[zachchen1996]

Yeah it'll definitely be interesting to see how it will compare to the LH Geek Wave XD 128 Ultimate. 

 

[Sound Eq]

so far no comment on sq

 

[technobear]

This product certainly seems to fill what has until now been a huge open goal - namely how to combine large storage and high quality sound on an Android or Apple tablet or phone and retain portability.

I see only one problem here. That price! For $1249 it really should include the 1TB storage.

If we take as a starting point something like the much admired iFi Audio micro iDSD at $499, what exactly does the Aurender add? Well, it adds a USB Hub, a USB Drive Controller and that mSATA socket. So... two chips and a socket for $750. OK so the casework is also a little sexier and it has a small display but come on. It is not great value.

Still an open goal for a less greedy manufacturer to fill.

 

[seeteeyou]

Hello? Aurender is a Korean brand and seriously that's such a bargain for merely 1,295 bucks. Let's see how much does the bigger brother W20 cost, LOL
 
http://www.aurender.jp/products/w20
http://www.3beez.com/comparison/competition_chart.html
 

 
 

---

 
Yes, they're the first one who incorporated mSATA slot even though iOS devices might not be able to access that. Let's see how it goes for Android / Ubuntu Touch / Windows 10 phones and phablets down the road. Of course we also have bulky 5-inch Windows XP UMPC for less than 150 bucks
 
http://www.umpcportal.com/products/BenQ/S6
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=5227473831
 
Another cheap 7-inch with only 16GB storage / 1GB of RAM for 499 RMB now
 
http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=40680615244
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Quad-Core-1GB-16GB-Cube-U67GT-7-IPS-Windows-8-1-HDMI-Dual-Camera-WIFI-Tablet-PC-/381028781058
 

---

 
It's a premium brand for that particular market and we'll see what the SQ would be.

 

[Rinoue]

Can someone explain to me what a USB (Audio Class 2.0) is? how is it different from standard computer usb 2.0?

 

[AnakChan]

  Can someone explain to me what a USB (Audio Class 2.0) is? how is it different from standard computer usb 2.0?

 
Hmmm...when I looked at it, it just looked like USB 3.0 to me.

 

[seeteeyou]

USB Audio Class 2.0

http://www.xmos.com/applications/usbaudio

USB 3.0 / 3.1

http://www.usb.org/developers/ssusb

Basically the top one should be strictly related to audio, while the bottom one would be everything under the sun running @ either 5 Gbps or 10 Gbps speed.

---

USB Audio Class 1.0 = 96/24 PCM or below

USB Audio Class 2.0 = 384/24 PCM or below, plus DSD as well as DoP

---

USB 2.0 = 480 Mbps

USB 3.0 = 5 Gbps

USB 3.1 = 10 Gbps

---

Actually 480 Mbps should be (more than) enough for audio purposes already.

However, Aurender was obviously going for faster USB 3.0 because of USB Mass Storage. 1TB SSD over relatively slow USB 2.0 @ 480 Mbps would be painful IMHO.

 

[Rinoue]

Hmm interesting, so if I want to build a home pc with a USB audio class 2.0 to run my USB DAC, would I just look for motherboard that has one?, is that how it works? or do I need to get a sound card with USB audio class 2.0? and then run my DAC off of that?

Also thanks for the links and the info, I appreciate it

 

[AnakChan]

  Hmm interesting, so if I want to build a home pc with a USB audio class 2.0 to run my USB DAC, would I just look for motherboard that has one?, is that how it works? or do I need to get a sound card with USB audio class 2.0? and then run my DAC off of that?

Also thanks for the links and the info, I appreciate it

 
Now that's an interesting thought. So AFAIK in the short time I got to play with it, yes it's merely just a mass storage that mounts via USB. Therefore I can't see why one won't be able to put an OS on that storage if he/she could boot off it. I'm sure some bright spark may even be able to do some raspberry pi or arduino project that'll act as the player.
 
You don't need sound card. The Flow is the DAC. You just need the appropriate USB audio drivers.

 

[seeteeyou]

You're very welcomed.
 
Actually any computers with USB 2.0 / 3.0 / 3.1 ports are good to go, no biggie at all for the hardware part.
 
USB Audio Class 2.0 was simply the implementation of the software, namely the interaction between the Operating System, the Device Driver, and the software player such as JRiver Media Center or foobar2000 etc.
 
http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/HW/USB_DAC.htm
 
By default both Mac OS X and Linux should support USB Audio Class 2.0 natively, and we just have to install the Device Driver for Windows so that USB Audio Class 2.0 could work properly.
 

---

 
Of course getting Aurender FLOW to work with relatively noisy computers should be fairly easy, dealing with all that noise would be the tough part.
 
There are so many ways to reduce the noise and recently we've been talking about this Headphone Conditioner from Nice Sound in Japan
 
http://ns-t.com/products/trans/nsit52.html
http://ns-t.com/cart/products/list.php?category_id=12
 
The model is NXT-2AK and it could even transform the single-ended output of Aurender FLOW to balanced outputs.
 
http://www.e-earphone.jp/nice-sound/nxt-2ak
http://ameblo.jp/e-earphone/entry-11919389226.html
http://ameblo.jp/e-earphone/entry-11918399287.html

 

[spkrs01]

A quick line to say a huge thanks to Harry Lee and Dr. John Kim at Aurender, and it was truly delightful meeting them in Tokyo!!!
 
I received the Flow this morning, and drivers for Windows to use with JRiver MC20 this afternoon. Excellent response from the support team at Aurender.
 
Here's a link for the drivers which I will keep up at Dropbox until Aurender makes it available :-
 
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/61845253/aurender_FLOW_V1000_Windows_Driver_v2.23.0/aurender_FLOW_V1000_Windows_Driver_v2.23.0.exe
 
 
 
 

 

[VisceriousZERO]

Oh Gavin, that is such a tease, please tell us how it fares xD

 

[audionewbi]

Emailed them a week ago about few question regarding if I can access the internal content using any current andriod or apple devices got no reply back.

 

[AnakChan]

Emailed them a week ago about few question regarding if I can access the internal content using any current andriod or apple devices got no reply back.

As per my questions to them :-

http://www.head-fi.org/t/738861/1295-aurender-flow-portable-dac-amp-with-msata-slot-for-up-to-1tb-ssd/20_20#post_10988068

The official answer is no. But think with Android rooting it may be possible. I wouldn't expect them to advocate let alone even mention that.

 

[audionewbi]

As per my questions to them :-

http://www.head-fi.org/t/738861/1295-aurender-flow-portable-dac-amp-with-msata-slot-for-up-to-1tb-ssd/20_20#post_10988068

The official answer is no. But think with Android rooting it may be possible. I wouldn't expect them to advocate let alone even mention that.

Thanks, I read that, my comment was more of providing a feedback regarding an inadequate communication in contrast to what Gavin experienced. 
 
Still priced at $1295 it is a good sign and I am sure performance will not disappoint based on the few people who had tried it (and one liking it as much as HUGO).
 
Tried ordering it but sadly the preorder is only for US resident. The local dealer does not even know if they is getting it till Q1 2015.