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-   -   New Aurender N100H - total newbie Q's (https://www.audioaficionado.org/showthread.php?t=41770)

Matt Lan 01-07-2018 07:46 PM

New Aurender N100H - total newbie Q's
 
Took the plunge and am looking at a new N100H - Silver, 2TB model in my living room that I am sure will meet my modest collection needs. I am TOTALLY new to this and have some early questions before this even gets out of the box! Thanks in advance for your patience here - I've jumped in and apparently need water wings.

:)

1. Ripping my CD's. I have a PC (Microsoft Surface laptop) without a CD drive. I'll need to pick one up to rip my library. Anything specific I should look for or are all outboard CD drives for this purpose essentially the same?

2. Software to create my digital library - is there specific software that I need to buy for this? Recommendations appreciated.

3. Format - based on some reading, I think AIFF is a good format to use. Thoughts on this? Better ideas?

4. I now have maxed out all my electrical outlets. I need a second power strip. This is a condo that we will be leaving, so would be glad to purchase something with some meaningful surge/spike protection that is very well made and does not degrade sound. If it can be repurposed in a new home, so much the better. Recommendations?

5. UPS - I am thinking ahead and wondering if a UPS would be a good idea for the Aurender to avoid hard restarts. Thoughts or recommendations?

6. USB cable - I will be running into the K-03 as DAC. Looking for a good quality cable that will be on par with what the N100 delivers. Not looking for something too esoteric (pardon the pun :D)

That's it for now, but as you can sense, this is going to be a steep learning curve for me. Thanks in advance for the assistance!

Best regards,

Matt

John Jordan 01-08-2018 02:34 PM

Hi Matt-

Congratulations on your N100H. While I do not own one, over the past year I have been seriously incorporating "computer audio" into my system using a 2010 MacBook pro.
So painting a picture in these broad strokes may be of help to you.

To rip CD's, i used a 2008 MacPro desktop. When the built in CD/DVD crapped, I used with a Version Tech USB external DVDRW from Amazon for about $30 until installing a new internal built in unit. The Version Tech worked well.

I began the ripping in I-Tunes but later switched to dbpower amp after reading Dan's (AKA JDandy) comments on this software. It works great and has a trial period. Upon registering, it seemed smoother and able to hunt album art better. It also makes use of the MacPro's dual processors.

Ripping format has many options but I prefer AIFF. It is uncompressed and although the files are larger than FLAC, they can always be converted to other formats if your HD gets full. External storage for the master collection is cheap these days.

Plugs; again lots of options. You could keep it simple and use a simple extension, say a short high current one a contractor may use for power tools. Hubbell also makes one with "hospital grade" sockets. PS Audio has the "Dectet Power Center" that looks very interesting and Ivan has offered from time to time at a very good price. Perhaps someone that has used the Dectet can chime in. UPS seems like a good thought but I'll leave that to others as well.

USB cable. In my system, I prefer using the Toslink out of the MacBook. Experiences with USB have shown a shorter, better cable is more reliable; going from a Belkin Gold 5 meter to a Straight Wire 3 foot. Neither of these would be considered "premium audiophile choices." Shielding seems important as is the separation of power and data lines within the cable itself.

I hope you are able to gleam some useful information from this.

Matt Lan 01-08-2018 06:20 PM

John, thank you for taking the time to respond in such detail. All good ideas which I will look into further. The external DVDRW sounds like a no brainer. And I already started researching the Dectet based on Dan's review - sounds like a good option for me.

Hoping for more input from those that have 'been there, done that'!

Cheers

Matt

jdandy 01-08-2018 09:24 PM

Matt.......Congratulations on your new Aurender N100H. It is a super music server.

This Dell external USB DVD/RW drive will do you just fine. https://www.amazon.com/Dell-DW316-Ex...BJVPECMDSFCVMR

Download dBpoweramp and use their CD ripper. It allows you to select the file format you wish (FLAC is what I use), does bit-perfect rips, and captures meta data and cover art.

A UPS Backup is a good idea. I have uninterruptible power supplies on both my Aurender N10 and N100H music servers. It is important to protect the operating system from hard crashes from a power loss. An APC Backups 650 will suit your needs. https://www.amazon.com/APC-Back-UPS-...PC+Backups+650

There are lots of good USB cables. You want to keep the maximum length to about 3 meters. I have used Wireworld Silver Starlight and Platinum Starlight USB cable with great success.

The PS Audio Dectet is a good quality power distribution center. It will give you the extra outlets you need, and provide you with surge protection, as well as over and under voltage protection.

PM Ivan (Masterlu) for pricing on Wireworld UPS cables and the PS Audio Dectet.

Hope this helps you out.

Mouse 01-09-2018 04:02 PM

How bad is a power crash for aurender?
Do these fail from power loss? Or just take longer to reboot?

jdandy 01-09-2018 05:10 PM

Mouse.......An unexpected power interruption requires the Aurender to perform a complete reboot and file index. It takes some time. There is always the possibility of file corruption when the server is not properly shut down. It is good practice to provide power to a server from an uninterruptible power supply.

Matt Lan 01-09-2018 07:04 PM

Dan, thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Based on my reading as much as I could find, and your advice below:

1. I am looking into the external drive you mention below - curious, will this do BluRay and/or SACD as well - and does that even matter, insofar as what the Aurender can use?

2. Thanks - dBpoweramp sounds perfect, and easy to use too. May I ask why you chose FLAC vs. AIFF or other lossless formats? Prefer to do this once and 'do it right'.

3. Thanks for the UPS recommendation. Definitely want one of those on the Aurender.

4. WW USB Silver Starlight en route from Ivan.

5. Same for a Dectet!


Still in the shallow end of the pool, but looking forward to

:dive:

Cheers

Matt


Quote:

Originally Posted by jdandy (Post 891443)
Matt.......Congratulations on your new Aurender N100H. It is a super music server.

This Dell external USB DVD/RW drive will do you just fine. https://www.amazon.com/Dell-DW316-Ex...BJVPECMDSFCVMR

Download dBpoweramp and use their CD ripper. It allows you to select the file format you wish (FLAC is what I use), does bit-perfect rips, and captures meta data and cover art.

A UPS Backup is a good idea. I have uninterruptible power supplies on both my Aurender N10 and N100H music servers. It is important to protect the operating system from hard crashes from a power loss. An APC Backups 650 will suit your needs. https://www.amazon.com/APC-Back-UPS-...PC+Backups+650

There are lots of good USB cables. You want to keep the maximum length to about 3 meters. I have used Wireworld Silver Starlight and Platinum Starlight USB cable with great success.

The PS Audio Dectet is a good quality power distribution center. It will give you the extra outlets you need, and provide you with surge protection, as well as over and under voltage protection.

PM Ivan (Masterlu) for pricing on Wireworld UPS cables and the PS Audio Dectet.

Hope this helps you out.


jdandy 01-09-2018 08:14 PM

Matt.......You're getting it together. Do it once, do it right.

The Dell DVD/RW external USB transport does not support Blu-ray or SACD. It will serve you for ripping your CD collection to your surface tablet, then you can network the N100H with the tablet to drag and drop your files to the Aurender hard drive.

I chose FLAC because it provides high-quality decoding and the file size is reasonable. I figure if FLAC is good enough for HDTracks downloads, which for all other formats it is converted from their FLAC files, then FLAC is good enough for me. You will always find an on going discussion where others believe WAV or AIFF sound better. All I can say is I get excellent results with FLAC files on both of my Aurender music servers. Ultimately, the choice is yours. There is nothing to stop you from using dBpower amp to rip the same CD to FLAC and AIFF so you can make the comparison for yourself.

For The Love of Music 01-09-2018 11:34 PM

New Aurender N100H - total newbie Q's
 
The big fear for me on the Aurender is power interruption, I did not think of using a UPS to power down the Aurender.

Does the UPS actually shut down Aurender?

From an audiophile perspective, does audio suffer from plugging a high end cable into the UPS and it’s fixed cord into the wall, or maybe the P10?

Poppyhome 01-09-2018 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by For The Love of Music (Post 891721)
From an audiophile perspective, does audio suffer from plugging a high end cable into the UPS and it’s fixed cord into the wall, or maybe the P10?

Dan, please don't answer this question.........:nono:


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