Kevin Deal and Jordan Perez discuss the innards of an Aurender A1000 streaming DAC.
Playing with the Aurender A1000
The Aurender A1000 was launched just over a year ago and with all the dramatic price and brand adjustments of 2025, this high-end digital source is left standing proud at the $3,850 price point.
We have a couple in stock and a fat shipment on its way from Aurender, ready for the busy holiday season. Here’s why the A1000 might just be the perfect stop on your quest for high-fidelity home playback.
Now, even if you are (incorrectly) skeptical about digital circuits affecting sound, the armchair forum experts always forget one hugely important thing about DACs. A DAC is an analog device—at least, as far as your downstream components are concerned. It has an analog output stage, which is subject to all of the variability and compromises of any output stage, whether on a phonostage, preamp, or tuner.
This means that Aurender (and Lumin and Berkeley Audio and Chord Electronics and so on) have a “house sound,” and you must figure out if that sound matches your system and listening preferences.
The inside of the A1000 shows Aurender’s reference-level attention to detail, even on this inexpensive model.
ESS vs. AKM
Harry Lee, Aurender’s director of US operations, says that when Aurender developed the A-series (analog output series), it narrowed down its choices to AKM and ESS SABRE DAC chips.
Aurender went with AKM, with Harry saying, “The decision was primarily made due to sound signature of the AKM chips winning out with our development team.”
Speaking very generally, AKM chips have a warmer, weightier response than ESS chips, which are faster and hyper-detailed. (Keep in mind that you can put an ESS chip in a tube DAC and end up with a warm sound.)
The A1000 might be the baby of Aurender’s analog series, but it surrounds the AKM chip with a reference-grade level of optimization. Look at the image above and spot the two toroidal transformers for the dual-mono DAC section, and a third toroidal on the left that powers the CPU, SSDs, Google Cast module… “Essentially everything else that isn’t in the DAC’s critical signal path,” says Kelly Scheidt, Aurender North America’s director of sales.
The sonic result? The A1000 tracks fine detail without losing AKM’s celebrated harmonic richness. It is on the warm side, but in no way is it gooey or overly slow. It has the ability to convey the full timbre of notes, letting them die realistically into silence, resulting in that elusive quality we call musicality.
Grow with A1000
Kelly especially likes the flexibility of the A1000, noting that in addition to the stereo single-ended analog outputs, it includes SPDIF and USB digital outputs, allowing it to serve as streaming DAC or streamer alone. “That flexibility is what makes it really special,” says Kelly. “You can use it as your main DAC today, but as your system evolves, you can easily add or swap in a different DAC down the road without needing to replace the streamer itself. This means the A1000 can grow with your system, supporting DAC rolling, system upgrades, or new gear you want to integrate over time.”
Our in-house Lumin fan took one home and reluctantly admitted that he enjoyed seeing glossy album art on the 6.9" display. Plus, Aurender offers its Critical Listening Mode where it shuts down everything but essential playback circuits, reducing noise for those late-night listening sessions when the lights are low, the world is quiet, and the power grid flows like water.
Great Features
The A1000 is packed with features, but notably for the modern family are the Bluetooth remote and that it’s the only Aurender model with built-in GoogleCast hardware. Kelly explains, “That enables features like aptX-HD Bluetooth, Tidal Connect, and—uniquely—support for Spotify Lossless.”
No matter how well-designed, a streaming product can sometimes be tricky to set up in a home network. Routers can be downright rude and inhospitable to new hardware. Phones and tablets could be on one network (say on a Wi-Fi extender), and the streamer on another. And network systems frequently get stuck, requiring (at best) the old “Have you tried turning it off and on again?”
Like most companies, Aurender offers after-sales support, but with two big differentiators. First, there’s US-based phone support, where you’re very likely to be talking to Kelly himself. Then, there’s remote assistance via the Conductor app. “Our staff in Korea can diagnose and fix most reported issues without ever disconnecting the unit from your system,” says Kelly.
When you request remote support, you can either send a mail from the Conductor app, or cut and paste all the status information the techs need into an email. (No more hunting for annoying details such as MAC address, software version numbers, IP address, or even your exact phone model.) You are requested to leave the unit on and connected to the internet, and at some point the elves will remotely log in and get you up and running.
With a few A1000s in stock right now and our holiday shipment on its way, bypass Santa and grab yours now. We know that all you want for Christmas is to impress your friends and family with Mariah’s track sounding better than anyone’s ever heard before.