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Aurender N20 Music Server Comments and Observations

My Aurender N20 Music Server is installed and working great.  The N20 is supplied WITHOUT hard drives installed. This means hard drives are the customer’s choice. Each of the two rear panel mounting sleds accommodates a 1, 2, 4 or 8TB 2.5-inch SSD or up to 5TB 15mm height 2.5inch HDDs. Since users have different storage requirements, Aurender feels this is the best way to satisfy everyone.  Aurender recommends Samsung EVO (I used Samsung EVO) or QVO series internal SSD drives, and Western Digital or Seagate HDDs.

The SSD Disk installation means you loosen the screws on the back of the unit, pull out the slot, insert the SSD, push in and tighten the screws (top slot is Music1).  After I installed the SSD, I went to the Conductor App, settings, disk information tab to format the SSD (please see instruction links below).   If, for some reason, the format command does not appear, please power down (turn electrical power off) and restart manually.  Restarting takes time since the N20 has UPS circuitry inside.

I checked for software updates on the N20 (there were none) and deleted my old Conductor App and installed a new copy from the App Store on my iPad.

My First impression is it sounds excellent. The music is clearer, the bass is better, has more air and it has more musical details. The overall musical presentation is much improved.  I am listening to jazz now and the SQ is much improved.   I really like it.  

You know the music is great when I am typing my message and music catches my attention and forces me to look up.  This unit is truly outstanding.  I am very impressed. Cranking the volume and this unit is truly amazing. It is much improved over the N10.  The music has more feeling and depth.

I copied my albums from my LaCie external hard drive (backup drive) to the N20 okay.  I also ran the scanner, scan for newly added files, so all my albums appeared okay.  This worked perfectly.  Please note the scan for newly added files takes time to run (watch for messages on your App).   

A miracle!  Next, I restored my music1/backup and all my Qobuz links were returned. This is needed since my main library includes BOTH my stored CD’s and Qobuz links.  Previously, I used the backup my Music1 tab and also copied all my albums to my LaCie external hard drive.  For this step, I restored my settings from Music1/backup file.  This is a required step to ensure all my QoBuz related links were restored.  

In summary, my N20 is breaking in but out of the box, the N20 sounds terrific.   For startup purposes, the N20 displays a six-digit code that must be entered into the Conductor App.   The Aurender N20 Music Server is highly recommended.

Useful Aurender Users Guides and Web Manuals links are below:

https://aurender.zendesk.com/hc/en-us

SSD/HDD Installation Guide

https://aurender.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360045605693-SSD-HDD-Installation-Guide


I hope the above is useful.  


 

 

 

 

 

 


hgeifman
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,068 posts
 

@jimmy2615 

Thanks for your input. I agree with you, you're are not taking full advantage of N20 strengths if you're only using its USB output. The N20 is a superb streamer and it clearly excels in terms of low frequency extension and slam over its predecessors especially N10. When I upgraded from N10, I clearly heard the edge in terms of perceived detail. In a highly resolve system and with a DAC like EMM Labs DA2, you can really appreciate N20's virtues.

I can only imagine what's N30SA like, hope to hear it someday :-) 

gvelez1
5 posts
 

The N20 is far better than the N200 if your system is a high performer. It's ocxo clock and lower noise floor really helps with soundstage placement.On my system (Luxman 509x, D-10X, Sopra No3) piano, vocals, and other instruments are in the space around the speakers. Piano is not just coming from the speaker drivers themselves, but is more organic and full. it comes from in-between the speakers and around. Height is greater as well The N200 is good but doesn't do what the N20 can do. The N200 has clarity and authority but can't provide a deeper more whole or relaxed presentation. Nuances played through the N20 are also easier to point out. The N20 is essentially the N30SA without the separate power supply. If you compare the N20 to the N30SA it is a great buy. But once you jump from all the A models through the N200 to the N20 there is a huge leap in performance and it's immediately discernable.

macdude
176 posts
 

I had a similar experience as @garybart

I found the N20 to be very sensitive to power cords/power conditioning.

I actually didn’t like it at all when in my first setup.

I had it boxed up ready to sell.

I gave it a second chance, hooked it up to my Isotek Genesis (sine wave regenerator) with Actinote Sinfonia power cords, and it sings.

Actinote cables prove again how musical they are.

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