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

If your DAC is competent then the result is as expected just as expected as the pages of posts trying to explain away what is the simple conclusion.

I question the Nagra implementation and conclusions on the analog side wrt it being the purest implementation as evidenced by the distortion spec, but it is more than low enough not to be a concern. Digitally the architecture seems sound so why would there be a difference? If there was a difference that means the DAC is inherently flawed. Why do so many people want to jump to the conclusion that your DAC is inherently flawed I have no idea.

@yyzsantabarbara I used to have a couple of MicroRendu. They are electrically noisy. I got rid of them because it just didn't seem worth the effort and I ended up changing the architecture of my system anyway. I saw ASR did some tests later that they are sensitive to the power supply. I would have ended up getting rid of them anyways because the firmware did not support any form of time synchronization between multiple units which I needed. However I was disappointed because I was really hoping they would have worked out.

@essrand I suggested that you do a simple test and you decided not to do it. You possibly can't explain away what you've done as a review and your reputable reviewer shouldn't put his name to such an amateurish ensemble.

Your sound comparisons are meaningless you don't even mention what you were listening to. It's pathetic gibberish.

Better off sticking it all through Cindy's multimeter.

I really don't believe you know what your listening for. Just like someone at their first wine tasting who likes an Australian Shiraz above a Petrvs.

@essrand ,

This appears to be a "you can never be woke enough moment", complete with the required insults.

Extreme positions and echo chambers. No matter what you do eventually you do someone will eventually try to ostracize you for wrong speak.

The Petrus comment just tells me that someone is offended that you were allowed in the club without paying the membership fee.

You obviously don’t understand the difference either. That first time wine taster was still able to tell the difference between the Australian and the Petrus. I’m showing a link that exposes that even very experienced wine testers will prefer other wines over Petrus. It could have been a vintage thing it really doesn’t matter. There is no objective best in wine tasting. There is a most objectively accurate in audio but there is no subjective best either.

mmmmm Petrus....nwo with that ANY server will sound better

This is quite amazing finding considering you're not using LPS on NUC. With LPS and fanless base I could more understand result. Are you sure the Aurrender is burned in, the analytical sound you speak of is common with lack of burn in.

Or perhaps results not unexpected. I have Trifield Meter and find things like displays, hdd, wifi, transformers give off horrible levels of RFI, the reason I like all separates. I'm careful with placement and provide shielding  around the worst RFI offenders.