Wow. I just read the summary findings of the blog posted by YYZSantabarbara. I really disagree with the bloggers findings.
I changed to an Aurender N100H (bottom of the line) from a dedicated Mac mini (nothing else was ever open or running on it - all settings were optimized for the task) and the difference was clear. The Aurender was simply superior - and this was not on a highly resolving system. Servers make as big a difference as the DAC in my experience. I now have a Bluesound Node 2 (moved the Aurender to a different location) in that simple system and it too sounds better than the Mac using the same outboard DAC and cables. That the blogger can’t hear differences in jitter is also surprising.
I would politely correct one part of this discussion - it’s not data that’s corrupted (the bits are still there), but noise accompanying that data and timing errors in the spooling and reading of the data that, I believe, are the difference. Is there a difference in hard drives? I don’t know. I’m guessing it’d be subtle, but given EMI being radiated and the fact that there’s a buffer in there, why would it be impossible?
I haven’t heard the Innuous servers - I’d like to but they’re not available in my area. But, I’ve heard some of the Aurender and Lumin units. Servers don’t sound the same. Whether or not they’re worth the price is personal preference. But, those who claim there’s no difference and likely doing so from expectation, not experience.
I changed to an Aurender N100H (bottom of the line) from a dedicated Mac mini (nothing else was ever open or running on it - all settings were optimized for the task) and the difference was clear. The Aurender was simply superior - and this was not on a highly resolving system. Servers make as big a difference as the DAC in my experience. I now have a Bluesound Node 2 (moved the Aurender to a different location) in that simple system and it too sounds better than the Mac using the same outboard DAC and cables. That the blogger can’t hear differences in jitter is also surprising.
I would politely correct one part of this discussion - it’s not data that’s corrupted (the bits are still there), but noise accompanying that data and timing errors in the spooling and reading of the data that, I believe, are the difference. Is there a difference in hard drives? I don’t know. I’m guessing it’d be subtle, but given EMI being radiated and the fact that there’s a buffer in there, why would it be impossible?
I haven’t heard the Innuous servers - I’d like to but they’re not available in my area. But, I’ve heard some of the Aurender and Lumin units. Servers don’t sound the same. Whether or not they’re worth the price is personal preference. But, those who claim there’s no difference and likely doing so from expectation, not experience.