Aurender N20

@lordmelton 

Great explanation… but also makes me a bit liking the simpler days.
 

However owning a couple Aurender… I am happy to report you can just plunk it down, connect it..and turn it on, log into your Qobuz account and you are going to get fantastic sound… you can worry about the details of these slightly different high resolution formats later.

Differences between the sound of USB and AES/BNC/ SP/DIF are fundimentslly different. The USB output is  packetized info going to your DAC is a completely different format and will rely on additional processing (including retiming of the bitstream) before converting to analog. While the others only use the basic functions of the DAC. So, the difference between the two can often be thought of as: if my DAC is better than my streamer then most likely the USB will sound better, but if my streamer is better than my DAC, then more likely the other digital formats will sound better. While you have to try it to make sure they very different processing routes.

Non-USB connectors are the same feed coming out different connectors.

I would say, regardless of the output used the N20 will best the N200. They actually  listen to their products before putting them on the market. You can be sure if you move up the product lines they sound better… and not by a small margin.

My experience is with the N100, N10, and W20SE. Each increment is absolutely worth it, assuming you have appropriate ancillary equipment. My W20SE streamer is the most expensive piece of equipment in my signal path (~ the same as my turntable) and well worth it. It performs at the same level as my TT and better than my CD player when streaming high res files.

The Conductor app is does great. And they have excellent support available right through the app. Easy to use… unlike the problems I had with the Aurlic Aries 2. You can see my systems under my ID. A N100 is in my headphone system.