System information

for controlling JRiver Media Center. Fortunately the Aurender iPad application displays a very high resolution
image, provided the user included such a quality version, when viewing the album art in full screen. The
application also displays rear albums covers when included with the file. Overall 99% of the Aurender iPad
app is aesthetically pleasing and serves to increase functionality for the end user.
Aurender W20 In Use - No Hocus-pocus Just Listening
The Aurender W20 is built for music playback only. It has no CD ripping capability and no user interface for
music management. In my experience this is just fine. I already have a computer, or two or three, with which
I have CD ripping software (XLD on Mac OS X and dBpoweramp on Windows) and music management
software (JRiver Media Center). It's likely that all users reading Computer Audiophile or considering an
Aurender W20 already have a computer for ripping and music management as well. Once a user's music is
moved to the W20 there is no need for another computer. There are several different work flow options for
populating an Aurender full of music and updating the unit after each new music purchase. It's possible to
connected a USB hard drive directly to the W20 and have the unit automatically copy the files to the internal
hard drives. Techies often call this method sneaker net as it involves walking the files from one location to
another. There's nothing wrong with this method, it's just not the most efficient. It's also possible to rip CDs
directly to the W20 and to download new music from sites like HDtracks directly to the W20 over the server's
Ethernet connection. This method is the most efficient. Editing metadata can be done by pointing an
application such as JRiver Media Center to the W20's hard drives. All the music on the W20 then appears
within JRiver Media Center and all metadata changes are save directly to the W20. The method I use for
populating the W20 is to work with all my music locally on my laptop before copying it to the unit. My
situation is a little different from most users as I have copies of music on several different servers
and NAS units. Needless to say the Aurender W20 is very flexible and enables the listener to use whatever
method is most desirable.
Aurender music servers don't have any built-in disk redundancy. This means when a hard drive fails and is
subsequently replaced, the music must be copied back to the unit. I haven't had a single hard drive issue
using four different Aurender servers since 2011. While using Aurender servers over the years I established a
very simple method of backing up the servers and keeping the backup copies current. This method requires
no user intervention after initial setup and delivers a success/failure backup report to the user's email inbox
after each backup. This method is very easy to setup using a Synology NAS and requires no backup software
on the Aurender. From my Synology DS1812+ I set the File Manager to connect to the W20 HDD1 and HDD2
drives and check the box to automatically reconnect upon reboot of the NAS. Once connected the W20 drives
appear just like local folders on the NAS. I then setup a backup task that copies all music on both W20 hard
drives to a folder on the Synology NAS. This task runs every Sunday morning at 4:00AM. After the backup
succeeds or fails I receive an email in my inbox with the status. After the initial full backup all subsequent
backup tasks only copy the data that has changed or been added. All the hard work is done by the Synology.
This enables the Aurender W20 to remain a dedicated high end music playback device rather than a full
blown computer running all kinds of software.
I've had the Aurender in my system for several months and have used a number of audio components with
the W20. I've tried the USB, AES, and coaxial S/PDIFinterfaces of the W20 with numerous DACs including a
full dCS Vivaldi stack, Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Series 2, EMM Labs DAC2X, Ayre Acoustics QB-
9 DSD, and Auralic Vega to name a few. The W20 works great with all of these DACs. Connected to the Ayre
QB-9 DSD I disabled the W20's USB power output because theDAC's USB interface doesn't require power
from the server. Connected to the Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Series 2 I used the AES output. I also
tried the AlphaUSB, with W20 USB power enabled, to convert USB to AES between the Alpha DAC and W20.
There is no single "best" way to connect a DAC to the W20. There are just too many variables to declare a
wining interface. The W20 is very versatile and offers an incredibly clean audio signal to any connected device
on any interface.
Currently I have the W20 connect via AES to the Alpha DAC Series 2. The Alpha is connected directly to Pass
Labs XA160.5 monoblocks via Mogami professional balanced XLR cables. The Pass amps are driving TAD CR1
loudspeakers via MIT speaker cables. The W20's battery powered audio board is a huge sonic step up from
the previous Aurender S10. Output via AES into the Alpha DAC Series 2 is dead quiet without a hint of digital
noise that can be associated with computer audio sources. Listening to either my usual review playlist or one
of the hundreds hundreds of albums I played through the W20 over the last several months, the sound
quality was as good as it gets. The W20 does exactly what high end listeners want, it delivers the best