Aurender N10 Caching Music Server review

[jdandy]

Paul.......There is no Pandora on the Aurender platform but there is a wide selection of Internet radio stations. I listen to a station called Florida Jazz. It's good and commercial free.

[audioextreme]

Dan...

This is such a great review. It makes me appreciate my N10 even more. However, after reading your review I have two questions.

1. I have a mcintosh preamp c52 at the moment which has a pretty good dac in it, but I am connected to the aurender via USB. Reading your review it appears that I could be gaining some performance with the clock in the N10. Here is my dilemma. I am looking at purchasing a high end DAC but probably not for another year or so. The c52 does not have a aes/ebu connection. My next dac probably will. Is the performance difference between aes/ebu and coax worth waiting till I get the new dac? Or do you think that I wouldn't notice much if I went coax to c52 now and then coax to the new dac later? Should I just keep using USB then wait to get my dac and get an aes cable then ?

2. I am thinking of getting a NAS drive and connecting it to aurender. How is the performance of streaming files from NAS? I noted one thread where someone indicated that it was a bit choppy. Doesn't the N10 store the files from the NAS on its cache SSD?

[jdandy]

audioextreme.......I suggest you connect a quality coaxial cable between the Aurender N10 and the C52 DAC. Leave the USB cable you presently use connected as well. This will allow you to take advantage of the N10's premium oven controlled crystal oscillator clock when listening to all files except DSD, and the USB connection will allow you to enjoy your DSD files simply by selecting the USB input.

As for whether coaxial or AES/EBU connections make a difference, I have read a couple different reviews where there was a preference for the coaxial connection. This may come down to personal preference. The coaxial, AES/EBU, and Toslink outputs on the Aurender N10 are all SPDIF connections originating from the Aurender proprietary digital output board and are controlled by the N10 clock. The USB connection is controlled by the C52 DAC's clock.

I have no experience using a NAS with my Aurender N10. As I understand it, Aurender has updated the software and NAS integration has been improved.

By the way, may we know your first name?

[audioextreme]

Thanks for the input! My name is Daniel.

Maybe I should spring for a new coax cable then. Now I need to audition a few coax cables to see which one i like the most.

[jdandy]

Daniel.......Thanks. Good to meet you.

I can recommend the Wireworld Silver Starlight coaxial cable and the Wireworld Platinum Starlight coaxial cable. I have experience with both. They are very good.

[phishphan]

http://positive-feedback.com/reviews...-music-server/

This is a damn good review. Worth the read

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by phishphan

http://positive-feedback.com/reviews...-music-server/

This is a damn good review. Worth the read

Kyle.......Thanks for the link to the Positive Feedback review of the Aurender N10 by Robert Youman. I almost felt like I was reading my own review. It is clear he enjoyed every minute with the Aurender N10. Excellent review. .

[Timobi]

Question. Does the N10 upscale iTunes downloads or 44.1 kHz? Or does it only playback natively? I say 'only' not as a negative. Just curious. The Audirvana Plus software does this. I like what I hear in that and know the N10 is superior.

[phishphan]

No upscaling. But many DACs these days have that feature

[Timobi]

Thank you Kyle.