The "Official" Aurender Discussion Thread

[Vincent1234]

22 minutes ago, agladstone said:

So do you mean from the network folder via a computer? (Copy and paste an ISO into Aurender’s Music 1 folder for example and then it unfolds it?) 

i did try and play ISO’s directly from Conductor App and it gave me a notification like “file type not supported” ? 

I was trying this from the folder view and selecting SACD ISO’s I have on my NAS which is added as a NAS drive within Conductor App. 

I will now try to just add an ISO file to the Aurender’s internal HDD and see what happens. 

Yes. Doing it this way (using an internal Aurender HDD) the ISO should be unpacked automatically. The ISO's themselves indeed cannot be played; only the resulting files can after unpacking.

[Foxman50]

5 hours ago, jon2020 said:

I may have a good story to tell.

 

When I brought home the N10 for audition, it was because the power supply of my N100H had suddenly failed with the unit unable to be turned on. So out it went for repairs while I enjoyed the N10 as a substitute. I have described in previous posts how much better the N10 is, compared to the N100H.

 

Well, after several weeks of bliss with the N10, the dreaded call from my local dealer came yesterday to collect  my N100H which has just been shipped back from S Korea. I felt terrible that I had to return the N10 or pony up for the upgrade. But before a final decision, I should probably relisten to my N100H.

 

Upon first listen, to my great surprise, I feel the pangs of withdrawal from the N10 ebbing away rapidly. The returned N100H sounds almost as good as the N10! Unbelievable but true! To cut the story short, the "repaired" N100H gets me 95% of the way to the N10. 

 

I have no idea what Aurender did to the internal power supply but it sounds like they most likely upgraded it substantially to avoid any recurrence of the original problem. And the resultant improvement in SQ is just amazing! 

 

To all N100H owners, if you happen to have the "misfortune" one day of a failure in the power supply, ship it back and wait to reap the fortunes of the repair upon its return.

 

Enjoy the Music! 

 

A silver lining if ever there was ??

[biosailor]

6 hours ago, jon2020 said:

I may have a good story to tell.

 

When I brought home the N10 for audition, it was because the power supply of my N100H had suddenly failed with the unit unable to be turned on. So out it went for repairs while I enjoyed the N10 as a substitute. I have described in previous posts how much better the N10 is, compared to the N100H.

 

Well, after several weeks of bliss with the N10, the dreaded call from my local dealer came yesterday to collect  my N100H which has just been shipped back from S Korea. I felt terrible that I had to return the N10 or pony up for the upgrade. But before a final decision, I should probably relisten to my N100H.

 

Upon first listen, to my great surprise, I feel the pangs of withdrawal from the N10 ebbing away rapidly. The returned N100H sounds almost as good as the N10! Unbelievable but true! To cut the story short, the "repaired" N100H gets me 95% of the way to the N10. 

 

I have no idea what Aurender did to the internal power supply but it sounds like they most likely upgraded it substantially to avoid any recurrence of the original problem. And the resultant improvement in SQ is just amazing! 

 

To all N100H owners, if you happen to have the "misfortune" one day of a failure in the power supply, ship it back and wait to reap the fortunes of the repair upon its return.

 

Enjoy the Music! 

 

This is so good! Following the Aurender thread, it looks as if Aurender owners try to reach the heaven: there was quite a bit of chat about the N10 being 'infinitely' superior to the N100H, and it even went further, saying how much superior the W20 flagship over the N10 is. I was really tempted to upgrade to the N10, but finally someone steps in for the N100H. Although with a modification that is hard to evaluate. I sometimes wonder if audiophiles catapult themselves into etheral spheres where marginal improvements are exaggerated. I'll stick dearly to my N100H for a little longer! 

[jon2020]

58 minutes ago, biosailor said:

 

This is so good! Following the Aurender thread, it looks as if Aurender owners try to reach the heaven: there was quite a bit of chat about the N10 being 'infinitely' superior to the N100H, and it even went further, saying how much superior the W20 flagship over the N10 is. I was really tempted to upgrade to the N10, but finally someone steps in for the N100H. Although with a modification that is hard to evaluate. I sometimes wonder if audiophiles catapult themselves into etheral spheres where marginal improvements are exaggerated. I'll stick dearly to my N100H for a little longer! 

 

Biosailor, I knew my story would be music to your ears!

 

Just to add, the returned unit came with a new manual.

 

Some changes :-

1. I can no longer hard boot to factory firmware version using the back panel switch and front panel Power button. The instruction for this maneuvre is no more available in the new manual.

2. The iPad Conductor app now allows me to turn off or restart the unit from within the app, as per new instructions in the manual.

 

I do wonder whether I got back a completely new unit. I can't be sure as in my excitement to bring home the N10, I forgot to take a pic of the back of my N100H with the serial no. tacked on.

 

No matter as I am so totally enjoying the Music! 

[Mazza]

59 minutes ago, biosailor said:

 

This is so good! Following the Aurender thread, it looks as if Aurender owners try to reach the heaven: there was quite a bit of chat about the N10 being 'infinitely' superior to the N100H, and it even went further, saying how much superior the W20 flagship over the N10 is. I was really tempted to upgrade to the N10, but finally someone steps in for the N100H. Although with a modification that is hard to evaluate. I sometimes wonder if audiophiles catapult themselves into etheral spheres where marginal improvements are exaggerated. I'll stick dearly to my N100H for a little longer! 

 

I agree with you, I have the fortune to have a W20 which I got ex-demo for the price of an N10. When A/B’ing the two at the dealer, yes you could hear differences but they were subtle and to be honest unless you were A/B’ing you’d struggle to find them. That is not to say one is better than the other necessarily but that they do sound different and you’d probably prefer one’s sound signature over the others. Most of those differences might even be psychological because you ‘expect’ the more expensive kit to sound better and so, as you say, you exaggerate the differences to yourself. Certainly I would have been more than satisfied with an N10 if I hadn’t A/B’ed with the W20. If I hadn’t got the W20 for the price of an N10, then for me,  there is no way it is worth the difference in price.

 

Personally, I don’t think the aural memory is as reliable as we audiophiles make out and we do exaggerate what we “hear” to justify a decision we have made. 

For me, the statement that kit improves “after a period of burn in” that is so often cited in reviews is something we physiologically do to cover buyer’s remorse (did I really need to upgrade?), buyer’s pride (I am really glad I upgraded) or buyer’s disappointment (perhaps it will improve after ‘burn in’). When you get into the heady heights of true high end audio,  it is more likely your head is getting used to the newer sound (speakers excepted)

 

So enjoy the N100H, and be smug in the thought that you have probably got yourself an audio bargain with nigh-on the same performance of the more expensive kit ....... that is! until that upgrade ear worm starts nagging at you!

[Vincent1234]

1 hour ago, biosailor said:

I sometimes wonder if audiophiles catapult themselves into etheral spheres where marginal improvements are exaggerated.

Nothing 'marginal' is exaggerated, trust me. ? However, it all depends on the right system to be able to hear the differences. I would never buy the W20 for - say - an overall 20K system. Doesn't make much sense as you will hardly be able to hear the improvements and you should probably spend your money elsewhere first.

[Vincent1234]

6 minutes ago, Mazza said:

Personally, I don’t think the aural memory is as reliable as we audiophiles make out and we do exaggerate what we “hear” to justify a decision we have made. 

I directly compared the N10 and the W20 in my own system. It really took me 5 seconds to be stunned by the improvements brought by the W20. So, not much aural memory was needed here.. ?

[Bolts]

22 minutes ago, Mazza said:

 

I agree with you, I have the fortune to have a W20 which I got ex-demo for the price of an N10. When A/B’ing the two at the dealer, yes you could hear differences but they were subtle and to be honest unless you were A/B’ing you’d struggle to find them. That is not to say one is better than the other necessarily but that they do sound different and you’d probably prefer one’s sound signature over the others. Most of those differences might even be psychological because you ‘expect’ the more expensive kit to sound better and so, as you say, you exaggerate the differences to yourself. Certainly I would have been more than satisfied with an N10 if I hadn’t A/B’ed with the W20. If I hadn’t got the W20 for the price of an N10, then for me,  there is no way it is worth the difference in price.

 

Personally, I don’t think the aural memory is as reliable as we audiophiles make out and we do exaggerate what we “hear” to justify a decision we have made. 

For me, the statement that kit improves “after a period of burn in” that is so often cited in reviews is something we physiologically do to cover buyer’s remorse (did I really need to upgrade?), buyer’s pride (I am really glad I upgraded) or buyer’s disappointment (perhaps it will improve after ‘burn in’). When you get into the heady heights of true high end audio,  it is more likely your head is getting used to the newer sound (speakers excepted)

 

So enjoy the N100H, and be smug in the thought that you have probably got yourself an audio bargain with nigh-on the same performance of the more expensive kit ....... that is! until that upgrade ear worm starts nagging at you!

 

Great post, couldn't have put it better myself.

[marslo]

7 hours ago, agladstone said:

So do you mean from the network folder via a computer? (Copy and paste an ISO into Aurender’s Music 1 folder for example and then it unfolds it?) 

i did try and play ISO’s directly from Conductor App and it gave me a notification like “file type not supported” ? 

I was trying this from the folder view and selecting SACD ISO’s I have on my NAS which is added as a NAS drive within Conductor App. 

I will now try to just add an ISO file to the Aurender’s internal HDD and see what happens. 

First I make a ripp with Pioneer Bdp 160 then I create a folder with both front and back artworks of the ripped sacd , I move the ISO files to this folder and  rename the folder with the title of the disc.

Then using the home network I download the folder to my W20 an wait for a while.

After 15 min approx when I open the Conductor I see the folder being loaded to the HDD.

If you open Conductor before the unfold is finished you may open " Scan " to see the progress.

[biosailor]

2 hours ago, Mazza said:

 

I agree with you, I have the fortune to have a W20 which I got ex-demo for the price of an N10. When A/B’ing the two at the dealer, yes you could hear differences but they were subtle and to be honest unless you were A/B’ing you’d struggle to find them. That is not to say one is better than the other necessarily but that they do sound different and you’d probably prefer one’s sound signature over the others. Most of those differences might even be psychological because you ‘expect’ the more expensive kit to sound better and so, as you say, you exaggerate the differences to yourself. Certainly I would have been more than satisfied with an N10 if I hadn’t A/B’ed with the W20. If I hadn’t got the W20 for the price of an N10, then for me,  there is no way it is worth the difference in price.

 

Personally, I don’t think the aural memory is as reliable as we audiophiles make out and we do exaggerate what we “hear” to justify a decision we have made. 

For me, the statement that kit improves “after a period of burn in” that is so often cited in reviews is something we physiologically do to cover buyer’s remorse (did I really need to upgrade?), buyer’s pride (I am really glad I upgraded) or buyer’s disappointment (perhaps it will improve after ‘burn in’). When you get into the heady heights of true high end audio,  it is more likely your head is getting used to the newer sound (speakers excepted)

 

So enjoy the N100H, and be smug in the thought that you have probably got yourself an audio bargain with nigh-on the same performance of the more expensive kit ....... that is! until that upgrade ear worm starts nagging at you!

 

This is balsam for my soul

[biosailor]

2 hours ago, Vincent1234 said:

Nothing 'marginal' is exaggerated, trust me. ? However, it all depends on the right system to be able to hear the differences. I would never buy the W20 for - say - an overall 20K system. Doesn't make much sense as you will hardly be able to hear the improvements and you should probably spend your money elsewhere first.

 

Sorry, didn't want to offense anyone! When changing components, one does hear differences. Just an example: I felt adventurous and hooked up an old Schiit Lyr2 that was sitting around for years instead of my beloved GSX-Mk2. And what happened? I did like the tubey sound of the Lyr2 better than the 3 K GSX-Mk2! So 'stepping down' from a 3 K beast to a 500 $ little box made me like the sound of the cheap Lyr2 better! Strange world!

[jon2020]

I can now confirm that Aurender replaced my old unit with the latest version.

In my old unit, the power switch lies outside the power cord socket but the returned unit has the power cord socket outside of the switch, next to the edge. The new manual shows this layout. The difference in the back views can be seen in pics of both earlier and later batches :-

 

http://www.aurender.com/page/n100h

 

https://www.audiostream.com/content/aurender-n100h-caching-network-streamer

 

That Aurender would provide a completely new replacement is indeed a great gesture. They probably feel this to be the right thing to do as mine is still under warranty.  Also, they may have run out of parts for the power supply of the earlier batches.

 

Kudos to Aurender!

[Vincent1234]

1 hour ago, biosailor said:

 

Sorry, didn't want to offense anyone! When changing components, one does hear differences. Just an example: I felt adventurous and hooked up an old Schiit Lyr2 that was sitting around for years instead of my beloved GSX-Mk2. And what happened? I did like the tubey sound of the Lyr2 better than the 3 K GSX-Mk2! So 'stepping down' from a 3 K beast to a 500 $ little box made me like the sound of the cheap Lyr2 better! Strange world!

No offense taken, no worries! ?

I only wanted to point out that after over 40 years working with audio I have found out a few things:

 

A). Some MAY indeed exaggerate improvements brought by better/more expensive equipment. This can especially happen if they are able to spend much more money on audio than a normal hard-working guy like you and me. ?

 

B). Some MAY underestimate the improvements brought by better/more expensive equipment. This can especially happen when they realise that they are not willing or able to spend the amount of money required for it.

 

By the way, both are equally logical human reponses.

 

In the end however you do need a really excellent (and unfortunately expensive) system to be able to judge the improvements brought about by top-tier equipment. It's what it is. There's no such thing as a free lunch. And the improvements from a top-tier device is magnified further if it's used with equally top-tier companions (amps, speakers, DAC, cabling etc.). There will always be ways to strive for sonic nirvana.. ?

 

 

[mabe]

2 hours ago, Vincent1234 said:

 There will always be ways to strive for sonic nirvana.. ?

 

 

 

+1

..... especially if you have excellent recorded and mastered music as well.

[rwwjr44]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoacoustics . 

[biosailor]

6 hours ago, jon2020 said:

I can now confirm that Aurender replaced my old unit with the latest version.

In my old unit, the power switch lies outside the power cord socket but the returned unit has the power cord socket outside of the switch, next to the edge. The new manual shows this layout. The difference in the back views can be seen in pics of both earlier and later batches :-

 

http://www.aurender.com/page/n100h

 

https://www.audiostream.com/content/aurender-n100h-caching-network-streamer

 

That Aurender would provide a completely new replacement is indeed a great gesture. They probably feel this to be the right thing to do as mine is still under warranty.  Also, they may have run out of parts for the power supply of the earlier batches.

 

Kudos to Aurender!

 

I would expect full replacement of faulty parts/even a new N100H during warranty period. Anything else would be inappropriate!

 

[biosailor]

6 hours ago, Vincent1234 said:

No offense taken, no worries! ?

I only wanted to point out that after over 40 years working with audio I have found out a few things:

 

A). Some MAY indeed exaggerate improvements brought by better/more expensive equipment. This can especially happen if they are able to spend much more money on audio than a normal hard-working guy like you and me. ?

 

B). Some MAY underestimate the improvements brought by better/more expensive equipment. This can especially happen when they realise that they are not willing or able to spend the amount of money required for it.

 

By the way, both are equally logical human reponses.

 

In the end however you do need a really excellent (and unfortunately expensive) system to be able to judge the improvements brought about by top-tier equipment. It's what it is. There's no such thing as a free lunch. And the improvements from a top-tier device is magnified further if it's used with equally top-tier companions (amps, speakers, DAC, cabling etc.). There will always be ways to strive for sonic nirvana.. ?

 

 

 

Yes, putting the effect of an upgrade into the right proportions is not easy. Had I a upgraded to a W20, I'd be raving, but so far, I am only DREAMING of such an upgrade !

 

But you are perfectly right, there's no such thing as a free lunch. I am absolutely aware that good equipment has its price, within limits. I have an inbuilt 'sound barrier' that is very hard to break when an individual audio component gets above 3 K! But taken a streamer, DAC, pre-amp, and power amp together, then the whole audio chain gets easy towards 12 K, not to speak about loudspeakers! But, as you said, nothing's for free!

 

BTW, I come to the conclusion that the digital streamer/DAC components have an immense influence on the overall sound of the chain!

[biosailor]

3 hours ago, mabe said:

 

+1

..... especially if you have excellent recorded and mastered music as well.

 

That is so true!

[Foxman50]

6 hours ago, jon2020 said:

I can now confirm that Aurender replaced my old unit with the latest version.

In my old unit, the power switch lies outside the power cord socket but the returned unit has the power cord socket outside of the switch, next to the edge. The new manual shows this layout. The difference in the back views can be seen in pics of both earlier and later batches :-

 

http://www.aurender.com/page/n100h

 

https://www.audiostream.com/content/aurender-n100h-caching-network-streamer

 

That Aurender would provide a completely new replacement is indeed a great gesture. They probably feel this to be the right thing to do as mine is still under warranty.  Also, they may have run out of parts for the power supply of the earlier batches.

 

Kudos to Aurender!

 

Very interesting indeed Jon, looks like youve had a right result there. And to now be happy after having the N10 for a period of time, well im jealous ?

[biosailor]

Something else, doesn't involve upgrading : just downloaded The Modern Jazz Quratet's 'Pyramid' (super recording, super album, BTW) and transferred it onto my N100H as a wav file. The N100H displays it as an album, but it lists it as 'Unknown'. Tried re-transferring it with just 'Modern Jazz Quartet', but doesn't help, still displayed as 'Unknown'. Would anyone know the reason?

 

 

[Vincent1234]

5 minutes ago, biosailor said:

Something else, doesn't involve upgrading : just downloaded The Modern Jazz Quratet's 'Pyramid' (super recording, super album, BTW) and transferred it onto my N100H as a wav file. The N100H displays it as an album, but it lists it as 'Unknown'. Tried re-transferring it with just 'Modern Jazz Quartet', but doesn't help, still displayed as 'Unknown'. Would anyone know the reason?

 

 

It's very likely a matter of adding the right metadata to the WAV files. Try 'Music Bee' (for Windows) to edit the metadata and the files will show up OK. It's a free and very nice program.

[jon2020]

1 hour ago, Foxman50 said:

 

Very interesting indeed Jon, looks like youve had a right result there. And to now be happy after having the N10 for a period of time, well im jealous ?

 

Foxman50,

I am so jealous of myself too.

 

Another change noted is that the usb port for the dac is now labelled 5V-0.1A while previously it was 5V-0.2A.

 

http://www.aurender.com/page/n100h

 

This would indicate a significant revision to the power components.

[biosailor]

4 minutes ago, Vincent1234 said:

It's very likely a matter of adding the right metadata to the WAV files. Try 'Music Bee' (for Windows) to edit the metadata and the files will show up OK. It's a free and very nice program.

Thanks for the suggestion! Completely forgot that it could be a matter of metadata! Would you know Mac software for editing metadata?

[Vincent1234]

22 minutes ago, biosailor said:

Thanks for the suggestion! Completely forgot that it could be a matter of metadata! Would you know Mac software for editing metadata?

Welcome! I don't have a Mac myself, so I don't know of a Mac alternative. Others are invited to chime in.

[mjb]

12 minutes ago, Vincent1234 said:

Welcome! I don't have a Mac myself, so I don't know of a Mac alternative. Others are invited to chime in.

 

Yate or Metadatics

 

Both extremely good, though Metadatics is my personal favorite.