Most of the internet radio stations are not lossless. If you are using one to test SQ make sure it’s not just an MP3 quality station. Radio Paradise is a good one.
Another Aurender Upgrade Question
The Rig: N100H whose signal feeds into a Bricasti M3. The streamer is connected from my modem with a relatively long (14M) Shunyata Research Venom X ethernet cable. The streamer in turn connects to the DAC with a (2M) DH Labs USB cable which was @ $300 a couple years ago. My setup requires the long ethernet run, but I can get away with a .75 or 1M USB cable.
The Question: I'm looking to improve the sonic qualities of the streamer's signal. It is not horrible by any means but slightly muted compared to the signals from my transport and tuner. To be honest I use the streamer mostly for internet radio from the Conductor App. I flirted with Qobuz for a while but lost interest and interact mostly with the other two front ends. I'm considering one of two options (and only two): Fork a few hundred to upgrade my USB cable (I'm intrigued by the Audience Front Row if I can find one used) or fork a few thousand down the road for a used N10. The internal clock (supposedly) yields a better sonic result with either SPDIF or USB. Or perhaps given the length of the ethernet run it doesn't make a difference. So I welcome comments and ask they be focused on USB upgrade vs used N-10 and with the latter advantages regarding type of connection.