I contacted McIntosh. They basically told me it was Aurender's problem to solve and to use a different output type (i.e. coax, optical, etc.) They also said the USB input is meant for computers where drivers can be used to manage the communication; its not meant for media players.
Aurender on the other hand has been very helpful. First, they made an adjustment to the output level of the N100 to address a known issue with some DACs attenuating the input level from the Aurender (the Mac is a known culprit.) Second, they offered to push a beta firmware out to address the clicks/pops as they've heard of this problem from other users. That hasn't happened yet but I'll provide an update when it has.
If the firmware update doesn't fix it, I'm ordering a Sciit Eitr USB-SPDIF converter and gonna call it a day. I really like the Aurender interface and a ability to hold music locally if desired. So I'm not really interested in changing my player out unless I'm forced to. I don't stream or own anything that goes beyond the 24/192 limit of SPIDIF input anyway. In fact, some people argue that the SPDIF approach sounds better than the USB transmission method. We shall see.
Aurender on the other hand has been very helpful. First, they made an adjustment to the output level of the N100 to address a known issue with some DACs attenuating the input level from the Aurender (the Mac is a known culprit.) Second, they offered to push a beta firmware out to address the clicks/pops as they've heard of this problem from other users. That hasn't happened yet but I'll provide an update when it has.
If the firmware update doesn't fix it, I'm ordering a Sciit Eitr USB-SPDIF converter and gonna call it a day. I really like the Aurender interface and a ability to hold music locally if desired. So I'm not really interested in changing my player out unless I'm forced to. I don't stream or own anything that goes beyond the 24/192 limit of SPIDIF input anyway. In fact, some people argue that the SPDIF approach sounds better than the USB transmission method. We shall see.