Streamers - Auralic, Aurender, Lumin, others...


Any recommendations, please? :)
I'm looking for a streamer only – without a DAC.

I’ve been leaning toward the Auralic Aries S1 since it’s reasonably priced and available pre-owned. It also has a coaxial input, so I could connect my CD player as a transport. I’d mostly use it as a Roon endpoint, as I run Roon on a Mac Mini and really enjoy it — especially for its great music recommendations.

I’ve read some threads here, and many of you seem to love Aurender and Lumin. Has anyone had a chance to compare them with the Auralic?

Thanks!

gabriel123

Aurender Conductor is an excellent user interface. But it isn’t as good as Roon. Not from UI/UX and not from the selection algorithm for auto/radio station playback. Roon is much better. Aurender, as I stated earlier, relies on cache when used natively with Conductor. It’s both its pro and a con at the same time. You eventually end up with a humongous queue and it’s annoying. If you set it to continuous play that queue is going to continue to grow. Overall the Aurender wound quality when used with its conductor app leveraging SSD caching is superior to using it as a roon endpoint. The difference is small but if you have a revealing setup you will hear it. 
 

Lumin native app sucks. I would only use lumin as a Roon endpoint. 

I've been using an Aavik S180 and find it great. As you go up in line they get better but pricey they are. Look for a used one. I bought a demo.

 

Innuos streamer.  You can buy new or used and multiple versions depending on your  price range.  

I have a slightly different take than @ghdprentice, who I always respect.

1) while my Aries G2.1 did loose connection a bit, my G2.2 is rock solid

2) I tried the Aurender N20.  While I agree that Conductor sounds best on this device, I could NOT wrap my head around the Conductor App.

3) I prefer Roon.  Roon on my Aries G2.2 sounds better than Roon on the N20

4) Yes Auralic is out of business.  But as I run Roon, I do not care if the Auralic Lightening App updates or not, and will keep the Aries G2.2 for as long as it works as it is now.

4) Might find great deals on an Aries G2.2.