The "Official" Aurender Discussion Thread

[biosailor]

3 hours ago, michaelD said:

Well just took the plunge and traded in my N10 for a W20.   Pretty excited to hear it in my system.  

 

Also on the Roon integration with Aurender never going to happen.  They looked at that a couple of years ago and because of the almost total control Roon dictates they said not for us.  I really like the Aurender app it’s come a long ways yes some more color choices would be nice but Aurender is more feature focused.  Look at the last update the ability to do the first unfold of MQA for instance.   It’s not that Roon is bad it’s different and I just like the Aurender app better.   One thing that Aurender does much much better then Roon is customer support.  At least you are dealing with one human contact Roon is all find on your own which I don’t like. The email support I did not find very useful harder questions just did not get answers.  I eventually figured it out but really wanted help quicker which Aurender is so much better at.  I also tried to send suggestions in which Aurender welcomes yet when I did to Roon it was like I was insulting them.   I pushed back and they almost locked me out of the site.  Life is too short if you can’t take suggestions without thinking I’m trashing the product which I was not just offering things to make the application better.  

Yeah, I guess it will be highly unlikely that Roon will be a part of Aurender's app. I don't insist on Roon at all, that's why I cancelled my Roon subscription. I have what I need and the extra info Roon provides can be looked up somewhere else. Only one thing I very much liked about Roon was that it plays music of a similar genre/track/album last played. This might very well something Aurender could implement.

Again, I exclusively use Aurender and I have no desire of switching to anything. The app is good, regardless of clour schemes!

[biosailor]

48 minutes ago, rwwjr44 said:

I would love to see the Wikipedia lookup feature replaced with an AllMusic connection (which requires a subscription). I now use AllMusic for my lookups because so much music information is missing from Wikipedia.

Good suggestion!

[mabe]

21 hours ago, rwwjr44 said:

I would love to see the Wikipedia lookup feature replaced with an AllMusic connection (which requires a subscription). I now use AllMusic for my lookups because so much music information is missing from Wikipedia.

 

...valuable recommendation. I also use AllMusic too.

[Sounds2Good]

I am very happy that Aurender continues to use and support their Conductor App. I'm legally blind and cannot use Roon. Roon said they cannot and /or will not modify their software to make it accessible to the blind. With other apps or software products for managing and playing music in an audiophile quality system also undergoing UI changes, I fear my options for a usable music server are dwindling. It's very fortunate that the usability and SQ of the Aurender products is exceptional.

[Sounds2Good]

Have any Aurender users purchased and placed DSD music files from Blue Coast Records, NativeDSD, High-Definition Tape Transfers or Acoustic Sounds on your Aurender servers? Have you been happy with the SQ and the metadata provided with the purchased music?

 

Thanks.

[bmichels]

I really have a hard time to understand what the new Aurender ACS10 is ! ? is it only a Music server, which need another player (another aurender connected to it) or does it includes also a player and therefore is equivalent to any other Aurender + a CD ripper ??

[bmichels]

I am considering getting the W20 with a dCS ROSSINI + Rossini Clock and use the Rossini Clock to drive the W20.  Does someone experienced this combinaison already ? any comments ? 

 

thanks in advance

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 minute ago, bmichels said:

I am considering getting the W20 with a dCS ROSSINI + Rossini Clock and use the Rossini Clock to drive the W20.  Does someone experienced this combinaison already ? any comments ? 

 

thanks in advance

 

I have the W20 and Rossini without the clock. Great stuff. 

[bmichels]

Thanks. 

 

- I am happy that you like the Rossini + W20.  I still need to make a new audition of the Rossini before purchase. Indeed, few years ago I listened carefully to the Rossini and found it too analytical to my taste and much less musical than the NAGRA HD DAC, but this was with a Firmware that has I guess has been improved since, and without the clock. -->  has the Rossini gained musicality since ?  

 

- I think you also will soon review the ACS10...which is a strange animal to my eyes ? is it correct ? 

[Vincent1234]

1 hour ago, bmichels said:

Thanks. 

 

- I am happy that you like the Rossini + W20.  I still need to make a new audition of the Rossini before purchase. Indeed, few years ago I listened carefully to the Rossini and found it too analytical to my taste and much less musical than the NAGRA HD DAC, but this was with a Firmware that has I guess has been improved since, and without the clock. -->  has the Rossini gained musicality since ?  

 

- I think you also will soon review the ACS10...which is a strange animal to my eyes ? is it correct ? 

I'm also using the W20 with Rossini + clock. Great combination! However I'm not using the clock output to connect the W20. Instead I'm using an ultra high-end USB cable between W20 and Rossini. An audio buddy used to connect both through dual AES (also using top-notch cables) including a top quality clock connection to the W20 for synching. But he told me that there was no discernable difference with my current setup. And mine is obviously much less expensive. So do try both ways of connection before you decide. In case you want to use (dual) AES and connect the W20 to the clock output you will also need a USB cable + dCS dongle. That's a lot of stuff compared to one single USB cable!

[Vincent1234]

1 hour ago, bmichels said:

Indeed, few years ago I listened carefully to the Rossini and found it too analytical to my taste and much less musical than the NAGRA HD DAC, but this was with a Firmware that has I guess has been improved since, and without the clock. -->  has the Rossini gained musicality since ?  

Too analytical would not be my description of the Rossini's sound at all. I used to listen to the Puccini before and that one has less tonal quality and less 'meat on the bones'. So more 'analytical' I think compared to the Rossini. I think it's a matter of the right system combination. Firmware has improved, and especially MQA sounds stunning.

[bmichels]

Thanks a lot for those detailed informations.

[JoshT]

Hello Everyone. Been awhile since I’ve visited CA!  

I am considering either an N100H, N100C or A10 and have a few questions:

 

1.  Can these products stream to multiple endpoints for a multi room system?  I’ve been assuming the answer is yes, but realized I’m not sure I’ve seen that question addressed   For example, could I use the Aurender in my main system when I’m in that room, and then stream to a network ready DAC in another room when I’m in the other room (or an Ethernet player that outputs to a DAC by USB or S/PDIF)?

 

2.  Has anyone compared the SQ of the N100H, N100C (by S/PDIF) and A10.  I kind of like the all in one solution of the A10 since I need a new DAC anyway. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

[biosailor]

I wonder if anyone has noticed this also: I just downloaded a 24 bit - 192 kHz AIFF album from Qobuz. After transferring it onto the N100H, the album is displayed as 32 bit - 192 kHz. I don't know if it is since the last update, I keep seeing Hi Res albums displayed as 32 bit even though I am absolutely sure of never having downloaded a 32 bit album. I'm curious if anyone has noticed the same phenomenon.

[HDgeorge]

Does the DSDx256 playback is an upcoming feature for Aurenders?

[mjb]

11 hours ago, HDgeorge said:

Does the DSDx256 playback is an upcoming feature for Aurenders?

 

I think I read somewhere that current models don't have the horsepower for it.

 

And from their FAQ:

Quote

While DSD256 and DSD512 support is on our wish list of things we would like to implement, at the moment we haven't had the opportunity to test it with existing hardware to confirm we can do it. Unfortunately this is not on the schedule as of now, based on existing project timelines. 

 

[mjb]

On 7/22/2018 at 10:23 PM, JoshT said:

Hello Everyone. Been awhile since I’ve visited CA!  

I am considering either an N100H, N100C or A10 and have a few questions:

 

1.  Can these products stream to multiple endpoints for a multi room system?  I’ve been assuming the answer is yes, but realized I’m not sure I’ve seen that question addressed   For example, could I use the Aurender in my main system when I’m in that room, and then stream to a network ready DAC in another room when I’m in the other room (or an Ethernet player that outputs to a DAC by USB or S/PDIF)?

 

2.  Has anyone compared the SQ of the N100H, N100C (by S/PDIF) and A10.  I kind of like the all in one solution of the A10 since I need a new DAC anyway. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

@JoshT 1. Not by itself, but perhaps with Ravenna, and I've no experience with it:

http://www.merging.com/news/news-stories/aurender-joins-ravenna-community

 

2. I have not seen any comparisons. All three use the same main board, so USB output is very probably identical, the difference being the N100C has a digital S/PDIF output, and the A10 a built in MQA (filtering) DAC and an analog output.

 

 

[michaelD]

Just got my W20 over the weekend.  The cloning process worked great but it does take some time.  Boy it is heavy compared to the N10 by alot and the N10 looks so small - the N10 is not as its a full size unit but next to the W20 it does.

 

Initial sound there is much more separation of instruments or vocals along with much more depth.  Still doing break-in so more on this later.

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

19 minutes ago, michaelD said:

Just got my W20 over the weekend.  The cloning process worked great but it does take some time.  Boy it is heavy compared to the N10 by alot and the N10 looks so small - the N10 is not as its a full size unit but next to the W20 it does.

 

Initial sound there is much more separation of instruments or vocals along with much more depth.  Still doing break-in so more on this later.

 

 

 

I've had a W20 for a while and I recently moved it due to re-cabling my system. I forgot how heavy it is! It's a solid piece of craftsmanship.

[michaelD]

11 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

I've had a W20 for a while and I recently moved it due to re-cabling my system. I forgot how heavy it is! It's a solid piece of craftsmanship.

You know another one that surprised me was the A10.  My son got one a few months back.  He had it sitting on the counter as we moved other components around and once we were ready I said " I'll grab it".  I was not expecting it to be so heavy!

[JS21]

8 hours ago, michaelD said:

You know another one that surprised me was the A10.  My son got one a few months back.  He had it sitting on the counter as we moved other components around and once we were ready I said " I'll grab it".  I was not expecting it to be so heavy!

Yeah, the A10 is one solid piece.

Congrats on that W20. I’ve briefly entertained moving up to the N10 but I’m pretty happy with the one box solution that my A10 affords me.

[agladstone]

On 7/30/2018 at 8:24 PM, JS21 said:

Yeah, the A10 is one solid piece.

Congrats on that W20. I’ve briefly entertained moving up to the N10 but I’m pretty happy with the one box solution that my A10 affords me.

If the A10 was available when I purchased my Aurender, that’s definitely the way I would have gone. I suspect there must be benefits (and the obvious convenience) to having the server internally connected to the DAC vs. going through USB cable and all the associated galvanic isolation and usb de-crapifiers, etc. 

I suppose the only downfall to the A10, is that with a N10 and a separate DAC, you can replace just the DAC when available DAC technology starts to become upgraded to a new standard / features, etc and still be able to use the N10 on the server side (or vice versa). 

[Mazza]

On 7/30/2018 at 3:59 PM, michaelD said:

Just got my W20 over the weekend.  The cloning process worked great but it does take some time.  Boy it is heavy compared to the N10 by alot and the N10 looks so small - the N10 is not as its a full size unit but next to the W20 it does.

 

Initial sound there is much more separation of instruments or vocals along with much more depth.  Still doing break-in so more on this later.

 

I know what you mean ... I upgraded to the W20 from an Auralic Aries and compared to that the W20 is a monster in *every* sense!

 

[Mazza]

5 hours ago, agladstone said:

If the A10 was available when I purchased my Aurender, that’s definitely the way I would have gone. I suspect there must be benefits (and the obvious convenience) to having the server internally connected to the DAC vs. going through USB cable and all the associated galvanic isolation and usb de-crapifiers, etc. 

I suppose the only downfall to the A10, is that with a N10 and a separate DAC, you can replace just the DAC when available DAC technology starts to become upgraded to a new standard / features, etc and still be able to use the N10 on the server side (or vice versa). 

 

When I moved over to the W20, one of the drivers was to significantly reduce the 'box count' as well as improve the SQ. So I got rid of the DAC, the pre-amp, the power amp & the speakers and replaced the whole lot with a single-pair of Active speakers with built in DAC (Kii Three's). The Kii's connect direct to the W20 and the W20 is even in a cupboard. Wife loves it!

 

The whole system is about as simple as you can make it with minimal signal paths and I'm sure that must help with the SQ. It certainly sounds the best that I have ever achieved and I have been playing at audiophile for 30+ yrs. The downside? Well, a bit like the A10, you are locked in to the DAC technology which is built into the speakers but TBH, at this sort of level, they sound great and changing would be just for changes sake.

 

The total integrated approach of the A10 is a nice touch and besides the convenience, I can see that it will definitely strike a chord with people like me who are tired of the multiple boxes and cables dominating the room and really like the Aurender sound and philosophy.

[Mazza]

On 7/22/2018 at 9:23 PM, JoshT said:

I am considering either an N100H, N100C or A10 and have a few questions:

 

1.  Can these products stream to multiple endpoints for a multi room system?  I’ve been assuming the answer is yes, but realized I’m not sure I’ve seen that question addressed   For example, could I use the Aurender in my main system when I’m in that room, and then stream to a network ready DAC in another room when I’m in the other room (or an Ethernet player that outputs to a DAC by USB or S/PDIF)?

 

I am not sure you can, because the Aurenders aren't really streamers, they are players (with storage) or they an endpoint for NAS, Tidal or Quboz via ethernet. All output is via USB or S/PDIF, depending on what model you have.