2. digital
  3. 191637-302

Streamer for LTA Aero

I've been shopping for a highly capable, yet sensible streamer to pair with a LTA Aero DAC... on order. I'm trying to read everything, but being just about as far away from tech savvy as one can be, I have to give great weight to the guidance of others. The streamers that are most of interest to me are the Aurenders N200 and N150, and the Innuos ZEN and ZENith. My interest in the Innuos line is due mostly to their ripping feature - that might be unfair - I have a couple thousand CDs. That being said, I'm not deaf to those who advise that If I get the streamer/DAC thing right, I'll never reach for a CD again. My interest in the Aurender line is not only that they are high end, but that they are a friendly choice for those with limited computer savvy (I ain't kidding either, my new cellphone is kicking my behind). After talking with the Aurender rep at Axpona, I was all in on the N200. Now that I've chosen the Aero DAC, I'm considering that I'll be paying for capabilities, not relevant to the Aero, and that the N150 might provide essentially the same SQ at half the price. I'm very happy with my amplifier/speaker combination and believe that it's a highly capable pairing. They're pretty obscure in this country, but FWIW, I have a New Audio Frontiers Supreme 300B SE integrated feeding SoundKaos 40 speakers. I'm open to criticism as well.

phaelon
classic8
81 posts
 

@jasonbourne71 +1 

I am happy with my Aurender N150

zlone
657 posts
 

I understand your concern about possibly missing out on sound quality if certain tweaks aren’t applied, but I guess I have not heard that is necessary with the higher models of Innuos, or Aurender for that matter. Implied in my post, and based on your desire to avoid a highly technical solution, Innuos provides the ease of CD ripping combined with a well designed and thoughtfully evolving user interface. I was a software engineer for decades, so very technical, but I greatly value a user interface with good flow and visual appeal. I have found that with Innuos, I don’t think you would be disappointed. 

phaelon OP
1,049 posts
 

Between the ZEN and the ZENith, what I'm taking away from the Innuos website as well as other reviews, is that the ZENith is a little more refined and mellow than the ZEN. If that's fair, and my current system lacks neither, I'm leaning towards the ZEN. Appealing to those who have listened to both, is that a fair assessment of the difference?

sdl4
210 posts
 

I love my Innuos Zen Mk3!  I remember when the Mk3 versions of both the Zen and the Zenith came out, and I was trying to decide between them. I watched a review by John Darko, in which he said that there was only a very slight difference in sound between the two (favoring the Zenith just a little) and that it still took him 2-3 days to be sure he even heard a difference. My dealer convinced me that the Zen was a better value because it had the best sound-to-cost ratio in the Innuos line. 

The other thing that Innuos has going for it is its music-player software, Sense 3.0. A lot of folks who have used both Roon and Sense think that Sense has better sound quality and stability in actual use. Roon has more features (and Roon Radio is very good), but Roon is designed to work with many different types of hardware and can't be tailored to squeeze the best performance out of a dedicated hardware line like Innuos does. 

 

phaelon OP
1,049 posts
 

Thank you, sdl4. I think that helps me eliminate the ZENith.

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