Lumin U2 vs Aurender N200

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?

@gabriel123 An upgrade to some could be a downgrade to others. Only way to find out is to audition them yourself, preferably in your system. I've never heard the Innous Pulsar but never doubted my N20 since I  bought it three years ago. 

@lordmelton 

+1

In contrast the Aurender is a bit more accurate and neutral and the Innous more romantic. 

So, yes, especially depending on the rest of your system. If you have a very analytical system and are striving for natural the Innous may soften things up enough to sound more musical. 

If you are comparing in the same price tier... then the most likely differences are design philosophy and if it fits in your system... the rest of your system and your ultimate goal. 

Reports from the user community indicate that the native apps, Sense with Innuous and Conductor with Aurender sound better than Roon. I concur with Aurender but don’t have experience with Innuous. 
Aurender’s advantage is with Conductor native app processing path that stores data on a large SSD cache prior to playing it. This means cleaner playback and it does sound great. Lumin uses memory buffer, which is a similar concept but not quiete the same.
Innuos is not compatible with UpNp if I’m not mistaken. Which makes it impossible to use Tidal Connect or Qobuz Connect, or jplay. You’re limited to roon and Sense. 
 

If you want to use Roon, I would recommend looking into Lumin, Volumio, Small Green Computer and even iFi Zen. Roon UI is second to none, but the sound quality is always second to native apps. And second to jplay in my opinion. May be the upcoming April 20 big release drop will address issues and sound quality…we’ll find out