Auralic out of business?

@foggyus91 I had heard the gist of it being that too: Auralic was not managed well, and when the old guy decided to do something different, well, they just couldn't transition to another paradigm of operation. 

Hopefully your opinion on how the rest of the high-end usual suspects are doing is true. 

But I have the WiiM Ultra and it is not junk at all, at least not at its price point of $329. It sounds to me as good as my friend's older Node X, if not better. And I can always buy a better DAC and use it as just a steamer or repurpose it for use in another room. In any event it is better than all the Raspberry Pi builds people were so excited about 4 or 5 years ago, so there is that. 

Then you have the fact that these large tech companies behind the WiiM and Node can put together great software to pair with their "so-so" devices, and it is that user experience that keeps people coming back. 

For use in systems costing say around $10K, a WiiM Ultra is a nice match. No one with a $10K system is going to spend $4K on a streamer/DAC, and even if they did, the system likely wouldn't resolve enough difference to justify the expense.

For a lot of 20 to 30-somethings getting into decent audio, a WiiM Ultra (or Node Nano) is a good gateway drug.  Hopefully as they move up the ladder to better systems, they will indeed upgrade to better streamers. 

At the end of the day, before I pop $2K to $4K for a streamer/DAC, I would like to know how the company I'm buying into is doing financially. {Actually, I'd rather spend $2K on a good streamer and buy my own DAC}.

No one wants to end up like those Fisker owners with a $61K vehicle they can't drive once they lose software connectivity because the company has gone belly up. 

And yes the 1000 to 3 was just a wild guess, but how many products do Aurender, Innuos, and Grimm actually move? Is that information available to anyone outside the companies? Or is their profit margin high enough at their higher prices that they can sell just a few and stay in business? 

Best software is Innuos Sense period @moonwatcher enjoy. 

@foggyus91 yes, if and when I ever move up, it will likely be an Innuos device because of that better software.

There are use cases for the cheaper streamer/DACs.  One of my coworkers is heavily into vinyl. That will forever be his "thing", but I convinced him to get a Node Nano at least to see what streaming was all about.  

He uses it for "music discovery" to figure out if he likes something enough to buy it. Ironically, his wife uses it quite a bit, and is loving it. She hardly ever turned on his system because she knows how particular he is with his vinyl rituals and I think she was afraid she'd screw something up. But now she can turn it on, find something to play, and just listen. Funny if his wife gets more hours of listening in than he does. 

Thanks. 

Whatever you say @moonwatcher enjoy.   Cheap is cheap just use your I phone and a USB dongle. . 

@moonwatcher , I think the Tarun hit several key points in his review of the Lumin with commentary on the state of Auralic.  The quality of the software is paramount these days.  Audio quality will only get you so far if you have very poor UI/UX.  In his, and many others, opinion the sound quality provided by the Lumin hardware far outweighs the aging UI/UX of their software.

Auralic ceded the entry level market to Bluesound and others when they chose to quit selling the Aires Mini in the US but continued to sell it internationally.  In this absence other makers stepped in with products that have grown beyond a streamer/DAC to include whole house audio products which is a growing and lucrative market.  This was, in my opinion, a huge mistake since the hardware and software of the Aires Mini was much better than the competition.  It handled DSD "out of the box" when it took Bluesound years to support.  But that was a business decision they chose to make.

I think what foggyus91 fails to acknowledge is that the Bluesound and Wiim products represent an entry level point for people.  I wasn't sure I wanted to stream, so I bought a used Bluesound Node2.  I liked it and began researching, I learned that exchanging the cheap switched mode power supply for a linear power supply would enhance the sound, so I made the move to a modified Bluesound Node N130 and the sound improved.  That satisfied me for a while and then I added an external DAC, the Chord Quetest, and I'm satisfied again, for now. This approach let me step up in sound quality through listening and understanding the technical design choices that produce better sound.  This has provided me with a good understanding of what to look for in future upgrades.

Is my setup as good as the dCS Varèse, Wilson Audio Sasha V, Audio Research Ref 6SE preamp, Audio Research Ref 300M mono block amps, and Synergistic Research SRX (power and interconnect) system that I've had the pleasure of hearing many times? Hell no, of course it isn't as good!  But for a little under $2k USD my current setup provides me a high performance to dollar ratio.

Can I do better?  Absolutely, it means spending more money on products from companies that are focused on 2 channel audio.  I've been looking at Innuos, Lumin, dCS, and a few others.  I was seriously looking at used Innuos streamers/servers until their recent product line change and I'm concerned with their support time for the MK3 line of products.  If I decide to buy new then I'll look at their Stream1 offerings.