Aurender Conductor app works on Macbooks running M1 silicon

[Puma Cat]

One of the things I like about Roon was you can run it as an app from your Macbook/Macbook Pro. Personally, I do not like using smartphones and even tablets to control my streaming content. Some folks may disagree and that's fine...I taught Voice of the Customer for product development for 10 years and key principle is that all customers' needs are equally valid.

Personally, I REALLY prefer using my Macbook Pro. And if I were to put forth a hypothesis, I'm not alone in that preference.

Anyhoo, moving to the main point...

Well, it turns out if you have an Macbook Pro with M1 silicon...you can run the Aurender Conductor app from your Macbook Pro...

Just download the iPad app, for example, from the iOS app store, install it, and...it runs!

Here's a screenshot directly from my 2021 Macbook Pro M1 Pro running the Aurender Conductor app.

Another feature I personally just discovered the other day is...if you click on the album art in the upper left corner of the app (which manages the playback Queue), you get a full size pic of the album with controls that let you start, stop and reset playback as well as the track name, and other pertinent info.

And...if you click on the small icon with three lines at bottom right, it brings up the entire album tracks, overlaid on the album art.

And...you can click on any of the tracks in that track overlay display to play that specific track, you do not need to go back to the Queue manager control panel.

Now...that is cool...

Some Aurender owners already likely already know about this feature, but I just found out about it recently, and as I'm very much an "album-oriented" music-listening kinda guy, this makes the experience, for me, more Roon-like in terms of interface and overall experience.

Pretty cool....

 

[JohnJ]

Steve (AKA Puma)

Good Post! Thanks!

I also agree using my MacbookPro (2010) to control my player (Bryston BDP3).

One of the goals of Apple when moving to the M chips was to have compatibility with iOS.

Although I really like the sound and stability of the Bryston with its Manic Moose the integration with Qobuz is a bit lacking.
Does the Aurender with its app combine one's ripped files with Qobuz selections?

John

 

[Randy Myers]

Steve and John, to me the bottom line is that everyone has their own preferences. Mine, while different than yours, are not better or worse than yours.

I really like using Roon and HQ Player on my custom-built Windows PC Server. I can control it from any device I choose whether be an Apple, a tablet such as the one I use, a PC or MacBook, a phone, etc. I am personal not a fan of Apple and do not have any of their devices in my home (or work for that matter). My Microsoft Surface tablet does an amazing job as my Roon Controller!

Most important to me is that what someone uses works for them. Anything to allow more people to enjoy music is really what matters the most!

 

[Puma Cat]

Steve and John, to me the bottom line is that everyone has their own preferences. Mine, while different than yours, are not better or worse than yours.

I really like using Roon and HQ Player on my custom-built Windows PC Server. I can control it from any device I choose whether be an Apple, a tablet such as the one I use, a PC or MacBook, a phone, etc. I am personal not a fan of Apple and do not have any of their devices in my home (or work for that matter). My Microsoft Surface tablet does an amazing job as my Roon Controller!

Most important to me is that what someone uses works for them. Anything to allow more people to enjoy music is really what matters the most!

You know, Randy, I tried and tried to get Roon to work with HQ Player and just could never get it to work, for reasons I still don't understand.

 

[JohnJ]

Point taken Randy.
The goal is better sounding audio; so many factors go into this equation.
It's great to discuss our approaches, share our findings and celebrate our preferences.
We all benefit by picking, experimenting and choosing what works in our particular corner of the universe.

Enjoy the Sounds!

John

 

[Puma Cat]

Well, I've got both here and can switch between them in a matter of minutes.

As good as Roon sounds in my setup, and it sounds d*mned good with my implentation....the Aurender N20 sounds better. Not a lot, mind, but...it does sound better. Especially in Critical Listening Mode...

And for $12K, it had better...

 

[CPP]

So does this mean the Aurender Conductor app regardless of which Aurender unit one uses sounds better than ROON . Just trying to understand is it the app or the build quality of the higher end Aurender unit itself that makes the Aurender sound better than ROON.

 

[Randy Myers]

You know, Randy, I tried and tried to get Roon to work with HQ Player and just could never get it to work, for reasons I still don't understand.

Hmmm.... were you trying to get it to work with your Apple? I have never heard of anyone being successful at that, of course not saying it can't. I simply don't pay much attention to anything Apple ... I know it works beautifully with Windows machines and my T+A DAC requires Windows to do native DSD512. I listen to everything from my server at 24.6Mhz, or DSD512 at 48 base clock; thank you very much HQ Player.... I have confidence that if you were able to get HQPlayer to run at this level you might change your preference .

 

[CPP]

Hmmm.... were you trying to get it to work with your Apple? I have never heard of anyone being successful at that, of course not saying it can't. I simply don't pay much attention to anything Apple ... I know it works beautifully with Windows machines and my T+A DAC requires Windows to do native DSD512. I listen to everything from my server at 24.6Mhz, or DSD512 at 48 base clock; thank you very much HQ Player.... I have confidence that if you were able to get HQPlayer to run at this level you might change your preference .

It does work on an Apple as Jussi has it working. . HQplayer 4 and Mac-mini M1 - Software - Audiophile Style

 

[Audioseduction]

So does this mean the Aurender Conductor app regardless of which Aurender unit one uses sounds better than ROON . Just trying to understand is it the app or the build quality of the higher end Aurender unit itself that makes the Aurender sound better than ROON.

The app has nothing to do with SQ. It has something to do with control.

 

[Mike]

So does this mean the Aurender Conductor app regardless of which Aurender unit one uses sounds better than ROON . Just trying to understand is it the app or the build quality of the higher end Aurender unit itself that makes the Aurender sound better than ROON.

No. It’s a combination of the software and hardware. Would a base Aurender (say N150) beat a fully pimped out Roon setup? I would say that would be difficult to determine without knowing the other factors involved.

The Aurender software is very low noise (unlike Roon 1.7). Roon, built on a P2P network sees a lot of noisy traffic which has an impact on sound. Making great strides on ones network (using gigafoils, audiophile switches) may all be for not, or at best, lipstick on a pig, in prior generations of Roon. HOWEVER, Roon in 1.8 has made some really nice strides to improve sound.

Aurender also offers multiple digital outputs, something you would only find in more expensive Roon devices like the Taiko.

Aurender’s combination of software and hardware is why it sounds so good, but let’s be clear, it’s not at the level of Roon in terms of meta data, DSP functionality, etc. If Roon makes another step up in performance like the last upgrade and Aurender steps up the visuals/functionality of their conductor app, things could get very interesting.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Puma Cat]

No. It’s a combination of the software and hardware. Would a base Aurender (say N150) beat a fully pimped out Roon setup? I would say that would be difficult to determine without knowing the other factors involved.

The Aurender software is very low noise (unlike Roon 1.7). Roon, built on a P2P network sees a lot of noisy traffic which has an impact on sound. Making great strides on ones network (using gigafoils, audiophile switches) may all be for not, or at best, lipstick on a pig, in prior generations of Roon. HOWEVER, Roon in 1.8 has made some really nice strides to improve sound.

Aurender also offers multiple digital outputs, something you would only find in more expensive Roon devices like the Taiko.

Aurender’s combination of software and hardware is why it sounds so good, but let’s be clear, it’s not at the level of Roon in terms of meta data, DSP functionality, etc. If Roon makes another step up in performance like the last upgrade and Aurender steps up the visuals/functionality of their conductor app, things could get very interesting.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Excellent and accurate post, Mike. I concur with your observations and conclusions.

 

[Bart001]

Something that is keeping me using the Roon Nucleus is that I ONLY use Roon over a home ethernet network; no usb or other direct connection to a dac or player.

It's a lot easier for me to appreciate the improvements that are possible for e.g. usb connections, vs. a network server that still will live on the same home network with switches and many many feet of cables.

(I do use an Ansuz C2 switch immediately downstream of my Naim ND555 streamer player. I have become a believer that an audiophile switch immediately adjacent the network player is helpful.)

 

[CPP]

No. It’s a combination of the software and hardware. Would a base Aurender (say N150) beat a fully pimped out Roon setup? I would say that would be difficult to determine without knowing the other factors involved.

The Aurender software is very low noise (unlike Roon 1.7). Roon, built on a P2P network sees a lot of noisy traffic which has an impact on sound. Making great strides on ones network (using gigafoils, audiophile switches) may all be for not, or at best, lipstick on a pig, in prior generations of Roon. HOWEVER, Roon in 1.8 has made some really nice strides to improve sound.

Aurender also offers multiple digital outputs, something you would only find in more expensive Roon devices like the Taiko.

Aurender’s combination of software and hardware is why it sounds so good, but let’s be clear, it’s not at the level of Roon in terms of meta data, DSP functionality, etc. If Roon makes another step up in performance like the last upgrade and Aurender steps up the visuals/functionality of their conductor app, things could get very interesting.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Thank you Mike