[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Grasshopper

AA Friends:

I just bought a "new to me" Aurender N10, which arrived early yesterday-

I spent the better part of the day listening to it yesterday (AES out into the Lampizator B3) and could see why many, many folks love the N10. It was crystal clear and insane amounts of separation. Bass was thunderous, and highs were sharp.

In fact, everything felt very "sharp" if I can call it that. It very much reminded me of the sound of the dCS Rossini that I auditioned and used as a streamer a couple weeks ago.

I get that sound, but find it fatiguing (could be system synergy, room, or taste).

This made me think I chose wrong to get the N10 with it's upgraded clock etc. or that I perhaps didn't like the Aurender sound-

Then I felt an experiment was in order... I hooked it up with the USB out, into my Berkley Alpha USB, and AES from the Alpha into the Lampizator----

This made a world of difference. It was smoother, and more "musical" to my ears. Bass was still thunderous, there was still separation, but it wasn't as razor sharp as running out the AES directly.

My understanding is going this route, I bypass the internal clock and effectively have the N100H sound with the exception of a better power supply and more robust chassis.

Seems to me I'd be one that would prefer the N100H as that is described as smoother and not as detailed (likely do to the clock implementation)---


Thoughts from all you N10 experts?

It could be the AES/EBU cable were you using between the N10 and the Lampi B3. I'd try a Shunyata Alpha AES/EBU or better if possible.

Another idea is you could try going directly from the Aurender N10 with a Shunyata Delta or better USB cable to the Lampi's USB port, and not use the Berkeley Alpha USB, and try that, as well.

I've found that less "gear": cables, devices, and usually, the power supplies for those devices in the path between the source and the DAC, the better.