Lumin U2 or Aurender N200

@audphile1 

The Conductor V4 still ‘work in progress’. I am still using V3 version majority of the time until V4 version has all the kinks worked out.  I do like the new fresh ‘look’ of V4 :-) 

@audphile1 

Qobuz often uploads upcoming albums that are ‘not ready to stream yet’. Don’t know why they do that, may be this is their way of announcing upcoming albums.  

@audphile1 

👍

“And when I looked at it in my rack, right beside it is a copy of Fortnight!”
@mclinnguy 

LOL!  You may not be inclined to do so but cataloging your collection would have avoided this. I use CLZ Music app to catelog my media. It has saved me $$$ when I am shopping online or at trade show. After a while you can’t possibly remember all the titles in your collection. I am now 95% streaming but still buy downloads, CD’s and Vinyl. Now I need to go and shop for PB’s live album - A Fortnight In Paris. 

@audphile1

I may sound like a broken record but given your rest of the system, I honestly believe N20 is a much better fit and return on your overall investment. If you’re buying new, ask your Aurender dealer to arrange N200 and N20 audition side by side. IME, N20 edges N200 in terms of low frequency extension and slam. And slight but very noticeable edge in perceived detail and noise floor; it is spooky quiet. Should you choose to further elevate the performance of N20, there is an option to add external clock. In my system, adding an external clock to N20 was no less than a revelation.

Also check with Aurender support if you can ‘slave’ your Bricasti DAC via Ethernet. This will eliminate the need for a USB or AES/SPDIF cable. Aurender selectively offers this capability in their advanced menu settings for MSB and Merging DAC’s.

Good luck!

“So with Roon or the Qobuz app I don’t see any of these anomalies.”
@audphile1

I wanted to know what you were saying, so I went into Qobuz app on my iPhone and “Fortnight In Paris” is only available for purchase only. Whereas in Conductor the album comes up as “not ready to stream yet”.

Are you able to stream this album in ROON, if yes then it must be available to stream on Tidal as ROON will display albums from both streaming services.

Congratulations! 

@audphile1

The only way I know of capturing artwork by accessing SSD on your network and adding artwork. You may wanna email aurender support and ask for better way. I don’t have this issue as I also own ACS100 which allows me to edit artwork and metadata right from my iPad.

PS: Glad to hear synergy between N200 and Bricasti DAC.

@audphile1

Check out album art exchange for missing artwork.

https://www.albumartexchange.com

And as far USB, AQ USB would be a definite improvement over generic cable. If I may suggest, couple of my favorite USB cables,  NA’s ENO USB III and Kimber”s KSUSB - HB (Hybrid).

@audphile1 

I have not compared AQ with Kimber. 

@audphile1 

Great outcome! I am glad to hear you’re loving N200 in your system. My experience jive with yours, better cabling is equally important and complementary in elevating performance of higher quality components.

Network renderer or endpoint is a good option (just like VC in a DAC) that offers convenience but they cannot compete with full blown, well executed components like a streamer or preamp. 

Among other things, N200 also offers external grounding that further lowers the noise floor. Once you settle down with N200, I recommend trying passive grounding from Entreq or Acoustic Revive. 

@mclinnguy 

As @audphile1 suggested, give ENO a shot, preferably with complete ENO streaming system between your Cisco switch and Weiss. That would be a fair comparison between ER and ENO. Before you do, check Ethernet specs on your Weiss. ENO is designed to operate at 100Mb/s and most DAC with Ethernet card spec’d at 1Gb/s. 

Is ENO better than ER, let your ears guide you to promise land. 

@audphile1 

Any further updates on N200?