Solo streamer

rvpiano…

not familiar with Idagio app, but…wouldn’t Qobuz have at least most of what’s available there?

I streamed some music from YouTube to N200 via AirPlay and didn’t find it terrible. May be my expectations were low. It’s definitely inferior to Qobuz though. 
I would suggest to give the N200 couple of weeks of non-stop streaming and then re-evaluate. 

Mdalton - a sound decision is made by an individual based on feedback from others who have experience with the item in question, research conducted and the available budget. Your help is appreciated. But all you’re providing is simply an opinion. No one is obligated to follow your direction. 

RV…please make sure both the dac and streamer are powered off before you connect the streamer to dac with usb. After the DAC is on bootup the aurender. 

I was looking at Merging dac on TMR but it lacks USB. 
I’ll read up on Master Fidelity. Thanks @lalitk !!!

@rvpiano

I’m very happy with my Aurender N200. There’s no internal storage unless you add it. No upsampling. Has critical listening mode that turns off non essential features including screen. Solid performer. Optimized for USB interface. 

Rvpiano - congrats! You won’t be disappointed. Should be a very nice match with your DAC and a nice upgrade over the Cambridge!

Keep us posted. 

Mdalton I do not look for validation. I chose the N200 based on the research, feedback, design philosophy and Aurender’s reputation for quality of their products and customer support. Hearing the improvements it brought to my system was really shocking. 
I would be perfectly fine if rvpiano went with a WiiM Pro. I provided my opinion and that’s the only thing I can do.

No one here knows what the next step in the upgrade path for the OP may be. You’re judging someone else’s choices based purely on your perception at that given moment.

I honestly don’t get what your problem is.

Unless you just want to be a dick all the time. 

m…yup. You’ve done that aplenty.

You’ll know when you hear it. Give the N200 at least 10 days to settle by running it 24/7 (just set the queue to repeat all tracks). Don’t jump to conclusions too early. 
The included USB cable is actually not terrible so if you don’t have a good USB on hand, I wouldn’t hesitate and use the “stock” cable. 
 

Rvpiano is notorious for being hostile, mdalton. 
I would strongly advise to keep away from any forum he’s part of. You never know what other methods he’ll come up with to offend you. He may even like his new streamer when it arrives, which would be simply terrible. 

mdalton

377 posts

07-15-2024 at 11:41pm 

https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/019/304/Old_Man_Yells_at_cloud_cover.jpg
 

Great post. Mind posting the actual image next time? I ain’t clicking on your links man. 

Hilarious 
 

rv…

Conductor 4 is good. Takes a few days to get used to it just use iPad for best experience.

The sound will mellow out with break in. The stock included USB cable is actually pretty good. I used it for few weeks before I got my AQ Diamond  

Enjoy your new N200! It’s a great streamer!

+1 oddiofyl

RV…N200 is optimized for USB. I tried coax and it sounded good. But USB sounded even better. I would encourage you to try. Use the included USB cable. As I mentioned, it’s decent.

YouTube playlist with instructions 
 

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOfIbdWjSaXrZ7TBU_8rYymgYwIkrthsE&si=kGj_EvCfKRJgfOsw

RV…you got it!

Even the airplay sound quality should improve.
keep cooking it…you should be set in about 200hrs just run USB to make sure it all settles, streamer and DAC that you haven’t used with USB (my assumption).

As to exorbitant price…yes the N200 is not cheap. But the build quality, components they used to build it and finally the sound quality it produces, I’m with you…I think it’s worth it. 

RV…the app is actually pretty good. Once you get thru the learning curve and get used to it, it’ll be fine. Your observation about the sound quality and tome is spot on. 

If no one responds, I’ll see if I can do this on mine when I get home tonight. 

Actually RV take a look at this video and see if it helps 

https://youtu.be/y_0G-utn-iE

@rvpiano yes I know. I would just recommend saving albums into favorites and you can either browse thru them or use search ti find a specific album. Depending on a use case, it might not be ideal but it’s serviceable.
As to the Roon recommendation above by @adasdad …definitely something to consider as Roon UI is simply the best there is in the streaming space. However, Roon does not sound as good as the native Aurender processing. For non critical listening, totally fine and as stated UI is just awesome. But when it comes to sonics, it falls slightly short. It’s enough of a step down for me to consider canceling Roon subscription.

You probably won’t be sinning records anymore unless it’s a rare recording not available on Qobuz. 

Yes it is. Glad you stayed the course and tried it out.

It’s incredible the difference a good streamer can make. 

@aldnorab you got it!

@rvpiano you can set airplay volume to max on ipad or iPhone and control the volume with your preamp. That’s how I run it in airplay mode. 

You haven’t seen Lumin app. Looks like a high school project compared to Conductor

• @rvpiano I’m assuming you’re using the stock Aurender USB cable which is fine. Whenever you’re ready, there’s more to be had with better USB and better power cord if you’re using stock. Again no rush …the stock USB is decent. 

@rvpiano 

yes it has excellent separation, layering and dynamics.
Hope you’re using the Critical Listening Mode which shuts off display and other non-essentials. The difference is subtle but audible. 
 

Really? That’s strange. I’m between DACs now and can’t test it but I will compare after I get a DAC. Don’t recall the CLM being an issue. 
May be revisit it after you got some miles on it and reassess.

@mahler123 Are you using mconnect with Aurender? 

@rvpiano all good man! Keep the thoughts coming! So far you’re reflecting my 7 months journey with the N200. And I enjoy music with it in the system now as much as I did the first time I plugged it in.

@rvpiano I’m between DACs now and have one en route for a Tuesday/Wednesday delivery. I’ll compare when everything is hooked up and running again. Will let you know. Been spinning CDs on my $49 15 year old DVD player the last few days. Any music is better than no music! Miss streaming big time!

You know something I thought of…is it possible that the N200 has lower noise in CLM and sounds cleaner vs a bit more jitter going to your DAC in regular mode, which causes the DAC to sound slightly brighter when it’s dealing with a bit more jitter, resulting in you perceiving it as more open sound? Because I don’t recall CLM reducing sound quality…if anything it darkens the background a bit making everything sound slightly clearer. I know benchmark states their dacs are immune to jitter. They also state that USB cables and power cords won’t affect their dacs, which I found to not be true when I owned DAC 3 HGC…just speculating…

@rvpiano definitely keep it setup the way it sounds best to you! Enjoy the music and don’t use it to evaluate your equipment - it’s the mode that’s nearly impossible to get out of

@rvpiano it’s awesome to see you like the N200 and keep raving about it. Keep the thoughts coming.
By the way I expect the N200 to at least match the performance of your cd transport/player. I was close to giving up on streaming and and going back to spinning 💿 until I tried the N200. I have to give credit to @ghdprentice ​​​​and @lalitk for battling it out with me in one of my posts a while ago and recommending Aurender when I was complaining about the sound when streaming using Roon and Bricasti M3 as its end point. I didn’t think I can get the kind of boost in sonics with the N200 but it just simply dispatched the network card/streamer in the Bricasti M3 DAC.

@rvpiano my pleasure!

@rvpiano I’m back in business! Got the DAC. 
As to the CLM - I can hear slightly more open sound with the CLM off. This wasn’t the case with my Bricasti where I heard slightly lower noise floor with CLM enabled. 
The current DAC seems to prefer USB signal with CLM off. Go figure …

Yes. I still think it’s the DAC coping with noise. After listening with CLM off I enabled it again. I’ll do some more listening. It’s odd…

@aldnorab thanks! Good to be back to streaming music. Not sure yet on my DAC situation but I’m getting there…one DAC at a time 😂

Getting used to the new sound. I’ll keep playing around with CLM vs just turning the screen off (not a fan of displays staying on when I’m listening).

 

lalitk

5,221 posts

08-08-2024 at 01:17am 

@audphile1 Which DAC did you get?
 

I sold my Bricasti M3. Tried PS Audio DSD MkI, now taking a Chord Hugo TT2 for a test drive. My gut feeling is I am making a full circle back to Bricasti just need to figure out which model. 

No kidding! I just canceled my Roon subscription because the sound quality thru Aurender (and previously thru Bricasti dac network card) was subpar compared to Aurender proprietary processing. But I’m sure if you have a roon centric component, i.e. Grimm MU2, you’ll be fine.

My system is undergoing a few major changes. Sold my Pass Labs separates: X260.8 monos and XP22 preamp. Simplifying my setup and going the integrated route. So in addition to DAC changes I’m also between integrated amps. I’ve got two amps battling it out.

mclinnguy

340 posts

08-08-2024 at 04:18pm 

 I’ve got two amps battling it out.

ooh, the Coda and the ??? 
 

Boulder 866

@lalitk yes I agree it’s all in the design and implementation. I’m sure it sounds fabulous! Add to that the awesome Roon UI/UX and it’s undeniably a winner!

Right now I’m focusing on amplification first, DAC second. So who knows what the future holds!

Thanks @lalitk !

Wishing you the same!

@brunomarcs your post reminded me of “One Piece at a Time”, a song by Johnny Cash

@rvpiano I’m listening to Bruckner 9th. The loud passages sound like borderline microphone clipping. It’s the recording. Not horrible but this particular recording may potentially be a victim of loudness wars. It’s overdone.
So there’s not much you can do.

@ghdprentice it isn’t the worst but it isn’t the best. It sounds fine on my system. But it’s kind of bunched up and overdone. Dynamic range from quiet to loud is fine. The loud is the overdone part. No fault of N200. 

@rvpiano I haven’t experienced what you’re describing with volume variance being this dramatic. I agree with @lalitk as to the reasons why - it is the recording. However there are many other factors that can contribute to this such as DAC, preamp and amp, where the components cannot reproduce the dynamic range of the recording correctly and you end up with higher than necessary volume settings on a quiet passages and get your eardrums pierced when the DR is in the norm for the electronics

May be you can post the album and track you were listening to when this happened?