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Authorized dealers for Aurender N30SA

  • Absoulute Audio plus Video — in-store — Aiken, South Carolina, United States (website)
  • The ASOC Gallery of Fine Audio — in-store — Stratford, Ontario, Canada (website)
  • The Music Room — online and in-store — Erie, Colorado, United States (website)
  • 110Hz — online and in-store — Kielce, Województwo świętokrzyskie, Poland (website)
  • 3mA Audio — online and in-store — Houston, Texas, United States (website)
  • A 10 Audio Room 4 Music — in-store — Amsterdam Nieuw-West, Noord-Holland, Netherlands (website)
  • Addicted to Audio — online and in-store — Epping, Victoria, Australia (website)
  • All That Audio — in-store — Anaheim, California, United States (website)
  • Alpha High End — online and in-store — Brasschaat, Vlaams Gewest, Belgium (website)
  • American Sound — in-store — Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada (website)

and 142 more verified dealers

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Aurender N30SA #1
Aurender N30SA variant 1
Aurender N30SA variant 2
Aurender N30SA variant 3
Aurender N30SA variant 4
Aurender N30SA variant 5
Aurender N30SA variant 6
Aurender N30SA variant 7
Aurender N30SA variant 8

Aurender N30SA

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Built around inky-black silences, incisive detail and commanding musical momentum, the N30SA gives a fine external DAC an exceptionally clean digital feed. HiFi News heard expansive space, vivid instrumental definition and natural micro-dynamics, while HiFi.nl praised its open, layered soundstage. Its isolated dual-chassis architecture, OCXO timing and extensive outputs make it a formidable reference music server.

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Specifications34 reviews & sources

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93/100
Rating for N30SA

Deliciously Crispy

Sound Quality

96/100

Build Quality

92/100

Features Usability

91/100

Value for Money

90/100

Pros

Exceptional space, instrumental definition, micro-dynamic subtlety and musical drive from an exceptionally clean digital feed.

Spontaneous, natural and highly layered presentation with a well-defined stereo image and strong listener involvement.

Comprehensive digital connectivity and user-installable storage expansion, with consistently strong performance across output options.

Cons

No Roon support, which may be a meaningful limitation for listeners committed to that ecosystem.

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What Reviewers Are Saying

"This is truly what high-end audio stands for in 2023."

— HiFi.nl

SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 96/100

Reviewers describe an exceptionally open, natural and involving presentation, with scale, fine detail and convincing musical momentum. Its delivery is also credited with unusually quiet backgrounds and a notably clean, transparent feed to an external DAC.

Overall Sound

96/100

HiFi.nl heard a spontaneous, highly layered presentation with a natural, well-defined stereo image, greater openness and stronger listener involvement than the comparison model. HiFi News similarly praised its space, drive, instrumental definition, bass clarity, micro-dynamics and ability to reveal detail without making music sound forced or analytically dismantled.

Digital Signal Integrity

95/100

The two-box architecture physically and electrically separates supply/control duties from the audio output and OCXO clock section, with the stated aim of reducing crosstalk and EMI. HiFi News found the result to be a super-clean digital feed with interference suppressed, while HiFi.nl reported exceptional purity and transparency from the isolation-led design.

FEATURES USABILITY PERFORMANCE 91/100

Aurender’s Conductor app is widely regarded as polished and approachable, while the N30SA provides broad digital-output and storage flexibility for a high-end server. It is especially suited to systems built around an external DAC, though one reviewer notes that Roon is not supported.

Streaming Software

90/100

HiFi.nl calls Aurender Conductor intuitive, user-friendly and steadily improved over time, describing it as a capable free alternative to Roon for music management. A separate review notes the lack of Roon support, which may matter to listeners already committed to that ecosystem.

Features Connectivity

94/100

The N30SA offers dedicated USB audio, AES/EBU, BNC and RCA coaxial, and optical digital outputs, plus an external master-clock input. Reviewers also highlight its accessible user-installable storage bay, onboard cache drive and the reported consistency of performance across its output options.

Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.

Build Quality

92/100

The N30SA uses two beautifully machined alloy chassis, separating the power supply and system-control hardware from the clock and digital-output section. Reviewers specifically note that this layout keeps potentially noisy supply and data circuitry apart to limit crosstalk and stray EMI.

Value for Money

90/100

At roughly €27,900/£24,000 before optional storage, this is unambiguously a luxury music server. Even so, HiFi News calls it a luxury well worth having, and another reviewer judged the N30SA to offer stronger overall purchase value than a costly comparison component.

Reviews & Sources

Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.

Online Reviews & Mentions

YouTube Reviews

Forum Mentions

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Specifications

Dimensions
2x 16.9“W x 14”D x 4.2”H (3.7”H w/o Feet)
Weight
48.5 lb
Material
Dual Machined Aluminum Chassis
Front Panel Display
8.8” 1920 x 480 Wide IPS Color LCD
Power Supply
1x50W (CPU), 2x35W (4 cores) for Digital Output Board
CPU
Intel Low Power Quad Core
RAM
8GB
Library Storage Capacity
8TB, 1X 2.5“ Compartment (User-Installable Storage)
SSD for System & Cache
480GB NVME
Data USB Ports
2X USB 3.0 (Rear)
Software Suite
Aurender Conductor
Ethernet Port
Double-Isolated Gigabit LAN
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
Yes (Super Capacitors)
Power Consumption
Play (40W), Peak (70W), Standby (3.5W)
CD Ripping Capability
N/A
Analog Outputs
N/A
DAC Chipset
N/A
Audio Word Clock
OCXO Rev2
Analog Outputs Supported Format
N/A
Digital Outputs
USB Audio (Dedicated), AES/EBU (OCXO Controlled), BNC Coax SPDIF (OCXO Controlled), RCA Coax SPDIF (OCXO Controlled), Optical/TosLink SPDIF (OCXO Controlled)
USB Output Supported Format
Up to 768kHz/32bit PCM, DSD512 (Native), DSD256 (DoP)
SPDIF & AES/EBU Output Supported Format
PCM: Up to 32-bit / 192 kHz; DSD: Up to DSD64 via DoP
Digital Inputs
N/A
Headphone Section
N/A
Master Clock Input
Coaxial BNC 75Ω – 10MHz, 12.8MHz, 44.1-48kHz (multiples from 1-512x)
MQA Support
MQA Core-Decoder Upgrade Available
Compatible Formats
DSD (DSF, DFF), WAV, FLAC, AIFF, ALAC, M4A, APE and others
DSD-to-PCM Conversion
N/A
Built-in DAC
Ethernet
Display
USB Audio
Clock Input

Manufacturer's Description — Aurender

Signature Music Server

1 x 8TB SSD Installed with Extra Slot for Additional Drive

USB, AES/EBU, Coaxial, BNC, Optical Outputs, and Word Clock Input


The Statement Source for the finest HiFi systems.

State-Of-The-Art Dual-Chassis Digital Output Network Transport with USB, AES/EBU, Coaxial, BNC, Optical Outputs, and Word/Master Clock Input. 1 x 8TB SSD + User-Installable Expansion Port.


Separation of Music and Noise

The culmination of more than 10 years of research and product development has led Aurender to N30SA: the ultimate Digital Output Network Transport with the utmost in transparency, resolution, pace, rhythm, dynamics and revealing musical expression.

In digital audio rendering, there are two predominant forces which must be mitigated in order to provide a pristine musical presentation: Noise and Jitter. N30SA's dual-chassis design physically and electrically isolates the sensitive audio outputs from the noise-generating components of the machine to deliver an uncanny kind of coherence and quiet. The kind of quiet that results in the listener's ability to hear deep into the music and identify each individual instrument with unbridled dynamics, true-to-life timbre, deep bass extension and slam – even from the most complex musical passages.

As with N20 and W20SE, N30SA's SPDIF and AES/EBU outputs are controlled by an ultra precise OCXO clock to minimize jitter and its harmful artifacts, therefore alleviating the harshness and incoherence that plagues some digital audio presentations. Add an external Master Clock connection like Aurender's MC20 for the ultimate in atomic clock timing accuracy.


Key Features


Two-Chassis Design

N30SA takes physical and electrical noise isolation to unprecedented extremes. By isolating the sensitive audio outputs from the noise generating pieces of the component, N30SA achieves a noise floor so low that nothing competes with the music.


Discrete Power and Data Umbilical Connections

A pair of bespoke cables for connecting the two chassis are included in 0.5m and 1.5m lengths. One cable supplies power to the audio box, and a separate cable carries audio data. This connectivity scheme allows for further physical separation and noise suppression between the audio outputs and the rest of the component.


Linear Power Supply with Integrated UPS

N30SA's unique hybrid power supply delivers a pure DC current to flawlessly power the digital audio output board, while a separate linear power supply chain feeds clean power to the non-audio adjacent components of the machine. N30SA redefines what's possible in terms of the profound musical engagement extracted from files and streams.


OCXO Clock Controlled Outputs

Aurender's Oven Controlled Crystal Oscillator (OCXO) clocks are unique in a category that has historically treated superior SPDIF and AES/EBU audio outputs as an afterthought. Unlike USB, where the DAC's clock matters most, SPDIF and AES/EBU data streams are only as good as the transport clocks that govern them. N30SA, N20, and W20SE all employ exceptionally accurate and stable OCXO clocks for a smooth, saturated, and laser-focused audio presentation.


Clock Input

N20, N30SA, W20, and W20SE all feature a unique Clock Input for connectivity with an external Master Clock such as MC20. A superior Master Clock can make a good system sound uncannily realistic, giving a new literal meaning to "High Fidelity."


PCM Upsampling

N30SA is capable of upsampling any lower resolution content up to 176.4/192kHz for better performance with some DACs. Upsampling effects only the system's SPDIF digital outputs. USB is always bit-perfect with no digital signal processing.


8.8″ Front Panel Display

An impressive 8.8" full-color IPS LCD display reproduces the album art, artist name and song title in utter elegance.


8TB SSD Storage + Expansion Port

An 8TB SSD is internally fitted, with a second disk tray for storage expansion, if needed.


Hallmarks of Aurender


Hardware <> Software Integration

A closed system. Aurender playback and control software is developed in the same building as its hardware. Superior integration means that Aurender's software engineers are able to specifically optimize playback performance of the extremely robust hardware at their disposal.


Caching Playback Engine

Other systems buffer. Aurenders cache. Every Aurender model features a massive solid state memory from which all playback occurs. This important feature helps to minimize system resource requirements for enhanced audio performance and stability.


Dedicated USB Audio Output

USB is prone to transferring noise between devices. Aurender's dedicated USB Audio output is physically and electrically isolated from the noise-generating CPU board to minimize noise in the sensitive audio interconnect.


Precision DSD-to-PCM Conversion

Many DACs support DSD decoding via USB inputs, but not on SPDIF or AES/EBU. But, software/DSP-level DSD-to-PCM conversion almost always sounds terrible. That's why Aurender's Digital Output Network Transports with high-end SPDIF outputs also feature an extremely high quality DSD-to-PCM conversion engine performed by FPGA using thousands of tap filters.


Low-Power High-Efficiency CPU

A powerful CPU is essential to making any computer run smoothly and quickly. However, with more power comes more noise. Aurender's low-power high-efficiency Intel CPUs have enough headroom to run the machine while minimizing the amount of current drawn in order to keep the noise floor as low as possible.


Elegant Front Panel Display

Easy to read high resolution LCD display. Dynamic, elegant, understated.


Double Isolated LAN Port

Two layers of transformer based isolation to filter noise out of Ethernet connection.


Local Library Storage Capacity

Every Aurender contains either massive built-in internal storage capacity, or at least one slot for super easy user-installable storage options. Enjoy localized media storage, and ditch the cumbersome NAS or HDD.


Integrated Streaming Services

The entire world of streaming music content is available to you within one great app. Enjoy integrated access to TIDAL, Qobuz, and Internet Radio. Plus Spotify Connect and AirPlay.


Critical Listening Mode

Enable Critical Listening Mode to defeat the front panel screen, buttons, and all background computing activity that is not essential for playing music. CLM offers an even quieter, more transparent audio presentation.


USB HDD and NAS Connectivity

The best user experience occurs when your music content is stored on Aurender's internal storage. However, USB 3.0 data ports and NAS share connectivity are included in order to play or import content stored on a NAS, external USB hard drive, or thumb drive.


Support for All Major Audio Codecs & Formats


Remote Internet Technical Support

In case you should encounter any difficulty or problems, Aurender's dedicated support team may log into your system remotely to diagnose and fix any issues. We take support extremely seriously, and we're here to help!

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Verified Dealers

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Authorized dealers for Aurender N30SA

  • Absoulute Audio plus Video — in-store — Aiken, South Carolina, United States (website)
  • The ASOC Gallery of Fine Audio — in-store — Stratford, Ontario, Canada (website)
  • The Music Room — online and in-store — Erie, Colorado, United States (website)
  • 110Hz — online and in-store — Kielce, Województwo świętokrzyskie, Poland (website)
  • 3mA Audio — online and in-store — Houston, Texas, United States (website)
  • A 10 Audio Room 4 Music — in-store — Amsterdam Nieuw-West, Noord-Holland, Netherlands (website)
  • Addicted to Audio — online and in-store — Epping, Victoria, Australia (website)
  • All That Audio — in-store — Anaheim, California, United States (website)
  • Alpha High End — online and in-store — Brasschaat, Vlaams Gewest, Belgium (website)
  • American Sound — in-store — Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada (website)

and 142 more verified dealers