Tech Notes

ManualsBrandsifi Audio ManualsAudioWireless Music System

Tech note

The technologies

The Aurora,

–

iFi’s new wireless music system, the Aurora, brings together a unique

collection of proprietary technologies to deliver a sonic experience unlike any other table-

top, all-in-one system

Music amplified by PureEmotion

At the Aurora’s heart lies proprietary amp technology that iFi calls ‘PureEmotion’ – a hybrid

circuit design comprising 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 (Digital-to-Analogue Converter) circuitry – based around a chip from ESS

Technology’s renowned 32-bit Sabre DAC family – and adds gain in preparation for further

Summary of content (5 pages)

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Tech note The technologies The Aurora, – iFi’s new wireless music system, the Aurora, brings together a unique collection of proprietary technologies to deliver a sonic experience unlike any other tabletop, all-in-one system. Music amplified by PureEmotion At the Aurora’s heart lies proprietary amp technology that iFi calls ‘PureEmotion’ – a hybrid circuit design comprising several key stages.
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amplification, imbuing the sound with pure tonality, open imaging and natural fluidity. The resulting low-level signal then passes to the power amp stage – iFi’s ‘current multiplier circuit’. This is a highly efficient switching power amplifier, a description it has in common with Class D amplification – but there the similarity ends. Class D amp modules are often used in audio products because they are energy efficient and able to generate relatively high current from a small device.
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maintained even at high volume levels. Unusually, these main drivers are deployed in a wide-bandwidth role to cover the vast majority of the audible frequency spectrum, rolling off towards very low and very high frequencies. The drive unit design, together with the inert nature of the Aurora’s housing – stiff, well-braced, naturally sound-absorbent bamboo with strategically placed damping material – enables a flat frequency response from around 60Hz to 8kHz.
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Soundspace and TrueBass – analogue signal processing There are plenty of audio products on the market that claim to deliver a big, spacious, threedimensional performance from a single box. Many of these use DSP (Digital Signal Processing) to manipulate the digital data in order to achieve this effect; this is a ‘lossy’ process that has an adverse effect on the purity and resolution of sound.
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ART (Automatic Room Tailoring) The Aurora incorporates a ‘room correction’ system called ART (Automatic Room Tailoring), entirely developed in-house. At the press of a button, six ultrasonic sensors measure the distance to the surrounding walls using ultrasound. Then, a 32-bit ARM Cortex microprocessor adjusts the output from the driver array to precisely tailor Aurora’s performance.