Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences, very helpful. I guess the one question which I should have asked is will I hear a noticeable improvement going from my Mac mini to the innuos. I assume the answer is yes otherwise why bother.
Innuos Zen MK3 vs Aurender N100
Thinking of celebrating my 50th with an upgrade to my system. Currently, using an old mac mini (so old can't upgrade the OS anymore) to MHDT Atlantis, Melody EL34 amp and Zu Druid V speakers. I have read some great things about the Zen and heard it running through an Ideon Ayazi dac and DeVore speakers which was amazing, sounded like the band was in the room, but have also read that some people are having issues with the Sense app. The aurrender also gets good reviews but concerned, whether this is warranted I am not sure, that its technology is getting a little dated as it was released quite a few years ago. Any thoughts?
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I have had both in my system and the Innuos Zen Mk 3 is on a whole other level better than the N100 in every sonic metric. If you can, try to compare both in your system before deciding as with any new component in the chain, it is all system-dependent. As for the Sense app, it is wonderful with no issues to date. It is a lot more integrated than the Aurender app. One big feature in favor of the Zen Mk 3 is that it has a CD slot to convert your music to flac or wav files. But in the end as always, its SQ is way superior to the Aurender's. |
I bought a Zen Mk3 last May, 2021. It replaced a Windows 10 laptop feeding my MHDT Orchid. I’m from the IT world and quite honestly didn’t expect much of an improvement in sound quality. It was more of a convenience factor for me and I knew they had the sense app coming out; I was on the fence about another year with Roon and was looking for a way out. I’ve read about various "issues" with the Sense app. I’ve had none. I just used an ethernet cable to hard wire the Zen to my router and otherwise no changes from the Windows 10 laptop. To this jaded, long time audiophile, I was pleasantly surprised by the difference in sound quality between my optimized laptop and the Innuos device. I certainly noticed a better listening experience with the Innuos. The Innuos is also fast as hell. Zippity zoom between albums, playlists, etc. That’s another thing that really surprised me. I thought it would run slow with such a minimal processor. I was happily proven wrong. It’s really fast. It’s a pleasure to use. I have the TB filled with flac files but most of the time I listen to qobuz with the Zen. Only one more comment on this thread; I personally find it unprofessional that Audiotroy jumps in with whatever he is shilling now. I’ve seen him do this on numerous threads on audiogon. |
@jkontuly The N100 has been replaced by the N200. I own an Aurender N20 and it's the sweet spot in current streamers/servers. Maybe consider a used N10 at a similar budget. Let your ears guide you. |
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