Anyone Using An Aurender W20?

[Nacho]

I thought you had a K01X.
Before buying my D02X i was researching many DAC's. I deleted the Nagra option because its AES output is bridged to the RCA one. It isn't a true balance output.
Jumping to DCS is more convenient as Aurender owner.
Just my opinion.

[SuperD]

Originally Posted by Nacho

I thought you had a K01X.
Before buying my D02X i was researching many DAC's. I deleted the Nagra option because its AES output is bridged to the RCA one. It isn't a true balance output.
Jumping to DCS is more convenient as Aurender owner.
Just my opinion.

I still have the K-01X which I love but like you said, DCS and Aurender are mated pretty well. If I get the DCS dac, I will probably compare the Vivaldi clock with my current G-01 and keep the winner. I'm excited about the change just to hear some different perspectives and sound.

[SuperD]

Originally Posted by Nacho

I thought you had a K01X.
Before buying my D02X i was researching many DAC's. I deleted the Nagra option because its AES output is bridged to the RCA one. It isn't a true balance output.
Jumping to DCS is more convenient as Aurender owner.
Just my opinion.

What else did you compare the D02-X with other than the Nagra?

[Nacho]

Hi SuperDave.

I had on home a lot of Dac's (Wadia, ARC, Northstar...) The most important were TAD DA1000 and DCS Rossini.
More sinergy with TAD one with great control but a little thin soundstage and bright on highs.
More airy and bigger soundstage with Rossini with less control, treble too much sugary and very confusing output voltage. I had it until three times at home with DCS clock but never sound great with any output voltage.
I would want it likes me because on paper it has all to be a master piece but:
• I didn't like the streaming sound directly from its ethernet input. It sounded better from my Aurender N100.
• I din't like the limited option to upsampling. Only DXD and DSD.
• I don't like to pay for the pre option because i'm more than satisfied with my TAD C600.
Now with my D02Xi can play with differents options out there DSD. I don't like DSD even from upsampling or Hi-Res. Going more far away i listen 95% of times from Tidal. On my system, better SQ than Redbook.
Now playing 8x with impressive tone, soundstage, air, balance from top to bottom, resolution, even more after connect a Siltech Ruby Mountain ii power cord.
I believe that i can get more improvement on two steps:
• Master Clock to get more timing, accuracy and better instrument's position with better bass articulation and better punch control.
The new grandioso G1 is on my radar.
• Better source that improves resolution, micro and macro dynamics even on weight as on height.
I'm very surprised with the limited market options to a high level music servers.
All melomans worldwide are very music server's hungry and the big brands are losting this moment. You can choose a lot of dacs but they aren't paired with the same level music server.
What pure music server could i buy out of being a PC modified. Only Aurender it seems.
But, how much sinergy is there between W20/Esoteric dac/Esoteric Clock?
Does the W20 accepts 10Mhz input from the Esoteric 50 ohm output to W20 75 ohm input?
Aurender puts on its manual different brand configurations except with Esoteric.
I have doubts with these options:
More expensive:
• D02X/G1 with W20 slaved by USB cable.
• D02X/G1/W20 with dual AES.
Cheaper:
• D02X/Cybershaft clock/N10 slaved from USB.
• D02X with clock master from N10's spdf.
I don't know if i've answered your question or i've added more confusing.

[SuperD]

Originally Posted by Nacho

Hi SuperDave.

I had on home a lot of Dac's (Wadia, ARC, Northstar...) The most important were TAD DA1000 and DCS Rossini.
More sinergy with TAD one with great control but a little thin soundstage and bright on highs.
More airy and bigger soundstage with Rossini with less control, treble too much sugary and very confusing output voltage. I had it until three times at home with DCS clock but never sound great with any output voltage.
I would want it likes me because on paper it has all to be a master piece but:
• I didn't like the streaming sound directly from its ethernet input. It sounded better from my Aurender N100.
• I din't like the limited option to upsampling. Only DXD and DSD.
• I don't like to pay for the pre option because i'm more than satisfied with my TAD C600.
Now with my D02Xi can play with differents options out there DSD. I don't like DSD even from upsampling or Hi-Res. Going more far away i listen 95% of times from Tidal. On my system, better SQ than Redbook.
Now playing 8x with impressive tone, soundstage, air, balance from top to bottom, resolution, even more after connect a Siltech Ruby Mountain ii power cord.
I believe that i can get more improvement on two steps:
• Master Clock to get more timing, accuracy and better instrument's position with better bass articulation and better punch control.
The new grandioso G1 is on my radar.
• Better source that improves resolution, micro and macro dynamics even on weight as on height.
I'm very surprised with the limited market options to a high level music servers.
All melomans worldwide are very music server's hungry and the big brands are losting this moment. You can choose a lot of dacs but they aren't paired with the same level music server.
What pure music server could i buy out of being a PC modified. Only Aurender it seems.
But, how much sinergy is there between W20/Esoteric dac/Esoteric Clock?
Does the W20 accepts 10Mhz input from the Esoteric 50 ohm output to W20 75 ohm input?
Aurender puts on its manual different brand configurations except with Esoteric.
I have doubts with these options:
More expensive:
• D02X/G1 with W20 slaved by USB cable.
• D02X/G1/W20 with dual AES.
Cheaper:
• D02X/Cybershaft clock/N10 slaved from USB.
• D02X with clock master from N10's spdf.
I don't know if i've answered your question or i've added more confusing.

Nacho,
You raise some interesting points. I'm learning as I go but I usually prefer balanced connections. The W20 through USB was good but it wouldn't allow the use of the G-01. I'm currently using SPDIF with better results but I suspect Duel AES/EBU will be the best. Unfortunately, the K-01X doesn't support duel AES/EBU as does the D-02X. The G-01 only has one 10Mhz output that I use with the K-01X. The new G1 will have four if I remember correctly. You answered my question but I'm still confused. Thanks for the response!

Dave

[Nacho]

In your configuration (W20 rca output) when your're playing from W20, the K01X dac is slaved to the internal W20 clock.
I would try to connect the G01 to W20 to listen the differences.
Regards.

[SuperD]

Originally Posted by Nacho

In your configuration (W20 rca output) when your're playing from W20, the K01X dac is slaved to the internal W20 clock.
I would try to connect the G01 to W20 to listen the differences.
Regards.

The G-01 is also connected to the W20 and shows "clock in" on the front display. I assume the G-01 is clocking the W20. Am I incorrect? Sorry...I'm a novice.

[Nacho]

It is correct !!! The G01 has two 10Mhz outputs.

[PlanarSpeakerFan]

Has anyone tried the Aurender W20 with the Esoteric G-01 master clock connected to its clock input? If so, was there a material improvement in sound quality (over the W20's internal clock) when using the W20's AES/EBU or S/PDIF digital outputs to their DAC? I'm not interested in the W20's USB digital output because asynchronous protocol uses the DAC's clock, not the W20's clock.

Thanks so much,
Ken

[gds7368]

Any advantage to using an upgraded power cord with the W20 since its power comes from a revolving bank of batteries, not your power line?