Media Server Reviews

I am reading quite a number of reviews of different music severs and I find quite difficult to figure out the differences between different models (e.g Aurender N100H) sound wise (except the obvious ones like price, storage capacity and type of outputs). Most reviews only state it sounds better than a Macbook. I understand it is a difficult task as there are many variables like different DACs with different inputs with various quality, different connection possibilities (but then again there are a lot different amps and speakers and I find their reviews are much more understandable - including or because of it their measurements). Would these servers sound better than a computer and a reclocking device? It is close to impossible to find a dealer who can demonstrate several different servers.
Digital audio is apparently moving away from downloads to internet streaming. So is there any advantage for this for these servers relative to computers?

Assuming your MAC is not 'broken' in some way I think this "musical mincemeat" is entirely in your imagination. Expectation bias? Dunno, I don't pretend to be a psychologist. This thing does not have a DAC so it's all 'digital'. And my 35 years in the computer industry says to me that these boxes are all the same, as it is not 'music' until it comes out of the D/A circuitry in the DAC, which this box doesn't have. Just data from a file, no different from a saved email. It's why I bought the relatively cheap (700 UK Pounds) Cambridge Audio Stream Magic. (which does include a DAC, that can, however, be bypassed, which I do).

Computer 'noise'? No. At full volume, using either streaming or USB from a cheap Windows PC, JRiver set to 'play silence', The CA streamer, which conveniently, and unlike most streamers, has a regular USB input too, a dCS Debussy ('async' so clocking is ENTIRELY from the DAC and any supposed 'computer jitter' is irrelevant - all this "it may have to work harder" stuff is pure BS, that is what DAC buffers are FOR), the latest Naim NAP250, and a pair of Tannoy Kensingtons, I can JUST hear the faintest 'transistor hiss' with the grille removed and an ear right up to the tweeter, and that faint hiss is no different if I power down the computer totally. So 'computer noise' is nonsense.

Am I a crazed objectivist with cloth ears?
No. I wouldn't have purchased the dCS, Naim, or the Tannoys if I was, would I? But I DO have sufficient knowledge to tell the boxes than can make a difference from the boxes that can't. And my powering off the computer as above proves what I say about 'computer noise', which some get pointlessly worked up about.

You say: "my 35 years in the computer industry says to me that these boxes are all the same."

How about giving LISTENING a try!?!

Save your $$ if YOU can't hear a difference.

What I can say because I can hear it (I won't defer to my 45+ years experience as an avid/active audiophile/music lover) is that digital music transports DO make a difference. These purpose built "digital audio appliances" make great sense and do the job better than a general purpose computer. A BIG plus is they are MUCH easier to use and deal with. I LOVE that I no longer have a "computer" in my audio system. I am spending more time listening to music and a lot less "dicking with" a computer.

BTW: It doesn't take anywhere near $7-8K to get there - plenty of less expensive choices. Check out the Auralic Aries or the Melco N1A. The future is here for those who want it.

As a new Aurender dealer, and as a high end dealer with over 30 years of experience, I would love to chime in.

There is a very large difference in the sound quality that comes out of a system with an Aurender in place.

My shop, Audio Doctor has been pioneering computer audio for years, and I have to say that once you hear an Aurender on a good system you will realize that there is a rather large and easily audible improvement.

I have heard modified Mac Minis, PCs, and high end servers, we had the Qsonix and the second gen with the Wadia output board was fantastic, so you could say I have played with a lot of these digital devices.

We took over our N100 to a customer with a good system: Unison Research Unico 50, Gershman speakers, Wireworld cables, NAD M51 Dac and the difference between the Mac Mini and the Aurender wasn't subtle.

The Aurender sounded was more dynamic with greater bass and an even more open sound.

The reason why does baffle me, and by the way I have heard the same results on top of the line dacs with asynchronous data transmission and re-clocking.

Why should a USB cable make such an audible difference? I don't know why we shouldn't be able to hear these things but we can.

The Aurender will bring out the best in a good dac and its difference will be readily apparent in any good system.

Even when streaming the Aurender will make an improvement.

Your comments speak of the conspiracy minded rather than the empirical.

The fact that there many companies making servers that all sound different and many people are hearing improvements speaks to the fact that these products work and they do make an audible difference.

The concept that when you are streaming it is the same as a switch is not a valid argument, you can clearly hear a difference between two steamers on tidal as well as via NAS or hard drive.

I was present at a demo of a really expensive system $85k Dynaudio speaker, Burmester electronics, etc and we compared a Lumin to an Aurender and they both sounded different and that was on Tidal!

So you must consider that the streamer is buffering, re clocking and keeping the data stream pristine and for those reasons you can hear a difference.

The USB argument that bits is bits is also wrong. The best USB I have ever heard a $2,500.00 Enklein was tested on a device that looks at data dropouts vs lower priced high end usb cables and there was a difference that the testing devices showed, it showed that all usb cables don't allow for 100% transmission without errors.

I have also compared two $700 USB cables and they both sounded different.

So instead of looking at conceptual reasons why, get yourself into a shop and listen for yourself.

I agree that on paper we shouldn't be hearing the large differences we can hear but at this point way too many people are hearing these products and coming to the same conclusion that they work and do make an audible difference.

If you come to NJ you can visit my shop and you can compare Aurender, Lumin, Naim, Cambridge Audio, all as streamers and we do have PC's and sometimes Mac Minis as well which we compare them to we also have a sea of high end digital cables.

The common mistake amongst science practitioners (as opposed to scientists) is to assume a theory that they routinely apply, completely explains reality. This leads them to foolishly claim they know all there is to know, when none of us ever will.

Theory is always a simplification that is nevertheless useful in the intended context. The theory that bits is bits is fine for the purpose of getting the right bits from point A to point B, but you still have to design a system around that need.

And you can reasonably apply this basic theory to digital audio transmission too if you don't care too much about fidelity (such as for a phone call). But for high end audio the theory needs to expand to take more real factors into account. The principle one is the effect that noise interference on the digital signal has by creating momentary uncertainty at the downstream stages, resulting in jitter. And there is the fact that the claimed restorative effects of buffering and reclocking are wildly exaggerated, and based on a misunderstanding of how they actually work.

I realise that I will be shot down for my vested interest, fire away, but I also hope some readers will see what I am saying. High end audio is not just about making something work. It is about optimising performance. And in every scientific field I am familiar with, optimisation requires more than basic theory, and typically requires a degree of art that is based on years of real experience.

This is a great site, with many quality contributions for sure. I am relatively new to digital audio in the sense I recently purchased a high performance DAC to add to my otherwise all analogue system. While investigating music servers, I ran into this thread and would like to offer a couple of comments.

First, the job of a hifi system is simple - to accurately reproduce a recorded signal. The problem with digital recording is the result will always be an imperfect representation of the sound field it tries to capture. The evidence of that is higher sampling rates produce higher fidelity ie. more data points sound better than less. Next thing that happens is the computer streams the digital file to a device that attempts to reverse the digitizing process and form a smooth voltage signal that passes to an amp and into a speaker. Best case, is the whole transaction is performed in a way the human ear can tolerate and hopefully find musical. Worst case is where there is not enough data or a ton of manipulation has been done to the computer file either while recording or during playback. Indeed there are some excellent systems out there that do the transaction quite well.

To argue about expensive digital cables versus cheap cables and expensive digital storage media versus less expensive media seems to be missing the forest for the trees. Digital files don't have feelings, they don't impart any more quality to a sound than was put there to begin with and as I have noted above is a compromise at best. Digital files don't care if they live in an mp3 player, apple computer or a high end server. They are just there and to get them out you do as any other computer program does you read them as a file. There are many ways to make sure the file is intact and not corrupted that are done much faster than the playback rate of the music feed.

Bottom line is after you have sorted out your speakers, amps, preamps, analogue cables and DAC you may want to look at the storage media or server as it is called. As a function of dollars spent for improvement I would put the other aspects of the music chain first and the choice of a server or digital cables last.

Wilson Maxx 3's
Audio Research Ref 6 pre
Audio Research Ref 610T's
Bergman Turntable
Manley Chinook phono pre
Chord DAC
Macbook pro FLAC files
JRiver Media Center