Analog Sources: Garrard 301, Thorens TD 124 turntables; Abis SA-1.2, EMT 997 tonearms; EMT OFD 25 & OFD 15 & TSD 15 pickup heads; Denon DL-103, Miyajima Premium BE Mono II cartridges.
Digital Sources: Halide Designs DAC HD USB D/A converter; Apple iMac G5 computer running Audirvana Plus 1.5.12; Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player.
Preamplification: Hommage T2 step-up transformer, Shindo Laboratory Aurieges Equalizer Amplifier phono preamplifier & Masseto preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Laboratory Corton-Charlemagne monoblocks.
…
search
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I performed a full set of measurements on the April Music Aura Note V2 using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It"). I looked first at the behavior of the digital inputs, using either S/PDIF data sourced from the Audio Precision via an optical link, or USB data from my MacBook Pro running on battery power. To avoid overloading the April's power-amplifier section, I examined the signals at its line-output jacks without any load attached to the speaker terminals. (Plugging headphones into the headphone jack mutes both the speaker and…
Retailer Audio Den (pictured above, 2845 Middle Country Rd, Lake Grove, NY 11755) is holding an open house Thursday, March 31, from 6pm–pm, to preview the iconic Technics SL-1200GAE turntable. Representatives from Technics will be hand and attendees can enter a raffle to win an Okki Nokki record cleaning machine. More details from Audio Den: (631) 585-5600.
Graham Nash, digging the DeVore Gibbon X speakers at the 2016 CES. (Photo: Jon Iverson)
Saturday April 2, from 11am–7pm, Whetstone Audio (2401 E. 6th St #1001, Austin, TX 78702) are presenting John DeVore of DeVore Fidelity and Mike Pranka of Well Tempered Lab playing the new Gibbon X loudspeakers and Royale 400 turntable. There'll be food, drinks, and a Rega RP1 turntable for a lucky winner! Please RSVP: (512) 477-8503 or brian@whetstoneaudio.com.
When I reviewed the Antipodes DX Reference in October 2015, that $7500 media server made musical mincemeat of my regular computer audio setup: a headless 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini fitted with 8GB of RAM and Pure Music and Audirvana apps. Coincident with the publication of that review, Aurender launched its N10 music server ($7999) at the 2015 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. I had been impressed with Aurender's Flow USB headphone amplifier when I reviewed it in June 2015, so I asked for an N10.
On the Outside
Designed in California and manufactured in South Korea, Aurender's N10 is a smart-looking…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Media Server running Linux. Formats supported: WAV, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, AAC, M4A, MP3, APE, DSF, DFF. Internal storage: 4TB (two 2TB hard disks) plus 240GB solid-state cache drive. Resolution and sample rates supported: PCM up to 32-bit/384kHz, DSD64, DSD128. Inputs: Ethernet, two USB Type A. Outputs: USB Class 2.0 (Type A jack), AES/EBU (XLR), S/PDIF (coaxial RCA and BNC), TosLink optical.
Dimensions: 16.77" (430mm) W by 3.24" (83mm) H by 13.77" (353mm) D. Weight: approximately 26 lbs (11kg).
Finishes: Silver, black.
Serial number of unit…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Apple 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini running OS 10.10.3, iTunes 12, Pure Music 2.0, Audirvana Plus 1.5.10; Antipodes DX Reference music server; iPad mini running Aurender Conductor app for N10, iPeng 8 for Antipodes DX; PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A processor; AudioQuest JitterBug USB noise filter; UpTone Audio USB Regen.
Preamplifier: Ayre KX-R Twenty.
Power Amplifiers: Vandersteen M7-HPA monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Vandersteen Model 7 Mk.II.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Coffee (USB) & Vodka (Ethernet), Kimber Kable Orchid (…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
With a media server like the Aurender N10, there's not much that can be assessed on the test bench. However, I did look at the properties of the N10's AES/EBU output, using a 45'-long cable to connect the N10 in the listening room to my Audio Precision SYS2722 in the test lab. Even so, with the N10 playing 24-bit J-Test data sampled at 44.1kHz, the jitter in the AES/EBU datastream was very low, at 293.3 picoseconds (average value over a 700Hz–100kHz bandwidth). The eye pattern (fig.1) was wide open, as it should be.
Fig.1 Aurender N10, AES/EBU…
"Hail, Neophyte!"
That's what members of the Smoky Basement Secret Audio Society would exclaim in unison at the end of each ceremony admitting a new devotee. It was called the Smoky Basement Society not because everyone smoked (though they did), but because its members believed that whenever an audio designer finally got a design dialed in just right, he or she had metaphorically "let the smoke out." They exclaimed, "Hail, Neophyte!" because they believed that the most important aspect of being an audio engineer was to have a fully open "beginner's mind." In Zen practice, this is called…
To me, the original Technics SL-1200 tonearm was the "stretchy elastic" that sabotaged the stylus's efforts at "measuring" the groove. At its price—as part of a reasonably priced player—the stock Technics arm is very good, but not even close to the upmarket Technics EPA-100 arm it was modeled on. It does liveliness well, but mostly when partnered with DJ cartridges that overstate dynamics; with non-DJ, audiophile-approved Shure cartridges such as the V-15 Type III or V-15 Type V, it sounds kind of sleepy and lifeless. I attribute the stock arm's dullness to wiring, material construction,…