Intro:
I have been so fortunate as to participate in a tour with the aune s16 on the Danish sister site Hoved-fi.dk.
I what to thank Claus from Hoved-Grej.dk for putting this unit up for a tour.
Reviewer background:
I am a farther of 3 at the age of 6, 4 and 1 and a half, I listen to music 5 to 7 hours during the day at work as an electrician, and when the time allows it during the evening when the family don’t need me I sit down by my desk and listen while I enjoy other hobby’s
I do not do critical listening to equipment nor music I simply surrender and listen hoping to be swept away while being active with my other hobby’s or work.
Therefore, in this review you will not see lots of technical terms or comparisons.
What you will see is a subjective opinion on how I like or dislike aspects of the aune s16.
Most of my listening the past 3 months has been done on a aune t1 with an O2 amp and mrspeakers alpha prime
I have also had the opportunity to listen to the aune x1 for some time with my primes.
In the 14 days I had the aune s16 i did most of my listening with my alpha prime besides an evening with a friends fostex th900 and audeze LCD 3 pre fazor.
Tech stuff:
I could write a lot more in this section taken from various sites and aune’s homepage but it is a lot better to visit aune’s homepage for more technical info on the S16.
Build quality:
The s16 looks and feels like a well-built unit with its aluminum chassis and attention for detail, the 3 buttons on the front have a nice feel to them when used.
The volume knob is a tad loose for my liking but the volume knob also function as a button to select between eight different filter that I did not have much time to experiment with and I was not able to hear any difference the few times I tried it.
The mute button on the front is a nice addition to this unit for changing headphones or if someone talks to you.
There is two things that annoy me about the volume on the s16, the volume go from 0 to 100 on the display and every time you power it up it stars at 50 regardless of previous setting when turned off.
I listen at about 85-90 on the s16 with my primes and it takes quite lot of turning on the volume knob to get up to 85-90 and you have to do that every time you power it up. ( I turn the main power off on all my electronics every night to save electricity and money )( this will not happen if you keep it powered and just turn it off on the front panel)
In addition, the one of eight selected filters will reset to default filter every time you power off the s16 so if you found a filter for your liking you would also have to press the volume knob to the selected filter every time you power it up
Aesthetics:
Even though it is a tad big, it is pleasing to look at with its round edges and the small blue lid display do not stand out to much. The black surface and front of the aune is not smooth and shiny instead it is somewhere between blank and matte black and the surface is uneven all over.
I like it lot when it sits on my desk, as I do not get any reflections from my lamp that stands beside it.
Listening impressions:
The first time I plugged my primes into the s16 I thought wow this is sounding astoundingly good, the s16 is a tad bright with my primes but has a large soundstage and instrument separation, I was able to hear more detail from string instruments I had not heard before.
With Teardrop by Massive attack’s the constant Tap on the edge of drum can become a bit harsh with the primes, but the bass is nice and controlled during the track
On I see fire by Ed Sheeran the acoustic guitar sings to your soul I hear details like fingers gently tapping the body of the guitar and stroking the strings, the kick drum slams into your head with a good punch, and when the violin play I hear more layers of details than I have been able to before
Hotel California from the hell freezes over album by the eagles, again the guitar shows amazing detail and air, the S16 presents the music in a light and airy way, the soundstage is phenomenal like I was sitting at the show, here again the kick drum has a great punch to it like the bass has lots of layers that makes you forget what you doing and just sit and listen to it.
The bass is tight, controlled, and plentiful, but I do think that with planar magnetic headphones a more powerful amp would team up with the DAC section quite nicely.
Comparaison:
I had a chance to sit down with a friends LCD 3 pre fazor and hes fostex Th900
The LCD 3 was not the best match for the s16 as it needs a lot of power and control from the amp, the aune simply cannot deliver on that aspect for the LCD 3.
So we quickly moved on to the Th900 and here was a much match for the S16, the Th900 opened up with a huge soundstage and the bass was held in a tight grip, again the S16 is a bright dac/amp and that was transferred to the Th900 as well and the treble got a bit hot on some tracks, but not something that ruined the enjoyment I got from the parring.
Comparing it to the aune X1 mark-IV and aune T1 mar- I is like comparing apples and bananas, it’s a no contest, the S16 is just so much more revealing, open and easy playing in its sound. The X1 and T1 are truly excellent in there price range and I love them, but the S16 just takes it to another level.
I have been so fortunate as to participate in a tour with the aune s16 on the Danish sister site Hoved-fi.dk.
I what to thank Claus from Hoved-Grej.dk for putting this unit up for a tour.
Reviewer background:
I am a farther of 3 at the age of 6, 4 and 1 and a half, I listen to music 5 to 7 hours during the day at work as an electrician, and when the time allows it during the evening when the family don’t need me I sit down by my desk and listen while I enjoy other hobby’s
I do not do critical listening to equipment nor music I simply surrender and listen hoping to be swept away while being active with my other hobby’s or work.
Therefore, in this review you will not see lots of technical terms or comparisons.
What you will see is a subjective opinion on how I like or dislike aspects of the aune s16.
Most of my listening the past 3 months has been done on a aune t1 with an O2 amp and mrspeakers alpha prime
I have also had the opportunity to listen to the aune x1 for some time with my primes.
In the 14 days I had the aune s16 i did most of my listening with my alpha prime besides an evening with a friends fostex th900 and audeze LCD 3 pre fazor.
Tech stuff:
I could write a lot more in this section taken from various sites and aune’s homepage but it is a lot better to visit aune’s homepage for more technical info on the S16.
Build quality:
The s16 looks and feels like a well-built unit with its aluminum chassis and attention for detail, the 3 buttons on the front have a nice feel to them when used.
The volume knob is a tad loose for my liking but the volume knob also function as a button to select between eight different filter that I did not have much time to experiment with and I was not able to hear any difference the few times I tried it.
The mute button on the front is a nice addition to this unit for changing headphones or if someone talks to you.
There is two things that annoy me about the volume on the s16, the volume go from 0 to 100 on the display and every time you power it up it stars at 50 regardless of previous setting when turned off.
I listen at about 85-90 on the s16 with my primes and it takes quite lot of turning on the volume knob to get up to 85-90 and you have to do that every time you power it up. ( I turn the main power off on all my electronics every night to save electricity and money )( this will not happen if you keep it powered and just turn it off on the front panel)
In addition, the one of eight selected filters will reset to default filter every time you power off the s16 so if you found a filter for your liking you would also have to press the volume knob to the selected filter every time you power it up
Aesthetics:
Even though it is a tad big, it is pleasing to look at with its round edges and the small blue lid display do not stand out to much. The black surface and front of the aune is not smooth and shiny instead it is somewhere between blank and matte black and the surface is uneven all over.
I like it lot when it sits on my desk, as I do not get any reflections from my lamp that stands beside it.
Listening impressions:
The first time I plugged my primes into the s16 I thought wow this is sounding astoundingly good, the s16 is a tad bright with my primes but has a large soundstage and instrument separation, I was able to hear more detail from string instruments I had not heard before.
With Teardrop by Massive attack’s the constant Tap on the edge of drum can become a bit harsh with the primes, but the bass is nice and controlled during the track
On I see fire by Ed Sheeran the acoustic guitar sings to your soul I hear details like fingers gently tapping the body of the guitar and stroking the strings, the kick drum slams into your head with a good punch, and when the violin play I hear more layers of details than I have been able to before
Hotel California from the hell freezes over album by the eagles, again the guitar shows amazing detail and air, the S16 presents the music in a light and airy way, the soundstage is phenomenal like I was sitting at the show, here again the kick drum has a great punch to it like the bass has lots of layers that makes you forget what you doing and just sit and listen to it.
The bass is tight, controlled, and plentiful, but I do think that with planar magnetic headphones a more powerful amp would team up with the DAC section quite nicely.
Comparaison:
I had a chance to sit down with a friends LCD 3 pre fazor and hes fostex Th900
The LCD 3 was not the best match for the s16 as it needs a lot of power and control from the amp, the aune simply cannot deliver on that aspect for the LCD 3.
So we quickly moved on to the Th900 and here was a much match for the S16, the Th900 opened up with a huge soundstage and the bass was held in a tight grip, again the S16 is a bright dac/amp and that was transferred to the Th900 as well and the treble got a bit hot on some tracks, but not something that ruined the enjoyment I got from the parring.
Comparing it to the aune X1 mark-IV and aune T1 mar- I is like comparing apples and bananas, it’s a no contest, the S16 is just so much more revealing, open and easy playing in its sound. The X1 and T1 are truly excellent in there price range and I love them, but the S16 just takes it to another level.
