Lumin U2 or Aurender N200

Yep none of these gripes are of any significance.
One other thing I would love to have is similar to what roon does, show me all albums for the artist in both tidal and qobuz when I search. List it all from both providers and a library!

One other glitch I found is it pulls up albums that don’t exist. Search for Patricia Barber in Qobuz and it will show her Live “Fortnight in France” album but it’s unavailable - can’t be played.

@mclinnguy yup

So with Roon or the Qobuz app I don’t see any of these anomalies. Something is odd with the way the Conductor pulls this in. Weird. I’ll check it in v3.

@ghdprentice thanks! Staying up till 2am listening I’m sleep deprived but happy 😃 

@mclinnguy I have not heard Weiss 501 but I’m fairly confident that the N200 will beat its network renderer. As I stated earlier, I use stock USB cable and it sounds excellent. I don’t know what the AQ Diamond will bring to the table and will report later. But…I could easily live with the stock USB cable.

I considered two streamers - Lumin U2 and Aurender N200. I already owned Lumin a while back, a U1 Mini, and was always curious about the Aurender. Looking at design and implementation of the N200, I chose it over the U2. Right, wrong or different. Had no plans to experiment with boutique brands so Antipodes wasn’t on the list. 
 

As to the Furutech GTX-D NCF outlet…still like it. Have two now.
It starts out impressive so you will hear it right away. It then goes into a 💩 mode about 10-12hrs in. All kinds of bad sound and combinations of bad sound is what you should be expecting for few weeks. It will be fun. 

@mclinnguy that’s a great test track and a very good recording.
Out of curiosity, what Cat7 cable are you using? That’s between the etherregen and streamer correct?

Yep. Probably copyright related. 

Glad you enjoyed it! I’ll have to check that Krall album…haven’t heard it in a while 

@julie_priest 

Weiss 501 is a dac with a built in network renderer. I wasn’t looking for a DAC upgrade. Also, I wasn’t interested in the twice as expensive as the N200 Grimm MU1. So, no, I didn’t audition these units. 

@mm1tt77 I used Auralic Aries G1, Lumin U1 Mini and the built in network renderer in my dac. The Aurender N200, sonically, is in another league. I will make a safe assumption that even with Sbooster the lumin mini won’t reach close to the N200. I also think the U2 is a worthy upgraded over the Mini Sbooster or not.
Aurender design and implementation is top notch. I don’t think anyone can argue this point. But the Lumin U2 is also a great streamer. I would say buy with return policy if possible. Hear it and “feel” it in your system

I will add that the Lumin native app just sucks. Of you use Roon, you’re good. The Aurender as you probably know is not roon ready but the Conductor app is very good overall and presents not much of learning curve. I was up and running in minutes. 

@lalitk no worries. I realize the N20 is a step up from the N200 but unfortunately it’s currently more than I’m willing to drop on a streamer.

Appreciate everyone’s advice. I didn’t think that anyone ran the U2 and the N200 side by side for a comparison but was hoping I was wrong.

 

Doodle I had a U1 Mini and it was decent but not on the level of my current system. I wouldn’t expect the U2 Mini to be that much better than the old version. 

I was curious about the U2 vs N200, not the U2 Mini vs N200. That would not be a fair comparison. 

The upsampling in Lumin always sounded processed to me when I tried it with U1 Mini. I wouldn’t make that a deciding factor. 

@efoo it’s fun to play with to hear what it does. Takes a few days to get a hang of it. 
Same with Roon DSP sample rate conversion. Sounds good for few hours then I switch back. The Auralic Aries G1 that I owned also had upconversion and once again I preferred the original bit perfect version every time.
I guess there may be some who like the effect. I don’t. 

@mclinnguy 😂

Fiber didn’t work for me although it was only to convert to fiber then back to copper before the streamer (doesn’t have fiber in). I heard glassy, artificial sound with reduced bass. Reverted it all back. 

Update - picked up an N200. Breaking it in. Forming my thoughts. 

Thanks!!!

I can use some tips on how to get the artwork on the albums I have on my drive. With Roon it goes out to get the artwork from the sources on the internet, which the streamer native apps don’t seem to do. Any tricks there? Oh and I have installed a Samsung SSD inside the N200 that has all my cd rips. 

@mclinnguy it did! I will post my thoughts after I get some more milage on the N200 but so far I’m impressed! The Bricasti M3 DAC kicks major butt with the N200 feeding it. 

Lalit…not a bad idea to hit up support. I can also pull the SSD out and mount it on my mac to edit the artwork. It isn’t a deal breaker. Just thought there’s a much better way to accomplish it. Not my highest priority - it doesn’t get in a way of enjoying the music  

Next step is to improve the link between the N200 and the M3. I’m currently using the Aurender included USB cable. I have an AQ Diamond USB on order.
 

Thanks @oddiofyl 

I did that scan after the initial load and there’s still a ton of missing artwork. But I’m not gonna sweat it. I’m just enjoying the new sound I have now…it’s pretty cool what it did 😎

I actually think I should be able to access the SSD from my mac as a nas storage. I’ll try it at some point.

@lalitk thank you for the link and the USB recommendations. I’ll look into it. 

@lalitk yup. Definitely.
short version….like it a lot!

it required a minimum of 200hrs of break in i made a playlist consisting of tracks with all possible bit rates. I had that on repeat with whatever else I wanted to hear. At 300hrs now and I really enjoyed a late night listening session yesterday.
Few things worthy of mention -

1. USB is the best interface in my system understandably so due to N200 clock implementation related to spdif out

2. great synergy with my Bricasti M3 DAC

3. high resolution without sounding analytical - however great care must be taken with Ethernet cable and other cables on the N200 as well as elsewhere in the system

4. it blew away the M3 inbuilt network renderer in every possible way exceeded my expectations as far as what’s possible by introducing a high quality streamer, but obviously the rest of the system plays an important part in all this

Currently running stock power cord on the N200. Waiting for the new AQ Diamond USB that’s arriving mid next week to replace the stock USB cable. Won’t be making any changes until the new USB breaks in and settles. Next move is a power cord (researching now).

P.S. I used a term “blew away” above. I normally refrain from making such statements but in this particular case I couldn’t find another way to describe the change. Every aspect of listening experience improved in a major way. This us just not a subtle change at all.

I looked into the kimber hybrid usb cable. @lalitk by any chance have you compared it against the AQ Diamond?

Cool. I will start with the Diamond and see what it does. Everything I read about points to it being really good. I’ll report back when I get it. No ETA yet. 

Lalit…no…not able to stream that PB album. I do have a 💿 rip of it though on the SSD that I installed in the N200

@mclinnguy I will say that tonally it is in a totally different league from the audiolab 6000cdt cd transport that I returned. In addition to timbre and tone, the presentation is a lot more engaging with the N200 in my system. The music is back!!!

The network renderer in the Bricasti DAC is a $1,000 option which makes it a lot closer in competition to the audiolab 6000cdt

The N200 is a significantly more expensive dedicated streamer and I hoped it would deliver. I’m not disappointed is all I can tell you.

At this time I have no immediate plans to compare the N200 to a comparably priced CD transport or player. But if opportunity arises, I’ll post my thoughts.

@mclinnguy I would not go as far as to call it a throw away. Aurender actually includes a somewhat decent USB cable that doesn’t do much harm. It doesn’t offend. Is it the last word in refinement, noise floor and extension? No.
But I’d say it’s sufficient to hold over until a better cable can be obtained.

Which kind of does make it a throw away now that I just said all that. Lol

I’ve also been running a stock power cord on the N200. Being as OCD as I am about all this, I got an AQ Tornado for the N200 to match the Diamond.

So before the Tornado, initial impressions after about 20hrs of break in on the Dianond….lower noise floor, fuller more luscious mids, bass was lean and loose in the first few hours but rebounded nicely and is weighty and fast, highs are sweet and more natural than the stock cable. I do think it’s got ways to go though so I will give it the full 200hrs to come up with final thoughts. So far the upgrade is worth it.

@mclinnguy N20 has OCXO clock. Yes the connection is DAC dependent but also content dependent. I would experiment with equal level AES and USB.
Assume that the OCXO clock in the N20 is the superior of the 2 units, I’d use AES for regular Qobuz hi-res streaming. But if you have DSD rips, it would be worth comparing once again the DoP via AES to DSD Native via USB.

@lalitk thanks! 

There are few minor annoyances with the conductor 4 that aren’t deal breakers but nevertheless something that could be fixed. 
In example…when the iPhone locks or I’m in another app, the conductor loses connection to the n200. Have to reconnect to change tracks. 
It’s slow to update what’s playing - the track had already changed but it’s still showing either the artwork or the bitrate or both from the previous track. 
No resolution is displayed in the album covers. 
The app is practical and functional and easy to navigate/operate. It is few levels below Roon UI though. Not too far behind but far enough to notice these differences. Again, nothing deal breaking and it actually looks really nice on the iPad. Sound is what I’m after and it delivers. 

@mclinnguy lmao

on a serious note, A Fortnight in France is one of my favorite Peanut Butter albums.
It doesn’t come up on roon search or qobuz or tidal.
Her cover of “Norwegian Wood” on Fortnight is amazing.

Modern Cool is another missing one. I have it all on CD and ripped to SSD. Good stuff

AQ Diamond USB is here! I’ll let it cook for a week or so before I know what it’s really capable of, but it’s an immediate improvement in soundstage and tone over the stock cable. 

@mclinnguy Eno was nice but mellowed everything out a bit too much. I sold it before I got the N200. Kind of wish I still had it so I could try it. oh well…

I’m familiar with Supra with Telegartner. Tried it. Decent. Wasn’t as good as the Eno system or the Purist Audio that I’m using now. 
The Muon is expensive. I can’t think of a good reason to spend that much for a filter although I’m sure it’s nice. I’ll be just using the best possible Ethernet cable. 

Give it a shot!

@curiousjim no not a year just over 2 months. And yes I still love it!
I couldn’t help it but compare it to CD again a week ago and it is just awesome in every way!
I highly recommend it but since it’s a sizable purchase I would strongly advise you to audition it in your system against your current reference

You won’t regret it. It’s a great streamer.