Aurender integrated streamer/DACs

@mhwilliford 

Given your budget, there are so many options. Conventional wisdom says to take the separate route which gives you complete flexibility with upgrades down the road. On the other hand, if you’re shopping in $15K range, you must look at DAC’s with streaming card or client are catching up to separates. They also gives you the flexibility to use an external streamer. Weiss is one of them, there are others like Bricasti, Merging Technologies and Grimm Audio. The performance of streaming in aforementioned brands gotten so good that external streamer like N200 will only yield marginal improvements. It is also worth pointing out, the DAC’s with onboard streaming client eliminates the need for a high quality USB, SPDIF/AES cables plus extra power cord. 

Based on my experience of owning ultra high end separates- $37K retail, my recommendation would be to choose a manufacturer that has excelled at DAC tech. This is where you’re going to get the most return for your buck. I’m not saying source is not important but DAC performance carries more weight in my experience. I am a long time Aurender user and always owned separates but this new category of DAC first with onboard Streamer client is fast approaching the performance of separates. I ditched the separates and went with a very high resolution DAC that allows me to use Aurender via Ethernet and as a bonus has ROON Core + Renderer on board. No need to maintain separate NUC or laptop to run roon core. I get to enjoy both ROON and Aurender seamlessly over my network.

And lastly, streaming is not plug n play. Network optimization is just as important. More on that later once you’ve chosen your DAC and Streamer/Server. 

This is a great time to jump into digital streaming, lots of excellent choices. My “Digital’ system is listed under my moniker. PM me if you wish to discuss further. 

@mhwilliford 

If I may ask, what is your budget for DAC + Streamer? 

@mhwilliford

The Weiss 502 would be one of those one box solution with a more emphasis on digital to analog conversion. It is also a Roon ready device (renderer) which means you need to have a separate device like ROON Nucleus or a laptop on your network to run ROON core. Either of these devices can also serve as a storage for your CD rips. Since both 502 and Nucleus or laptop are on same network, they will interact with each to provide full functionality of ROON system and playback of any stored files seamlessly.

If you go ROON route, the choice of external device that stores Core and music files becomes critical as most devices need a Linear Power Supply for best performance unless you use a laptop (not recommended due to laptop being inherently noisy). I believe you can easily put together NUC with a very nice LPS under $1200 plus the cost of Ethernet cables and power cords. I have a limited knowledge on ROON Core options so I am counting on others to weigh in. 

Alternatively, you can bypass ROON renderer in 502 and get N200 that has onboard storage option for music files. You will use either USB or SPDIF for direct connectivity to 502.

If you don’t want to mess with external ROON core or N200, then consider Grimm Audio MU1 or Merging Technologies +player. Both devices are all in one DAC/Roon Core + Renderer players. As far storage, MU1 comes with optional storage and you can hook up a external portable SSD storage directly into +player.

Hope this helps!

@mhwilliford

You’re on a right path. Let’s chat about network optimization once you’re settled with 502 or PS Audio DSD in your system. Good luck and keep us posted!

@gsomin 

If you don’t believe in break-in then you can return A200. The DAC’s are known to open up after 250-400 hours. 

“The DAC in the Aurender is a bottleneck”

@soix

And you know this from direct experience with A200 in your system? 

@soix

In most cases, separates are capable of better sound. I never said, A200 DAC Is @gsomin best option given his system. The A200 DAC is not even fully broken-in and you rushed to conclude that A200 is a ‘bottleneck’ in his system. Was that a fair assertion on your part, I let you be the judge of that! This isn’t an argument about separate vs integrated. The best advice for @gsomin is to allow full break-in of A200. Post break-in, if he still don’t find A200 upgrade substantial over Node then going the separates route or another DAC to complement Node 2 or N200 would be the next logical step.

As far as comparison, my last comparison was Aurender A30 vs EMM Labs DA2 and I chose DA2. In this category, I will always choose and recommend separates as it offers most flexibility and convenience to tweak the sound to your liking.

@gsomin 

What is your budget for RCA IC’s….A200 will benefit from better IC’s, Ethernet and Power Cord. If may ask, what PC you are using with your Luxman Integrated. I believe, cables matters!  My digital system is listed under my user id, if you are curious what I’ve done to tweak my system.