Melco N1Z vs Aurender N10 vs CAD CAT

[GuillaumeB]

I'm not sure if N10 and W20 sounds the same. They are built differently, first most is the power supply.

To be honest I'm very disappointed, if the Melco had sounded better I'd have gone to buy myself an N1ZH ?

In my mind the only way to be certain is to take all three or four units home. Everything is so subjective and system dependent.

I have never tested the Aurender and Melcos back to back here, but I have compared both the N1A and N1Z to my reference, the d1 server from totaldac.

The N1Z was spectacular in every way. In fact I've almost bought one on several occasions. 

But in terms of ownership propositions look no further than the totaldac: first to become RoonReady, free hardware upgrades (I only paid for shipping one way!) and fantastic service generally whereby Vincent answers my questions usually within the hour at any time of day or week. And it sounds seriously good.

Guillaume

@Guillaume With the AIR 3 beta your view on totaldac still stands? 

My view re the ownership proposition obviously hasn't changed.

My feeling re Qobuz streamed over the Internet is that it sounds better via the Qobuz Desktop application on my MacBook, so clearly AIR 3 beta is better in this regard.

On normal redbook and high res FLAC streamed from my NAS using the totaldac I am not sure yet. I need to test this in more detail. My initial thoughts are that it's going to be quite close. 

But I am talking about SQ here and from a practicality point of view not having to turn your Mac on, select AIR etc is quite nice. 

Guillaume

[Nightmare]

http://www.head-fi.org/t/787020/review-c...vortex-box

Early conclusion:  The microRendu in standard form and before full break-in is the finest digital source I've heard at any price and a ridiculous bargain at $640. This device will likely dramatically change the landscape of music servers moving forward.

Some guys in the other thread (http://devialetchat.com/showthread.php?tid=3028) refer that AIR3 is at least as convincing as the microRendu. What about all that stuff to be told having negativ effects on the soundquality using a PC/Mac? Not only Aurender is running huge expense to optimize all that. AIR3 as the panacea for all that negative influences?

[Hifi_swlon]

Some guys in the other thread (http://devialetchat.com/showthread.php?tid=3028) refer that AIR3 is at least as convincing as the microRendu.

Have they?  Not saying it hasn't been said but I must have missed that one, I thought the direct comparisons were still being made....

What about all that stuff to be told having negativ effects on the soundquality using a PC/Mac? Not only Aurender is running huge expense to optimize all that. AIR3 as the panacea for all that negative influences?

There's no reason why AIR3 shouldn't sound the best.  It's written by the hardware manufacturers and designed around their kit so they should know how to get the best out of it.  The network connection was, I assume, chosen in the first place because they felt it would eliminate/isolate the DAC from much of the other issues with PCs and their noise/jitter or whatever. Plenty of high-end hardware going down the ethernet connection road tells us they must have been on target there in the theory aspect.  Shame it took until version 3 and that some people suffered more than others with the previous incarnations, but I really believe it should be the best solution out there for anyone with an average computer source - no one else out there would know what the machines needed to make them sound best.

Devices like the Aurenders have to do a lot more than just get the data to a DAC. They have nice looking cases, software, firmware, hard drives and file systems, sales channels, marketing, support, have to be compatible with lots of brands, and tested as such, and that's a lot of R&D, manufacturing and support costs for a niche market.  Same for all other devices. So they are bound to be expensive, and I guess some make a lot more profit and other by charing even higher prices... If the uRendu is everything it's cracked up to be, its only been possible at that price because its driven by a few passionate people, and perhaps they've found the golden combination of the minimum you actually need to do the same as an expensive streamer. Or they're geniuses I suppose

I really hope this time next month the large majority of Devialet owners will be sitting there smugly listening to the best sounding system they've ever heard, and mainly because of AIR3.  It's the right outcome, and they deserve it.

[Nightmare]

Thx for your reply.

I did not doubt, AIR3 is possibly providing the best soundquality and I am really looking forward to try. And as it discloses that the DAC of the Devialet is able to make the best of the data, I am the more looking forward to an internal streaming section make every further thought concerning another source unnecessary. And I hope it will provide a convincing usibility also (e.g. Roon) to round the system up!

[rwjr44]

The problem with AIR3 is that it is so late in coming AND requires a PC or Mac. My PC, which is used during the day, is off after I finish working. My Synology NAS is almost always on but AIR doesn't work with it. So changing from my Aurender to AIR3 is not trivial for me.

If @GuillaumeB were to report that AIR3 is significantly better than his TotalDac rig, I would have to seriously reconsider my stance. Logic then dictates that the Aurender is superfluous and should be sold.


I will patiently wait until this round of rumors become facts and listen to my fellow DevialetChat members to report.

[GuillaumeB]

If @GuillaumeB were to report that AIR3 is significantly better than his TotalDac rig

Ok guys after a few days of really enjoying AIR 3 I am back on the totaldac d1 server, connected to the Devialet master via AES/EBU.

As good as AIR 3 is - and it's very very good - my d1 server is better.

It's not really adding any more detail, and the sound is very similar. But the totaldac just sounds a bit darker, a bit calmer, a tiny bit more natural. 

But lets put things into perspective here - we are talking tiny differences. 

Guillaume

[GuillaumeB]

If @GuillaumeB were to report that AIR3 is significantly better than his TotalDac rig

Ok guys after a few days of really enjoying AIR 3 I am back on the totaldac d1 server, connected to the Devialet master via AES/EBU.

As good as AIR 3 is - and it's very very good - my d1 server is better.

It's not really adding any more detail, and the sound is very similar. But the totaldac just sounds a bit darker, a bit calmer, a tiny bit more natural. 

But lets put things into perspective here - we are talking tiny differences. 

Guillaume

Erm... TINY differences! To be fair I don't think I can even trust myself now, it's just too close to call! 

So there we have it... AIR 3 is pretty much within spitting difference of the totaldac.

Now that it is one hell of an achievement. 

I should add I've been testing a 16/41 track. Perhaps with 24 bit material things will change a little.

Guillaume

[Hifi_swlon]

So there we have it... AIR 3 is pretty much within spitting difference of the totaldac.

This makes sense to me. If both are doing their job 'properly', then in theory there's the limit of how perfect 'perfectly delivered digital data' can be - once you're at that point or thereabouts its probably not possible to distinguish between sources. Which is of course the whole idea behind digital signals in the first place, its just people never imagined (some still don't I guess) that it takes so much to get a perfect digital signal into a DAC in the first place, and then process it perfectly back to the analogue waveforms it represented.

I really hope the final release of AIR3 works for everyone, including Windows users. It's about time Devialet moved on from the AIR debacle, and even I may consider forgiving them (in time) if it turns out to be one of the best sources available

[Antoine]

I don't think your conclusion is valid, he's not saying it's perfect and there's nothing better. He just said AIR3 and the TotalDAC are close to being equal. If I remember correctly Guillaume still prefers some models by Melco and Aurender over the TotalDAC.

Perfect does not exist in analog or digital to analog conversions for that matter and what's 'good enough' is very much open for discussion.

[Hifi_swlon]

I don't think your conclusion is valid, he's not saying it's perfect and there's nothing better. He just said AIR3 and the TotalDAC are close to being equal. If I remember correctly Guillaume still prefers some models by Melco and Aurender over the TotalDAC.

Perfect does not exist in analog or digital to analog conversions for that matter and what's 'good enough' is very much open for discussion.

OK, agreed about my conclusion there, a bit of overreach.

But it seems like if the differences are getting smaller to the point they're harder to distinguish at this level, we must be getting close to perfect on the mechanisms surrounding audio data delivery at least? That said I'm looking forward to your uRendu/AIR3/Mutec shootout Antoine.