I used to own a N100H and a separate CD transport which to me sounded great. In the interest of going to a one box solution, I picked up an ACS10 which I run via USB into my Holo Audio May. The Conductor app allows me to flip between Tidal and my stored music easily and seamlessly. I use a dedicated iPad as my interface and scratch my head at why anyone would want a subscription to listen to music? The cost of the iPad is half that of a lifetime Roon subscription so it makes perfect sense (screw using a phone!). The sound is fantastic and Ari has always been very helpful whenever I have questions. I couldn't be happier!
Aurender
I have a Korean car, watch KDramas and even listen to some KPop, but I don’t get what Aurender is doing.
I’m currently in digital hold given that my new Holo DAC died, but intend on listening to my IFi Zen stream and look at upgrade paths.
Some of the most respected members of this forum swear by Aurender, so it must deliver, but here is my point of confusion:
1. Coax and AES are the preferred outputs, but higher bandwidths require dual AES out, but I don’t have dual in on my DAC.
2. Aurender’s top models claim to have great clocks, so why not pass this on to the DAC via I2s?
3. Top Aurenders accept external clocks and I assume this is used with a DAC that accepts external clocks, but why bother when I2s would take care of this?
4. The argument against I2s is that there isn’t a standard, but this isn’t a problem in most implementations.
I’m sure that I have misrepresented things above, so please correct my understanding.