I like these comparative reviews. Get the usb and Qobuz on equal footing and report back.

@essrand,

What a timely thread for me. I was thinking of posting one asking users here if they have compared a NUC to a streamer. I currently use an older Asus laptop and feel that a streamer might help my cause. But Roon themselves advice on a NUC if you don't use their Roon Nucleus.

Wonder what is the difference between a NUC and dedicated streamers. I know that NUCS can be fanless, but thats just one good reason to use them over the laptops. What do streamers "don't have" that NUCs "might have", that could introduce "noise" in an audio system. I am more interested in hearing about that.

Plus Qobuz sounds better than Tidal. Tidal is thin sounding and a tad harsh in the highs compared to Qobuz.  Then we see different cables are being used. This impacts the sounds greatly. Most likely different power cables and footers are also being used.  What about burn in time on the new server? So many variables. 

I own the Aurender n200 and in my testing I found there is definite difference in sound quality between the usb and coax output. IMHO the usb output is all around better than the coax ouput. A fairer test would be comparing the nuc and aurender usb outputs to your dac. 

Your conclusion makes sense to me.  Sever has one job, deliver bit-perfect data to your DAC.  

Use your ears.

lord melton we have tested these servers under identical conditions

same everything just swapped usb cables pretty scientific

also the reviewer ed seally has tested many servers

The following is not a definite root cause, but just an idea of what you could be experiencing.  You are using very high efficiency speakers (96 db) which have a silk dome tweeter (soft dome tweeter).  The soft-dome tweeters are sometimes more forgiving and not as revealing or transparent as other hard-dome tweeters.  Additionally, the tube in the Nagra dac -might- be softening the sound and resolution as well.

It could very well be that your system is not high resolution enough to show the difference between the NUC and the Aurender N200.  If you are using a linear power supply on the NUC, then it will be even harder to hear the difference.

Once again, just an idea of what you could be experiencing, but hard to prove.

A hard on for Aurender, one of your previous posts.

Aurender A10 help

Another promotional thread...your post is not a controlled experiment so caution to all..lol.

we were an aurrender dealer and they do sound good however the innous sounded far better

over the last 10 years we have tested m ost streamers from aurender sotm baetis lumin and 432Evo

to date the best roon core/endpoint the 432Evo has produced the best sound out of all dacs

we dropped Innous as the 432Evo servers sounded better and are 100% fully upgradable.

IF you really want to hear the best in streaming we can send you a sample

432 EVO Aeon Review - Everybody Hertz (topnewreview.com)

Used in the manner that 432 EVO intends, it’s also the best USB source I’ve tested to now and if I used one all the time, it would negate the presence of the SOtM I have in my setup as a head unit. Finally, the 432 software is capable of imparting genuine improvement to a wide selection of music and, on the occasions where the benefits are less clear cut, it’s easy enough to bypass. The Aeon shows that there are some intriguing further possibilities to audiophile storage and consequently it’s a device that will delight a great many listeners •

I have nothing to add except to say thanks for the thread. I was not aware of the NUC. But it looks quite interesting. Though I’m new to streaming and have finally figured out the program for the streamer I would welcome a switch to an OS that is more user friendly

I was considering the aurender. But the NUC looks promising. Thanks