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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
2,275 posts
 
@gasherbaum 

Thanks for your kind words.  It is appreciated.  Yes, I continue to recommend Aurender for your music server. There is lots of info below for you to better understand how the Aurender handles MQA. 

My friend, Lalit, posted this on Audiogon:

“For the benefit of those still unclear about how MQA works, this is a very nice article about demystifying the ambiguity surrounding the MQA”.

https://www.audiostream.com/content/mqa-decoding-explained


Please see this link, from
Aurender, “Browsing and Playback of MQA Content using Conductor”.

http://support.aurender.com/mqa.html

This is another excellent link, from Aurender, “MQA Content and Aurender Music Servers”:

http://support.aurender.com/mqa-playback.html

I hope the above helps.  Please let me know.  

Ag insider logo xs@2x
gasherbaum
43 posts
 
Thanks so much hgeifman, that was super helpful.  That first link made it much clearer about what is going on.  I greatly appreciate the help.  I didn't understand that the Tidal app only unfolds part of the MQA and that you need a dac to unfold the rest.  Thanks so much. 
hgeifman OP
2,275 posts
 
Thanks.  Unfortunately, the MQA implication is complicated.  DAC’s that implement MQA have to pay a fee for the MQA license.  Please note the Aurender A10 server includes a built in DAC that supports MQA.  

My DAC does not support MQA and I have no plans to replace it.  I do not know if the MQA is a lasting technology.  We have PCM, DSD, double DSD, quad DSD and MQA.   My Aurender plays Tidal albums (Masters) at 24/96 and they sound great.  


hgeifman OP
2,275 posts
 
“Commercial MQA-capable playback devices require payment of a royalty to MQA Ltd per unit sold. Based on information from Auralic, a manufacturer of Audiophile Wireless Audio Streamers, Meridian Audio prohibits digital output of unpacked MQA in any digital format, only allowing the unpacked data to be fed to an on-board MQA-compatible DAC and output in analog form”.  

See this link for more back ground info on MQA.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Quality_Authenticated

More info:

https://opensource.com/life/16/9/whats-wrong-with-

I hope the above helps.   Any more questions?

 I suggest you search Audiogon for “MQA” for many more questions and answers on MQA.  
hgeifman OP
2,275 posts
 
I submitted the request below to Tidal Streaming regarding the number of MQA albums available on my Aurender:

"My Aurender N10 Music server displays 448 MQA albums. Does Tidal have additional MQA albums in your MQA album library that are NOT included in the Masters tab on my Aurender Conductor App? I heard that Tidal has over 5,000 MQA albums but less than 500 of them appear on the Aurender Conductor App.

What sequence are these albums in? Do I have any sort options so I can get them in artist sequence and also selections by genre on my Aurender?   I am constantly looking for new classical MQA albums and it would be nice to have a genre tab for this option. My assumption is the sort sequence is controlled by Tidal and my Aurender might not be able to provide any additional sorting options. The ability to sort MQA albums and select them by genre would be a very helpful Aurender feature.

Aurender also reports Tidal Streaming has much more than 448 MQA albums, but Tidal) is just displaying new MQA albums just like new albums. Aurender believes the albums are ordered by added date and they can’t change order.   At this moment, Tidal does NOT offer a way to filter or change the sort order with MQA flags, so there is no way Aurender can display all MQA albums.

In summary, is it possible for all the MQA albums to be displayed on my Aurender Masters tab?   What options, if any, might be available for my Aurender to have the necessary API options to enable sorting and selection from the full MQA Album list?   Thanks".


The Absolute Sound, Issue #279, on page 136 also states there are about 5,000 MQA Coded albums but fewer than 500 of them appear on the Aurender Conductor App.  If you have any additional information, please post them to this forum.  Thanks.   
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