750$ Intel NUC vs $6000 Aurender N200: I don't hear the difference

So, me and an audiophile friend got together to sort this out.

All the caveats were resolved. Both NUC and Aurender used USB, both were fed by Tidal. Now the surprise was that NUC beat Aurender by a nice margin.

The Aurender sounded cleaner and more audiophile but more analytical and lacking lower end bass (hence cleaner we felt).

Roon ROCK on NUC had better bass and was more natural sounding. 

Go figure.

Hmmmm...now if I add a fanless chasis and LPS to my NUC it might sound even cleaner and beat Aurender in every which way.

The N200 is going back.

Anyone talking about noisy network or noisy USB etc are missing the point. This is a shootout under identical conditions. Roon + NUC vs Aurender N200 running Aurender software.

This thread might sound like heresy to the "source is as important as DAC" crowd, but I am as surprised as you are, and frankly quite disappointed.

Conclusion: Roon has done a fantastic job with Roon ROCK that has obviated the reason for a music server unless you want to spend the big bucks (>6000$ I am assuming, and even that needs some testing).

Also Roon has a UI next to none, a nice bonus.

Roon on mac mini was always meh, Audirvana sounded better, but not the same with roon rock.

Also: Am now thinking of buying roon permanent license.

as a server importer you are wrong on a number of facts

it does not take 6k to beat a nuc our  a higher end server will blow a nuc away

we are roon dealers and we have the  nucleus on display a nucleus  is a nuc in a nicer case with or wihout an lps

our 5,500,00 432Evo high end model sounds far better and the 7,500.00 Aeon will shock you with just how good a server can sound and the sonic difference these devices can make

if you love Roon and really want to experience how much better your digital can sound you should try one of our servers

we agree with you Roon is the best

our servers were designed from the ground up to run Roon and they are full cores as well as being an endpoint

Dave and Troy

Audio intellect

US importer 432Evo music servers

I'm sticking with my Grace Digital Link...$179...doubt there is THAT much difference between it and any of these hi-end streamers. Certainly not a difference large enough to justify spending literally thousands more!

@essrand  Good on getting together with your friend to sort it out.

One caution: you have a conclusion...but it is from a 'single' data point.

Hold on to the openness you've demonstrated.

I would not expect a difference between the two servers.

That said, i would expect a difference between USB and COAX, although, i guess the Aurender has a very good clock (if its master).  I would also guess you can get an improvement by having ROCK --> bridge (e.g.: RPI or other with very good LPS and isolated USB output (isolate both signal and ground, separate power).

I do this, and have been for a couple of years.

Its often useful to also isolate the SMPS brick of the NUC from the rest of your AC with a decent passive filter.