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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
2,271 posts
 
I asked Aurender Customer Support about MQA availability on the music servers and their response is below:


"Aurender music servers already support MQA files since we are a bit perfect file transport. Whether or not you will be able to experience MQA at it’s full potential, will depend on the DAC being used and whether or not it offers MQA decoding. We’ve already demonstrated MQA files played back from our servers with compatible DACs on a few occasions.

Aurender's new A10 music server with analog outputs will also support MQA and will offer the full benefits of MQA decoding and analog conversion. We should be shipping this in the fall, at least that is the goal. At the moment we are still finalizing hardware and software for the A10".

In addition, I found that Tidal is working on a Tidal MQA implementation but has not posted any details or dates.  I will email them for an update. Tidal web site states a "firm date for launching MQA has not been set. We will of course let everyone know if/when MQA becomes available".

http://www.whathifi.com/news/tidal-showcases-mqa-streaming-ces-2016-launch-delayed

As noted above, the ability to use MQA depends on the DAC being used and whether or not it offers MQA decoding.   I have no information regarding the sound quality from using MQA.


aldenberry
35 posts
 
Has anyone compared SQ between the N10 and the much pricier W20?
hgeifman OP
2,271 posts
 
I heard the Aurender W20 at the THE Show in Newport Beach but was not able to compare it to anything else.  I purchased the Aurender N10 because of its sound quality, features and ease of use with the iPAD.  I found the following information on the Internet that you might find useful:

Which Aurender is for me?
Posted January 27th, 2016 in Computer Audio

http://www.pearlaudiovideo.com/blog/expertise/computer-audio/which-aurender-is-for-me/

AURENDER W20 MUSIC SERVER
Not Just a Pretty Interface

by Robert Harley | Feb 04th, 2016

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/aurender-w20-music-server-1/
hgeifman OP
2,271 posts
 
It is a very easy process to transfer ripped albums from a USB flash drive to the Aurender.  Please see the link below for the detailed instructions including pictures:

http://support.aurender.com/smart-copy-from-usb.html

In summary, I purchased several new albums and ripped them to a flash drive on my MAC Computer using iTunes and the AIFF Format.

Since iTunes DOES NOT include the cover art in the same folder, I searched for the album’s cover art using Amazon and copied the image to the desktop.  I changed the cover art name to Folder.JPG and copied it to the folder on the flash drive (less than one minute per album).   The cover art image MUST be named Folder.JPG so that it gets displayed on the Aurender iPad application.

I inserted the flash drive into my Aurender, followed the instructions listed above and all my albums were copied to my Aurender N10 Music Server perfectly.

sbank's avatar
sbank
3,379 posts
 
@hgeifman I think you making your process way more painful than necessary. Is your Aurender connected to your network? You should be able to open Finder on your Mac and see the Aurender's drive as a device or drive (on the left side of the Finder window). When you download music, you should be able to select that drive as your destination location, resulting in the music being downloaded directly to the right place with just one step. Then if you get Yate or another Mac tag editing program you can open any album's folder and with one click add the artwork to all the track files. With another click you can save to folder.jpg too.
Flash drives shouldn't be needed at home! Cheers,
Spencer

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