Auralic Aries Vs Aurender X100

[amabrok]

The Aurender X100L 8TB in my system

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Packaging is very simple. A simple box with the main unit and the power cable



Build quality is top notch. The unit is solid and will feel at home with any hifi system. At it is relatively heavy.



For connection to my Devialet I used Audioquest USB A/B audio 2.0 cable.

Connection and setup was as simple as connecting all cables/interconnects, download the Aurender Conductor app on my iPad then flipping the power switch on the back of the unit. Checked for firmware update and update was done successfully and smoothly

Lights on!



The app detects the x100 easily and works like a charm (later on that)



The unit came loaded with few tracks and some WAV test tones at different frequencies up to 192 KHz

However adding tracks to the x100 was as simple as copy and paste from my NAS all controlled from my Macbook. The X100 appears in Finder as a NAS.

Once you have your music loaded the app needs like one minute to update its database and then everything is now at your finger tips. Many filter and sorting options makes navigating the biggest of libraries an easy job.

Creating playlists on the fly is magic and the app is really very well thought of and reliable.

Now sit back and hit the play button and music flow with ease and clarity. Though this is still a brand new unit and I'm sure it will sound even more open with proper break in but out of the box the sound is so clear and crisp. I tend to feel the stage is bigger now and for the first time i feel that indeed I need to upgrade my ML Electromotion ESL

The x100 is very quiet as well. the HDDs will only spin to load the playlist to the 120GB SSD for actual playback and then they stop. Even when they spin to load the needed tracks they are very quiet.



After one night with Aurender X100L I have to admit that I'm impressed and it plays very well with Devialet. As if a perfect match to add the missing link of DLNA/UPnP. Ah by the way, one can also stream from other NAS on the network.

Finally, earlier today I had few emails exchanged with TVLogic and was pleased to learn that the Android beta app is out(works very well also) but more importantly I was told that Tidal integration is coming to Aurender by the end of the year or early next year this will simply mean that there will be no need for my laptop in my music room except for when I need to manage my library.

Cheers!