Closer Examination

The YULONG Aurora is a desktop class DAC/preamp/headphone amplifier all-in-one device, akin to some others we have seen before. Color options come in black, silver, or even a nice red, and the unit adopts a trapezoidal shape from the front that has become YULONG's calling card of sorts. The Aurora is also shaped well for desktop use, measuring in at 19 x 16.5 x 5 cm and weighing ~1 Kg in itself—easy to fit under a monitor, for example. The chassis design, composed of thick CNC-machined aluminium, also allows for a lower center of gravity, and makes it easy for you to lift it from the bottom and move around as needed.

On the front we see branding for both DA-ART and MQA, along with the product name itself. Admittedly more relevant is the input selector switch that is pressed down to go between the various options listed in order. It's not an elegant solution, and the toggle switch also feels thin and not as sturdy when compared to what competing solutions implement on the market. LEDs associated with each of these options help confirm the current operating mode at least. Then comes a large volume wheel with a subtle marker to indicate the current position, and the associated digital attenuator—or so it feels anyway—allows for smooth rotation as opposed to being one with discrete clicky steps as with a stepped attentuator/potentiometer. The outside surface of the knob comes knurled to add extra grip in use, which is quite handy. To the right we see the headphone outputs and YULONG does well here in supporting not only the expected 1/4" single-ended connectors but also balanced 4-pin XLR and 4.4 mm TRRS Pentaconn-style connections too. I appreciated the outputs being sorted by size, appeasing anyone with OCD, and these are placed flawlessly inside cutouts in the face plate.


There's not much going on the sides, a good thing of course. I will say that the aluminium finish—especially in black—can be a smudge magnet, but those are easily wiped off at least. The side view also shows the 3-piece chassis design with a back plate, face plate, and central body itself machined in a seamless manner. The underside has more branding, along with the YULONG website itself, and there are four small silicone feet on the corners to lift the Aurora up from your desk, preventing scratches and adding friction to the underbody, to avoid the unit sliding around.


It sure gets busy on the back, as per usual, and yet it can be busier than what you see here depending on your region. I like the dedicated DAC/preamp switch although that should have been on the front in my ideal design. Then we see line outputs in both balanced (3-pin XLR) and single-ended RCA options, before a divider line indicates the rest is all on the input side. YULONG does well here in providing a wide plethora of inputs ranging from both analog and digital—RCA, Coaxial, Optical, USB (Type-B). While the Aurora does support mobile audio sources (MAS), I would have liked to see USB Type-C rather than the Type-B implementation here. Then there's the Bluetooth elephant in the room. You may have noticed a sticker covering what would be a Bluetooth antenna connector in the official photos, and indeed customers in China will get the Aurora as intended. But those elsewhere are out of luck as YULONG ended up making a tough financial decision in not going for regulatory compliance outside of China.

YULONG clarified that this was not easy to do, with factors including "testing/validation fees, product samples to facilitate testing, and agency fees when we don't have a local dealer or distributor to provide the necessary supports" on top of the Bluetooth license itself. I can't say I am happy with it, but I understand YULONG couldn't just pick and choose a few countries, then risk upsetting others. At the same time, releasing a China-only Bluetooth model that is named differently might have helped, but that's just me venting here. Then there's an on/off switch tucked between the USB input and the power input itself. It's not very easy to get to from the front and feels very much awkwardly placed if you have two cables on either side of the switch. Here too the company wanted to mention the placement was directed by two reasons—the chassis being compact, and this specific location making it hard to accidentally turn on/off the device unintentionally.


I knew that the volume controller hooked to the knob would prevent a full disassembly, but I still decided to take a look inside from the other side after all testing was done. There's very little to see here, especially with the empty space where the Bluetooth section would otherwise have been. Good thing then that YULONG provided a photo of the Aurora's PCB taken from the other side, and now we get a lot more interesting information. To begin with, there's the XMOS XU216 multicore microcontroller on the USB front that is a step up from the XU208 typically used in most such DAC/amp solutions in the price range the YULONG Aurora operates in (and higher). The DAC used is an ESS Sabre ES9068AS that currently leads the ESS 2-channel stereo "audiophile" grade DAC with MQA support in addition to supporting the "audio industry's highest bit-rates and most popular high-resolution and lossless audio formats including MQA, FLAC, ALAC, AIFF and WAV, as well as "compressed legacy formats" as ESS itself says. It's one class lower in the stereo DAC lineup compared to the ESS Sabre Pro series, such as the ES9038 Pro we saw in the FiiO K9 Pro, but really is plenty for the end user as we shall discuss more soon enough. What is more intriguing here is the Texas Instrument OPA1612 low-pass filters and a fully balanced and discrete Class A amplifier/preamp circuit. Let's now see how this all works together when it comes to audio performance on the next page.