Aurender A200 vs N200

You have a great plan… highly recommended. I also have a great analog rig and tried over the last nearly thirty years to get my digital end to near the same sound quality. Until about five years ago it really was not possible at any cost. It is now. By making careful choices you can reach the same sound quality for about the same investment. I now listen to vinyl about once every couple weeks, and have discovered a whole new world through streaming.

I recommend the N200. It is an outstanding streamer for the money. Given your scenario there is no reason to consider the A200 as the only difference is that it has an internal DAC. However, A200 adds a good DAC… but not a great DAC. In addition, it gives you the flexibility to upgrade individually. 
 

I own two Aurrender streamers and am friends with a dealer who sells them, so have heard the A-series and also have his agreement on the subject.

Why is the N200 priced at same price as A200 if the A200 includes a DAC?  Does the N200 feature other upgrades?

I bought the N200 so I can pick the DAC that suits my ears. 

We can recommend a 432evo aeon it beat an aurender n20 yet costs thousands less

And unlike Aurender it is a full Roon core and rips cds as well

And it is fully modular and upgradeable so it can be upgraded to the flagship Master later.

Dave and Troy

AUDIO INTELLECT Nj

432EVO dealer

+1 to what @ghdprentice has to say.  He was influential in my streamer purchase. I recently went through an extensive review and search process for a streamer and selected the N200.  I was patient and found a one owner lightly used N200 and its a wonderful streamer.  I found Aurrender's Conductor app easy to use along with simple/reliable connectivity with my iPad with Qobuz. 

I have an Aurender N200.    It's been great.   Using it with the the Lab 12 DAC 1 Reference and it sounds great.   

I also think that's a good plan to focus on streamer and using the McIntosh DAC for now.  

While we are on the subject of streamers, I will say support, firmware, user interface are all of equal and high importance.

A "great" streamer with terrible support and mediocre user interface is not really that great

That’s why I like Aurender , they can remotely diagnose and install firmware. It’s a very good user experience. They usually do a really good job of handing software revisions.

I’ll use one of the current "hot" streamers as an example, the Eversolo DMP-A6. I set one up for my Dad last year and up until last week, all was well until about five days before it’s warranty was up . Their latest firmware update rendered USB inoperable with his McIntosh MA8950 . Pretty frustrating....

I reached out to Zidoo support, they were prompt but when I called them out they denied it could be possible although there are posts going back a year that describe USB not recognizing the DAC for some Chord and Mac owners.

I asked for previous firmware, they will not send it , just instructions on how to. Thanks ! Anyway , I said to them " if it’s not the latest firmware that caused it, must be hardware . " How do we initiate warranty repair ? That was about a week ago and they haven’t replied.....

Too bad because it’s not a bad streamer but It is no Aurender , or Innuos, or Aurilic.. Support is everything with a streamer .

Build quality is very high with all Aurender , they are tanks.

I agree with others - N200 in a long run is a better choice. With A200 when you get an external DAC you will end up having its DAC section unused but on and consuming power. That would potentially make the overall noise floor with the A200 higher than what you would get with the N200. Will you hear it? May be in direct comparison with N200…depending on the DAC you choose and how resolving the rest of your system is. 
 

One other suggestion - email Aurender and get their take on streamer comparison between the two units. They might shed some more light on the differences. 

I asked this very question before buying my N 200. The difference in a nut schell is the A 200 is an N150 level streamer with a DAC added. The N200 is a higher level streamer as far as components and power supply being dedicated only to a music server. The N 200 will present better performance with outboard DAC.

@fthompson251 

Did you ask Aurender ?

@skids   I asked my dealer.

@fthompson251  - Thanks!   That makes sense.  I actually had called Aurender and I spoke with someone there, but they could not provide any details other than to say the N200 will "sound better".  

@hikerneil 

I have an Aurender A20 up for sell on Audiogone.

You could have the upgrade streamer and upgraded DAC.

Another vote for N200. Not only it’s a better streamer but a streamer only ‘box’ allows higher performance with an outboard DAC and flexibility to tailor your sound. 

I m also looking to finalize my digital path...currently using the Bluesound Node which is surprising decent in my system. This will be the last part to finalize my system...do not want to upgrade later...one and done purchase. A new N200 is going for $6,300 at most audio retailers...what would be a matching outboard DAC at the same price point = to keep entire system with interconnects under $15k?  Looking at the big picture - why not the A30 (new $19k); a one box system very well designed, I think the one hit is ability to backup files, newer versions Roon ready too??:

Analog Output Network Player
MQA Full-Decoder DAC / Headphone Amplifier
CD Ripper / Music Library Manager / 10TB HDD Storage
Variable-Output Balanced XLR and Single-Ended RCA Analog Outputs
USB Digital Output / Coaxial and Optical Digital InputsLinear Power Supply with Integrated UPS 

FPGA-Based Precision Clock

upsampling non-DSD files up to 705.6/768kHz to the analog outputs. Or leave upsampling off (default setting) for an untouched bitstream.

I understand seperates in the digital chain are superior in several areas, including ease to upgrade one section later(DAC), but for a one box system (A30) compared to a N200 with match-capable DAC seems like a better bang for money spent...

Thoughts and insight appreciated,

JR

The A200 sounds like a good way to go if you have no digital components as it has both needed components in one box. Or maybe the HiFi Rose. Fewer cables as well. I’m an analog guy who is looking into digital, which I find enormously confusing. The one box seems like a great way to go. 

Went with the A20 after hearing both but key reason was I got a MSB DAC and they recommend the A20

It has the better AES Digital Output

Allows sync with a superior external Word Clock which the MSB Discrete has. 
 

The N Series are better than the A because they don’t have to deal with the digital noise from the DAC and offer slightly better performance. 

What are people’s thoughts on the entry level Moon 2800 streaming DAC?

Sorry, that’s Moon 280D