750$ Intel NUC vs $6000 Aurender N200: I don't hear the difference
I finally plunged into the source is as important as the DAC belief that is quite prevalent here and decided to test out Aurender N200. And given I have a very highend DAC, thought if the N200 pans out I would go for the N20 or N30.
I was expecting the N200 to blow away my Intel NUC which is 10th gen, core i7, 8GB and running Roon Rock BUT I am switching back and forth between USB playing the Roon Rock, and Co-axial playing Aurender N200, and I don't hear much of a difference maybe a hair, or not even that.
A few caveats: 1) Roon Rock is playing Quboz, N200 is playing Tidal (I am unable to get Qobuz login to the N200 for reason I don't understand).
2) I am comparing Coaxial on N200, USB on Roon Rock.
Caveat #2 can be ignored because I don't hear a difference between Coaxial and USB output of N200.
So either this is an "Emperor has no clothes" moment or I am missing something big. Any thoughts on what I might be missing before I send this N200 back to the dealer on Monday.
Rest of my system: Nagra TUBE DAC -> Accuphase E-650 -> Devore O96 and all Acoustic Revive wiring.
The power cord is a component of your stereo system. If you are going to skimp on that, why bother? I put a power cord on my LPS of my old music server that was twice as expensive as the LPS. Made an improvement in the sound. Actually, the new power cord was an advanced purchase for my new Music Server. Thought I would try it out in the mean time. Don’t dismiss power cords as inconsequential. And don’t expect a lot from a low cost, “high end” power cord. |
@kdeleon If a $1000 power cord on a $2000 component makes it sound as good as a $4000 component with its "stock" power cord, doesn't that sound like money well spent? |
@mclinnguy That is what I’m trying to understand. In the original post, we are putting a $2500 power cord on a $6000 streamer. I want to know what difference should one expect when doing this versus let’s say a $1000 power cord. I would prefer not having to go buy and sell power cords when I can ask someone who did it and try to understand the benefit. Locally we also don’t have many stores that lend out all sorts of cords. Even borrowing from thecableco costs money. But hearing from someone else who has done it is free and saves time. |
@kdeleon We can state it, you can also read it by browsing all of these audio forums online and reading the thousands of impressions, but this is something you just to have to do yourself to truly understand. I can just copy and paste my own experience from a year ago: https://forum.audiogon.com/posts/2569972
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oh my land! Please forgive me, but spending alot of money on a power cord for an expensive streamer is nuts, imho, just pissing money away. As I’ve posted on this thread previously, I suspect most people with high quality DACs have already wasted some money on an expensive streamer, but don’t throw good money after bad! While not immune, digital is far less susceptible to noise than analog. And the Auralic with its stock power cord measures at really low levels of noise; see HiFi News measurements of the Aries 2.1 below. The place where power cords really matter is downstream in the analog domain, so that’s the DAC, preamp, and amp. the place to worry most about a power cord is in the analog domain |
