I've never for one moment regretted purchasing my N20, it's a fantastic machine that can only be truly appreciated by long term in home listening.
Maybe you can get some better sounds by cobbling together this and that with various computer programs but for me time is money and with the N20 I have everything at my fingertips. I could have bought the N30 but the N20 is 99% as good. While not exactly a bargain but SOTA.
I have settled on this cable after trying many much more expensive ones. It's solid silver and IME much better than AES/EBU. Long burn in required.