Anyone own the Aurender N10 music server?

[clpetersen]

Originally Posted by jdandy

bigblue.......I am relatively confident music servers, computer based network and NAS servers will still be here for years to come. The demand for music servers is growing. Music servers already have a history of success that spans approximately 15 years or so. The concept of server based music delivery is certainly not a flash in the pan. In my opinion, there is nothing I see in the pipeline, including streaming from subscription based Internet servers, that is likely to make personal music servers disappear from many audiophile's sound systems anywhere in the near future.

You are correct that music server values on the used market will drop. ....

.

I agree with both posts. As a former owner of the Olive 06HD music server, the hot toy of its era (lets say 5 years in the distant past), I definitely consider investments in digital media players as 'throw-away money' - be prepared to walk away and get the newer versions.

But there are things I would look at, given the similarities between the Olive and Aurender.

1) Quality of the software and app - Olive's was clunky at best; it does seem that Aurender is getting very good reviews here.

2) Caching - Olive did minimal caching, which brings up:

3) Hard Drive noise - this was surprising and disappointing with the Olive. I replaced the original 3.5 inch drive with a 2.5 inch notebook drive, inside yet another enclosure (2.5 to 3.5 adaptor) to eliminate hard drive noise. Maybe the Aurender has solved this.

4) Interfacing with Streaming Sources - namely Tidal, Spotify, Apple, Google, maybe others. Again, Olive came up short.
Aurender seems to do Tidal only, which is good, but minimal. I believe this is becoming as important as the local library.

So, I would personally keep my music on a NAS (for many reasons) and use a good caching music server. Obviously the Aurender running AMM qualifies. It was nice having the library on the Olive for a self-contained solution, but I needed a good network to get the music there in the first place, so...

[esteban]

Dan, you may want to consider the A10 instead. This is a new model that is supposed to be released later this year and includes a built-in DAC and a full remote control, as well as an internal 4TB hard drive that is supposedly isolated from the rest of the components, and noise-free. Balanced and unbalanced outputs. You will find all the details with a quick Google search. On paper, this new unit looks impressive and apparently will retail for $5K, which is a lot more on the "reasonable" side in my view.

I think you may find it more worthwhile.

[scirica]

Originally Posted by esteban

Dan, you may want to consider the A10 instead. This is a new model that is supposed to be released later this year and includes a built-in DAC and a full remote control, as well as an internal 4TB hard drive that is supposedly isolated from the rest of the components, and noise-free. Balanced and unbalanced outputs. You will find all the details with a quick Google search. On paper, this new unit looks impressive and apparently will retail for $5K, which is a lot more on the "reasonable" side in my view.

I think you may find it more worthwhile.

This looks quite promising. I think I'd trade MQA for Roon Ready and add wifi capability. I'd compare it head to head with my Auralic Altair and move forward with the winner. Can't wait to hear one in the wild!

[jdandy]

Esteban.......Thank you for digging a little deeper for me. The Aurender A10 looks attractive but doesn't have the feature set I am interested in. The first thing is I prefer an external DAC, and even though the one I presently rely on is in my Esoteric K-03, I am confident of its superiority using its four 32 bit AKM 4399 DACs per channel. Second, I have no use for the analog preamp capability and don't like the volume control on the front panel or the tiny 3" display window.

There are a number of other features the A10 lacks that the N10 provides, one being the oven controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO) used in conjunction with Aurender's digital phase-locked loop system (ADPLL) incorporating field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) that precisely time digital audio data transmissions and minimizes jitter to below negligible levels at the coaxial, BNC, AES/EBU, and optical digital outputs. I also like the larger 240GB solid-state drive used to cache playback data versus the smaller one in the A10.

Granted, it's a jump from the A10's $4999.00 price to the N10's $7999.00 price. Weather the improved performance is worth the difference is something only a buyer can decide for himself. I am not ready to drop $8K on any audio component at this moment but I am interested enough in the Aurender N10 to be researching it and seeking information from users.

[SL1800]

I have had the Aurender X100L for almost 3 years now and I'm very satisfied with it. I have all of my music stored on a NAS and only transfer, to the X100's internal drive, the tracks I listen to the most, and is being fed via USB to a PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC. I can't speak to the N100's superior clocking or subsequent sound quality but I can say the experience with the Aurender app is fantastic and customer service has been very good when it came to updates and such. There are a few things I hear about ROON software that I hope Aurender adds to their app but only time will tell.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by SL1800

I have had the Aurender X100L for almost 3 years now and I'm very satisfied with it. I have all of my music stored on a NAS and only transfer, to the X100's internal drive, the tracks I listen to the most, and is being fed via USB to a PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC. I can't speak to the N10's superior clocking or subsequent sound quality but I can say the experience with the Aurender app is fantastic and customer service has been very good when it came to updates and such. There are a few things I hear about ROON software that I hope Aurender adds to their app but only time will tell.

Steve.......Thanks for your input. There are many satisfied X100 users. I am happy to know you have a three year history with the Aurender X100L and are still satisfied.

[imprezap2]

N100H or X100L in combination with a Totaldac filtered USB cable will give you similar performance to the N10, in my opinion the DAC is of greater influence to the overall soundquality level.

[bmichels]

Originally Posted by j3brow

Based on my experience with the X100,...;. I used it with McIntosh MCD1100 and Esoteric K-01X DACs. ...

jdandy, I am very interested to read that you use your Esoteric K-01x also as a USB DAC.

Indeed, I intended to buy a NAGRA HD DAC + a simple CD-player since 80% of my listening will be High-Res music files, 19% Red-Book CDs and 1%..SACDs, but... reading from the various reports from K-01x users, it seems that I could instead go for this 1 box Esoteric solution (CD + DAC).

but, this makes sense for me ONLY :

- If The K-01x when used as a USB DAC is at the level of those high End external DACs, AND has a musicality/emotion close to the NAGRA HD DAC (and far from analytic like the dCS that I did not liked because I use a BHSE tube AMP and a STAX SR009 electrostatic headphone, a very precise and analytic set-up which do not tolerate a dry & non-musical source. This is why I liked a lot the NAGRA HD DAC (hybride tube DAC) which bring a lot of emotion and engagement into my music, while TotalDAC, DAVE and dCS Rossini only bring details but NO emotion ).

- If The K-01x is also stellar with RedBooks CD, and not only with SACD (I almost have NO SACD, only CD).

so... is the Esoteric for me ? ( as USB DAC + a CD player ) ?

thanks for your advices

[jdandy]

bmichels.......In my opinion you cannot go wrong with the Esoteric K-01X. Although I own the Esoteic K-03, I could not be happier with the performance and involvement with music it delivers. The K-01X is truly the cream of the crop for a combination SACD/CD/DAC.

If you haven't read the Positive Feedback review of the Esoteric K-01X, here is the link. http://positive-feedback.com/reviews...acd-cd-player/

[scirica]

bmichels: Im with Dan here. Unless I missed it, I've yet to read a less than stellar review of the K-01X or 03X. I know you can spend a lot more, but I'm personally amazed at how hi-rez files via USB and shiny discs sound.