New streamer

Just curious…who had their aurender fail and what exactly failed?

Awesome! Give it some time to settle. It should be on a different level than the node, LPS or not. 

Lumin app is hideous. Absolutely the worst in my opinion.
Use Roon if you get Lumin. that’s what I did. 
Auralic Lightning DS is very nice and so is the Aurender Conductor app. 

If I were you, I would go with a Lumin U2 and get Roon. Skip the Mini. Skip the power supply upgrades.
Second best would be the N150. No roon. 

@signaforce there is no upsampling option with the Aurender. I think you might be thinking of the streaming service Quality setting that allows you to select a high res 24/192 option for Qobuz. It will simply allow Qobuz 24/192 album versions to be streamed. It won’t upsample. It just passes through the max available bit rate to match your DAC. 
For your Qutest, select that 24/192 

Cool. If it’s all new, give it about 200hrs. 

If going with Lumin, stretch it to either a used U1 or a newer used U2. The power supply is much better than in the Minis and overall the streamer is much better. Not worth it getting the Mini and investing in the outboard power supply. 
The Auralic Aries G1 should not he overlooked as well. 

If you don’t use Roon, Aurender is a good recommendation. 

Comparing N200 outputs into the Bricasti M3 DAC in my system using DH Labs D750 coax cable and the “stock” Aurender USB cable, I prefer USB that sounds more open and dynamic witj bigger images and larger soundstage. And the DH Labs D750 is no slouch! Introducing AQ Diamond USB cable widens that gap even further. Don’t get me wrong, the SPDIF output sounds great! It’s smooth and natural. It still lacks behind USB though. I had exactly the same experience with Lumin - I preferred USB even to the AES/EBU using a fairly expensive digital AES cable.
So as long ss your DAC has a very good USB section, you should be fine with N150

The dealers know the warranty clause. And if they don’t, it’s nearly as bad as playing this card to make a sale. It also downgrades the product, making it appear as potentially unreliable.

@zlone there’s no simple answer. With spdif, the clock before the DAC matters the most, be it in the transport/streamer or a re-clocker that will take in USB and output either i2s or spdif or both.
with USB, your DAC’s USB processing is what you will rely on. The lower line Aurender models focus on USB and the design ensures galvanic and noise isolation so that your DAC can get as clean of a data stream as possible.

The reason why the higher Aurender models offer both USB and spdif is because of thr inclusion of clock that processes the digital signal before the spdif output. There’s a basic/decent clock in the N200, and sn excellent OCXO clock in the N20 and above.

So with streamers like Lumin U2 Mini, or U2, or Aurender N150 and N200, USB is the optimized and preferred interface to your DAC. Provided the DAC has a good USB section. Clear as mud? Lol

@signaforce hmmmm I don’t remember that USB thread. 
as to break in, don’t worry about it, just enjoy the music. If you don’t hear any changes during the 200hr time period that’s fine. Some cables change, some don’t. 

@mclinnguy buckle up and get your puke bags out. It’s a rollercoaster ride for sure. At 230hrs it’s not cooked yet. Figure about 400hrs to settle. 

@mclinnguy it will most likely continue to improve and I won’t be surprised if it throws another fit for a day or so. It’s crazy isn’t it how it fluctuates. 

It takes a little bit of time for the changes to soak in. You’re used to the Bluesound presentation. Listen to the N150 for at least a week or so, then switch back. Also, your USB cable needs some time as well…it’s still new. 
The Node is a good value but I find it hard to imagine the N150 is only a marginal improvement. 

@signaforce I highly recommend a good power cord and Ethernet cable for the Aurender. Doesn’t have to be crazy expensive. But will take the N150 performance up a notch.

@signaforce if you can, run 2 dedicated lines with two duplex outlets on each. Gives you more flexibility. 

@signaforce I had two dedicated lines run by the electrician for my system. No ground loop. I can either run the amps on one circuit or split.
When you do your dedicated lines, invest in quality outlets. Don’t plug it all into a $3 Home Depot outlet. They suck.