08-Oct-2014, 13:07
(08-Oct-2014, 01:58)adstew Wrote: The Aurender is up and running but I have unfortunately had very little time to enjoy it. That said, I am posting some early observations -
1 - The app is top notch. Great UI, easy to use and well thought out. Nice search functionality. Better than any ipad remote/mac/jriver/etc for me.
2 - Library transition from USB drive was easy. Roughly 5 hours per TB.
3 - Build quality is great. Personally, I never really liked seeing a mac mini on my audio rack. You can select what you want to see on the display - song info/meters/ or nothing. The meters are a little cheesy imo.
4 - Reviews that refer to black background are accurate. To my ears, the Aurender does a better job than the Mac. It is more quiet
5 - Source matters - Isn't this always true? The Aurender comes with source material of varying quality for a reason. You can clearly hear the difference. I found it to be more critical of lesser source material than the mac. I need to spend more time here.
6 - The Berkeley and the Aurender did not get along. I have sent an email to Berkeley to understand why but think it may be the difference between a selectable computer interface and the Aurender. The dealer felt strongly about not using it but I am hoping to get it to work. I really liked the Audirvana/Berkeley Alpha combo and preferred it to air/ethernet.
I have not done any extensive AB listening so please excuse the lack of comparison. Based on what I have heard so far, the Aurender is here to stay.
Hey Adam great summary. How are you connecting the Aurender to your Devialet?
Guillaume
Industry disclosure: UK distributor for Shunyata Research
220 PRO, totaldac d1 server with additional external power supply, totaldac d1-seven, Echole PSU for Totaldac, Wilson Audio Sasha 2, Shunyata Research cables, Shunyata Hydra Alpha A10 + DPC-6 v3, Various Entreq ground boxes and cables, Entreq Athena level 3 rack, 2 X SOtM sNH-10G with sCLK-EX + 10MHz Master Clock input + sPS-500 PSU, i5 sonicTransporter w/ 1TB SSD
UK