Aurender N10

Mike said:
... If the best (or tied for the best) digital output of the Aurender is arguably the AES/EBU and the best digital input of the BADA Ref is AES/EBU (this is coming from Berkeley themselves), then how on earth would using USB and another box in between and another cable be optimal? .....
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yeah, that would been my a priori assumption. Wonder if there's there's different characteristics between W20 and N10.
 
Performance with USB depends upon the quality of implementation of USB on both the sending and receiving ends. Single wire AES/EBU does not have the bandwidth to handle DSD. Dual wire does.
 
bpw said:
Performance with USB depends upon the quality of implementation of USB on both the sending and receiving ends. Single wire AES/EBU does not have the bandwidth to handle DSD. Dual wire does.
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ok pls forgive my naivete - how does that explain the different conclusions from the W20 and the N10? does that mean that the USB out is better on the W20? And I missed the reference to single and dual wire - who tested that? Sorry if I am missing something obvious.
 
skolis said:
ok pls forgive my naivete - how does that explain the different conclusions from the W20 and the N10? does that mean that the USB out is better on the W20? And I missed the reference to single and dual wire - who tested that? Sorry if I am missing something obvious.
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I have no experience with the dual wire AES/EBU output of the W20 since I do not have a DAC with it, however my comments about single vs. dual wire are based upon information from Aurender. dCS and a few others have dual wire inputs. Please explain your question about "different conclusions from the W20 and the N10." Are you referring to their AES/EBU outputs? As for the USB outputs on both models, they are similar but not identical due to differences in power supplies, however the results are very close.
 
We are confusing the issue here. If you have a DAC that is optimized for AES/EBU (like the Berkeley Reference DAC), then going using the AES/EBU output from the N10 to the Berkeley has been, in my experience, sonically superior. That being said, I need to put the Berkeley Alpha USB with the REGEN back in the system and compare.
 
There's no confusion except to understand skolis's question. USB allows for DSD 128 and PCM 384 playback, which is not possible with AES/EBU. Aurender does a very good job on all outputs, so it should really be more of a convenience than a necessity as far as which output to use.
 
Skolis was referring to the specific combination of Aurender and Berkeley which Robert Harley reviewed together. The Berkeley DAC itself has no USB connection, (only AES/EBU and BNC). The assumption made was that sonics would be best via AES/EBU from the Aurender instead of adding a third box, and a additional cable: the Berkeley Alpha USB, into the mix. There was no discussion or mention of the necessity to play DSD 128 or PCM 384 files.


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It is impossible to draw any general conclusions about the differences among each of Aurender's digital outputs when measured with one specific DAC since that DAC could clearly have a preferred input. Each assessment is specific to the DAC with which DAC it is used.
 
dminches said:
It is impossible to draw any general conclusions about the differences among each of Aurender's digital outputs when measured with one specific DAC since that DAC could clearly have a preferred input. Each assessment is specific to the DAC with which DAC it is used.
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Agreed!




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dminches said:
It is impossible to draw any general conclusions about the differences among each of Aurender's digital outputs when measured with one specific DAC since that DAC could clearly have a preferred input. Each assessment is specific to the DAC with which DAC it is used.
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And whether the DAC does DSD.
 
I believe Marslo was using the Alpha USB with his Aurender W-20 for quite some time and found it beneficial (as opposed to direct AES connecion). He eventually went with direct USB interface which sounded even better with his DAC, although this point is moot as Berkeley lacks USB input.
 
Just to clarify, I have the Alpha USB for the Berkeley. I just preferred the AES/EBU direct connection from the Aurender N10 as opposed to adding another box and another cable. If I was using a DAC optimized for USB (like a Lampi), then I would definitely use the USB output on the Aurender N10. That's the beauty of the N10 - flexibility with outputs.
 
I haven't even bothered with trying the Alpha USB converter with the N10 because one of the reasons (aside from superior sound quality, of course) I bought the N10 is to simplify my setup. I've removed a USB cable, an Uptone Regen and power supply for such, and the Alpha USB converter and its power cord from my system and have gotten significantly better sound in the process.
 
asindc said:
I haven't even bothered with trying the Alpha USB converter with the N10 because one of the reasons (aside from superior sound quality, of course) I bought the N10 is to simplify my setup. I've removed a USB cable, an Uptone Regen and power supply for such, and the Alpha USB converter and its power cord from my system and have gotten significantly better sound in the process.
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Smart!
 
RLL1 said:
I was quite content using AES/EBU, but this discussion has spiked my curiosity so much, that I have to hear the difference myself. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a USB cable, so I have ordered one of these.

http://www.curiouscables.com/
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So, you were curious, so you ordered a curious cable? [emoji6]


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Paul said:
I'm very curious to know the result of curious cable. ;)
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And I would be curious.... holding all else equal ..... to know the results of
the AES/EBU compared to the USB Curious Cable.....
connected between the N10 and the EMM Labs DAC2X.
And no other changes.
 
I've been a relatively new owner of N10 (since September - thanks Brian Walsh).

I've tried N10 and DAC2x with AES/EBU (Kimber Orchid), SPDIF (MIT) and USB (stock computer cable). Definitely preferred AES. As I don't have any DSD tracks, I'll stick to AES.

On another note, I think N10 is a brilliant piece of equipment which trounced my Sooloos. That said, I think Sooloos has a better and more intuitive user interface. I'm hoping Aurender will soon interface with Roon.
 
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