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Aurender N20

Wow, just received my used N20, installed a 2TB 870EVO SSD and downloaded Conductor. Uploaded 72GB of purchased and ripped CD files from my Synology NAS. Connected to Qobuz and I must admit, I wasn’t prepared for what I heard. I thought that my fiber isolated, upgraded power supply iFi Zen Stream was really good, but it is no where near as good as the Aurender and I’m just listening to AES. Upsampling was set to 176.4K and so I went with it. I purchased from an experienced Dealer, so I went with his bang for the buck DH Labs AES and USB cables, which he doesn't sell.   Evidently, they punch above their price point.

Local media and Qobuz sound equally stunning. This gets close, or rivals my analog system and that is saying something.

Complaints so far.. no information regarding bit rate of music. I’m use to Roon and this is not Roon..not even close. I think that with Qobuz I can make playlists with quality high bitrate music and import the playlists.

Anyway, if I would have heard the N20 first, I would not have anguished over spending the money. Again, having a good dealer, or trusted friend really makes the difference. Time to burn in the cable(s).

vonhelmholtz
vonhelmholtz OP
908 posts
 

It seems that Conductor displays more on the larger iPad vs iPhone. I was using an old Fire HD with Roon and it worked great, but didn’t see Aurender in AP store. Also, didn’t see Conductor in AP store for my MacBook Pro.

lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,055 posts
 

@vonhelmholtz 

Conductor iOS app on a iPad offers the best experience.

dougthebiker
184 posts
 

If you really want to torture yourself, go over to the Roon Community website where they get hot under the collar telling you bits are bits and you don’t even need a streamer.  Just go directly from a Nuc running Roon into your DAC!

And since they watch Audio Science Review, they’ll tell you any old wires will do.

vonhelmholtz OP
908 posts
 

@dougthebiker 

It really is amazing how threatened many people feel in an environment of diverse opinions.  

rbstehno
1,401 posts
 

The conductor app is pretty bad. Lightning DS is so much better than conductor, and IMO Auralic makes a better streamer/server. Both of these apps can’t compare to Roon in functionality and sq. If not Roon then audirvana.
If you are looking for the best sq, why are you using usb? Been there, done that years ago with the Auralic with lightning DS, will never go back until usb gets way better. Terrible interface for music and your better designers don’t recommend using usb. 

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