Aurender A10 music server has internal MQA DAC

[RLF]

I’m with Dan on this one and for the reasons that he lists above. I find the recent Stereophile review of the A10 to be negatively biased from the getgo. While, I haven’t personally had any experience with the A10 myself, I would audition one first before making a decision, rather than relying on that Stereophile reviewer’s review. Just my 2 cents.

[Mouse]

I thought the A10 was cool. I wasn't open to a non Mc piece and now I am on a forum chatting about it lol.
I wasn't impressed with the sound, not because the of the negative review but because the demo had much lesser speakers than what I listen to at home.

My initial thought was that by using the DAC of the A10 and using the XLR analog out I would be bypassing the DAC of the MX122 which would be ideal, but it isn't how the MX122 works. The MX122 will still the Achilles Heel in the sound quality, the A10 can't fix that.

I'd like to hear the A10 and the N10 in my home, but I doubt the likeliness of this.

[GSOphile]

+1 Dan

[Sea music]

+1 Dan. I would like to add that Aurender customer support is second to none.
To imply that a $5,500 Aurender is a lifestyle piece of equipment is ridiculous.
Even with the temporary MQA problem I am sure it sounds quite good. My
local store is using one as there streamer with Wilson’s and Audio Research.
Neither myself or the owners heard anything that was noticeably out of the ordinary.

[randyhat]

Clearly the reviewer had some issues with the sound quality of the A10. No amount of fanboy push back or denial is going to negate that fact. I would be curious make the same comparisons he did to see if I could hear what he was hearing. This is just kind of an odd review all the way around. While the review is certainly not the definitive last word on the quality of this unit it is at least a cautionary tale for those of us who have seriously considered purchasing it sound unheard.

[PHC1]

Pretty clear where the review went wrong. When your ears are "tuned" to and "spoiled" by the dCS triple stack of Vivaldi DAC, the Scarlatti clock, and the Paganini SACD/CD transport, the Aurender could not hold a sonic candle under review next to that gear. On one hand that is completely understandable, imagine yourself trying to do the same review, on the other, what helps is to stop listening to the reference gear and instead have a few pieces at hand that would be similar in price and performance to the gear under review. That would be a much better approach and do justice to gear under the review and service to those reading the article/review and considering the gear under review.

[jdandy]

Serge.......You hit the nail on the head. That personal bias was evident comment after comment in Jason's review.

[smatsui324]

My decision is to stay away from MQA DACs for now. There are problems not only with the A10, but also my dealer friend tells me that Mytek has the same issues. All the issues relate to switching filters for MQA and non-MQA material. This dealer told me that when the MQA filter is applied to non MQA material the SQ is degraded. Perhaps that is what Jason Serinus heard in his listening review? My dealer friend sells Aurender and Mytek products so he has nothing to gain by saying anything negative about their products. MQA is still in its infancy and there are problems to be worked out. Until the issues with MQA DACs are worked out reliably, I'm not buying one. Everyone has to decide for themselves. I've made my decision, I bought the Aurender N100H 4TB and the Bryston BDA-3.

[smatsui324]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Pretty clear where the review went wrong. When your ears are "tuned" to and "spoiled" by the dCS triple stack of Vivaldi DAC, the Scarlatti clock, and the Paganini SACD/CD transport, the Aurender could not hold a sonic candle under review next to that gear. On one hand that is completely understandable, imagine yourself trying to do the same review, on the other, what helps is to stop listening to the reference gear and instead have a few pieces at hand that would be similar in price and performance to the gear under review. That would be a much better approach and do justice to gear under the review and service to those reading the article/review and considering the gear under review.

Read the review again, he compares the A10 to the Mytek Brooklyn DAC that sells for $2195.

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by smatsui324

My decision is to stay away from MQA DACs for now. There are problems not only with the A10, but also my dealer friend tells me that Mytek has the same issues. All the issues relate to switching filters for MQA and non-MQA material. This dealer told me that when the MQA filter is applied to non MQA material the SQ is degraded. Perhaps that is what Jason Serinus heard in his listening review? My dealer friend sells Aurender and Mytek products so he has nothing to gain by saying anything negative about their products. MQA is still in its infancy and there are problems to be worked out. Until the issues with MQA DACs are worked out reliably, I'm not buying one. Everyone has to decide for themselves. I've made my decision, I bought the Aurender N100H 4TB and the Bryston BDA-3.

On the dCS Rossini you cannot turn on the MQA filter for non-MQA material. I assume it will be the same for the Vivaldi, The Bridge and Vivaldi One once those updates are finalized.