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Aurender, wich one? Upgrading from a Mac mini

I am hoping to upgrade my digital music "front end" from my Mac Mini.  I am looking at the Aurender, but which model?  I only need it store music ( 2 T is more than enough ) and pull from my DNLA server and USB to my DAC.   I plan to continue to use my DAC ( built into my McIntosh C2500 ) so I don't need to buy a device that has another DAC in it.  However are there any other "audible" differences from the N100 to the N10 or A10 when using the USB out to another DAC?  A good remote app is important and I have heard favorable comments on the Conductor app.   And as always are there are any other brands that I should consider ?  But I would like a one box solution, not one that required running roon or JRiver on another computer.  
Thank you 
vdosc

Showing 1 response by rbstehno

rbstehno
1,401 posts
 
When I auditioned a music server moving from a dedicated Mac mini with audirvana, I liked the Auralic Aries much better than the aurenders. The DS Lightning software is very good. I then used the Mac mini as a OS X server with 24TB of raid disk for my music and other things. IMO, you never want to have spinning disks in your audio room and SSD’s are way overkill for music. 
A year ago I got away from the Aries and went with the PS Audio directstream with the bridge with much better SQ. The bridge is a great alternative than a music server
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