Reference-Class Caching Music Server / Streamer
4TB or 8TB HDD Storage
USB, AES/EBU, Coaxial, BNC and Optical Outputs
When computer audio first started to gain popularity, USB was the de facto standard for the digital audio signal transport. This was simply because computers have USB ports, not AES/EBU or other SPDIF ports. Unfortunately, USB can be a flawed protocol for digital audio transmission as it is prone to noise, jitter, and compatibility issues. Done properly, AES/EBU and SPDIF audio outputs represent a superior method of audio transmission with nearly universal compatibility, less jitter, and greater ease and flow to the overall musical presentation. N10 represents the state-of-the art of these protocols with its OCXO controlled SPDIF outputs – use them and discover a higher standard than USB.
FEATURES
N10’s AES/EBU, BNC, Coaxial, and Optical outputs provide a superior musical presentation. As opposed to an asynchonous USB connection, where the DAC pulls packets of information from the player, N10’s SPDIF and AES/EBU audio outputs push signal out to the DAC at intervals defined by the on-board OCXO clock. With a clock this precise, trust us, you want to use it!
OCXOs are among the most accurate and stable clocks in use today, and are orders of magnitude more accurate and stable than commonly used ordinary crystal oscillators usually found in computers. Temperature changes cause crystal oscillations to fluctuate, which can lead to jitter in the digital audio signal. Moreover, ordinary crystals are much less stable and lose accuracy over time. In OCXO clocks, a very stable, high-grade crystal oscillator is enclosed in a compartment and kept at a constant temperature to prevent jitter from temperature fluctuations.
Many DACs support DSD decoding only on their USB inputs and not on SPDIF or AES/EBU. That’s why the Aurender N10 (and W20) feature an extremely high-quality DSD-to-PCM conversion by FPGA.
An All Digital Phase-Locked Loop system (ADPLL) incorporating Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) with OCXO clocks precisely times digital audio data transmissions and minimizes jitter to below negligible levels.
Internal hard drives provide either 4TB or 8TB of storage and a 240G solid-state drive is used to cache music for playback. If a selected song or album is already cached to the solid-state drive, the hard drive will remain asleep. This minimizes wear and tear on the hard drive. By caching songs to the solid-state drive for playback, electrical and acoustic noise resulting from spinning disks, moving heads and motors are completely eliminated.
The dedicated USB Audio Class 2.0 output is designed to deliver an exceptionally transparent audio signal free of noise, and is shielded from outside electronic interference.
Best performance occurs when music is stored on the Aurender’s internal storage. However, the Aurender platform is also capable of seamlessly integrating content stored on a NAS or external USB hard drive.
The Aurender Conductor App turns the iPad into a versatile user interface for Aurender music servers. All settings and functions of the Aurender server can be easily accessed through the Settings menu, and the app comes with extensive features to make browsing and playing high resolution music collections a breeze.
Aurender’s optional MQA Core Decoder upgrade enables “first-level” MQA unfolding to play MQA files at up to 48 or 96 kHz.
Sending a Remote Support Request through the Aurender App allows engineers to quickly diagnose and correct problems over the Internet.
Utilizing the Aurender N10 Music Server in comparison to laptop-based computer audio playback opened my eyes yet again to what audio design focused on noise elimination form the circuit path is capable of accomplishing. The more resolving your DAC is, the more resolving your system is, the more you will get out of adding the N10 to your mix and the more thought provoking and engaging your listening sessions will be.