Aurender N10 and audiophile network devices

Here is my white-paper on S/PDIF cable length:

https://positive-feedback.com/Issue14/spdif.htm

Coax cables should always be terminated to RF connectors, like a 75 ohm BNC.  Trying to terminate coax to a RCA connector is a non-starter.  A good cable like my BNC cable will make a difference, but the Synchro-Mesh reclocker is 100 times more effective.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

To make your LAN sound good, I recommend the following:

1) AQVOX switch connected to the server, not a router

2) Wireworld 0.5m Platinum Ethernet cable

3) EMO EN-70e isolator

4) Wireworld 2.0m Platinum Ethernet cable

Connect to your server.

This is what I use. This combination in this order will make a huge difference in the SQ.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

Thank you all for your  answers.

AudioAero DAC only accepts SPDIF or AES/EBU connection, no USB, it is 13 years old DAC.

But with all upgrades I have done, it sounds better to me and my audio buddies then AudioNote DAC4 Signature ( I have borrowed it for day for comparison), lesser DAC's we have tried do not even come close..

Additionally I have borrowed Transparent Reference XL Digital 1m (AES/EBU) from a friend ( he claimed that it is one of the best digital cable there are ) but there have been not audible difference to me with AudioAreo DAC, so I have stayed with mine Tara Labs RS-1 SPDIF (1.5m).

I'm storing my CD's in WAV format (uncompressed), they have been ripped using ExactAudioCopy on desktop PC running WIn7 and transfered to N10 internal drives using Windows Explorer.

For both AudioAero and N10 I'm using Shunyata Alpha Zitron DIgital. Both power cords are connected directly to wall the the some Furutech GTX socket, I'm using dedicated line.

So all is the some, just comparing CD transport with Aurender N10. I have compared N10 to some lesser transports like some SONY $1500 and some Philips, N10 was much much better in every sonic department, cheap CD transports do not even come close.

Maybe just CD-Pro2 used in Aero is that good ??? I do not know.

I have heard in some studios Lumina and other media servers $5000-$6000 (price range) and always have been disappointing (gray and thin sounding).

But I was extremely thrilled when auditioning some very expensive CEC transport (spinner), as good as good turntable.

But I do not want to invest money in XX century technology and physical media, I like the idea of storing music in digital files, but not in the expense of quality. 

It's not fruitful to pursue expensive transports when you can beat all of them using a reclocker costing around $1K with an excellent digital cable included.  Nothing matters from a transport or any other digital source, except jitter.  There is no silver bullet or magical transport behavior.

The Synchro-Mesh and cable have 30-day money-back, less shipping.  I have never stiffed a customer in 22 years.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

Follow up:

1) Aurender support.

I have asked Aurender support to check my unit, they did their best.

After thorough week long investigation I have got answer from Aurender, I'm pasting it below, IMO it might be of some value for audiogon Aurender owners:

"We checked and again did not find anything wrong with your Aurender on the software side.

WIFI Router is used only for controlling app, music is streamed directly from internal drives.

Yes, but noise can still be introduced via the ethernet cable. It may help, but don’t expect a “night and day” difference there.

Your Aurender N10 already has a very fine linear power supply built in. Certainly, a good power cable will make a difference. This will be more easily audible than playing with ethernet cables. Still, temper your expectations here…it makes a very clear difference, but will it completely transform the sound of your system? usually not.

"

2) Wifi router.

I already have replaced cheap router power adapter with battery based PSU (I did not heard difference as expected , as it is only for controlling app).

I will try better Ethernet cables (Supra 8) and will use better router soon.

Aurender firmware has been upgraded to newest version

3)  Audition

Aurender N10 vs moded AudioAero MKII vs T+A d10 (with expensive NOS tubes)

Me and my audio buddies have gather after Christmas to one more time compare transports and reach some conclusions. Most  guys are season audiophiles except one.

Four guys are digital only.

- To settle in, Aurender has been on for week, AA player for 1 day.

- The some PC cable used for both units Shunyata Alpha Ztron DIgital connected to dedicated line terminated with Furutech GTX socket.

- we have used CD track which has been ripped to 16/44.1 WAV (playlist).

- amplification modded Supratek Chenin mkII (tube) ,Clayton monoblocks (solidstate class A),

- speakers YGA Anat Studio speakers

Our impressions after audition N10 vs AudioAero:

For some reason AudioAero did not sound to his full potential, friends said it never sounded that bad, on the contrary Aurender N10 sounded better then ever (new firmware - who knows):

Summary of our impressions:

Friend K: prefers N10 better hights , velvet mids, AA to much bass (he is not an audiophile).

Friend B: N10 balance is lower, less hights and less sibilants, bad sound stage, AA good sound stage better highs but sound to technical, verdict draw

Friend S: AA goes much deeper, wider sound stage,  harmonically saturated, N10 leaner, grayer , preference for AA but difference is not like night and day

Friend A: AA a little to aggressive, but there is shine in the mids, better attack, N10 has jagged frequency band, garish and lean, prefers by wide margin AA (aggressiveness vanished when AA used with Acrolink 7100)

Friend T: AA to much bass, besides that AA is better in every aspect, N10 has no colors no liquidity,  behind weil.

Friend J: AA more information , mids are withdraw, N10 better mids, but very gray, dummy sound, AA wins

Next contender we have tried was T+A d10 SACD/CD player (we have used only CD's for comparison), unit has not been modded but better then stock tubes has been used: some NOS Siemens, Telefunkens etc.

To our surprise, it has been unanimous (nobody has expected it) T+A was not just better then AA or N10 it was crushing victory, all aspects have been better: highs mids, bass finally has been under control, huge sound stage, liquidity.  Totally different league then N10. Just a few comments: balanced, musical, good controlled bass, saturated, liquid.

Next we has tried standalone DAC's we had Lampizator 4.5 and Cello Music&Film DAC 8.

Cello in character has been similar to AA Cap but much less refined, nobody was impressed, Lampizator was very different, very upfront, good for voices but for nothing else, very flat sound stage, strange mechanical. Integrated DAC's of AA or T+A have been much better.

Additionally we have compared Shunyata Alpha Zitron Digital Power Cord with Acrolink 7100 Power Cord, again unanimously Acrolink won when used with AA or T+A.

When everybody got cozy about T+A sound , digital we could have leave with, I decided to put analog on: SME 20/2 + SME V + Kisseki Purple heart (SME with small mods: VanDenHul wire has been replaced with Kondo wire, cheap DIN socket with silver WBT RCA socket).

If there has been 1mile difference between N10 and T+A, now between T+A and SME there has been 10 miles difference. Nobody has any doubts there is a long, long way for digital to reach that kind of musicality if ever .... My vocabulary is not rich enough to describe it, just music with sound coherent, liquid, natural, with finally saturated colors, huge sound stage.

Happy T+A owner just asked me how much does it cost to start adventure with analog. Illusion time is over for some of us.

4) Future plans

It is not surprise for me that analog still is king of the hill and will be at least for decade or longer. Even knowing that, I'm not going to give up on it. One of my friends is very experience and knowledgeable electronics engineer, and he is going to look at my N10 to see what can be done to make it fuller more colorful. It will take considerable time and some money but I hope that he will be able to much AA musicality. or maybe even T+A (I know I'm letting myself t to be carried away :)

Will update thread when N10 will be back with all mods.

 Thank you for reading, hope that has any value.

Regards

Not unexpected given the software, servers and DACs you tried.

Digital can rival and beat analog, but only with the right equipment and software. Just one bad cable, like Ethernet can kill the joy.

If you want Ethernet to sound really good, get these things:

1) AQVOX Switch

2) 0.5m Wireworld Platinum Ethernet cable

3) EMO EN-70e isolator

4) 1.5 or 2.0m Wireworld Platinum Ethernet cable

Drive your server with this. It should make a big difference.

Rip CD’s using either DBpoweramp on PC or XLD on Mac to .wav files. Make sure it compares to other peoples rips on the web.

If you are using USB to drive the DAC from the server, use Wireworld Platinum USB cables and put one of these in-line:

https://sotm-usa.com/collections/sotm-ultra/products/copy-of-tx-usbultra-regenerator-1

Without this regenerator, USB is much worse than Ethernet to S/PDIF coax.

BTW, I'm also a EE with 42 years digital design experience.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

Stereophile Dec 2018

ATC CDA2 MK2 review Ken Micallef

"Going from physical CD to ripped files is like switching vinyl out for digital, but with edges polished and dynamics truncated. The sound was very good overall, including from DSD files, but it lacked the visceral grip of CDs through the ATC's transport. I did't stay here long."

Seems that I not the only one who have noticed that good CD transport can beat easily ripped files.

First question: how expensive Ethernet cables can help in case of Aurender N10 (even Aurender support doubt that) playing from internal drives ? INO only SPIDF cable can matter.
Yes, I believe Ethernet cables could help when streaming from Tidal (we have not tested it).

Second question, to use Aurender controlling app one have to use wifi router hence there is no use case for  AQVOX Switch ?