Lumin U2 vs Aurender N200

I have an Aurender N200 and tried it with Roon. At that time, the Aurender N200 Roon output was limited to COAX. On the the N200 I find the USB output to be more enjoyable than COAX. I do not know if Aurender has updated their Roon implementation since I tried it.

The Aurender is a fuller and more natural sounding while the Lumix is a bit leaner. If you have a warm fat DAC then the Lumin might get you a little more detail while being adequately warm. My tastes run to the musical ./ natural side, so, I own two Aurender. 

I was not lucky enough to get any valuable responses when I had the exact same question. And the trend continues. 
 

Having owned lumin u1 mini and Aurender N200, I can only tell you that the N200 sounds best using its native Conductor app. It doesn’t sound as good with Roon. The difference is enough to delegate Roon to background music and Conductor to critical listening. I suspect the difference maker here is the Aurender proprietary processing with caching the data onto a large SSD prior to playing, and Roon’s processing of signal in its own way before it is passed down the network to the Aurender. 

With Lumin U1 Mini I was not able to easily differentiate between Roon and native streaming app. The UI is horrible on Lumin but you said you don’t care. 
 

Sorry I can’t help with the Lumin U2 comparison. I heard it’s a stellar performer. 
 

As a side note I sold my N200 when I bought my Meitner MA3i with a built in streaming card, a Roon endpoint. I heard no value add from the N200 after extensive comparisons. 
The N200 is a great streamer though, just a waste of money if you’re going to use Roon. That’s my $0.02

Thanks guys, for your input. It’s a bit disappointing that sound quality can vary depending on the streaming app. I like Roon, but I’d be open to using Conductor.app if it’s really that good, both in terms of usability and sound quality. I’ve read a few comments here and some people do seem to praise Aurender for its fuller sound.
 

I recently came across a comment saying that someone moved from an Aurender N200 to an Innuos Pulsar and felt it was a clear upgrade. Has anyone else moved from Aurender to Pulsar and considered it an upgrade?