Aurender N50 an amazing streamer!

[Bliss Hifi]

I just received an N50 to break in and demo, at least for the next few weeks, if not permanently. Kelly from Aurender was generous enough to help me set it up in the reference system (I am an authorized Aurender dealer in the U.S.).



The unit was installed yesterday with zero hours and running 24/7 since, and I will not provide any immediate impressions aside from saying that the presentation is different in an immediately apparent way. The nice thing is that I have the N30SA and I just need to swap SPDIF between the two units while they are both playing. They’re using the same Ethernet cables, power cables, etc. I’ll report back over the course of a few days, but in my experience, things change quite a bit over running Aurender units 24/7 for two weeks.

I’m testing the N50 going through either the BACCH-SP adio or T+A SDV 3100 HV.

Regarding the comments made on the MC10 master clock, while I don’t have one on the floor at this moment, I have extensive experience with the unit both in this room against a few other clocks, as well in a few of my local clients’ rooms. The MC10 is certainly a big step up, even if its direct specifications such as phase noise may appear greater than a few other clocks on the market. That specification is only one measurement and shouldn’t be the determining factor of the unit’s performance. Compared to other clocks, not only does it improve coherence and snap, but its overall presentation is simply more natural and effortless, delivering impeccable texture and timing across the board. I believe its robust power supply, in addition to its isolation-centric design should be credited for its performance.

 

[Holli82]

Looking forward to your impressions of the N50.

 

[JiminGa]

I just received an N50 to break in and demo, at least for the next few weeks, if not permanently. Kelly from Aurender was generous enough to help me set it up in the reference system (I am an authorized Aurender dealer in the U.S.).

View attachment 156373

The unit was installed yesterday with zero hours and running 24/7 since, and I will not provide any immediate impressions aside from saying that the presentation is different in an immediately apparent way. The nice thing is that I have the N30SA and I just need to swap SPDIF between the two units while they are both playing. They’re using the same Ethernet cables, power cables, etc. I’ll report back over the course of a few days, but in my experience, things change quite a bit over running Aurender units 24/7 for two weeks.

I’m testing the N50 going through either the BACCH-SP adio or T+A SDV 3100 HV.

Regarding the comments made on the MC10 master clock, while I don’t have one on the floor at this moment, I have extensive experience with the unit both in this room against a few other clocks, as well in a few of my local clients’ rooms. The MC10 is certainly a big step up, even if its direct specifications such as phase noise may appear greater than a few other clocks on the market. That specification is only one measurement and shouldn’t be the determining factor of the unit’s performance. Compared to other clocks, not only does it improve coherence and snap, but its overall presentation is simply more natural and effortless, delivering impeccable texture and timing across the board. I believe its robust power supply, in addition to its isolation-centric design should be credited for its performance.

I have n50 with mc20 clock. Do yourself a favor and UNSTACK them. They now are offering different length cables to allow for this.

 

[Bliss Hifi]

I have n50 with mc20 clock. Do yourself a favor and UNSTACK them. They now are offering different length cables to allow for this.

I may do this after the break in. It will require me to set up yet another rack, which of course I have on hand.

Congrats on a stellar digital source!

 

[plasmod3]

so i reached out to aurender and made a suggestion to remove upsampling from the n50 and they created an option on the laterst software update to do that - see iof that works for you - i found an immediate uplift in music when the upsampling has been unselected here .

In the mother board section of the dac - the middle box - there is a power board that supplies the mobo - that power board has amongst other things 4 tone caps in there- 4 nichicon bp muses which i thought was a bit odd in the power supply of a mother board. - replacing those caps with blackgate nx caps has a crazy improvment of the sound there. worthwhile exploring too

 

[Sampajanna]

Does Aurender have Roon yet?

 

[plasmod3]

its an endpoint - you need someething else in order to stream to the aurender. the whole point of the aurender is to get off the roon ecosystem though - roon is a good ui but it aint so good for the sound at the end of the day given all the work we do to make it sound the best ....roon then becomes a compromisse

 

[Sampajanna]

I know, but the UI more than makes up for that in my book. I read, learn, find new music, explore and navigate differently. That education is worth any and all cost in SQ as far as I am concerned. Other UIs aren’t even close; the gap is wide… Having a far more limited experience at slightly better SQ is no trade IMHO…. YMMV It depends I suppose on how often you explore, search and how interested you are in finding and understanding new music you have never heard before….

 

[QuadDiffuser]

I’m upgrading my N30 to the N50 and was wondering how best to isolate the three chassis (after unstacking them).

Excluding the power supply chassis, which of the remaining two chassis would likely benefit the most from an active vibration cancellation platform (like the Seismion Reactio2)? This question is relevant and significant for me because the Reactio2 costs nearly US$10k a piece.

The chassis with the huge front LED display is often depicted as the one on the very top, having the two SSD storage cards, the LAN data input, as well as the USB source out. Presumably, this is the "server" chassis, with innards resembling a PC, including a CPU.

The chassis below has Word clock input, the customized I2S or Pro-ISL outputs, as well as the coax, AES/EBU, Toslink, and S/PDIF outputs. Presumably, this chassis is where the crystal oscillator(s) is installed, and this is the "audio" chassis, which I’m guessing will benefit most from an active vibration cancellation platform.

However, with MSB’s ProISL output option, data will be buffered and slaved to the MSB's Master clock, neutralizing the "audio" chassis' vibrational sensitivity. If true, then would the N50 be virtually free from environmental vibration's deleterious influences?

Or, will the "server" chassis with the PC board and two SSDs benefit most from an active vibration reduction platform?

 

[plasmod3]

I know, but the UI more than makes up for that in my book. I read, learn, find new music, explore and navigate differently. That education is worth any and all cost in SQ as far as I am concerned. Other UIs aren’t even close; the gap is wide… Having a far more limited experience at slightly better SQ is no trade IMHO…. YMMV It depends I suppose on how often you explore, search and how interested you are in finding and understanding new music you have never heard before….

if it is any consolation , aurender ties into tidal and we can use tidal to discover but i know what you mea - the roon ui is quite unbeatable

 

[plasmod3]

I’m upgrading my N30 to the N50 and was wondering how best to isolate the three chassis (after unstacking them).

Excluding the power supply chassis, which of the remaining two chassis would likely benefit the most from an active vibration cancellation platform (like the Seismion Reactio2)? This question is relevant and significant for me because the Reactio2 costs nearly US$10k a piece.

The chassis with the huge front LED display is often depicted as the one on the very top, having the two SSD storage cards, the LAN data input, as well as the USB source out. Presumably, this is the "server" chassis, with innards resembling a PC, including a CPU.

The chassis below has Word clock input, the customized I2S or Pro-ISL outputs, as well as the coax, AES/EBU, Toslink, and S/PDIF outputs. Presumably, this chassis is where the crystal oscillator(s) is installed, and this is the "audio" chassis, which I’m guessing that this will benefit most from an active vibration cancellation platform.

However, with MSB’s ProISL output option, data will be buffered and slaved to the MSB's Master clock, neutralizing the "audio" chassis' vibrational sensitivity.

If true, then would the N50 be virtually free from environmental vibration's deleterious influences?

Or, will the "server" chassis with the PC board and two SSDs benefit from an active vibration reduction platform?

i think you will need to isolate all 3 tbh

huge led is the cpu and mobo

crystal oscillator - all 3 of em is on the output - 2 crystek and 1 morion

power supply has a large pcb on it as well isolating that pays dividends in my setup

if you dont need the ssd - disconnect the power and data cables from the motherboard

 

[JiminGa]

I’m upgrading my N30 to the N50 and was wondering how best to isolate the three chassis (after unstacking them).

Excluding the power supply chassis, which of the remaining two chassis would likely benefit the most from an active vibration cancellation platform (like the Seismion Reactio2)? This question is relevant and significant for me because the Reactio2 costs nearly US$10k a piece.

The chassis with the huge front LED display is often depicted as the one on the very top, having the two SSD storage cards, the LAN data input, as well as the USB source out. Presumably, this is the "server" chassis, with innards resembling a PC, including a CPU.

The chassis below has Word clock input, the customized I2S or Pro-ISL outputs, as well as the coax, AES/EBU, Toslink, and S/PDIF outputs. Presumably, this chassis is where the crystal oscillator(s) is installed, and this is the "audio" chassis, which I’m guessing that this will benefit most from an active vibration cancellation platform.

However, with MSB’s ProISL output option, data will be buffered and slaved to the MSB's Master clock, neutralizing the "audio" chassis' vibrational sensitivity.

If true, then would the N50 be virtually free from environmental vibration's deleterious influences?

Or, will the "server" chassis with the PC board and two SSDs benefit from an active vibration reduction platform?

Isolate all 3. Mine are on HRS M3 shelves. Under each are 3 HRS Vortex footers and on top of each are 2 medium fat HRS damping plates. Everything makes a difference particularly with digital.

 

[Perfect sense Audio]

I’m upgrading my N30 to the N50 and was wondering how best to isolate the three chassis (after unstacking them).

Excluding the power supply chassis, which of the remaining two chassis would likely benefit the most from an active vibration cancellation platform (like the Seismion Reactio2)? This question is relevant and significant for me because the Reactio2 costs nearly US$10k a piece.

The chassis with the huge front LED display is often depicted as the one on the very top, having the two SSD storage cards, the LAN data input, as well as the USB source out. Presumably, this is the "server" chassis, with innards resembling a PC, including a CPU.

The chassis below has Word clock input, the customized I2S or Pro-ISL outputs, as well as the coax, AES/EBU, Toslink, and S/PDIF outputs. Presumably, this chassis is where the crystal oscillator(s) is installed, and this is the "audio" chassis, which I’m guessing that this will benefit most from an active vibration cancellation platform.

However, with MSB’s ProISL output option, data will be buffered and slaved to the MSB's Master clock, neutralizing the "audio" chassis' vibrational sensitivity. If true, then would the N50 be virtually free from environmental vibration's deleterious influences?

Or, will the "server" chassis with the PC board and two SSDs benefit most from an active vibration reduction platform?

Congratulations to the big move. We’re expecting our N50 to arrive very soon here in Stockholm.

We’re using HRS and Wellfloat platforms which are both very effective but also different in terms of application, space requirements etc.

 

[waltersalas]

Could someone speak to where or how the venerable W20SE sits relative to the N20, N30SA, and now the N50? It seems to be a horse of a different color, as they say. I have the N20 and have been thinking about the N30SA but I'm not so sure that W20SE might not be the better direction.

I would appreciate anyone's thoughts.

 

[XCop5089]

Could someone speak to where or how the venerable W20SE sits relative to the N20, N30SA, and now the N50? It seems to be a horse of a different color, as they say. I have the N20 and have been thinking about the N30SA but I'm not so sure that W20SE might not be the better direction.

I would appreciate anyone's thoughts.

I can give you the benefit of my personal experience of having had extended home auditions of the W20SE, N20, N30SA and very recently, the new, flagship N50.

My comparison, in my home system, two to three years ago, was between an Aurender W20SE (with it's battery power supply and, at that time, flagship model), the N20 and the Pink Faun top model.

Moving from a Melco N1AZH60, I liked the Aurender Conductor App and operationally/sonically, preferred Aurender to Pink Faun.

This left the two Aurender machines facing off. The N20, at £12K (now £15K) and the W20SE (then £24K).

My own preference was for the N20, which I just felt, sounded better and is really the sweet spot in the Aurender range.

The W20SE, IMHO, sounded "softer" and I suspect that this was due to the battery power supply.

I bought the N20, which I still own.

A while back, I had the opportunity to home trial the N30SA and concluded that it was a better machine, sound-wise, although it is twice the price of the N20.

My recent experience of the N50 showed what splitting the functions into three boxes can achieve. It is a lovely machine and sounds exquisite, but then it should at the UK asking price of £38,900!

To sum up, the current pecking order, and it's only my opinion, is N50 at the top, with the N30SA in second place. Any prospective purchaser would be happy with either machine.

The N20 offers incredible value for money and performance can be improved with proper support, grounding and external re-clocking.

Bringingi up the rear is the venerable W20SE. A fine machine, but now outclassed I feel.

 

[JiminGa]

I can give you the benefit of my personal experience of having had extended home auditions of the W20SE, N20, N30SA and very recently, the new, flagship N50.

My comparison, in my home system, two to three years ago, was between an Aurender W20SE (with it's battery power supply and, at that time, flagship model), the N20 and the Pink Faun top model.

Moving from a Melco N1AZH60, I liked the Aurender Conductor App and operationally/sonically, preferred Aurender to Pink Faun.

This left the two Aurender machines facing off. The N20, at £12K (now £15K) and the W20SE (then £24K).

My own preference was for the N20, which I just felt, sounded better and is really the sweet spot in the Aurender range.

The W20SE, IMHO, sounded "softer" and I suspect that this was due to the battery power supply.

I bought the N20, which I still own.

A while back, I had the opportunity to home trial the N30SA and concluded that it was a better machine, sound-wise, although it is twice the price of the N20.

My recent experience of the N50 showed what splitting the functions into three boxes can achieve. It is a lovely machine and sounds exquisite, but then it should at the UK asking price of £38,900!

To sum up, the current pecking order, and it's only my opinion, is N50 at the top, with the N30SA in second place. Any prospective purchaser would be happy with either machine.

The N20 offers incredible value for money and performance can be improved with proper support, grounding and external re-clocking.

Bringingi up the rear is the venerable W20SE. A fine machine, but now outclassed I feel.

It’s probably not the battery power on the W20se. The N30SA is a USB solution. The W20se was designed for dual AES as it had distribution with DCS at the time. You would need to listen to each with its preferred connection to make a judgement. You may have done this but for anyone considering this comparison keep this in mind.

 

[XCop5089]

It’s probably not the battery power on the W20se. The N30SA is a USB solution. The W20se was designed for dual AES as it had distribution with DCS at the time. You would need to listen to each with its preferred connection to make a judgement. You may have done this but for anyone considering this comparison keep this in mind.

As I stated, just my opinion, in the context of my system!

I have used Sablon EVO USB cable to connect all three Aurender machines and favour AES/EBU connection (in my case Coherent 6D Gen II - single connection to my dCS Vivaldi Upsampler in respect of the N20 and N30SA and dual connection with W20SE and N50 into the Vivaldi Apex DAC. AES/EBU allows an external reference clock (Mutec Ref 10 SE-120) to come into play. I also prefer re-clocking via the dCS/Aurender dongle from Vivaldi Master Word Clock to Aurender, rather than direct connection between Mutec and Aurender. The system switches automatically between 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz sourced material in this mode.

 

[Bliss Hifi]

It’s probably not the battery power on the W20se. The N30SA is a USB solution. The W20se was designed for dual AES as it had distribution with DCS at the time. You would need to listen to each with its preferred connection to make a judgement. You may have done this but for anyone considering this comparison keep this in mind.

I wouldn’t classify the N30SA as a USB solution. It does have a very good built in clock (despite the MC10 being significantly better), which improves its SPDIF transmission with other devices. In all, the performance of the streamer will also depend on the DAC it is being paired with. Some DACs prefer some interfaces (e.g. SPDIF more than USB) than others, and the cables used for each matter as well.

 

[Bliss Hifi]

Could someone speak to where or how the venerable W20SE sits relative to the N20, N30SA, and now the N50? It seems to be a horse of a different color, as they say. I have the N20 and have been thinking about the N30SA but I'm not so sure that W20SE might not be the better direction.

I would appreciate anyone's thoughts.

A few of my clients love the W20SE even over the N30SA, so it’s a very subjective matter. In my experiences, the battery supply of the W20SE make the overall presentation very smooth, refined and analog sounding, but it also comes off as less dynamic, and less coherent.

Individual circumstances apply here as well. For those who don’t have a dedicated line, quality line conditioning, or don’t believe in cables, the W20SE may be the unit of choice, but for anyone who invests deeply in their power line to get peak performance from their system, the N30SA prevails with more realistic presence and greater dynamics.

 

[plasmod3]

W20se is no longer available from aurender I understand. It is now a retired model...