Esoteric K-01 and Aurender S10 compatibility

We suggested this in another forum (because Esoteric uses a custom driver for their USB implementation and does not currently support Linux as an OS for the USB driver).

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ddgtl&1354751988&openmine&zzDoggiehowser&4&5#Doggiehowser

Here's someone who bypassed the USB input on a K-03 with a Bel Canto REFLink. I gather the USB implementation on the K-01 and K-03 are the same so the gains on your system may be similar.

However, I did also mention that the Aurender was designed primarily as an AES output device so that (and SPDIF) may be a better bet.

The alternative would be to trade in your Aurender for the newly announced model that has a clock input. That would provide clock control from an external device (like Esoteric's) that can sync the data transfer between the Aurender and the K-01.

I thought CA found USB out from the Aurender to sound better than the AES to a Meitner MA-1? Perhaps there's something to be said about having the DAC handle clock control.

Perhaps that's what the OP is trying to achieve. I do agree that the Aurender was designed primarily for AES so I guess SPDIF should work just as well. The newest model W? is supposed to have a clock input so that might tilt it back in favour of AES/SPDIF with a clock that controls both the DAC and the Aurender.