Aurender


I have a Korean car, watch KDramas and even listen to some KPop, but I don’t get what Aurender is doing.

I’m currently in digital hold given that my new Holo DAC died, but intend on listening to my IFi Zen stream and look at upgrade paths.

Some of the most respected members of this forum swear by Aurender, so it must deliver, but here is my point of confusion:

1. Coax and AES are the preferred outputs, but higher bandwidths require dual AES out, but I don’t have dual in on my DAC.

2. Aurender’s top models claim to have great clocks, so why not pass this on to the DAC via I2s?

3. Top Aurenders accept external clocks and I assume this is used with a DAC that accepts external clocks, but why bother when I2s would take care of this?

4. The argument against I2s is that there isn’t a standard, but this isn’t a problem in most implementations.

I’m sure that I have misrepresented things above, so please correct my understanding.

vonhelmholtz

@lalitk 

Been reading thru many different Aurender posts and saw you owned an N10. I'm looking for a streamer only and have a great price on one. 

Question: is the N10 in 2025 still a worthy streamer. The N20 is beyond me unfortunately.  The N10 has the connectivity I need. Somewhat concerned about software updates.

tanks...

@pdjmwj 

You may have missed my feedback on your thread, 

https://forum.audiogon.com/posts/2829917

“N10 is good streamer (better than N150) if you’re using AES/SPDIF output from streamer. Having said that, I would not buy N10 if Aurender is no longer pushing software updates. So check with Aurender if they are still supporting N10. 

Streamer choices greatly depends on your DAC. Are you connecting the two together with USB or AES / SPDIF.  If USB, N150 would be upto the standard (this means your DAC has a superior clock and decent USB implementation).”

N10 user here. I've had several software updates in the last month or two, including one in the last week, so no, they have not stopped supporting the N10.

@pdjmwj The N10 is a very good streamer on the used market today, but keep in mind a few things. First, it’s on an older hardware architecture, so its updates are fairly limited. For instance, it can never receive Roon compatibility or Qobuz Connect. Second, I’ve known a few folks who said the N200 sounds better (I agree here), despite it being a lower MSRP. That is a bit subjective, as the N200 is a bit more dynamic, coherent, and resolving, the N10 is a bit softer on its delivery. Some people may prefer the latter. 
 

 

Just to make sure what @blisshifi says is not misinterpreted. The N10 will run Qobuz natively... meaning the N10 will log on to your Qobuz (or Tidal) account and you use your mobil device (phone or tablet) to control it with the highly regarded Conductor app. The normal way most people use it. I have two Aurrender... and it is how I use it. 

Qobuz Connect is a new feature that allow you to use the Qobuz App to stream from your Aurrender.