Aurender N50 an amazing streamer!

[plasmod3]

Just received and installed my Aurender N50 streamer today and wow what a streamer. A lowered noise floor with much more details and really much of everything. Together with the rest of my chain, a vinyl beater!

An end game streamer where before this I used the n30sa for 2-3 yrs and that itself was quite exemplary. The N50 just brings things toa whole new level

 

[lordcloud]

Just received and installed my Aurender N50 streamer today and wow what a streamer. A lowered noise floor with much more details and really much of everything. Together with the rest of my chain, a vinyl beater!

An end game streamer where before this I used the n30sa for 2-3 yrs and that itself was quite exemplary. The N50 just brings things toa whole new level

What DAC are you using?

 

[plasmod3]

It's a modified horizon

 

[adamaley]

It's a modified horizon

I'm afraid to ask, but I will - in what way?

 

[plasmod3]

ahhh just a bit of this and a bit of that. i dont hink manufacturers like for me to lay bare what i have done so i best keep mum about 90% of the board components are all upgraded though and upspecced. even started using duelund pure silver caps which cost a pretty penny. lucky parts connesxion had a special on them. its the most expensive cap i have ever paid for

 

[exupgh12]

Congratulations on your new N50.

 

[Holli82]

congrats!!!

I have Horizon 360 and an Aurender N30SA, so I will be following this thread closely.

Enjoy!

 

[JiminGa]

Just received and installed my Aurender N50 streamer today and wow what a streamer. A lowered noise floor with much more details and really much of everything. Together with the rest of my chain, a vinyl beater!

An end game streamer where before this I used the n30sa for 2-3 yrs and that itself was quite exemplary. The N50 just brings things toa whole new level

I have one coming in a couple of weeks. Can't wait. Each chases will get its own HRS platform, Vortex feet and damping plates. We ordered custom (which should be available for everyone in a month or so after we pointed it out to them) cable lengths because the short ones they originally supplied required stacking the N50 which is not ideal. Using it with Vivaldi Apex DAC and Aurender MC 20 clock. I've been waiting for a W20se upgrade for a couple of years now. Very exciting.

 

[plasmod3]

I have one coming in a couple of weeks. Can't wait. Each chases will get its own HRS platform, Vortex feet and damping plates. We ordered custom (which should be available for everyone in a month or so after we pointed it out to them) cable lengths because the short ones they originally supplied required stacking the N50 which is not ideal. Using it with Vivaldi Apex DAC and Aurender MC 20 clock. I've been waiting for a W20se upgrade for a couple of years now. Very exciting.

longer cables might not be the best thing - over time with the n30 and now the n50 i have found the cables to be the weakness. The n50 cables are unshielded cables it seems as well . Hence i made my own cables - i will suggest everyone does the same - its a good improvment for not much money making yur own cables for the aurender can be finicky but if you are good with a solder iron and have the right wire it can work very very well

 

[plasmod3]

So what does the n50 bring to the table?

We ll i have opened up the lid on the n30 and n50 ....some ppl might not know but the transformers in the n30 are made in india - it sounds good but that was one of the reasons i thought i can do better - out came the n50 and the n50 uses toroidy transformers from poland. Still not the top top but i imagine a finemet toroidal will be quite expensive and hard to use for a mas produced product .

caps in the n50 in the power section are epcos - nothing wonderful

in the cpu and signal sections - we get a few nakamichis there .

I imagine replaceing the epcos with mundorfs in the power section will yield more gains - always amazes me that at this level - manufacturers still try to save money haha

circuit boards are not mounted on suspenders and this cant be a possible mod as the connectors at the back will not fit otherwise

before i got the unit i did ask factory if they will install me a sfp port - not possible but i do hope they will have modular components come out later on that allows this

the new usb and ethernet and spdif modules here look very well build indeed . am sure there are caps on the inside as well but thats exploration for another time.

 

[plasmod3]

got this cable the other day - seems a waste to use it as a power cable but will make it tonight

MEGA RARE* WESTERN ELECTRIC CLOTH WIRE 8 LEADS DOUBLE SHIELED TUBE AUDIO HOOK UP | eBay

HAVING THAT ONE OF 8 WIRES BEING SHIELED BY ITSELF. THEN THE ENTIRE 8 WIRES SHIELED LIKE THAT. HERE IS A PIECE OF VERY RARE WESTERN ELETRIC CLOTH WIRE WITH WESTER WESTERN ELECTRIC PLUG. VERY RARE USA MADE WESTERN ELECTRIC GENUINE CLOTH WIRE FROM THE 1930'S.

www.ebay.com

 

[JiminGa]

longer cables might not be the best thing - over time with the n30 and now the n50 i have found the cables to be the weakness. The n50 cables are unshielded cables it seems as well . Hence i made my own cables - i will suggest everyone does the same - its a good improvment for not much money making yur own cables for the aurender can be finicky but if you are good with a solder iron and have the right wire it can work very very well

We are playing with different cables also. Funny you mention that. Do not underestimate isolating and chassis treating each of the 3 though. To do so you need various lengths of cables depending on rack set up. Longest cable would be 1.25 to 1.5 M depending. Aurender will be making various lengths available after to allow for this. You can take an entry level Aurender and put it on a M3 base, use Vortex footers and 2 mid/thick damping plates and out perform a stacked/untreated N50. My friends spent 2 weeks studying/confirming that and I’ve proven the concept over and over again to myself with multiple purchases I’ve made over the decades.

 

[JiminGa]

longer cables might not be the best thing - over time with the n30 and now the n50 i have found the cables to be the weakness. The n50 cables are unshielded cables it seems as well . Hence i made my own cables - i will suggest everyone does the same - its a good improvment for not much money making yur own cables for the aurender can be finicky but if you are good with a solder iron and have the right wire it can work very very well

What wire did you choose?

 

[plasmod3]

isolating kinda hit and miss . maybe its the racks i am using but i havenmt had an issue thus far

cables i like my vintage stuff - silver over copper i believe for most of them

 

[JiminGa]

isolating kinda hit and miss . maybe its the racks i am using but i havenmt had an issue thus far

cables i like my vintage stuff - silver over copper i believe for most of them

Thanks. It’s not hit or miss. It takes hours and hours but each piece will have an optimum setup. It isn’t subtle it’s obvious though I wish it weren’t. You don’t know you have an issue till someone shows you and then you can’t unhear it. Not trying to start a fight. To each his own. Take it for what it’s worth. As far as the cables if we cant make something I really like I will ask Dave (Zenwave) if he would make some for me.

 

[plasmod3]

well maybe its the rack ? i use the artesania absolute rack and i dont have much issues with isolation . isolation is an interesting one and i have tried a lot of stuff inclding a lot of natural materials even gabon ebony which is hard to get now panzerholtz etcetc. at one stage my n30 had isolating tape across all boards and components as well so i know where you are coming from - it just doesnt affect my system that much and it is a very sensitive system . cable are easy i donrt need a cable manufacturer putting his silly margins on em some of the older material is quite hard to get now . power cable i use the jps aluminata 2 - its quite a good cable albeit silly margins - i can see it take s a lot of time and effort to make one.

 

[plasmod3]

small tweak but it does improve the sound - if you are using usb or spdif ; toggling the i2s sampling to 4x improves the sound for the spdif - must be some cpu load thing. cant seem to find any other setting to decrease cpu load so this is it for now i reckon

 

[Aufiopassion]

@plasmod3 thank you for the excellent comparisons! I also have the N30sa for a while, and made custom pure silver umbilicals for it. It is the best thing I've ever seen and the MC10 clock just elevates it further. You're so right about the cheaper internals they use and the umbilicals actually quite ruin the N30sa until I went to silver.

Where did you source the connector plugs for making your own cables? Appreciate your help. Thank you!

@JiminGa would love your thoughts on N50 as well please! Do you have an N30sa to compare?

are you guys certain that N50 is doing more detail? or is it just more natural sounding, less digital, more analog like vinyl? I'm trying to see if the sound sig it brings would in any way maybe not be a fit since I love my N30sa and Mc10 now. Thank you both!

 

[plasmod3]

ahh those plugs i just asked aurender for em Not sure if you can get them though as third party ; i am a bit within their supply chain in a way and know a few ppl.

the n50 gives more details for sure with more of the usual metrics - what you will normally see when you have a cleaner power supply and more noise control essentially.

Re mc10 ....hmmm that one i am actually less sure. if you look at the clock specs - i much rather prefer the cybershaft actually. having said that i mod my cybershaft too ! . i did look to see what clocks are in the n50sa . there is one morion oxco clock and 2 crystek clocks. if one desires they can easily replaced the crystek clocks for something better . i had some mil spec oxco in the same form factor that i was thinking of using in the lampi horizon until i changed it over to a neutron star instead.

 

[Aufiopassion]

ahh those plugs i just asked aurender for em Not sure if you can get them though as third party ; i am a bit within their supply chain in a way and know a few ppl.

the n50 gives more details for sure with more of the usual metrics - what you will normally see when you have a cleaner power supply and more noise control essentially.

Re mc10 ....hmmm that one i am actually less sure. if you look at the clock specs - i much rather prefer the cybershaft actually. having said that i mod my cybershaft too ! . i did look to see what clocks are in the n50sa . there is one morion oxco clock and 2 crystek clocks. if one desires they can easily replaced the crystek clocks for something better . i had some mil spec oxco in the same form factor that i was thinking of using in the lampi horizon until i changed it over to a neutron star instead.

Thank you for the quick reply and guidance!! yes...I also work with Aurender on those. They are great. I was just thinking they are available in retail...

I was afraid you'd say that. N30sa has been amazing, but will have to go N50 it seems