Yulong Aurora
Disclaimer: Thanks to Yulong and Andy Kong for providing the Aurora for review. I have no financial interest in Yulong, and have not received any guidance or compensation (other than the product itself. For more information about the Aurora, see the Yulong website or Facebook Page.
Background:
Some time back I reviewed the Yulong DA1, their current flagship DAC/amp with a retail of roughly $3500. It was a great performer, but put simply many of us don’t have the budget to buy something like the DA1 or we don’t have the budget to buy more than one of them for both home and office etc. That is why I got excited when the Aurora showed up. The Aurora is Yulong’s latest entry into their lineup with a retail of $520 and recent sale prices have seen it dip to $470.
Over the years, Yulong has made a series of All-in-One systems that saved on space and cost without compromising on build quality or sound. My first exposure to the brand was in 2013 when I got to try out the D100 Mk2. It was a highly competent DAC/amp that retailed for just under $500 USD and offered USB, AES, coax, and optical inputs and both RCA and XLR line level outputs on the rear as well as headphone jacks on the front for high and low impedance models (both were 6.35mm). Next, in 2016 I got to audition the D8/A8 pair which again offered great performance in a small box. In 2018 I got a D10 and again I was impressed with the value proposition of it despite its now $1500 price tag, In 2020, the Aquila II returned to the land of the original D100 with its $700 retail and performance to compete with higher priced models by other makers. I was glad to see Yulong return to that kind of value as the market needs more models that are within the reach of the average listener. Today Yulong has three models in the category with the $250 Canary II as the entry level, the Aquila II at the top end, and the Aurora slotting in between the two.
Unboxing/Build:
Unboxing the Aurora reveals the unit, a power cord and AC/DC converter, and a USB cable. The chassis is CNC machined aluminum available in black, matte silver, or Yulong’s trademark brick red anodizing. The unit measures seven and a half inches wide by six and a half inches deep by 2 inches tall. Weight is just under 2 lbs. The case uses the trademark trapezoid shape with the body being one piece with separate front and rear face plates. The front face has the input selector switch at far left followed by a bank of LEDs that indicate source, DSD, and MQA followed by a large color-matched volume knob, and then three output ports in 4.4mm, 6.35mm, and XLR. The rear face starts with a dac/pre-amp switch at far left followed by XLR and RCA outputs, a pair of RCA inputs, then coaxial, optical, and USB inputs, the power switch, and finally the DC power input. There is a BT source indicator on the front panel and some of the stock photos show a Bluetooth input on the rear but due to regulatory issues, the model sold in the USA does not have the Bluetooth option. The LED is still present but the antenna position on the rear face is vacant.
Internals:
Internally, the Aurora uses the latest Xu216 controller to handle USB duties at which point the ESS9068 chip takes over. Optical and Coaxial inputs bypass the Xu216 and go straight into the Spdif controller on the 9068. The 9068 is a system on a chip codec with a Quad-DAC , an spdif controller, and full MQA support built in. The 4 channel DAC fits roughly between the 9038Q2M and 9038Pro in the ESS line-up. This allows coax and optical to support MQA as well as USB. In the past, the Xu chip had to handle MQA unfolding since it wasn’t part of a lot of core DAC chips which effectively limited MQA to USB inputs only. In addition USB supports PCM up to 32bit / 768kHz and DSD512. Coax and optical are limited to 384kHz PCM and 128DoP so not quite as capable as the USB input but still better than the 24/192 we are used to seeing.
The signal then has a couple options, it can be passed to the XLR or RCA outputs directly and the Aurora used as a DAC to feed another amplifier, or it can be passed through a volume control and a set of op-amps then to the XLR and RCA outputs and used as a pre-amplifier for powered monitors, or it can be passed to the headphone amplifier circuit and passed to the front ports and used as an all-in-one DAC/headphone amplifier.
Sound Quality:
As a DAC:
I replaced my RME ADI-2 Pro FS R BE that normally feeds my Pass HPA-1 amplifier with the Aurora. The HPA-1 is single ended only so a quick connection from the RCAs on the Aurora to the input on the HPA-1 and we are ready to listen. I used my Audeze LCD-4 and a Sennheiser HD800 headphone for the bulk of my testing. In A/B testing I could pick out some small micro-detail when using the RME that wasn’t quite as clear with the Aurora, but the Aurora never failed to produce any of those same tiny details so while the level of resolution may be slightly behind the RME, it isn’t as big a step as one might expect.
Next up was to see how the headphone amplifier in the Aurora compared. So, the LCD-4 got plugged into the 6.35mm connector (trying to eliminate variables as the HPA-1 uses 6.35) and the All-in-one functionality was put to the test. I also tried the RME vs the Aurora just for good measure.
Again, what we find is more a matter of degree than huge differences that leap out at the listener. All three have roughly the same power with the Aurora slotting between the RME and the HPA-1 in terms of volume knob position to reach 85dB with the big Sennheiser. All three provided more than enough clean power to handle the HD800 and LCD-4 extremely well. None imparts much warmth or color to the sound, and all bring roughly the same signature with the RME being a touch cooler than the Aurora or Aurora/HPA-1 combo. The one place I was able to consistently pick out the HPA-1 was it does have slightly better dynamics and more range when compared to the Aurora but again this is an apples to oranges compare as the HPA-1 is only an amp, and 6 times the cost of the Aurora.
As a headphone amp/analog pre-amp:
Yulong is quick to point out that the Aurora has an analog line level input so can be used as a small pre-amp for a turn-table or reel in addition to its digital duties, so I hooked up a turn-table just to see how it behaved as a pure amplifier. The Aurora is an all class-A amplifier providing up to 3 watts per channel output power. This was more than enough to drive any headphone in my collection including the He6. The Aurora provided a nice clean uncolored sound with enough reserve power that when big passages hit it didn’t sound throttled and a low enough noise floor that quiet passages showed no hiss. I tried the 4.4mm output with several in-ears as well just to see if noise became an issue and the noise floor remained inaudible throughout my testing. It’s a quite capable little unit but with only a single analog input, somewhat limited in the pre-amp role.
Conclusions:
As I mentioned at the outset, I’ve tested several Yulong products before and found they often offered value beyond their asking price. The Aurora fits into that pattern and while the desktop DAC/amp market is more competitive now than ever, the little Yulong manages to carve out space for itself amongst some tough competition. Those who use MQA will appreciate the fact that it is handled by the central DAC and not unfolded first and then passed to the DAC as PCM like most units in this price bracket. Those uninterested in MQA can appreciate the ESS Quad-DAC for its lower noise floor and better performance, and all of us can appreciate a potent class A amplifier with little to no coloration. And remember all of this comes in at $520 retail and has recently been on sale for $470.