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Aurender N10 Review


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Tried many. Favor the Melco over others judging price to sound quality/amount of internal storage/ease of use. Definitely like no NAS in audio system. Negatives = no Roon streaming, no dedicated control app. Can live with those downsides (for now).

“Lenin wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal too. I want to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today’s establishment.” Steve Bannon

 

Chief Strategist for President Trump and attendee on United States National Security Council.

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Curious here in this Aurender thread.

 

You write that you tried "many."

Was an Aurender among those "many"?

And if yes, which model?

 

O'wise, which other music servers did you try?

 

Dave, who is simply just curious about music servers in general

 

Tried many. Favor the Melco over others judging price to sound quality/amount of internal storage/ease of use. Definitely like no NAS in audio system. Negatives = no Roon streaming, no dedicated control app. Can live with those downsides (for now).

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Music is love, made audible.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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For me, the Aurender stands out. Like Bryan above, I've tried and built many servers, but the Aurender has a natural, genuinely transparent quality that is the hallmark of the best. The Melco has it, too - Melco make great servers!

 

To be fair, the S10 (which I used to own) is unfairly treated by a review that assesses its USB output. It was never designed as a USB source: early versions of its firmware didn't even permit USB to be output. The S10 is an SPDIF (AES/EBU) animal, and as such very nearly as good as the N10. The N10 kind of combines the best of the X100 with the S10 and adds some special sauce.

 

It's certainly possible to DIY a computer to give Aurender-level performance, but as the original poster notes - it's easy to hit designed-in roadblocks that prevent further progress.

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Tried many. Favor the Melco over others judging price to sound quality/amount of internal storage/ease of use. Definitely like no NAS in audio system. Negatives = no Roon streaming, no dedicated control app. Can live with those downsides (for now).

 

Agreed. I find it hard to believe NAS are still being recommended for audio: they just never work as well as having storage on-board, providing the hardware makes proper allowance for the noise they generate (which the Aurenders and Melcos do). Still also amazed by how many servers are so badly designed in this regard - if all manufacturers were forced to use transparent cases, it would sort the men from the boys pretty sharpish!

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Was not aware of the USB history. Given my recent experience in using my Mac Mini, and then turning about a year or so ago to the N10 seeing a great sonic improvement, Aurender definitely elevated USB to the highest level I'd heard. That was until I swapped out the N10 for the Mac Mini / Sonore microRendu combination. It's done wonders for my system. Running Roon/HQPlayer easily on the Mac Mini and running Ethernet out and avoiding all the USB "nasties" has really lowered the system noise floor to reveal far more of the music I'd been "missing" or at least losing in the process. The soundstage (width, height, and depth) has increased with a top to bottom precision in exposing the good and bad of recordings. The best are far more natural with voices and instruments more fully fleshed out. But I'd say the only way to know if it's for you (and I know it's not something everyone might like) is to try it out.

Steve Schaffer

Grimm MU1 / dCS Vivaldi Upsampler - APEX DAC - Clock / Spectral DMC-30SV preamp / Spectral Anniversary monoblocks / Wilson Audio Alexia V /  Wilson Lōkē subs / Shunyata Everest / Shunyata Omega interconnects, power cables, Ethernet / Shunyata Altaira / Uptone EtherREGEN switch / Cybershaft OP21A-D / Uptone JS2 LPS / HRS racks - Vortex footers - damping plates

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Does the aurender have a windows control point option without having to buy into ROON.

It's a non-starter for me until it does...jmo

 

Also, does it sound as good or better than a pc media server and HQPLAYER?

I hear you need to buy HQPLAYER to use with roon for decent sound?

 

Maybe that new polaris media server that has built in amp and dac is a better option?

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The only thing that I'm aware exists for actively managing the Aurender N10 is the iPad app (music files on the Aurender) and the Aurender Media Manager (NAS server based music). Aurender has not offered any Roon support to this point. Sonically it's better than nearly anything out there for a USB based player. I found that to be the case in testing it against my stock Mac Mini running numerous software players (Amarra, JRMC, A+, etc.). Had another high end players in house that I'll not divulge. It was significantly more expensive than the N10 and did not fare well. HQPlayer offers lots of capabilities, though I've gone the Bit Perfect route, just letting Redbook or better songs play without any alteration (all of it's AIFF PCM).

Steve Schaffer

Grimm MU1 / dCS Vivaldi Upsampler - APEX DAC - Clock / Spectral DMC-30SV preamp / Spectral Anniversary monoblocks / Wilson Audio Alexia V /  Wilson Lōkē subs / Shunyata Everest / Shunyata Omega interconnects, power cables, Ethernet / Shunyata Altaira / Uptone EtherREGEN switch / Cybershaft OP21A-D / Uptone JS2 LPS / HRS racks - Vortex footers - damping plates

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  • 2 months later...
^^^ yea, that's what i heard...only apple support for controller....too bad...i won't bite the apple...still looking for a good music sourcing method that doesn't include apple.

 

Not sure why your reluctance with apple. Its pretty simple for Aurender. Purchase a iPad (I did a mini), load the app and connect the Aurender to your network. I have my mini dedicated to the music room. I find the iPad real convenient Vs a laptop or some computer lurking in my music rack.

2 Channel: Bricasti M20, 21 & M28 SE /Aurender N30SA and MC10 Master clock Treatments: Acoustical panels(F, S & R walls) Misc.: SR Master Fuses

Speakers: Martin Logan CLX ART (Dark Cherry) w/30# weights / 2-ML 212's 

Grounding: QKore 1&6 / Networking: SOtM switch, clock and Pwr Supply / AQ Diamond /SR Router Power: Furutech GTX-DNCF / Oyaide inwall  wire

Nordost: 2-QB8 III, QV2's, QK1's, QSine, QWave, QX4, TC Kones, Sort Fut & LIft / Full OG Loom / 3-QSource & 12-QPoints, QNet, V2 Network

Misc.: iPad 6 /Custom Rack  Media Rm: ML: 13A's, 2-Descent i's, 6- Vanquish, Focus / 3-Parasound A23 / Legacy iV-3 Ultra / 77" LG 4k OLED / Anthem AVM90 / Pioneer Elite DVD Nordost: Odin/T2/H2, BC Kones, H2 Network, V2 HDMI

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^^^ yea, that's what i heard...only apple support for controller....too bad...i won't bite the apple...still looking for a good music sourcing method that doesn't include apple.

beerandmusic.......Aurender now has a beta version of their Conductor app for Android. I prefer Conductor on my iPad because of the bigger screen but the Android version on my Samsung Galaxy S7 works quite well with my N10. It's a free download from the Google Play Store.

 

 

30841279003_01811d846e_z.jpg

 

 

I have now had my new Aurender N10 music server just over two weeks. What an intoxicating audio component.

 

My review of the Aurender N10 can be found here: http://www.audioshark.org/aurender-185/aurender-n10-caching-music-server-review-10912.html

Dan

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  • 1 year later...

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