Audio

 

made a very big improvement in my system. Not an active pre, but still I won't be without it.

[jdandy]

My new Aurender N10 was delivered a couple weeks ago. What a beauty, looks and sound are sublime. I now have 416 hours of break-in on the music server and it has blossomed to present a totally convincing, holistic, and captivating performance. The Aurender N10 music server is remarkable.

 

Find my full review here: https://www.audioaficionado.org/showthread.php?t=37851

 

 

[Vincent1234]

My new Aurender N10 was delivered a couple weeks ago. What a beauty, looks and sound are sublime. I now have 416 hours of break-in on the music server and it has blossomed to present a totally convincing, holistic, and captivating performance. The Aurender N10 music server is remarkable.

 

Find my full review here: https://www.audioaficionado.org/showthread.php?t=37851

 

 

Agree! It's an awesome player and definitely a big step-up from the 100 series. Enjoy!

 

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