I went with an Aurender N200 without the built in DAC. The Aurender’s with the built in DAC sounded fine, but I wanted to be able to change/upgrade DACs over the years as I have done in the past. I have the current PS Audio direct stream DAC, but plan to upgrade in the next year or two. Just seems more flexible to me.
Aurender integrated streamer/DACs
Does anyone have experience with any of the mid-to-upper-level Aurender units that feature integrated DACs and how do they compare with comparably-priced outboard DACs? Understanding DAC voicing can be a matter of preference, I am also considering a dedicated Roon Core built of JCAT components feeding either a Weiss 502 or the new PS Audio DSD when that becomes available.
Bonus question: looking at this another way (assuming the DACs referenced above are superior to a built-in Aurender DAC), how would a nicely spec'd Roon Core compare with an Aurender Server/Streamer?
Please answer only on in terms of sound quality only. I believe the UI will work fine for me, whether it is Conductor or Roon. Thanks very much!