Yulong Aurora

Introduction

Founded in 2009, Yulong has been manufacturing audio devices for 13 years now. They mainly focus on all-in-one solutions, and they have some very popular offerings in their portfolio, such as the Aquilla, Canary, and many more.

For me, Yulong has always been a kind of a “niche” company that doesn’t launch new products every quarter of a year. Reading their story made me realize, that it is a company that’s led by audio enthusiasts and audiophiles, so honestly rivaling the biggest players like Topping or SMSL isn’t their goal.

Actually, I’m going to paste a fragment of “About Us” from their official page, to help you get a better grasp about their philosophy:

“YuLong Zhang, our Founder and Chief Engineer, is a talented, experienced and persistent engineer.   He built his own DAC and amplifier back in late 90s and gradually turned his hobby into lifetime devotion.   Over the years, YuLong has gathered musician, mastering engineers, electronic engineers and dedicated audiophiles into his team, playing different roles in R&D, product refinement and production management. The team also actively involved in sponsoring and using YULONG equipment to facilitate on-site setup for live music and musical software events.   The team learned and developed hand-in-hand, established solid understanding of music and music reproduction, and providing check and balance opinion during the long and winding audio tuning process.   

We shall continue to develop new skills and technologies, and deliver All-in-One products that enable audiophiles and music lovers to enjog in their beloved music.   In addition, we shall remain cost competitive.   Our reference products are relatively affordable, and we constantly adopt our technologies to our DA-ART products, a sub-brand we created to serve the younger generation.   “

I get a feeling that the sound coming out of their devices is more important than raw measurements, something I think a lot of companies are missing nowadays. I’m not saying that measurements are bad, I’m not an audio engineer myself so I’m not in a position to tell what’s good and what’s bad. However, as an audiophile, I actually appreciate all the stories that they “sit for months near their listening systems tweaking the sound of the device they’re working on currently”. It’s been like that years ago, when audio manufacturers focused 90% of their energy on the sound that comes out of their new product because it was all that mattered. I kinda miss those days, but at the same time, mad scientists like Topping, SMSL, and iFi Audio gave us the biggest change to the audio industry in the past couple of years – good stuff got cheaper, and that’s the best that has happened to the audio industry.

The Aurora is the part of their DAART sub brand, aiming more towards affordable audio solutions.

Packaging

The unboxing experience of the Aurora was funny for me personally, as I wasn’t aware of the fact that I’ll be getting one. One day the box just came into my home, I put it on my table, sat in front of it, and went “what the hell are you”. I had absolutely no idea what was inside, so this was pretty interesting.

So, the box of the Aurora is pretty big actually. The outer sleeve has some cool graphics printed with most of the information you’ll need to read about the Aurora. This is a pretty functional feature to have, and it was definitely designed for audio stores to sit on the shelf and intrigue people. At the end of the day, the box basically says everything you’ll be getting if you’d be to pull the trigger for the Aurora, and that’s a good thing. 

Inside, apart from the Aurora itself, you’re getting a power chord and a USB type B cable. Sadly, no USB C this time. As for the quality of the cables, they’re just standard, nothing to write a book about, but they get you started.

Lastly, the external power supply, as the Aurora has no built-in power supply. 

Design, Build and I/O

I really like the build of the Aurora. It’s dense, well built, and just solid feeling in a hand. I really dig that curved design to the device, as it sets it apart from most of the competition (Topping, SMSL, I’m looking at you). 

As for the size, it feels just about perfect. Not too big, so it’ll fit most desks, not too small, so you can put a headphone stand on top of it (I’m doing it personally, I have so much stuff that saving even a bit of space is a life-saver). It certainly looks unique and pleasant, not being too flashy at the same time. 

So, let’s discuss I/O, where the Aurora shines. On the front, there’s an input switch on the left, a brilliant volume knob (it’s really smooth and great to use), and three different headphone outputs: 4.4mm balanced, 6.3mm, and 4-pin XLR balanced. This is basically all you need apart from the standard 3.5mm jack, but if you’re buying this kind of a device, then do you really need it? Just use an adapter to 6.3mm, or preferably go balanced. 

On the back, there’s a lot going on. We’ve got a digital section with USB, coaxial and optical inputs, so you’re pretty much set. Next up, a power switch, and I want to elaborate. Audio manufacturers, please, don’t put the power switch on the back of your devices, please. A lot of us have many DACs and amplifiers on our desks, and we often stack them. Try turning on the device that has two different devices on top of it…yes, not very easy. Just put in on the front, I know power switches are mostly ugly, but it’s for the good cause. 

Next up, the analog section. We’ve got an RCA input, RCA output, and XLR output, which means you can basically use the Aurora in most scenarios possible. Standalone DAC? Go ahead. Preamp? Definitely, just toggle the switch on the back that lets you choose between Pre and DAC. You only want to use that sweet A-Class headphone amp? Sure, just plug into the RCA input. Oh, and don’t forget that you also have Bluetooth (Bluetooth feature is available to selected countries due to regulatory requirements).

This kind of approach is very attractive in my book. You’re buying a device that can serve you well in a lot of ways. It can do standard DAC/Amp for your headphones and PC, it can do active loudspeakers, it can do just headphones with no DAC section…the possibilities are surely out there, and it’s up to you to decide what you want to do.

Don’t forget the most important thing – the Aurora is $520, and for the money, you’re getting all of that. This is what I call a really good deal.

Tech

Sound

So far, the Aurora is incredibly impressive when it comes to its functionality, form factor, tech, size, and the asking price. It literally offers so many functions that it instantly makes it worth more than $520. However, to fulfill the aspect of being truly “great”, the Aurora has to sound great as well. 

When it comes to sound, the Aurora offers something that is really unique with this kind of device. Despite being high-tech, absurdly functional, and just great in everything, it does offer a sound that is on a warmer, calmer side than most similar devices on the market nowadays. This is by no means a technical, analytical sound, but (mainly due to its Class-A headphone amplifier section) just simply smooth, pleasant, and very musical.

Right after unboxing it and giving it a few hours to settle down, I immediately plugged my Susvara into the Aurora via a balanced Cross Lambda Apollo GB cable (this headphone + cable combo costs an astonishing $12000!) to see if it has enough juice to power this behemoth. How surprised I was when I immediately heard that the Aurora gets very loud with the Sus, too loud for me to handle on the maximum volume. All this while still sounding lush, rich, and analog-like, Woah, what am I dealing with right now? 

So, you think that the Aurora CAN drive the Susvara, which would have meant that it can drive everything, right? Well, that’s partially true. It does make the Hifiman flagship very loud, which is reminiscent of driving it for many. However, it is not the Susvara we all fell in love with. It does sound great, but the bass lacks energy, and the dynamics are somewhat limited. Still, for a $520 all-in-one, it performs incredibly well with the Susvara, which is just bonkers.

However, I doubt that anyone will buy the Aurora to drive their Hifiman Susvara, if your pockets are deep enough to buy a $6000 pair of headphones, they are sure deep enough to add a high-end amplifier to pair the Sus with. But, this little test gave us something more – if it can run the Susvara, it can run everything, and it is true. I’ve tried many headphones with the Aurora, such as the HEDDphone, Final D8000 Pro, Meze Elite, Drop HD8xx, etc, and I never felt that the Aurora even began to sweat. From my experience, Class-A amplification gives power differently than your typical amplifier, resulting in a sound that is more powerful and just simply stronger than what the specs say.

Let’s start with the bass, and that’s a good place to start here. While it won’t squeeze a truly spectacular bass out of the Susvara, it sounds fantastic with most headphones I’ve used. Low frequencies are bold, crisp, heavy, and highly saturated. This is your “typical” Class-A sound that is heavy, but not too heavy, it doesn’t sound artificial. A lot of people praise this technology for its thick and romantic sound signature, and it’s definitely present in the Aurora. What’s important, it doesn’t seem to boost the bass or make it more dynamic than it really should, it just gives a lot of power to the drivers of the headphones so they’re able to move a lot of air. The delivery of the bass is on the firm and controlled side, which works well with most headphones.

The midrange is what drew my attention first when I got the Aurora. Vocals are rich-sounding, smooth, and very natural, with no sign of sounding plasticky. The first 2-3 songs I’ve played with the Susvara just completely blew me away, as I thought that I have finally found a great, affordable all-in-one that can handle the Susvara. Sadly, it was when I tried some rap and metal music that I realized, that it almost does that…except for the bass. You can simply hear that the Sus goes very loud, but the driver is not working as efficiently as it should, resulting in somewhat lazy bass response.
Back to the midrange though – the Aurora gives you that classic-sounding midrange, quite different than what most of the modern devices are doing. It’s thicker, heavier, and more colorful sounding than most SMSL and Topping devices I’ve heard. It is at the same time not AS clean and detailed sounding though, but the difference is pretty slim. This is a matter of perspective though, as I would have traded a little bit of technical performance for timbre like that (most of the time) in other devices I’ve reviewed and used. This part proves that the story of Yulong staff sitting in their listening room and tweaking the sound of the Aurora to their liking is indeed true. This is not a hyper-clean performing device that sounds like a lot of other devices on the market. This sounds different, romantic, rich, and pleasant.

The treble is quite smooth sounding as well, but it doesn’t lack any sparkle or detail. It isn’t as forward and hyper-detailed sounding as some of its competitors, but at the same time, this is a beautiful springboard from what we’re used to hearing for the past couple of years. The cymbals have proper weight to them, something that I feel is often overlooked when we’re talking about the treble. Female vocals sound melodic and smooth, but they’re not recessed or too soft sounding. The overall tone of the treble is a bit sweet and warm, which works fantastic with worse masterings. You don’t have to listen to well-engineered albums only while using the Aurora, which is very important for many, myself included. By the end of the day, most of us shop in this market for a device to listen to music with, not to chase even the smallest and slightest detail in the recording. Don’t think that the Aurora is lacking in detail though, as it’s completely not the case here. It just doesn’t focus on technicalities as its main priority, and that’s a huge difference. The overall resolution and detail retrieval are really good throughout the entire frequency range, just not the best in the market. However, having its superb timbre and power in mind, very good technicalities are good enough in my opinion. 

The soundstage is what you would have expected from a device like this. Deep, wide, and full of air. The imaging is spot-on, creating a very realistic 3D type of staging. It won’t make the soundstage of your headphones any larger, nor it won’t sound intimate when it shouldn’t. I often feel like we got to the point where basically most devices have a very good soundstage and it’s getting harder and harder to rate this specific aspect of the sound. Overall, the soundstage of the Aurora is nothing to write a book about, but it’s very, very good at the same time. Can’t think of anything more I could have said about it.

Summary

The Yulong Aurora really surprised me. I didn’t know I’ll be getting it for a review, so my expectations were basically nonexistent. How surprised I was to find that this is an extremely functional device that offers a soulful and rich sound at a price that is more than fair. However, the star of the show is probably its power output, capable of getting the Susvara very loud, which for a $520 all-in-one offering so much functionality, is extremely impressive. I hope the Aurora will get a lot of attention, as it is now my main recommendation in this price bracket. Now I’m really interested in what their higher-end models can do.

Highly Recommended.

Gear used during this review for the sake of comparison and as an accompanying equipment:

• Headphones – Hifiman Susvara, Final D8000 Pro, Audeze LCD-X 2021, Hifiman HE1000se, Abyss Diana PHI, Drop + Sennheiser HD8XX, Crosszone CZ-1, HEDDphone, Meze Empyrean, Drop + Hifiman R7DX, Sennheiser HD6xx, Hifiman Edition XS, Fir Audio XE6, Final A8000, Cayin YB04
• Sources– SMSL DO100 + HO100, Hifiman EF400, Earmen Tradutto, SMSL SH-9, LittleDot MK III SE, xDuoo TA-26