Article: Review | Aurender N20 Music Server / Streamer

[The Computer Audiophile]

P.S. I hope you guys take my comments in the spirit in which they are intended. I enjoy reading everyone’s opinion, even when I disagree. As long as your respectful, and you are, it’s all good. 

[Gavin1977]

22 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

P.S. I hope you guys take my comments in the spirit in which they are intended. I enjoy reading everyone’s opinion, even when I disagree. As long as your respectful, and you are, it’s all good. 

No problems… all valid points.

[ChrisG]

On 12/1/2021 at 12:46 PM, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

The two systems I've been using lately are the N20 via AES to Yggdrasil LiM and HQPlayer running upsampling and room correction outputting to a signature Rendu SE optical and into a Denafrips Terminator II. Both of these are fantastic. If you say, what about N20 into Rossini vs plain old Roon into Rossini, I'd go for N20 > AES > Rossini absolutely. 

When you say "plain old Roon", does this mean using it without Mitch's convolution filters or with them?

 

While I don't have filters from Mitch, speaking as someone with an acoustically treated room and a Trinnov Amethyst, I have to believe that using Roon w/DSP would sound better than using the N20 into the Rossini without DSP, especially after looking at the graphs of your room w/o DSP. 

BTW, the Antipodes new K & S series have storage options similar to Aurender's - they come with no storage and accept 2.5" drives. In the case of the K50 and K30, they can take up to 24TB. 

If you're reluctant to compare your DIY servers to the N20, a more apt comparison would be between the Antipodes K50 and N20; maybe Antipodes would send you one for review.

[Pokey77]

While one poster sort of asked about W20SE vs. N20, I'm curious which you thought had better SQ? Yes, it would be nice if the W20SE had the new display, but I'm really just looking for SQ. I turn off the display on my N10. -whatever you can share regarding SQ would be appreciated.

[wjt3]

Morning-- how and where did you get the app for using on your Mac computer? I thought it was only avail for pads and iphones?? thanks in advance
 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Just now, wjt3 said:

Morning-- how and where did you get the app for using on your Mac computer? I thought it was only avail for pads and iphones?? thanks in advance
 

Most iOS apps will work on Macs with Apple Silicon. Just search the App Store and it will show up on the iPhone / iPad tab. 

[wjt3]

Thanks- I did try that, but nothing shows up--I have a new (2020) macbook air- shows only ipad ?!?

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 hour ago, wjt3 said:

Thanks- I did try that, but nothing shows up--I have a new (2020) macbook air- shows only ipad ?!?

 

Look in your previously downloaded apps and make sure you click iPad/iPhone. 

[Dudeman]

Thanks much for the time and effort constructing the review - much appreciated and hit most of the right buttons.

Before I ask this question, please be aware I'm somewhat new to the digital/streaming world, not having experimented to much and only having begun reading and expanding my knowledge base of the last 18 months, or so.

One of my goals is to learn as much as I can about streamers and their associated OSs, as well as the advantages of various aspects such as, HQplay, Roon, and the pros and cons of options.  I do have a somewhat higher end system (not six figures by any means, however), and just upgraded to my second DAC, a Lampi Golden Atlantic TRP.   And moving up requires server/streamer upgrade.  

Thus, I've been reading much - and fretting about budget :)   The Aurender  line is attractive, and I'm glad you posted the review.  However, unless I somehow missed it, you didn't seem to mention your streaming source (e.g., Tidal, Qobuz, etc.).  One reason I ask is, I recall a time several years ago when a complaint was SQ degradation on the N10 occurred with Qobuz, though not Tidal; it appears that Qobuz was "re-routed" or directed to cache.  In any case the process was technically circuitous as processed.  I'd assume by now this is no longer the case, but still wonder.  I'm not sure I can swing an N20 in my budget, but perhaps the N10.   And in terms of HQplay(er), on the Aurender, how did you judge it in comparison to Roon?     Thanks much.

[The Computer Audiophile]

25 minutes ago, Dudeman said:

Thanks much for the time and effort constructing the review - much appreciated and hit most of the right buttons.

Before I ask this question, please be aware I'm somewhat new to the digital/streaming world, not having experimented to much and only having begun reading and expanding my knowledge base of the last 18 months, or so.

One of my goals is to learn as much as I can about streamers and their associated OSs, as well as the advantages of various aspects such as, HQplay, Roon, and the pros and cons of options.  I do have a somewhat higher end system (not six figures by any means, however), and just upgraded to my second DAC, a Lampi Golden Atlantic TRP.   And moving up requires server/streamer upgrade.  

Thus, I've been reading much - and fretting about budget :)   The Aurender  line is attractive, and I'm glad you posted the review.  However, unless I somehow missed it, you didn't seem to mention your streaming source (e.g., Tidal, Qobuz, etc.).  One reason I ask is, I recall a time several years ago when a complaint was SQ degradation on the N10 occurred with Qobuz, though not Tidal; it appears that Qobuz was "re-routed" or directed to cache.  In any case the process was technically circuitous as processed.  I'd assume by now this is no longer the case, but still wonder.  I'm not sure I can swing an N20 in my budget, but perhaps the N10.   And in terms of HQplay(er), on the Aurender, how did you judge it in comparison to Roon?     Thanks much.

That's a lot to chew on @Dudeman. Let me think about some answers  and get back to you. In the mean time, others can chime in. 

 

The reason I need to think about it is because someone your questions really have 5 other questions surrounding them, that you aren't aware of yet because you're new to this. Not your fault, but I want to answer in a way that hits those points before you realize you need to ask the question. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

32 minutes ago, Dudeman said:

Before I ask this question, please be aware I'm somewhat new to the digital/streaming world, not having experimented to much and only having begun reading and expanding my knowledge base of the last 18 months, or so.

 

It's a marathon, not a sprint. You'll get there and won't have to worry if you're making the right move. if it's possible, people in this community have done it :~)

 

33 minutes ago, Dudeman said:

One of my goals is to learn as much as I can about streamers and their associated OSs, as well as the advantages of various aspects such as, HQplay, Roon, and the pros and cons of options.

 

This is a multi-factor decision. You need to understand your needs and wants more than anything. Often people say they want the absolute cutting edge and best sound quality and are willing to sacrifice everything for this. In reality, spending 30 minutes (for someone technically savvy) to troubleshoot why you have no audio, isn't something those people bargained for. 

 

Assess your needs/wants, then you'll be able to find the right balance. 

 

The items you mentioned HQPlayer and Roon can be configured many different ways making them somewhat easy to use or quite complicated to use. For example, Running Roon with a huge library of over 300,000 tracks can make it fairly slow. Plus, Roon can run better on certain hardware and can be problematic over a network sometimes. Roon on a single PC with local storage and a USB DAC, is very simple.

 

HQPlayer is a different animal. If your DAC is non oversampling NOS, then HQPlayer can be a game changer. There are ways to make it easier to use and ways to make it really complicated. For example, using a Small Green Computer sonicTransporter that runs HQPlayer is a good way to simplify. 

 

Then we have the Aurender options like the N20 in this review. As I said in the review, it's dead simple and wrks blazingly fast every time. Support is leaps and bounds ahead of something like Roon. 

 

33 minutes ago, Dudeman said:

Thus, I've been reading much - and fretting about budget :)   The Aurender  line is attractive, and I'm glad you posted the review.  However, unless I somehow missed it, you didn't seem to mention your streaming source (e.g., Tidal, Qobuz, etc.).  One reason I ask is, I recall a time several years ago when a complaint was SQ degradation on the N10 occurred with Qobuz, though not Tidal; it appears that Qobuz was "re-routed" or directed to cache.  In any case the process was technically circuitous as processed.  I'd assume by now this is no longer the case, but still wonder. 

 

I have zero issues with Qobuz and Aurender. 

 

 

[feelingears]

Digital audio is such a mix of trade-offs. Fortunately five figure servers, nice as it would be to have one, are not strictly necessary:

• There is @bobfa's recent article here about R-Pi streamers and software. 
• There are two or three name-brand products under $1,000 with what appears to be a good blend of hardware and software.
• And now Auralic announcing Amazon Music (which, being in America, perhaps I am missing the Asian or European market sides of this coin) in the low four-digits...
• and on up the chain...

 

[bobfa]

Everything is a trade-off.  Digital seems more complex to some folks.  I dare a novice to set up a turntable properly!  I am no good at that.  There is a lot of gear out there, and it can be really daunting.  You get people like me that sprint throughout the marathon and run out of gas and money.  

 

My only advice is to not get FOMO, someone has traveled any road you find.