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).
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. |
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. |
Roon’s SQ seemed meh when I was using it, and although Roon is said to be working hard on improving the SQ it is apparently still not yet at the level of the Lumin/Innuos/Aurender/Grimm/Taiko apps, something to do with how demanding it is of system resources exacerbates various noise factors. Manufacturers make their gear Roon ready only because customers demand the best UI experience. Don’t take my word for it, go and read the Grimm and Taiko white papers on the importance and means of optimizing bespoke software for purely audio playback. And as someone else mentioned, in my experience the Aurender N200 is a fantastic value in case anyone on this thread is looking for a streamer/server solution at that $5K price point. |
Once you’re settled with N20, please post your impressions on USB vs AES. As I recall, this was one of your consideration for a streamer with Holo May DAC. I think it would be very informative for readers here to know how well your DAC’s implementation is with USB and AES. |
