Aurender n200, talk me out of signing on the dotted line

I also wanted to mention that Qobuz sounds slightly better in my system than Tidal. I use both though as Tidal has some albums that aren’t available on Qobuz.

👍

N200 is excellent and should be a good step up from your U2 Mini. 
As to grainy sound…I had a U1 Mini but was using Qobuz and Tidal. I don’t recall it sounding grainy. It’s definitely a level or two below the N200 but not a bad streamer. I would suspect cables (power, ICs, speaker), DAC or speakers. 
What cables are you using?

@soix Aurender N200 is a dedicated streamer and not a streamer/dac combo. 

@wlutke I’ll add that your disc spinning days could be over when the N200 is in

The Aurender UI, Conductor 4 app, is actually very good. Thr N200 is super stable. 
As a long time Roon user, I can say I got used to the Conductor app in about a day or two and don’t miss Roon anymore after a few months with N200.

I guess I’m not doing too good of a job talking the OP out of getting the N200 but it truly is a very good streamer  I haven’t heard the HiFi Rose. I didn’t even have it on my list of candidates when I was making a decision. 

@wlutke lol

@soix I figured. 

@wlutke keep in mind the N200 is more resolving than the U2 Mini so if the issues you’re describing exist elsewhere in your setup i.e components, cables and room acoustics, which I think they do, they will be exacerbated. You’ll figure it out when you have the N200 in your system. 

 

wlutke OP

681 posts

03-28-2024 at 07:56am 

@dwest1023 

Should I get sound on par with my CD I'll be happy as a pig in spit.  Good to hear.

I don’t see why not. Few weeks ago I compared the N200 to Marantz SA10 spinning CDs. To make certain my comparison was 🍏 to 🍏 I compared an uncompressed FLAC rips on a N200 (Samsung SSD mounted inside the Aurender) to a CD played on SA10. The N200 was connected to the SA10 via AQ Diamond USB. To be honest I preferred the N200 in some case but it was nearly impossible to distinguish. It was not worse than the CD. 
Compared to Qobuz HiRes version of the same album is not a relevant comparison as it could be a different mix/master on Qobuz but I did that as well.
Judging purely from sound quality (tone, accuracy) perspective it’s on par with 💿 

I have zero issues using iPad or iPhone with Conductor 4. 
I only have my Aurender for about 3 months though. Solid as a rock. 

I compared DH Labs D750 spdif to Aurender USB and preferred USB. And the DH cable is a really well made and good sounding digital interconnect. To me USB sounds better but definitely try both. 

@lalitk I did that a while ago. No dice.

@wlutke Few things based on my experience -

1. if you don’t have a good USB cable yet, the one included by Aurender in the box with the N200 is actually not terrible at all. I’ve used it before I upgraded to the AQ Diamond.

2. If your unit is brand new, what I did to break mine in is create a playlist consisting of songs representing every bitrate available on Qobuz and Tidal and played that on repeat when not listening. It took slightly over 200hrs to settle overall. 
 

3. Upgrade the power cord - it makes a significant difference. I started with AQ Tornado then moved on to Nordost Heimdall 2 and eventually to Nordost Frey 2. Not saying you need Nordost…just try a few good power cables and you’ll see what works best. Break in first though. 
 

Enjoy and keep us posted. 
 

@blisshifi Juan thanks for this update! I still have my Roon subscription and will definitely try it out. Any idea on how to get on a beta tester list?

Bummer. We keep waiting then….

@lalitk did all that a while back. Registered. It’s fine thanks though. I thought I would miss Roon more than I do…not a big deal. 

When’s the N200 coming? 
By the way I used Nordost H2 power cord on my N200 and it was great! Never tried the H2 digital cables. Give both cables a try with the n200 though as you never know - synergy is a funny beast. Also make sure to give a good USB cable a try as well. 

Scratch that I missed the AES part…can’t use it with n200. 

Initial thoughts?

That sucks…

@wlutke finally! Congratulations!!! Glad to hear you like it. It’s a great streamer. 
Break in is about 200hrs. 
 

Puzzling issues with v4 though. What version iOS is on your iPad? It nay be because it’s old?

@wlutke here’s what I’m thinking - all user who’ve reported issues with conductor v4 crashing are users with old iPads and iPhones that run on the iOS that can’t support the v4. What the Aurender tech team can do though is not allow the v4 to be installed on the older devices. Or just don’t open the app if it’s already installed. It’s easy to do and would eliminate a ton of users claiming the Conductor app is horrible because it’s not. It’s actually very decent.

Awesome! Enjoy! 

Oh yeah the Critical Listening Mode is legit. I hate glowing displays to begin with (except for the gentle blue glow of my Pass X260.8 monos all displays are turned off) but hearing a nice improvement when you switch the Aurender into CLM is an added bonus.

wlutke OP

694 posts

04-11-2024 at 05:24pm 

…  This thing is amazing!

yep 😂

How does the USB compare to SPDIF?

@wlutke I’m still amazed with the difference the N200 made in my system so I can your excitement 😊

@mediaferret have you emailed Aurender about the differences between the two units? It also depends on the rest of your system how much of an improvement the N200 be over the N150. Probably a good idea to start a new thread to get some more visibility and more thoughts from the N200 owners who moved up from n150.

@wlutke in addition to the points @tvad is making wrt tubes, realize that the USB cable needs break in, the USB out on the N200 needs some run in time and the USB in your DAC was never used. I would switch to USB and let it run overnight while you’re not listening on repeat. SPDIF sounds smoother but it’s not as dynamic and not as open. Soundstage with USB is notably better. Just give it time. As @tvad mentioned the N200 is optimized for USB out. 

@tvad the answer is the clock. N20 and up use high quality OXCO clock for SPDIF. The n200 clock is nit on the same level. The USB out on the N200 is isolated and as long as your DAC clock is up to the task, USB is the way to go…with N150 and N200. 

I should clarify SPDIF sounds smoother, but USB does not sound harsher. The smoothness with SPDIF is really rounding off the edges and reducing precision. Not a bad thing in some systems but it restricts the N200. 

@wlutke takes 200hrs to run the N200 in. It did go thru a rough patch at some point but eventually settled. 
For tubes why not try EH or Gold Lion? The NOS stuff is hit or miss. Been there, done that. 

@wlutke after the break in I would look into trying different cables. What’s connecting the AM DAC to the Pass amp? What speaker cables and power cords are you using?

@wlutke I have absolutely zero brightness in my system with N200 and I used it with 2 different DACs. Your Pass amp and the AZ speakers aren’t bright. The AZ Satori is a warm sounding cable. You have a revealing high resolution system.
So here’s my take on the hot top end that you have experienced now with two streamers…

1. Look into room acoustics - area rug between listener and speakers if you don’t have a carpet, first reflection points (side walls, ceiling if possible), speaker positioning and toe in

2. I would replace the AQ Ruby interconnects with AZ Matrix Ref MkII

3. Power cables, especially the one on your DAC - look into upgrading to a cable that works well with digital. Doesn’t have to be expensive. Again, AZ have El Nino power cord that works well with digital. The AZ Krakatoa should be good on the Pass amp (it’s a smooth sounding cable).

The higher the resolution the more critical things like room acoustics and cabling become. Tube rolling won’t help much if the room acoustics aren’t in order.

@wlutke sounds like you’re on the right track within the set boundaries. In your case I would highly recommend the AZ Matrix Ref II as a starting point. They’re smooth and natural sounding cables, slightly on a warm side. Should be a good match. Good luck!

AZ Absolute Copper are great interconnects! I had these in my system for a while. Amazing bass and mids with excellent top end.
It should solve the hard treble.