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Article: Review | AURALiC ARIES G2.1


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I prefer to use the term "Renderer" for devices like this Auralic, rather than "streamer".  To me the word streamer connotes content coming from the Internet (Qobuz/Tidal), but what these types of devices actually do is to Render audio file data for delivery to a DAC via typical DAC inputs (USB, AES/SPDIF).  The content can come from  an Internet based source (over Ethernet), or home based files from a NAS, server, or other attached storage medium (also Ethernet, or a directly attached local storage drive).

The benefits of Renderers, is that they can be built to deliver digital audio data to a DAC in the most perfect way, with the least amount of associated noise, and with the most perfect signal integrity (or not).  By having a well designed Renderer, one can achieve the best possible sound quality, without some of the limitations presented by commercial computer gear (hard drives, commercial MoBos, compromised power supply designs and clocking elements, etc).

SO/ROON/HQPe: DSD 512-Sonore opticalModuleDeluxe-Signature Rendu optical with Well Tempered Clock--DIY DSC-2 DAC with SC Pure Clock--DIY Purifi Amplifier-Focus Audio FS888 speakers-JL E 112 sub-Nordost Tyr USB, DIY EventHorizon AC cables, Iconoclast XLR & speaker cables, Synergistic Purple Fuses, Spacetime system clarifiers.  ISOAcoustics Oreas footers.                                                       

                                                                                           SONORE computer audio

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4 hours ago, OldBigEars said:

 

So....in short....you're saying a "renderer" like, for example a Sonore product or this Auralic, produces better sound quality than a streamer?  Just making sure I got that....

I do not like to use the term "streamer" for the aforementioned reasons.  So, no, to me a "streamer" is not actually a thing.  Products like this Auralic are Renderers.  The reason to use a really good Renderer is to achieve the best possible sound quality, whether the actual source of the files is the Internet (like Tidal and Qobuz) or a server loaded with your own music files, or a NAS loaded with your music files.  The Renderer connects to the local (home based) Network via Ethernet (or perhaps WiFi, but I generally recommend against that).  So the files can come from any device, or the Internet, which is attached somewhere on the Network, typically, for best performance, I prefer the commercial computer gear to be located somewhere else in the home from the audio system, as this isolates the noisy commercial computer from the audio system itself.

It might look like this:

In the audio system you have:

A Renderer, attached to a DAC via USB or AES/SPDIF, and an amplifier connected to the DAC, and a pair of speakers.

Somewhere else in the home, like a utility or work room you might have your Network gear, and some sort of device for storing and serving files over the Network (a NAS, a typical computer, or a custom server of some type).

 

By this approach, the Renderer, like this Auralic reviewed here, can be a high end product specifically designed for audio, using superb linear power supplies, careful attention paid to PCB layout and all the details like precision clocking, etc.  The renderer becomes the contemporary high end source, serving a nearly perfect digital data stream to the DAC in order to achieve the highest possible sound quality.  While all the noisy, built to relatively low standards, commercial computer gear is elsewhere in the home where its inherent noise has virtually no effect on the high end audio system.  Think of the Renderer as the new version of a high end CD transport, a purpose built for audio device, designed to get the best possible performance out of high end DACs.

 

This would be opposed to say, just attaching a noisy, cheaply constructed, commercial computer directly to a DAC via USB and expecting high end sound.

SO/ROON/HQPe: DSD 512-Sonore opticalModuleDeluxe-Signature Rendu optical with Well Tempered Clock--DIY DSC-2 DAC with SC Pure Clock--DIY Purifi Amplifier-Focus Audio FS888 speakers-JL E 112 sub-Nordost Tyr USB, DIY EventHorizon AC cables, Iconoclast XLR & speaker cables, Synergistic Purple Fuses, Spacetime system clarifiers.  ISOAcoustics Oreas footers.                                                       

                                                                                           SONORE computer audio

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On 12/7/2020 at 10:24 AM, OldBigEars said:

 

So....in short....you're saying a "renderer" like, for example a Sonore product or this Auralic, produces better sound quality than a streamer?  Just making sure I got that....

deleted

SO/ROON/HQPe: DSD 512-Sonore opticalModuleDeluxe-Signature Rendu optical with Well Tempered Clock--DIY DSC-2 DAC with SC Pure Clock--DIY Purifi Amplifier-Focus Audio FS888 speakers-JL E 112 sub-Nordost Tyr USB, DIY EventHorizon AC cables, Iconoclast XLR & speaker cables, Synergistic Purple Fuses, Spacetime system clarifiers.  ISOAcoustics Oreas footers.                                                       

                                                                                           SONORE computer audio

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How did the happen (above), sorry!

 

Anyway, my aversion to the term "streamer" comes from dealing with many customers, who when they hear the term they almost always assume that the content is coming from the Internet (Tidal, Qobuz, etc).  Then it is required to explain to the customer that the content really could be coming from anywhere on the home Network, and that one does not have to subscribe to streaming services to take advantage of the better sound quality which is offered by the better Renderers.  I hear: "I do not use streaming services, so I do not need (a Sonore Renderer in this case)" at audio shows quite often, which then requires an explanation of the benefits (sound quality) of using Ethernet to distribute audio versus a music server in the audio system.  This is why I try and not use the term streamer, because it appears to add to the confusion about these types of products, to audiophiles who may not be well versed in the ins and outs of Ethernet distributed for high end audio.

SO/ROON/HQPe: DSD 512-Sonore opticalModuleDeluxe-Signature Rendu optical with Well Tempered Clock--DIY DSC-2 DAC with SC Pure Clock--DIY Purifi Amplifier-Focus Audio FS888 speakers-JL E 112 sub-Nordost Tyr USB, DIY EventHorizon AC cables, Iconoclast XLR & speaker cables, Synergistic Purple Fuses, Spacetime system clarifiers.  ISOAcoustics Oreas footers.                                                       

                                                                                           SONORE computer audio

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