Music streamers

lalitk

Sorry to hear about your experience with Aurender

Thanks @lalitk but it’s OK. It’s just an appliance.

... and it appears you’re still pretty miffed about it ...

Oh no, not at all. I was never "miffed" about it, just disappointed. Stuff happens.

I see very little point in dwelling over the past. Move on please....

Huh?
I think it’s useful for readers to share their honest experiences here.
What’s odd about this is that if we praise a product, we’re subject to being called a "fanboy." Yet if we’re critical, we may be called "miffed" and asked to "move on."

I have moved on, btw - I bought a Bryston BDP-3 from the same dealer where I bought the Aurender. It’s terrific! I use it with Rigelian software and I think I’ll be pleased with it for years, as I have with other Bryston products. And if you think that makes me a "fanboy," that’s your problem.

solarjam

cleeds-- I have no doubt you had problems with your Aurender .
Every manufacturer has a lemon once in a while.

Quite so, no doubt. My issues with the Aurender were only in part the actual product - which I do not think was a lemon - but also the indifferent support. And to be fair, many users praise Aurender support. But my experience with them unsatisfactory.

I’m spoiled, though, because for decades I’ve had excellent support from companies such as Bryston, Grado, ARC and McIntosh. In years past, I received excellent support from Infinity, Tandberg, Nakamichi and PS Audio. In my experience, Aurender isn’t in their class. Not even close.

lalitk

If you can stretch your budget, get the N100H and call it a day.

Buying that Aurender was one of the few major blunders I’ve made as an audiophile. I dumped it after less than a year and would never consider an Aurender product again. The N100H can throw a fit if the power goes out - it’s always on "standby" - and software updates can be a disaster. Many praise Aurender support but in my experience their sluggish, indifferent stock answers sometimes showed they couldn’t even be bothered to read the inquiry. Other times the answer was simply pedantic.

Yes, the Aurender software is slick and some people think it’s "sexy." No matter - I found the Aurender N100H hardware to be more trouble than it’s worth and the OS is a mess. To be fair, it may be the start of a good product but it would need some substantial fixes before I'd consider it a proper finished component.

I thought the unit was so bad that I couldn’t in good conscience sell it on A’gon, even though my unit was "mint." (It still had the protective plastic over the display.) So I sold it to TMR at a major $$$$ loss but that wasn’t their fault - they paid me what is was worth.

TMR was very nice to work with, btw - I’d do business with them again if I ever acquire another heap of headaches like the Aurender.