[Xymordos]

I see, thanks for the suggestions. How do they compare to the DACs you reviewed?

 

[project86]

The Consonance Ref 7 seems to use similar design as their CD players, which I've always really enjoyed. Smooth, slightly lush sound, with plenty of detail still remaining. Makes everything sound great, perhaps sometimes better than it should. 

 

[Vitor Teixeira]

Hi John,

One thing I want to ask you is about the timing, how does the Aurender performs in that regards?
Do you feel that it's up there in terms of coherence and timing with say a very good transport, like Esoteric, for instance?
Cheers,
Vitor

 

[project86]

Hi John,

One thing I want to ask you is about the timing, how does the Aurender performs in that regards?
Do you feel that it's up there in terms of coherence and timing with say a very good transport, like Esoteric, for instance?
Cheers,
Vitor

 
 
I do feel it is up there among the very best I've heard. For example, I currently have an Accuphase DP-85 on loan, which is supposedly based on their super-expensive DP-100 transport. The DP-85 is still expensive too at around $18K a decade ago. I prefer the X100L as transport with most DACs I have on hand.
 
Of course, it's a bit unfair, since X100L has only USB output, and the Accuphase is coax (or Toslink but I don't use it). I tested by playing from the Aurender, through the Audiophilleo 1 with PurePower, to the coaxial input of the DP-85. Again, I like the Aurender better than playing discs straight from the DP-85. 
 
I've owned transports from Levinson, Meitner, Esoteric, and others that I can't think of right now. I'd put the Aurender up against any one of them. 

 

[Vitor Teixeira]

I do feel it is up there among the very best I've heard. For example, I currently have an Accuphase DP-85 on loan, which is supposedly based on their super-expensive DP-100 transport. The DP-85 is still expensive too at around $18K a decade ago. I prefer the X100L as transport with most DACs I have on hand.

Of course, it's a bit unfair, since X100L has only USB output, and the Accuphase is coax (or Toslink but I don't use it). I tested by playing from the Aurender, through the Audiophilleo 1 with PurePower, to the coaxial input of the DP-85. Again, I like the Aurender better than playing discs straight from the DP-85. 

I've owned transports from Levinson, Meitner, Esoteric, and others that I can't think of right now. I'd put the Aurender up against any one of them. 

Thanks for the reply.
That's says a lot. Feeling very excited to hear the X100L.

So, when does that full review see the light?

 

[project86]

Thanks for the reply.
That's says a lot. Feeling very excited to hear the X100L.

So, when does that full review see the light?

 
 
Still have a ways to go on it, and then it's up to the editor when he can fit it in. So it could be a while. Sorry!

 

[Quest88]

Haven't posted here for a while and just to put in some comments..
 
The HAP-Z1ES is nice sounding especially for the price, all things considered. But it's not in the same market as the Aurender or other streamer/servers as no digital out. The wifi is there because you still need a method to control. We shouldn't take it for granted that streaming is an option with everything. For example the aurender does allow streaming via NAS but it's not as good an experience (e.g. no cover art, filtering, etc). I do feel the aurender does a decent job at airplay though.
 
The Aurender X100L is something I plan to look at also, but I don't have particularly greatly experience with the S10. Performance is good but it's a bit lacking in other areas IMO. Will wait for reviews of the X100L vs the S10 before I look further into that.. and maybe I can also look at the W20 which is a different animal.
 
I'd also wait for the Auralic Aries as a canditate.
 
There are really little high end streamer/servers that don't have a DAC included and just have a usb or digital out, which is what I want.

 

[Good Times]

I've owned the S10 for about 2 years, just sold it to get an X100L. I don't think you can really do a comparison, because basically the X100 is an S10 with the USB section from the W20. Simple as that. Aurender just announced a new component at Munich High End, a D2D converter in a slimline half-chassis, which is just the D2D taken from the S10. It thus takes the USB input and gives you spdif, coax or bnc output. Awesome. 
 
They also announced an amp with dac built in (same thin half-chassis) and a USB headphone dac/amp combo. 
 
Back to the servers, you won't find a better sounding and more user-friendly device, and I've tried many including the Lumin, PS Audio PWD with bridge (horrid thing, completely unstable) and more. SQ of the Aurender is on par with Esoteric's top spinners which is unbelievable. 

 

[rydenfan]

John,

Are you still as impressed with the Aurender as you were a few months ago?

 

[project86]

Yes! Absolutely. 
 
I just submitted my review to Scot at Part Time Audiophile. He will post it sometime soon, depending on how many other pending articles he already has in line. Could be a few days, could be a month, but I'll post a link here when it drops. Summary - I still love the X100L and find it absolutely worth the price. 

 

[bmichels]

Yes! Absolutely. 

I just submitted my review to Scot at Part Time Audiophile. He will post it sometime soon, depending on how many other pending articles he already has in line. Could be a few days, could be a month, but I'll post a link here when it drops. Summary - I still love the X100L and find it absolutely worth the price. 

So... The X100 seems to be a better choice than the older S10 ? Right ?

Question: can you also use the X100 to stream internet radio and also browse/play QOBUZ ?

 

[patngu]

I'm currently using a Cambridge Audio NP30 as a music server, which is connected to an old Genesis Digital Lens before running a coaxial to my Wyred4Sound DAC 1.  Inserting the Genesis Digital Lens between the NP30 and the W4S does improve the sound quite a bit.  But the Digital Lens is old technology and only outputs 44kHz... I've been wondering if the Auraliti PK100 will be a worthwhile upgrade, especially for playing high resolution files.off my HDD.
 
I'm very new to the music server scene, and only have experience with the humble Cambridge NP30.  Thanks for your advice guys.

 

[project86]

So... The X100 seems to be a better choice than the older S10 ? Right ?

Question: can you also use the X100 to stream internet radio and also browse/play QOBUZ ?

 
Seems better to me - assuming you want to end up with a clean USB signal to feed your DAC. S10 is more versatile with all those analog outs and legacy SPDIF outs. X100 series is singular in purpose and thus a lot cheaper.
 
X100 does not do internet radio, Spotify, Qobuz, etc. Singular in purpose right? There's a chance it could be enabled down the road but I've never heard mention of it being on Aurender's radar. Their core clientele until now was mostly using high-end Esoteric, dCS, EMM Labs type DACs, and probably had little interest in streaming music of that type. The cheaper X100 models, plus the coming expansion of Qobuz into more countries (USA especially), may indicate a paradigm shift so you never know. 
 
 

  I'm currently using a Cambridge Audio NP30 as a music server, which is connected to an old Genesis Digital Lens before running a coaxial to my Wyred4Sound DAC 1.  Inserting the Genesis Digital Lens between the NP30 and the W4S does improve the sound quite a bit.  But the Digital Lens is old technology and only outputs 44kHz... I've been wondering if the Auraliti PK100 will be a worthwhile upgrade, especially for playing high resolution files.off my HDD.
 
I'm very new to the music server scene, and only have experience with the humble Cambridge NP30.  Thanks for your advice guys.

 
PK90 or PK100 may indeed be a worthy upgrade. If your DAC accepts hi-res signals over USB (PK90) or SPDIF (PK100), and you have a decent collection of hi-res tracks that you'd like to play, then it makes sense to me.
 
Oops I just noticed you have a W4S DAC which obviously DOES accept those signals. Then it's just a matter of how much of your library is hi-res. The Auraliti models should have extremely low jitter and therefore not need the add-on jitter buster box. 

 

[patngu]

Would the Auraliti PK100 be a better choice (SQ) than the Chinese streamers like Consonance Ref 7 or JF HDM-03?  There's also a new Chinese player, Soundaware D200 that looks interesting.  
 
I'm sure Aurender tops the heap, its just way out of my budget for now
 
Thanks!

 

[project86]

It's really a different way of handling playback. Auraliti is "headless" and you control it via iPad or Android tablet. Those others all have front panel displays and buttons as the main method of user interaction. My experience with them is that they get the job done, but are nowhere near as advanced as the Auraliti method. I wouldn't want to scroll through a massive, multi-terabyte collection by using a simple folder browsing method on a 5" screen. But with Auraliti you can search by album name, artist, etc, and you have a much larger screen to deal with.
 
As for SQ..... the JF Digital HDM-03 sounded very good as a transport, but it only gave a coaxial output. PK90 gives me a USB output which, with most of my DACs, is the better choice. Consonance Ref 7 has a potentially very nice analog output section but the digital out is legacy SPDIF as well.