Node2i to Aurender N100SC…WoW!

@fuzztone I never had the opportunity to play with the Pi’s or with outboard power supplies. I hear they are excellent. I did have a Lumin U1 mini in my rig for a day and I wasn’t convinced that heard that much of a difference to justify $1700…I was about to go with a Teddy Pardo LPS for the Node2i then this Aurender popped up at a great price (used) so I took the dive. I’ve been sitting here for almost 6 hours and I’m still amazed at the level up it brings to the table and I’m using a 13yr old ARC DAC7.

@tomic601 I’m assuming I’d have to be going from Aurender to DAC via USB for the jitterbug to do it’s thing? Unfortunately the DAC7 only does 16bit via USB so I go coaxial.

@jetter yes, the ARC DAC7. The only thing that I added to the Aurender was a Virtual Dynamics power cord. The best I can describe it, is the music has more weight to it, more realistic. The soundstage is magnificent.

@dhite71 I don’t want to impose any expectation bias upon you. So I’ll hold my comments until you get some listening time with it. Enjoy!

@dhite71 

Thats a shame it didn’t work out for you. So you were using the N10 with a ARC DAC8 and there wasn’t a substantial improvement over the Node2i? I’m curious to know, what USB or Coax cable were you using? The DAC8 is a fantastic unit.

@dhite71 

All good! Prior to obtaining the Aurender, I had listened to a Lumin and didn’t find much of a difference over the Node2i. At the same time, I had a ARC Dac7 and prior to obtaining the Terminatior, I demoed a few different dacs that did absolutely nothing for me so it is, what it is.