Aurender N10 Review

[mcjim]

Really should be skinnable - ie select your own colour/theme

 

This would be simple enough to implement

[r_w]

+1

 

Really should be skinnable - ie select your own colour/theme

 

This would be simple enough to implement

[rwwjr44]

Really should be skinnable - ie select your own colour/theme

 

This would be simple enough to implement

 

Yes it should but IMHO it isn't a problem and is probably very low on their things to do Better to have the app "remember" where you left it when you are multitasking.

[michaelD]

mcjim

 

in reply to all your questions I may be of some help. I don't know if you read my write up earlier in this thread but that may be helpful also. I've had my N10 now for a few months and am quite familiar with both the unit and app. There are some quirks but the service is great and they are working on many improvements.

 

1. Folder structure is something that i struggled with early on. What structure that comes with the app is in my opinion not very useful. The reason I say that is from what I remember they had Jazz, Classical plus a few more genre but as you probably know now the app will automatically separate all your tracks into genre on its own - assuming of course that its in your meta data but that should be now issue as it generally is. So to me to have the folders basically do the same thing seemed redundant. Also note with the N10 with two drives you actually have a total of 10 folders that you can name. So what I did that really works for me is my folders are like: Female vocal, Male Vocal, Bands, Compilations, and Instrumental. This works for me. The other thing that I did on the second drive I did the same file structure and also the NAS unit connected to it. So what really works great now is that I can spread our like Female vocal to all three drives - 2 on the N10 and 1 on the NAS and within the app when I select Female vocal all albums and tracks are summed together regardless of where they are located. This is really working well for me and is great as I add more. As far as Folder.JPG you can also use Front.JPG and Back.JPG the hunt is first for folder then if id does not find any the next thing it looks for is front. I have a few backs and it works nice. Once the album comes up it shows the front then the back then back to the front.

 

2. I use the AES/EBU connection but that is with a Bricasti M1. Not sure with the McIntosh others will have to comment on that. I do like this connection the best.

 

3. I have a full Nordost system so I get what you are asking. You most definitely need to plug the N10 in to the QB8 base. I assume you have your preamp plugged into the earth ground connection the N10 can be one of the others. Also not sure what power cords you have but common practice is to go from your duplex to the QX4 using your second best power cable then use your best power cored to the QB8 base. This will give you the best bang for your power cables. I am also a big fan to ground the QB8 either to a earth ground or an Entreq box if you don't have a way to get a earth ground. I found that this was a huge improvement and worth the time. To add an earth ground is not all that expensive and now Nordost even has grounding cable too.

 

4. The app is a work in progress and would need a separate conversation all on its own. Like I said in my previous post the Sonos app is superior but since my purchase the Aurender app has made some nice updates and I'm convinced they will continue. I have passed on many ideas to them and several they say they will be implementing in future updates.

 

Hope this helps.

MMc

[mcjim]

Hi michaelD

 

Thank you for such an informative response.

 

1. I'm still struggling with understanding the relationship between genres and folder names. My current folder structure just dumps everything in to Music\Artist\Album. ie i don't have separate genre categories because, as you say the app (presumably) reads the tags and can sort by genre when required. So still don't understand the relationship between genre buttons and folder names - do you have "genre" folders to quickly find stuff in a browse folder/file mode? Would be good to have al your reference recordings under a single button on Conductor labelled ummm "Reference"

 

2. Did some research on your Bricasti M1 - highly regarded. The MX151 has a Burr Brown DAC built it, so i can go direct to pre/pro. I to much prefer the AES/EBU connection.

 

3. Comments re power / earthing noted. For my power cables i'm using Nordost Blue Heaven

 

4. The app does look great in terms of functional coverage and Aurender support appears to be first rate - so should only get better (I'm picking up an iPad Air 2 tomorrow)

 

My N10 is also in black - to go with its McIntosh neighbours

 

Now arriving tomorrow morning

 

Thanks again buddy

 

Jim

[rwwjr44]

Hi michaelD

 

Thank you for such an informative response.

 

1. I'm still struggling with understanding the relationship between genres and folder names. My current folder structure just dumps everything in to Music\Artist\Album. ie i don't have separate genre categories because, as you say the app (presumably) reads the tags and can sort by genre when required. So still don't understand the relationship between genre buttons and folder names - do you have "genre" folders to quickly find stuff in a browse folder/file mode? Would be good to have al your reference recordings under a single button on Conductor labelled ummm "Reference"

 

2. Did some research on your Bricasti M1 - highly regarded. The MX151 has a Burr Brown DAC built it, so i can go direct to pre/pro. I to much prefer the AES/EBU connection.

 

3. Comments re power / earthing noted. For my power cables i'm using Nordost Blue Heaven

 

4. The app does look great in terms of functional coverage and Aurender support appears to be first rate - so should only get better (I'm picking up an iPad Air 2 tomorrow)

 

My N10 is also in black - to go with its McIntosh neighbours

 

Now arriving tomorrow morning

 

Thanks again buddy

 

Jim

 

I think a lot of your folder questions will be answered when you have used the Aurender for a few days.

[mcjim]

Agreed

 

thanks rwwjr44

[mcjim]

Guys - in setting up the N10 for first time use - the Quick Start guide says to just copy the folders/files to the 2 HDD on the Aurender.

 

I've downloaded the Windows version of AMM - which would appear to be another method of initial set up.

 

Qustion: Why would I use AMM, when simply dragging folders and files to the local drives on the Aurender apears to suffice (and then scan for metadata/dbase construction.

 

Any guidance here most welcome - N10 on its way and want to hit the ground running tonight

 

Thank you/Jim

[michaelD]

Jim

 

If the two drives are enough on the N10 for space you do not need the AMM. Like you said all you have to do once your N10 is on your network is drag and drop files to the N10. I also sent you a private message with my email earlier today did you get it??

 

MMc

[mcjim]

Thanks you Michael

 

Appreciate the clarification - let me revert on the pm, sorry just noticed it

 

Jim

[stevebythebay]

Creating folders on the N10 of the form [category] will ensure that you have up to 10 of these available for display on the app (the app puts them in alpha order). You'll discover that you'd likely use all of these, though trying to determine which albums/artists to place in each is not a slam dunk. Using one of the USB connections for introducing new music into the N10 pushes them into [Etc] which is a bit of a pain. You'll then need to copy/move these album/folders into their "final" category folder. And to balance across drives, it's a slog to get albums from one to the other drive. So, you're alternative is to use the wired or wifi network to make initial moves.

 

p.s. If you want to use a nice Mac utility to manage metadata I find that Yate is a relatively inexpensive app for the Mac that is especially great for album art management (pulling large jpg images via Google is especially good). One thing that is a bit of a pain: if the album art is not what you had in mind (often can happen if you're in a hurry and not checking what gets assigned) after you've loaded up the album, you can replace it via Yate or other apps (JRMC, iTunes, etc.) but you'll then need to do a FULL scan on the N10 to get the art replaced.

 

Hope that helps. And I've tested both AES/EBU as well as USB with my Berkeley Ref and came to the conclusion that the USB is better, probably due to the excellent design of the Berkeley Alpha USB converter and associated cables/power cord. So, due test, test, and test some more.

 

One other thing that may prove useful: if you are using a Sonos or other means to feed audio into your system (I happen to listen to KDFC classical / KFOG rock / Pandora) I've begun to play with Apple's AirPlay on the iPad to direct all audio to the Airport Extreme (the N10 is directly connected). I'm not sure of all of the restriction/limitations of AirPlay, however. So I suggest you review the Apple web docs on that. I'm hoping that going into the N10 without needing the Sonos may prove a cleaner way, though the iPad itself may be the weak link.

 

Love to hear from others about how they feed their N10, apart from Tidal Looking forward to seeing Roon support in the coming year.

[michaelD]

To expand on the above:

 

If you can keep your categories to five within both drives in the N10 and the AMM then when you pull them up in the App each category will be summed together - I mentioned this early on in this thread along with what I labeled them. I found that these categories are real universal and intuitive to place various artists. I think for most users these 5 categories would be just fine. What makes this nice is then as you run out of room for a category on one drive you just put more on another. It almost guarantees that you will not run out of room for any category going forward since if you do on one drive just add the overflow to any of the other two. I use etc. for all the odd albums that I have collected over the years music sound tracks, Nordost system test disc stuff like that. Why Aurender keeps supplying units with such poor default choices is confusing for a newbie and like you said to transfer music once stored to another folder can be tedious.

 

Just a general comment in my opinion on USB and AES/EBU which I know may get me some hot comments but I just don't get the whole USB thing. I mean really the only reason USB is even in the conversation today is music servers like the N10 were not around early on so laptops were the only way to store and transfer music using USB as the only option. However if music servers were available early on they would never of had a USB connection as it would of been considered an inferior connection much like toslink. Yes companies like Berkeley seem to go even further out to keep promoting USB by creating their USB converter. To me less is better and adding another piece of equipment in-between seems to just help promote something that should just go away. After all these years AES/EBU has stood the test of time as the ultimate connection between audio components.

 

I to have Sonos as an alternate for years to supplement my local library. At first the convenience was so great I overlooked the sound quality. Now that I have had it for a few years and particularly with the N10 purchase it just seems inferior now. However I did purchase an item from Empirical Audio they call the Synchro Mesh a year ago. I found that this really reduces jitter from the Sonos and makes a nice improvement in the sound that you hear. This of course is another box in between however this one helps solve a deficiency that all Sonos have - jitter. Try this one - listen to Tidal from the N10 then listen to Tidal through Sonos - even with the Synchro Mesh running there is a huge difference. What the Sonos gives you of course are more choices. I currently use Sonos throughout my home which I think is a good application however I'm seriously thinking about removing it from my music room. Previous to the N10 I could only play my DSD's using a CD player. Now that I have added all my DSD's to my digital library Sonos is not as attractive an option for me. Between all my digital media and Tidal I just don't see the point to listen to Sonos anymore in that room.

[skolis]

To expand on the above:

 

....

 

After all these years AES/EBU has stood the test of time as the ultimate connection between audio components.

 

IPrevious to the N10 I could only play my DSD's using a CD player. Now that I have added all my DSD's to my digital library ....

 

Question:

 

Can AES be used to playback DSD via the N10?

 

thx.

[rwwjr44]

Yes

[michaelD]

Absolutely

 

Also forgot to mention that one thing I will miss with eliminating Sonos from the music room is that I had a couple of Sonos ones set up as rears on the other end of the room. It did fill in some sound. I set them at about 1/2 the volume of my main speakers

[stevebythebay]

Well I'll stick with the Sonos for now. It seems immune to the internet traffic that moves about my house, and it's also following a separate optical path into my Berkeley Ref. DAC. I'll certainly look into the Empirical Audio Synchro Mesh device. My limited experience in trying to keep a clean connection from iPad (local internet and Pandora) into the N10 suggests that when it's not having hiccups it seems "cleaner".

 

On another note: when I first deployed my N10 it did not include any default folders (likely some glitch in production). So I wound up creating my own category folders. Not sure if the N10 has ever correctly "placed" albums into these folder categories without my "help" or not. Need to give that another go.

[michaelD]

Steve just checking if you had a chance to check out the SynchroMesh unit? Also Wired4sound does an internal gut that is similar. I stayed away from that as there was reviews on more drops which Wired4sound disputed when asked. Have had no issue with Empirical unit. Like I said above if you have a pair of 1's, 3's or 5's try the rear speaker idea it does work quite well.

[stevebythebay]

Did look into the SynchroMesh as well. Seems that both are designed to provide the same process of reclocking with the newer unit from Wyred4Sound being a few hundred less. As for the Wyred4Sound mod, it adds something but at a considerable expense to what is a not that great hardware platform. If the Connect were to go belly-up I'd need to replace it with another modified unit for upwards of $900 or so with price/tax/shipping. Rather go with external reclocker. For me listening to local stations, Pandora, or the upcoming Apple Music streams is more of a casual act. When I get serious it's listening to music from the N10. And using Tidal, with it's redbook level streams, does not impress me at this time. If I'm that keen on what they offered I'd buy the CD's and avoid the internet or any server hiccups on their end. That's just me, I suppose. Maybe if they were to offer 24/192 source that's clean I'd reconsider ;-)

[michaelD]

You know you are right a couple of years ago the Sonos and SynchroMesh was a good addition to my music room for material I did not have nor wanted to purchase but did want to listen to at times. Now with the N10 and Tidal that combo blows that set up away. Yes like you mentioned its OK maybe even good minus but certainly not great. However this is where we are going as it will be excellent at some point just not real soon. I look at it this way no matter how you cut it I will never have 25 million tracks nor never purchase anything unless I really really like it. Maybe I'm a little more forgiving of how the N10 and Tidal sound but when listening slightly critical for me its OK.

 

Speaking of better like 24/192 where is all the MQA and Tidal hoopla that was touted by both about this time last year. TAS had that big article and then nothing. Went to Axpona this past April and they had a demo and lecture on it. All this was to start streaming this past summer but so far......nothing. I have emailed Tidal and of course they can't say anything. To me that could be the answer but of course have to have something to listen first.

[stevebythebay]

Darko has a piece today about MQA and seems to suggest this is the future, though it will be up to hardware vendors to deliver the full promise of the technology. In the past it's always taken time for technology to get "fairly" licensed though it's often been too little too late (Betamax and other Sony tech.). So, it remains to be seen if this solution can be "pushed" rather than "pulled" to the masses.

[michaelD]

Just read this article much of it including the video's have been available for months but still nicely done. What is nice about this article is it approaches it from the side why streaming and hence MQA could be the answer. I agree with all that is said but like you said it takes awhile for all the cogs to line up. A better article from a technical standpoint is in TAS. I had to read that one a few times to get it all straight but some was certainly over my head. The process solves a lot of problems and allows audiophiles to tag along. We know how leading the pack has worked out from past misses from what I have read the marketing to the masses has to be the goal and the beauty of MQA is we can enjoy the same file but at 24/192.

[Doak]

MQA decoding is a software function. "Compatibility" will be delivered via software updates to music players such as JRiver/Amarra and firmware updates to streamers such as Aurender/Auralic Aries. The buzz indicates these updates, at least in some instances, are on the horizon

[michaelD]

From my understanding that is partially true. At Axpona I asked a lot of questions particularly to Meridian but also to music servers like Aurender and DAC manufacturers what I was told was the following.

 

Software can be used but it will be inferior to a hardware or chip solution. They mentioned that software will be used like in phone etc. probably some audio eq. and the like also of lesser nature. However the best solution was with hardware. It was brought up that if possible firmware could also work but at the time could not get a straight answer of where it fit with quality closer to software or the chip.

The other thing I questioned is where does all this magic happen? It came down to the DAC's. Not the music servers or from my understanding JRiver matter. I questioned several companies and everyone including the DAC people pointed to the DAC as where the magic happens. If someone knows more or better please speak up.

[The Computer Audiophile]

From my understanding that is partially true. At Axpona I asked a lot of questions particularly to Meridian but also to music servers like Aurender and DAC manufacturers what I was told was the following.

 

Software can be used but it will be inferior to a hardware or chip solution. They mentioned that software will be used like in phone etc. probably some audio eq. and the like also of lesser nature. However the best solution was with hardware. It was brought up that if possible firmware could also work but at the time could not get a straight answer of where it fit with quality closer to software or the chip.

The other thing I questioned is where does all this magic happen? It came down to the DAC's. Not the music servers or from my understanding JRiver matter. I questioned several companies and everyone including the DAC people pointed to the DAC as where the magic happens. If someone knows more or better please speak up.

It could be done in hardware or software identically. However, if software companies were allowed to decode MQA right now, not a single manufacturer would sign up to license the hardware solution. After the hardware licensing has run its course (years from now) then software licensing will happen. This is all my opinion based on talking to friends in the industry.

[Doak]

Time will tell, and the time is coming sooner than later:

BROOKINGDecember 9, 2015 at 10:08 pm

"I got an email last night about Amarra for Tidal 2.0 and they wrote “Support for upcoming MQA streaming” so I sure hope that means a new DAC is not required. I also hope they’ve fixed their buggy UI. $10 upgrade for existing users."