Solo streamer

Stereophile evaluation of Benchmark DAC3:

“Highly recommended for Class A+ in Stereophile’s Recommended Components.”

The original DAC 3 was an excellent DAC for its price point. It is very resolving, and should be capable of rendering what the N200 brings to the table with no issues.

The only thing I would caution is that the DAC 3 is very, very linear, and the difference from going from the CXN V2 to the Aurender is that you may lose a tad bit of harmonics. As the CXN V2 is both warm and unresolving in comparison, the N200 is also very linear, but it is also much more revealing, and transparent. The space of the soundstage is so many levels higher than the CXN V2.

If you do need more harmonics or warmth after breaking in the N200, realize that it is the job of the source to render as clearly as possible, and for the rest of the system to shape the sonics to your preferences. If you instead seek a warmer or richer sounding streamer, try Innuos, but it won’t be as revealing as the N200, and the soundstage will shrink.

I congratulate the you on the N200. While it is a larger investment than many other things in your system, the quality of your source is something that should be worthy investing in, and it will open the pathways for other opportunities for your system to continue to flourish. 

I use an older Auralic Aries G1 streamer with an outboard DAC. The lightning DS app, while it has it's learning curve works quite well but my only comparisons are too Bluesound Node and Aurender n100 w/Conductor, I prefer the Auralic Lightning DS app.

Five years, from 2017-18 when the B. DAC3 was reviewed and measured by Stereophile and ASR, to 2022-23, is a significant product cycle for DACs. The premium-priced DACs that received favorable reviews back then may not even stack up well against modern, lower-priced DACs.

So, what DAC do you all recommend with a $6300 streamer? Mola Mola, Holo May, PS Audio, Weiss? Obviously, down the road, the OP will "eventually'' upgrade his DAC to one more cost commensurate with the streamer. That might happen this year, or 5 years from now, but yep. He will likely do so.