In DARKO's weekly indexing of the audio world, he turns to knobs. And this week he hobs up to Aurender's:

“Moreover, being able to reach for a volume pot is both more pleasurable and convenient than fumbling with keyboard media keys. The tap-tap-tap of keyboard for volume up and down is the aural equivalent of a decent Shiraz served in a plastic cup - functional but flaccid.”

I'm in tune with John here, but I think he's playing up the FLOW's knob a bit too much. Large it is, and slaved to a decent, if not instinctually self-evident user interface, it may be, but it doesn't slide from left to right like a good focus helicoid; or, to stay in-genre, it doesn't slip and slide quite like Portaphile's knob. Being big isn't enough. Being big and smooth, whilst skirting the familiar bump and grind of metal on metal, and thrusting forth ample bits for the thumb and forefingers to knead, is key to a good knob.

So, I appluad the idea John, but I feel that you could have twirled in a bit more about functionality, not mere size, as an measure of pleasure. Especially when talking knobs.

Anyway, it's a good read.

Source: Aurender Flow DAC / headphone amplifier review (TONEAudio)

My take on the FLOW, at headfonia, and at ohm image.