Aurender

@vonhelmholtz 

You may be interested in watching this video from Suncoast Audio where they discuss all things Aurender with Ari Margolis - he is the face of Aurender here in the states. It'll bring you up to date on Aurender and what they are doing, including why they use their own proprietary software, best sounding outputs, etc. 

(13) In Stereo with Mike & Rick - Episode 4 - Ari Margolis with Aurender - YouTube

I've owned an Aurender N10 for four years now. I can say that the Conductor software is very easy to use and I've really had no meaningful problems with it, just works every time. So for the few users who have had problems, I wonder if it is not with the actual machine itself or some other issue? My dealer has/had nearly all the different models in stock and I don't ever remember him having a problem with one. To be forthcoming, I've only used Aurender streamers in my system. I've also played with several DACs that have a streamer built in at my dealers shop, but none of them, even the top $$ tier brands don't have a user interface that is as useful or as easy to use.

I've followed along on the Taiko threads on a different forum. At least one member, who has both the Taiko Extreme and an N30 sold the Taiko as they enjoyed using the Conductor software more on the N30.

A note on Roon, I know a person on this forum that can use both Roon and Conductor and they prefer Conductor. Also, there's a thread, again, on another forum, that is about the different updates to Roon. Apparently, each iteration of Roon can be different sounding and some much better than others. Though Taiko uses Roon, they are in middle of an upgrade to their own XDMS software, and all users in that forum that have tried both Roon and XDMS say that XDMS is far superior.

@blisshifi 

Just to be fair, I was not implying that the N30SA was better, I've never heard the N30SA or the Taiko. But I have read at least a few that have gone on the record saying that they preferred the N30. My impression on the two compared is that they are more similar than not. With the $10k+ savings on the N30, and the fact that the software is fully dialed in and easy to use, the N30SA makes solid logical sense. -blisshifi, I appreciate your comments.

@vonhelmholtz 

I think with the exception of the W20SE, all other Aurender streamers have been updated or introduced in the last two years. The W20SE was introduced in late 2019, so isn't all that far beyond the newer streamers.

BTW, I love T+A gear. Heard it many times and it came down to my second choice. Love the looks and the sound quality. The SACD player they have is amazing and it has a built-in streamer that sounds amazing. But the software, at least last time I heard it four years ago, was very poor operationally. I hope it is much better now. But this is certainly where Aurender shines in having such a seamless and easy-to-use software interface. And not only is it easy to operate, it has phenomenal sound quality as well.