HOW TO CHOOSE iFi Aurora?

Aurora

IFi Aurora

The premium all-in-one music system that sounds as good as it looks.

For music lovers, pure and simple. In your home. In your office. In your garden. Your music has never looked or sounded this awesome.

Overview Specs

*****

French design.

Japanese inspiration.

Our designer, Julien Haziza, drew inspiration from Japanese industrial designers and architecture – namely Shigeru Ban , Tadao Ando and theOmotesandō and Harajuku districts in Tokyo.

Shigeru BanShigeru Ban (坂茂 Ban Shigeru, born 5 August 1957) is a Japanese architect, known for his innovative work with paper, particularly recycled cardboard tubes used to quickly and efficiently house disaster victims.
He was profiled by Time magazine in their projection of 21st-century innovators in the field of architecture and design.Find out more here.
Tadao AndoTadao Ando (安藤忠雄 Andō Tadao, born 13 September 1941) is a Japanese self-taught architect whose approach to architecture and landscape was categorized by architectural historian Francesco Dal Co as "critical regionalism".
Read more here.
OmotesandoOmotesandō is known as one of the foremost ‘architectural showcase’ streets in the world, featuring a multitude of fashion flagship stores within a short distance of each other.
These include the Louis Vuitton store (Jun Aoki, 2002), Tod’s (Toyo Ito, 2004), Dior (SANAA, 2004), Omotesandō Hills (Tadao Ando, 2005) and Gyre (MVRDV, 2007), amongst others.More here.

Clad in bamboo and elevated by a distinctive aluminium frame, the Aurora’s design is striking. It mimics the grand scale of Japanese architecture – crisp, clean lines intertwined with a hint of vintage. Very fitting for the tour de force that is our premium wireless music system – Aurora.

Music amplified by emotion

Aurora is driven by PureEmotion®, an ingenious fusion of amp technologies – brand new and original to iFi.

It delivers a sound that combines the purity of tone with a high level of engagement, speed and dynamic gusto, ensuring the emotive quality of music is delivered in full effect – which is why we call it PureEmotion®.

Analogue. Authentic.

Many audio products use digital signal processing (DSP) to deliver a big, spacious sound from a single box. This is an artificial,lossy process that detracts from the sound quality.

Analogue 'v' Digital Signal Processing Most modern systems use Digital Signal Processing. DSP samples analogue soundwaves into a limited set of numbers and records them. The overuse of DSP can result in an overcompressed unnatural sound and the translation and reassembly of data make digital devices prone to loss of quality.
All iFi products use Analogue Signal Processing as we believe it is better suited to audio. ASP does not cause signal quality to be lost as it records waveforms as they are and produces a more natural sound.
Lossy v LosslessLossless and lossy compression are terms that describe whether or not, in the compression of a file, all original data can be recovered when the file is uncompressed.
With lossless compression, every single bit of data that was originally in the file remains after the file is uncompressed.
On the other hand, lossy compression reduces a file by permanently eliminating certain information. Lossy audio files do not retain the natural authenticity of the original.

The clever technologies in the Aurora (and all iFI products), avoid this completely as they operate in the analogue domain.

SoundSpace® delivers a room-filling sound and gives the music a sense of scale and space you would a premium audio system.

TrueBass® delivers genuine bass with depth and definition. Everything from timpani to a bass guitar is conveyed with power and poise.

No space too big or small

With Auto Room Tailoring (ART)®, the Aurora can auto-configure the speaker array according to its position in the room.

The effect is similar to the adjustments made by a sound engineer at a live venue.

And what makes ART® special is that it’s executed in the analogue domain. Forget tinny and imagine deep, voluminous sound that captivates you. To our ears, no other music system with automatic room correction comes close.

Analogue 'v' Digital Signal ProcessingMost modern systems use Digital Signal Processing. DSP samples analogue soundwaves into a limited set of numbers and records them. The overuse of DSP can result in an overcompressed unnatural sound and the translation and reassembly of data make digital devices prone to loss of quality.
All iFi products use Analogue Signal Processing as we believe it is better suited to audio. ASP does not cause signal quality to be lost as it records waveforms as they are and produces a more natural sound.

Versatile.

Enjoy premium streaming services from Qobuz and TIDAL or standard streams from the likes of Spotify.

Aided by ART®, the Aurora adapts to the way you want to use it. It’s YOUR premium network music player. Place it under a TV, connect via Bluetooth® or optical cable and use it as a stylish soundbar. And stream your favourite music.

Link several Auroras via Wi-Fi to create a multi-room system, playing in sync or individually. Whether you’re streaming from a premium music service or surfing the infinite number of internet radio stations via TuneIn, the Aurora has your music needs covered.

Barnstorming Bluetooth

Aurora uses Bluetooth5.0® — the very latest version with the newest Qualcomm 5100 series chipset. There’s also the super-smooth ESS SabreDAC chip.

Bluetooth5.0®This is the latest version of the Bluetooth wireless communication standard.
Its main benefits are improved speed and greater range – it’s faster and can operate over greater distances than older versions of Bluetooth.You can find out more here.

DAC (Digital-to-Analogue Converter)DACs convert digital information, stored or streamed by computers, into music we can hear through speakers or headphones.
Every device that’s a source of digital sound has a built-in DAC (TVs, games consoles, CD players, phones, portable music players etc). Dedicated external DACs sound much better than standard DACs used in digital devices such as phones.

All current and future Bluetooth® audio formats are supported including aptX and aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, aptX Adaptive,LDAC and HWA/LHDC , hi-res Bluetooth® codecs created by Sony and Huawei respectively. Also, we have Apple’s favoured format, AAC.

aptX aptX Bluetooth transmission is found in most Android phones, media players, Apple computers (macOS on iMacs and MacBooks) and on higher-quality Bluetooth headphones. It is not available on iOS (iPhones and iPads use Advanced Audio Codec).
LDACLDAC is an audio coding technology developed by Sony, which allows streaming audio over Bluetooth connections up to 990 kbit/s at 24 bit/96 kHz (also called high-resolution audio).
It is used in Sony headphones, smartphones, portable media players, active speakers and home theatres.
LDAC is a lossy codec which means is discards some of musical info to make the file smaller.
HWA/LHDCHWA is Bluetooth® wireless audio powered by LHDC™ and used by Huawei.
LHDC™ is codec developed by Savitech and stands for ‘low latency and high definition’ audio. Compared to standard Bluetooth®, it allows 3 times more musical date to be transmitted.

Every codec is covered at the highest resolution Bluetooth® specification. It’s the only premium Bluetooth music system you need.

Future-proofed.

In addition to wireless connectivity there’s plenty of cable inputs — optical, coaxial, USB and Ethernet inputs cater for digital sources, while a 3.5mm socket provides an Alexa/analogue input. There is even a slot for audio stored on micro SDHC cards.

Aurora, with its awe-inspiring sound sustainable bamboo design, is a truly stunning addition to any home. No other premium all one system wireless music system looks or sounds this good.

Once you’ve heard it, we’re sure you will agree –She’s Electric.

GMT (Global Master Timing)

Extensive jitter-eradication technologies are applied to the digital stage, including our GMT (Global Master Timing) femto-precision clock and intelligent memory buffer. This represents a total ‘out-of-the-box’ systematic digital solution that solves jitter once and for all.

Discrete ESS Sabre Hyperstream DAC chipset

Discrete ESS Sabre Hyperstream DAC chipset with time domain jitter eliminator, discrete oscillator and 112dB dynamic range for discerning listeners.

The iFi Bluetooth® implementation

The iFi Bluetooth® implementation does not use a standard SOC (System On a Chip) as seen elsewhere. It uses a combination of quality elements to extract the most from each stage.

The Qualcomm chip routes the raw, digital Bluetooth® signal to a specialised Sabre DAC chip to convert the signal from digital to analogue – any jitter is eliminated using our GMT femto-precision clock system to deliver Bluetooth® that is a cut above.

With LINKPLAY™ WiFi/network

With LINKPLAY™ WiFi/network playback, built-in Spotify and Tidal, and wide protocol support for 32-Bit/192kHz. Aurora can be also used without a computer to stream audio directly.

ART (Automatic Room Tailoring)

ART (Automatic Room Tailoring) is a ‘room correction’ system developed entirely in-house.

At the press of a button, six sensors measure the distance to the surrounding walls using ultrasonic sound. Then, a 32-bit ARM Cortex microprocessor adjusts the output from the speaker array to precisely tailor the musical performance.

All the adjustments are made strictly in the analogue domain, without relying on DSP or feedback in the manner of many other room correction systems. The result is stunning realism ‘live’ as if you were at the concert.

TrueBass®

TrueBass® – the depth and quality of bass supplied by all-in-one lifestyle systems often leaves a lot to be desired.

The TrueBass® system, incorporating the two downward-firing 8′ bass radiators, delivers genuine bass with realistic depth and definition. Dual-level depth control means you can adjust the bass response according to taste – down to a deeply impressive 27Hz.

Everything from timpani to a bass guitar, to an electronic bassline, is conveyed with power and poise.

It’s all about the bass.

Soundspace®

Soundspace® – the drive unit array with a proprietary matrix, adjusts the level of output from specific drivers at certain frequencies. It gives the Aurora an immersive, room-filling performance, enabling the soundstage to extend beyond the single cabinet.

Music has a sense of scale and space you simply wouldn’t expect from an all-in-one music system.

Discover more.

The Russian 6N3P

The Russian 6N3P is from the 2C51 premium tube/valve family. Each half of the tube is used as the pre-amplifier stage for the left & right channels.

The 6N3P brings the beauty, life-like sound of tubes into play – unusual for a one-box music system.

If tubes is your thing,click here for a short history.

PureEmotion®

PureEmotion® is our proprietary amp technology. It is a hybrid circuit design that comprises several key stages.

The first of these – the preamp stage – incorporates a Russian 6N3P valve (visible through a window next to the OLED display). This takes the analogue audio signal delivered by the Aurora’s DAC circuitry – based around a chip from ESS Technology’s renowned 32-bit Sabre DAC family – and adds gain in preparation for further amplification, imbuing the sound with pure tonality, open imaging and natural fluidity.

DAC (Digital-to-Analogue Converter)DACs convert digital information, stored or streamed by computers, into music we can hear through speakers or headphones.
Every device that’s a source of digital sound has a built-in DAC (TVs, games consoles, CD players, phones, portable music players etc). Dedicated external DACs sound much better than standard DACs used in digital devices such as phones.

Discover more.

GMT (Global Master Timing)

Extensive jitter-eradication technologies are applied to the digital stage, including our GMT (Global Master Timing) femto-precision clock and the intelligent memory buffer.

The low-jitter crystal clock has been updated to provide >20dB better performance

Dimensions
Inputs	Hi-Res Bluetooth audio with aptxHD/aptX/LDAC/HWA(LHDC)/AAC Networked Audio with playback from NAS or server, Airplay, streaming audio (Spotify/Apple Music/Amazon Music/Tidal hifi/Deezer etc.) and USB storage /SD Card 44.1kHz/16Bit – 192kHz/32Bit Coaxial and optical S/P-DIF (Blu-ray Player, Games Console, smart TV etc) 44.1kHz/16Bit – 192kHz/24Bit RCA & 3.5mm (for Alexa or analogue audio)
Speaker System	4 x 4.5" (120mm) coated paper cone wideband driver 2 x 1.1" (28mm) silk dome tweeter (8 kHz crossover) 2 x 4.5" x 8" (120mm x 200mm) steel passive radiators
Frequency Response	27Hz – 40kHz
Maximum SPL	115dB / 1m
Amplifier	Hybrid with tube class A amplification. Power buffers operating at 1.411MHz/1.536MHz clock-locked.
Frequency Response	15Hz to 150kHz
Maximum Power	320VA (12v input for Marine/Car power supplies)
Distortion	< 0.05%
Device	59cm(w) x 27cm(h) x 28cm(d) — 15Kg
Shipped	69cm(w) x 50cm(h) x 40cm(d) — 20Kg