Aurender N10 Caching Music Server review

[jdandy]

Earlier today I emailed Aurender Support these questions: Does the OCXO clock control the time for all the SPDIF (Coaxial, Toslink, AES/EBU) outputs on the Aurender N10? Does the same OCXO clock time the USB output? Does the OCXO clock on the W20 control the time on the dual AES/EBU outputs?


Aurender Suport responded:

The OCXO in both the W20 and the N10 provides the clock reference for all of the SPDIF outputs. The USB output is not affected by the OCXO and is clocked by the connected DAC. Since most DACs with USB connections use an Asynchronous connection, the DAC controls the clock rate.

I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any other questions.

[tjarmstrong]

Thanks Dan for the clarification and following up.

[Nacho]

Thank you Dan.
As you can see, my answer from Aurender wasn't the same.

[jdandy]

UPDATE: It's been nearly seven months since installing the Aurender N10 Caching Music Server in my studio sound system. Who would have thought the honeymoon phase would last this long, but it is still thrilling me like day one. It is such a pleasure to have confidence in the N10 performing perfectly every time I use it. No issues with drivers, control app interface, or IP problems, just a totally reliable, easy to use music server that I can count on to perform perfectly every time. The Aurender Conductor app has become second nature to me now. Navigating my music library, Tidal, and Internet radio is a breeze. Loading new music to the hard drive could not be easier with the drag and drop process of moving FLAC files and the Conductor app running on the iPad updates itself automatically whenever new music is added to the hard drive. And the sound, oh my goodness this music server delivers. Yes sir, the honeymoon is still going strong between me and the Aurender N10. It is one sweet and rock solid music server.

[crwilli]

Dan, I am happy you are still enjoying your Aurender. As I read your post above, I was struck with how I could easily take it and replace a few phrases/words such as seven months, Aurender and Conductor, with three years, Silenzio and ROON and it would perfectly reflect my experiences and feelings.

We are all lucky to have so many ways of listening to digital music of very high fidelity with such ease and convenience.

[TommyC]

Dan, how is Tidal on the Aurender? Do they sound pretty close to their CD counterparts?

[jdandy]

Tommy.......Tidal sounds excellent on the Aurender N10. Indeed, it is remarkable just how close to playing CD's Tidal manages to get. Very good sound and worth the Tiday HiFi subscription. The Aurender is a joy in every respect.

[iefbo]

Dan, just curious ...
Are you using/considering any tweaking on the networking side of the N10? LAN isolator or others?

[jdandy]

iefbo.......No, my local area network is performing well without isolation. Since I do not use a NAS to deliver my music to the Aurender N10, the network provides me a way to transfer music files to the server's hard drives, and it provides fast responsive control using the Aurender Conductor app on my iPad.

[PMCH]

Dan, for internet radio, are their any C-Jazz stations or Pandora that can be played through the N10? I don't like creating play lists through Tidal, too much work for me. For background music, I just like to turn on a station and let it play.