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MAC Book Pro Computer vs Aurender N100h vs Aurender N10 Music Servers

I am considering replacing my MAC Book Pro Computer with the Aurender N100h music server. The N100h has received great reviews, has quality construction, provides Tidal support and offers the convenience of using an iPad. My local dealer "highly recommends" I consider the Aurender N10 music server OVER the Aurender N100h server. He feels the N10 would sound much better than my current MAC Book Pro Commuter or the N100h. He said the N100h would only be marginal better than my MAC Book Pro. To be honest, I was really considering the N100h because of its sound quality, construction and my budget.

However, based on the reviews, etc., I am sure the Aurender N10 sounds great but it costs $8,000 (expensive). I found one N100h review that said “ ….Not one single combination of Mac Mini & peripheral devices has so far bested the sound of Aurender’s N100H; a digital audio streamer/server that comes pre-loaded with: 1) audiophile-approved 120Gb solid state hard drive (for cached playback); 2) custom 35 Watt linear power supply; 3) low noise USB output. Check one, check two, check three”.

This is probably not a fair comparison since the N10 cost is $8k and the N100h cost is $3k. What are your comments about replacing my MAC Book Pro Computer with either the N10 or the N100h? Has anyone replaced their MAC Book Pro with one of these Aurender servers?

And, yes, I plan on visiting my local store shortly to hear both the N10 and the N100h. My current MAC Book Pro computer is connected to my Bricasti M1 DAC connected to my Hypex NCore NC400 Bridged mono blocks class D power amplifiers and my Sonus Faber Olympic II Speakers.   The 4 NC400 power amplifiers (2 amps per side) were modified (4 R141 chips removed) to match to the volume control in the Bricasti M1 DAC (running DAC direct to amp, no pre-amplifier).   Thanks.

hgeifman
hgeifman OP
2,296 posts
 
Please see the respond I received from Tidal below:

"Thanks for reaching out. Please contact Aurender Customer Support as they developed the app that interfaces with TIDAL and therefore should be able to further assist you in this matter. 

Please note: MQA Albums can be found at “What’s New” and select “Masters” in the Albums section. The limited view of MQA albums in this section is a known issue. 

The developers are aware of the limited search capabilities for MQA albums. They are working on advanced search capabilities for MQA. I am sorry for the inconvenience. 

If you search for artists, albums, etc, if it is of the MQA format, an "M" will be displayed next to the title".  

I am not sure exactly what this means but wil forward it to Aurender to see if they can provide access to the 5,000 MQA Coded Albums.  Any comments?
hgeifman OP
2,296 posts
 
I am not sure exactly what the above means.  Does this mean that Aurender needs to do something to provide access to the 5,000 MQA Coded Albums?   If Tidal does something on search capabilities for MQA Albums, I am hoping Aurender can also provide something similar on the Aurender Conductor App (assuming the API supports it).

The REAL problem, it seems, is there are 5,000 coded MQA albums and it would be nice to have them displayed and available on the Aurender Conductor App.   Based on the above response, I do not know if API Aurender is using will allow access to these MQA albums.   Maybe Aurender need to contact Tidal to determine how to better identify the MQA Coded Albums.   I do not know if it is even possible.  I asked Aurender these questions.
hgeifman OP
2,296 posts
 
My Aurender Conductor App was crashing and going back to the desk top view. The crash only occurred when moving around on the screen but not when planning albums.  I deleted the Conductor App and reinstalled.  The new version is 2.9.2(53).

Everything is working now. I think the release note said this version fixes a crashing problem.  I then discovered that Aurender App Version 2.9.2 was released on December 29 2017.

I emailed Aurender and suggested we should be notified (alerted) when a new Conductor App is available.
hgeifman OP
2,296 posts
 
Aurender reports “I am sorry about your inconvenience. I will put this on our wish list. You can check whether there is an update or not through App Store App of iPad, but I think it will be more convenience to notify our customer if we have an update”.  

An excellent response.  Thanks.  
willemj
1,036 posts
 
Please explain how the bitperfect digital output of one streamer can sound better than the bitperfect output of another streamer or the bitperfect output of a computer.
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