How’d they do this, for that?
At times during a review period, I need to remind myself of how much the thing I’m writing about costs. During my time with the Aurender A1000 I had to check that number more than the norm and the reason being I kept wondering—How’d they do this, for that?
The “this” I’m referring to is everything about the A1000—looks, build quality, functionality, and sound quality. The “that” is $3500. Aurender was founded in 2010 and they offer a complete line of digital products including a number of streaming DACs, or as Aurender refers to them—Analog Output Network Players—that before the A1000 started at $6300.
Let’s begin with functionality, all of the things the Aurender A1000 can do. You can use the A1000 as a straight forward network player (Ethernet in, digital audio out), as a streaming DAC (Ethernet in, analog RCA out), as a USB DAC (USB in, analog out), as a server if you install your own 2.5” SSD, as a streaming DAC/Preamp using the A1000’s own volume control, and finally as digital hub where you combine a bunch of ins and outs like the output from your TV (HDMI ARC or Toslink), your CD transport (Coax), and even have guests stream their smartphone-based tunes through it via Bluetooth. The A1000 does not do WiFi. Neither do I.
On the business side, the A1000 offers what you’d expect in a full function digital streaming source—Optical, Coax, HDMI ARC, USB, and LAN inputs, Coax and USB digital outputs, and 1 pair of single-ended analog RCA outputs that you can run in Fixed or Variable output mode. There’s also a USB port for attaching USB storage, a 12V Trigger Out, a slot for adding a 2.5″ SSD/HDD drive (up to 8TB), IEC inlet, and power button.
Inside the lovely aluminum chassis resides the AKM 4490REQ Dual-Mono DAC chip and a Quad-core 2.0GHz CPU (ARM Cortex-A55), each powered by their own low-noise linear power supply to hit just the highlights. On the software side, you can use Aurender’s own Conductor app for iOS and Android, Roon, Tidal and/or Spotify Connect, and Google Cast to control playback. To get the most from the A1000’s optional internal storage, if you opt in, is to use the Conductor app since it ‘sees’ that internal storage and makes all the music on it accessible via the app. This is not the case for Roon users, as the A1000 does not double as a Roon Server so you still have to use an external Roon Server.
Getting back to Aurender’s Conductor app and internal storage, if you have more than one system in your home that you want to control using just one app with access to the same music library, you need to stay within the Aurender family of products to do so. Roon, on the other hand, allows any Roon Ready device from any manufacturer to share one music library. Soon after the A1000 arrived it became Roon Certified/Ready which allowed me to add it to my network with a few taps on my iPhone or iPad. Since there are always two systems in play in the Barn, this feature is more than a nice to have option for me and also explains why I used Roon for the majority of the review period to control playback through the Aurender.
I mainly used the A1000 as a streaming Roon Ready DAC with its analog output feeding one of a few integrated amplifiers. I also let its Coax output send digital audio to the Barn resident Mola Mola Tambaqui, and gave its own volume control a workout with the Barn resident Leben CS600X’s Preamp Input. There is no TV in the Barn, no CD transport, and nothing with a USB output that I use to play music so all of these fine features went unused which is kind of a shame if it weren’t for the fact that the Aurender A1000 is still a screaming deal as just a streaming DAC. A screaming deal.
The front panel offers a number of controls including a backlit ON/OFF/Standby button, input selection, output selection, a volume knob, Display Menu button, Play Previous button, Play/Pause button, and Play Next button. While these are certainly welcome functions in hardware form, I barely touched ‘em as I spent most of my time controlling the A1000 with software. That 6.9” color LCD display is nice and sharp and colorful and I enjoy seeing the album cover art of what’s in play. Call me old and new fashioned. There’s also an included remote control that saw very little use for the same reason.
I’ll begin the listening notes with the observation that I greatly preferred using the Leben CS600X’s own preamp as opposed to bypassing it and using the A1000’s own to control volume. The Leben employs pairs of 12AU7A and 12BH7A vacuum tubes in the input side but I’ll avoid the obvious observation when it comes to anything with a tube and suggest that the overall circuit design that includes lots of other things like power supplies account for the Leben’s sound. In terms of a comparison, the Aurender acting as preamp into the Leben made music sound thinner and paler, timbrally, than the Leben as full fledged integrated amplifier to such an extent that I didn’t listen to more than few songs in this mode. I wish I had a number of amplifiers to try with the Aurender but I don’t and even if I did, any findings would be limited to the amps on hand as opposed to drawing a more sweeping conclusion. All that to say if you own a power amp you love and are thinking of using an A1000 to control it, your findings may be different from mine with the Leben. Nothing beats direct experience when it comes to experiencing and preference.
Aurender’s Conductor app is free and while I used it sparingly during this review period it is very sophisticated and user friendly. It will check most if not all of the features most users/owners could wish for (with the exceptions noted above regarding Roon). I also appreciate and enjoy using Tidal Connect as it comes with the price of a Tidal subscription which costs nearly nothing if you add up what you get from it, assuming you enjoy discovering new music. All to say that while my preferences had me using the A1000 in Roon Ready mode, the Conductor app and Tidal Connect add real value to its value proposition (I avoid Spotify like the plague).
The systems that benefitted from the Aurender’s way with all things digital included the recently reviewed Luxman L-505Z integrated amp (review) driving the Gauder Akustik Capello 100 (review) and the Leben CS600X driving the Barn resident DeVore O/96 (review) as well as the review pair of MC Audiotech TL-12 (more info). All cabling comes courtesy of AudioQuest as does the PowerQuest PQ707 everything was plugged into while a Box Furniture MD3S rack supported everything in style (see full Barn and system details).
While it had been years since I had an Aurender product in for review, it took all of a few minutes for the A1000 to feel right at home in Barn. It is built to a very high standard, especially so considering the price of admission, and is a pleasure to use and see. If we take a look at the TM Favorite Digital list in search of comparable products, there’s nothing that checks most of the A1000’s boxes, on a purely functional level, until we hit the Weiss DAC501 which now costs $11,995. A pretty wide gap, money wise. But how does it play?
Beautifully. That’s how the Aurender A1000 as a streaming DAC plays music—beautifully. It is at once smooth and refined which is a rare combination for a DAC at this price point. I remain a big fan of the Wattson Madison Streaming DAC (review) that costs the same as the A1000, the Wattson being a much simpler device with Ethernet in and analog RCA out. That’s it. No screen, no other inputs and it is a very good sounding streaming DAC for those looking for an unobtrusive solution. It’s been too long since the Wattson left for me to dive into a fine grained comparison but my sense is if you’re looking at the Aurender and all of the other things it has to offer, I doubt you really care about any fine grained sonic differences. And I don’t think you should because the Aurender is among the best sounding streaming DACs to have come through the Barn at anywhere near its price.
Kelela’s In the Blue Light was recorded over a two day stint at The Blue Note in NYC on May 28 and May 29, 2024. Piano, harp, strings and other things back up Kelela’s vocals for what is a loose, live, and lovely record. “Raven (Unplugged)” begins with harp strings pulling at heart strings and the Aurender got all of the important bits right with pluck, sparkle, and light bouncing around the barn with real tactile appeal, also thanks to the Leben and MC Audiotech speakers that make for a stunning combo in their own right. As a system, the A1000 absolutely fit right in with not a thing left wanting. I suppose we could talk about how more expensive DACs dig deeper into the mix with more micro-level detail and perhaps greater clarity up top but that’s like looking at perfect see-through azure waves breaking over a deserted white sand Caribbean beach and thinking—it could be bluer.
Of greater importance is the Aurender gets the big picture right, offering a musically balanced sound—a sound that sounds like music-making as opposed to some digital reproduction that can feel more like a sonic autopsy with various parts highlighted with unnatural light or edge or etch. I would go so far as to say the A1000’s sound leans towards the richer, fuller side which is more than OK by me. I’m old enough to remember early CD replay that made music sound as if it was made by spotlit skeletons who did too much blow playing only things made from metal. While wearing way too much Aramis cologne. I could go on…
I was reminded of HTRK’s 2014 stunner of a record Psychic 9-5 Club at CAF 2025 in the High Water Sound room and it led me down a HTRK rabbit hole and I’ve yet to reach the end. This music sounds like something you might hear playing in some pop up dank cave club you can only access through tunnels under basements under tunnels. Under basements.
From the liner notes:
Though the record is instantly recognizable as HTRK—Standish’s vocal delivery remains central to the band’s sound, while the productions are typically lean and dubby—they’ve found ample room for exploration within this framework. Gone are the reverb-soaked guitar explorations of 2009’s Marry Me Tonight and the fuzzy growls that ran through Work (Work Work). They’ve been replaced with something tender, velvety and polished. This is HTRK, but the flesh has been stripped from their sound, throwing the focus on naked arrangements and minimalist sound design.
Something tender, velvety, and polished is exactly what came out of the DeVore O/96 with the Aurender/Leben combo. This record also sounds as if was recorded in a large cave with sounds plinking off distant surfaces adding to the solitary mood. This album opens with big electronic bass bomb rumbles laying the groundwork for Jonnine Standish’s vocals that exist somewhere between sang and spoken, sprang?, with all manner of electronic sounds scurrying around the place and the Aurender kept pace from bottom to top, with just the right amount of detail, edge, dynamic snap!, and nuance tipping more toward body and weight than ultimate resolution. Again, a musically friendly balance as far as I’m concerned.
There are two additional features when running the A1000 in streaming DAC mode, accessed via the Conductor app, that are worth a mention—Digital Filter options and Critical Listening Mode. I found the differences between digital filters ran from subtle to indistinguishable depending on the music in play as well as how closely I paid attention. As you can see in the above screenshot, Critical Listening Mode is not available when using Roon so I went with Tidal within the Conductor app to check its benefits and I would call the improvements here to be a worthwhile increase in clarity from bottom to top, greater apparent resolution, and more dynamic slam. Nice.
Adding the Mola Mola Tambaqui (review) to the mix made it almost too easy to talk about greater resolution in the service of music. The Tambaqui is a highly resolving DAC that nonetheless doesn’t loose track of the meat and adding it into the Leben/MC Audiotech system brought out more light, detail, and grip. On the other hand, I preferred the A1000 as network player to the Tambaqui’s own internal streamer but the important takeaway is not the obvious—adding an external $13.5k DAC offers better performance—but rather that the A1000 can roll with this kind of upgrade acting as just a network player—Ethernet in, digital audio out. Nice.
The Aurender A1000 arrived in Barn at the end of November and during its 2+ month Barn visit it played music on the B-Side for most of that time. Days and days and weeks on end and I very quickly got over reviewer mode—once I set it, I forgot it—and fell into “What should I play next” fun. Who knows how many DACs , streamers, and streaming DACs I’ve reviewed over the last 14 years. I lost count many moons ago but I think a lot sums it up nicely so I know what I like when it comes to digital replay and I knew I liked the A1000 soon after it arrived. And this connection through to the music occurred regardless of the systems it got to play with and the music I asked it to play.
The most important question that came up during my time with the Aurender A1000 was—how’d they do this, for that? How did Aurender pack so much functionality into such a lovely package and make it sound so damn good? My best guess is experience and we are the beneficiaries of those chops. I see the Aurender A1000 as a great choice, not good, great mind you, for a streaming DAC solution. All of the extras it has to offer are icing on the cake. Bravo!
Aurender A1000 Music Server / Streamer / DAC / Preamp
Price: $3500
Company Website: Aurender
Physical Specifications
Unit Dimensions: 13. 8″ W x 14″ D x 3.8″ H
Unit Weight: 18.3lb (8.3kg)
Shipping Dimensions: 19.6″ W x 18.8″ D x 10.2″ H
Shipping Weight: 26.5lb (12kg)
Material: Machined Aluminum Chassis
Front Panel Display: 6.9″ 1280 x 480 Wide IPS Color LCD
Front Control Panel: Power, Input, Output, Mode, Play/Pause, Next Track, Previous Track, Volume Jog
Remote Control” Bluetooth LE Remote control for full-featured control
Technical Specifications
Power Supply: Full Linear Toroidal
CPU: Quad-core 2.0Ghz CPU (ARM Coretex-A55)
RAM: 4GB DRAM
Library Storage Capacity: 1x 2.5″
SSD for System & Cache: 32G eMMC for System, 120GB NVMe for Cache
Data: USB Ports 1x for external storage
Software Suite: Aurender Conductor
Ethernet Port: 100/1000 (Gigabit)
Power Consumption: Play (15W), Peak (20W), Standby (1.4W)
ARC: 1x ARC-in for TV ARC port
12V Trigger: 1x for external equipment
Audio Specifications
Analog Outputs: RCA (Unbalanced)
DAC Chipset: AKM4490REQ Dual Mono
Analog Outputs Supported Format: Up To 32-bit / 768 KHz, DSD512 (Native)
Digital Outputs: COAX RCA, USB external DAC Support
USB Output Supported Format: Up To 32-bit / 768 KHz, DSD512(Native)
Digital Inputs: COAX RCA, Optical/Toslink, USB Type B, ARC
Compatible Formats: DSD (DSF, DFF), WAV, FLAC, AIFF, ALAC, M4A, and others
Streaming Protocol Support: Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, Airplay
Google Cast Audio Allows casting from: Qobuz, Youtube, Deezer, Bugs, Melon & others (up to 96khz/24 bit)
Bluetooth up to AptX-HD
