This is so common an issue. One component is really critical until it at or above the rest of your system… then it is not. If you have a low quality DAC… then, upgrading makes a huge difference. Then, if you upgrade the streamer… OMG, what a difference. I do not want to take anything away from @soix. He is right. The streamer is critical, unless your DAC I’d the bottleneck. |
I think you pose a good question. It has not been addressed directly. I will try a bit better. I looked at reviews of the Inuous. I have to say researching many streamers and owning a Aurlic Aries G2, and Aurender N100, N10 and W20SE, I would go with the Aurender. They are top notch sounding streamers from a company that only does streamers. I can’t recommend them enough. My Aurender W20SE and Audio Research Reference DAC CD9 sound equivalent to my Top notch $45K vinyl end. I think that shows what Aurender is capable of. |
@rudyb I absolutely agree with not quarreling. You present a reasonable argument why streamers should not make a big difference. I told myself that for years. I streamed with every conceivable device. Then I finally took home a reasonable mid-level streamer (Auralic Aries G2)… jaw drop, and all that theory went out the window. The problem is, in the real world it is not true. The streamer is like a turntable in… if you do not have a great source… it doesn’t get any better. Now having owned streamers from the $3K range to over $20K… the streamer is absolutely critical in the playback. My most expensive component is my Streamer.. to which non-dedicated devices cannot hold a candle… assuming you are being reasonable and not pairing a $200 streamer against a $2,000 carefully optimized PC… or some stacked comparison. |
