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92% would recommend to a friend 
Aurender Flow DAC/Amp
01 / 10
Aurender Flow DAC/Amp
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Product Description
As powerful as it is compact, the Aurender Flow DAC/amp pumps out an impressive 380 mW at 32 ohms. The high-end specs are headlined by an ESS9018K2M DAC chip and an mSATA slot for up to 1 TB of additional music storage Read More
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(18 reviews)
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keyboard_arrow_downuniverseinmyheart
15
Jun 29, 2021
checkVerified Buyer
The greatest among compact dac/amp
Since its release in 2014 in Korea , I have wanted one , which I wasn't able to afford to get due to the highprice. Now that I have it in my possession , I can understand why people speak highly of it. With a usb connection , you can enjoy all the high fidelity music .
Great product worth every penny.
Recommends this product? Yes
StvG
11
Feb 28, 2019
checkVerified Buyer
Works great and sounds great. Compared directly with a Dragonfly Red on my MacBook Air, I heard far greater air, space and depth and more realism in voices and instrument sounds. It was like switching from a billboard picture with about 3 feet of depth to a three-dimensional window into the performances.
I also purchased and installed an internal MSATA drive and loaded 6,000-plus tracks into it. My Air doesn't have enough internal memory for all those tracks, many of them in HD formats, so the Flow enables me to access my library in a relatively portable device.
certainkindoffool
11
Apr 10, 2020
checkVerified Buyer
This is strictly a desktop dac, and does its job well. At Drop prices, it is a compelling product. At it's original msrp, I could not recommend it, as its not nearly as good as my RME ADI-2 when factoring in extra features.
(Edited)
zenbert
175
Dec 15, 2020
checkVerified Buyer
Audiophile portable DAC/AMP with additional versatility
The Aurender Flow is a uniquely packaged product; one that seems to be complicated by its interesting sculptured aluminum casing and the option to install an mSATA SSD. Putting these subjective features aside, it is a really good sounding DAC/Amp combo, and one that could be a good option for certain audiophiles.
Measuring 138mm x 80mm x 30mm, the Flow is about twice as thick as my Onkyo DP-X1a and a size larger than the Chord Mojo. It appears to have an anodized aluminum shell and feels solid in the hand. The base of the unit has soft rubber feet at the corners, which is a welcomed feature to avoid accidental scratching of the base against a hard surface. The unit also comes with a custom fit traveling case and all the cables you would want, except the dongle needed for your device type, e.g., lightning, USB-C, etc. Excellent job here by Aurender IMO.
From a sound persona viewpoint, the Flow is distinctively an audiophile-grade device but unlike other players or DAC and AMP combos that I have tried. The Flow generally sounds airy, spacious, and velvety in its rendering of music but yet clear with micro details that are usually in the higher-end devices. There seems to lack a punchy edge to the sound, yet the details are ever-present and revealing. It’s like air or liquid; Flow is just that. I find watching movies with well-recorded tracks to be an absolute joy, particularly listening to the ambient high and lows without ever being too loud or noisy.
Besides the fairly distinctive sound signature that I dig, I’ve learned to appreciate the option to have the SSD installed. Originally I thought it was a bit of over-engineering in an audiophile device, but I came to appreciate the functionality. Presently I use the Flow as a transport device for FLAC files and movies and have one fewer device (USB drive) to lug around. The important part is storage function never interferes with the audio portion, even when playing a video clip directly with the music going.
There are a couple of considerations with buying the Flow IMO. First of all, the battery life isn’t impressive, and you can drain the battery in a handful of hours based on the volume and usage of the SSD. However, with the charging mode set to CHG+ and connected to a USB powered port, this wouldn’t be an issue as the device will continue to charge while being used. Secondly, the buttons on the device feel touchy and light. This is subjective, but I wish there was more feedback for a more solid feel. The physical unit has sharp-edged corners, which are aesthetically pleasing, at least subjectively, but can be prone to dings.
Since I lug my laptops around a lot more these days, I find it a lot easier to be able to enjoy higher quality music listening as well as having extra data storage with the Flow. The Flow provides a rather distinct audiophile sound quality that I appreciate, and I can see myself carrying it for long trips without having to give up on quality.
Setup: Flac via Audirvana | Tidal → Aurender Flow → Mr. Speakers Ether-CX
Recommends this product? Yes
TwisterWes
42
Jan 5, 2021
checkVerified Buyer
Device failed 3 weeks after I got it. Drop's service is garbage! $425 brick. DONT BUY!
Device failed 3 weeks after I got it, after just after a few of days listening. Took me a week to contact Drop's service, who told me that it's 30 days after I received the item, so, adios, amigo and good luck! Drop's service is garbage! I ended up with a $425 brick. DONT BUY IT! I contacted Aurender and they said they don't know who makes these, as they stopped the production in 2016. So, I ended up with a $425 brick, with no service available. This is the last thing I am buying from DROP! I am done with them. Same thing happened with Topping DAC I bought from them. $300 brick. I will just buy directly from Chinese manufacturers, that are at least standing by their product for a year. You are saving $50 on Drop, but have no warranty or repair options. Consider me gone, DROP!
Recommends this product? No
DeyDey
32
Mar 20, 2023
Drop was selling the LCD lineup without Audeze themselves knowing about them leading them to put a statement that the ones drop were selling will not come with a warranty as they themselves don't know where they got the stock from since it wasn't from them.
tvr2500m
145
Mar 25, 2019
checkVerified Buyer
I'm glad other purchasers have added some reviews. This is a beautifully made, elegant, smart, enjoyable-to-use, flexible, great-sounding, high-quality device. For the Massdrop price, it's an outstanding value (isn't that what Massdrop is about?). The reviews of the Aurender Flow when it first came out were spot on. Aurender has a solid market position with its high-end music servers, but didn't achieve a big break into the market segment around the Flow, which is probably why Massdrop was able to offer this piece (good job, Massdrop, for keeping your eyes open for such opportunities - like the Sennheiser HD-650 and HIFIMAN HE-400i).
Sonically, it's the best sounding DAC/headphone amplifier I have. Refinement may be the over-arching sense I get when listening to it. Ease, sophistication, organic may be other words. I love the pairing with the Focal Elex. I'm looking forward to trying it with the Massdrop x HIFIMAN Edition XX. I haven't fitted it yet with an mSSD, but think it's a cracking good idea and plan to do it.
(Edited)
tvr2500m
145
May 14, 2020
Radamaster3000I haven't listened to the Jotenheim, so I can't say. I have a Vidar and a Modi Multibit, but no Jot+DAC.
JGriego
96
Aug 10, 2020
checkVerified Buyer
Still Great In 2020!
I purchased this dac in the mid-June drop and have not been disappointed. I originally wanted a higher end dac/amp and this fits in a category of great value and high quality perfectly. The machining of the Aurender Flow is top notch. As far as the ease of use, it is very simple. Literally, this is a plug and play dac/amp that works with any USB connection I've tried. So far, I've used the Note 10+, the IPhone 11 Pro Max, and my 2017 MacBook Pro and it's worked great with all of those devices. As far as sound goes, clear and true is how I can describe it. From the lows, mids, and highs, everything is clean in its presentation. Transparency is also great. The two other dac/amps that I also have used quite a bit are the Dragonfly Red and Xduoo XD-05 plus. When comparing those to the Aurender Flow, neither do. The Aurender is more accurate, airy, transparent, and dynamic. The Xduoo XD-05 plus is usually listed here on Drop for $220 or $265 if you want it with the Bluetooth adapter. But honestly, I'd spend the extra money and buy the Aurender Flow. The perk of the Xduoo is that you can make it into a Bluetooth dac/amp, which is awesome and cool, but if you want cleaner and accurate sound, pay a little more for the Aurender and you won't be disappointed. You don't get bluetooth with the Aurender, but you get far greater sound. The only thing I didn't like about this purchase was the wall adapter they included with this unit, but honestly, everyone has tons of wall adapters to charge their phones, so it didn't bother me much. The unit is really nice quality! Can't wait to compare this unit to the Chord products such as the Mojo and Hugo. Extremely recommended!
(Edited)
Recommends this product? Yes
tonso
10
Nov 18, 2020
Ok. I read that this dac discharges while playing even when it's connected to the power (and is supposed to stay fully charged), is that true in your experience? Also, did you consider iFi micro iDSD BL as an alternative?
JGriego
96
Nov 21, 2020
tonsoI didn't consider the Black Label. I've heard that is amazing also. You have three options with the Aurender when it comes to charging. chg(+) which takes power from whatever device you have hooked up to it (good for hooked up to a computer), chg(a) which will charge automatically when music isn't playing, and chg(-) which plays off the Flows main battery. I wish there was more info on this unit across the internet, but unfortunately there isn't. I've had to learn all this by playing with it. Still love it as much as the day I got it! If you end up purchasing, I have a few recommendations on better cables (the cables that are included are only decent).
sd23
8
Oct 10, 2020
checkVerified Buyer
Excellent DAC
I think this is better then the Chord Mojo. The only minor issues was that the 1/4 to 3.5mm adapter was terrible, the 3.5mm jack was not snug and the audio would cut out when moving around fortunately I had a better one that came with my phones. The second thing is that the volume control doesn't give you enough gain to max out the volume. I use J-river and so I was able to raise the output level from there but still I would have preferred that the volume control itself provide more gain. This DAC can play louder than the Mojo without breaking up although as I mentioned I needed to raise the gain on J-river to do so). The sound quality is top notch. Very clean and detailed without any digital glare or shrill that some others DAC's can have and for which I am very sensitive too. I think the internal Msata drive slot is a good feature so you can store all your music internally and free up drive space on my laptop although I haven't installed one yet so I cant comment on its execution yet but if it works like an external drive meaning J-river has to read the data off it through the USB cable and then output the music data right back out through the same USB port into the DAC then that may discourage me from using it. You cant play back directly from the Msata drive it has to be accessed from the player as an external drive. I would prefer if it can read directly from its internal drive. I bought this to replace my Chord Mojo which kept dying, I had 2 in less than 2 years, believe those negative reviews about Mojo's reliability. This DAC is highly recommended for the $425 price, glad I bough it. I use it with the Hifiman/drop edition XX headphones, it pairs well with it, better than the Chord Mojo did. Be careful replacing the USB cable a cheap bad fitting connector or an expensive heavy inflexible cable may damage the USB input connector.
(Edited)
Recommends this product? Yes
Hellskitchen
5
Jan 22, 2021
checkVerified Buyer
Changed my (PC) life!
Even with iTunes, internet radios are crisp and transparent. Quite a feast.. Can't wait for my HD6XX to arrive and Covid's confined life will be bearable again :)
Recommends this product? Yes
geveent
174
May 21, 2023
checkVerified Buyer
A discontinued product with great sound.
I had DACs, but this is my first high end DAC. I didn't know why people spend money on DAC and what kind of sound improvements I should expect from a high end DAC. AURENDER FLOW taught me why I need a high end DAC.
Aurender Flow sound can be described with clarity and micro definition of imaging coupled with no distortion and no noise. For that reason, this device is a five-star product in my heart, but I have to take off one star to be fair, because this is a discontinued product by the manufacturer. That means no firmware update and no driver support for future operating systems.
Another thing I want to mention is that, although the device looks good, the device has sharp edges, so you need to be careful when you are handling it. I will update as I find more about the product. At the moment, I didn't find a way to make it work with my Galaxy phone. When connected, my phone doesn't recognize Aurender Flow as an audio device, and it is annoying.
(Edited)
Recommends this product? Yes
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