Aurender N200


Hi

I was hoping to get feedback on the Aurender N200.   I have a Bluesound Vault 2i that honestly has been great but I am looking for a significant bump up in sound. Will be using with a LAB 12 DAC which accepts USB class 2 output and has coax also.  I really like this DAC , although I do have the opportunity to trade up within a year so that's to be seen if I do that.  I find myself mostly streaming and want a great sounding stand alone streamer that won't be outclassed if I upgrade the DAC.   Any opinions of this unit would be appreciated 

Thanks 

128x128oddiofyl

Thanks , it's shipping tomorrow.... can't wait to put it in .   Nice feature is the 2.5 drive bays .  I'm picking up a drive for it this weekend .

I have a BlueSound Node 2i and have a difficult time believing you can hear the difference.  What difference will I hear?  Would I detect the more expensive streamer when doing a blind test?

To my ears the N200 is definitely superior to the N10 and the Bluesound (i've owned all 3). With this said the bluesound is a great budget unit. I'm in the process of downsizing my system and will be trading in my W20SE to the TMR for an N200 plus cash . I agree with many of our members your DAC plays a big role. I came off a Berkeley Reference 3 sold that and now eyeing the Rockna to match with my N200.Good luck.

N200 is better sounding than older N10 and N100. The N20 is really not much better the W20SE is fantastic though. The best streamer is a Taico Extreme. Full stop. 

I was also considering Aurender, but after communicating with @blisshifi about Aurender having onboard storage for music  I’m reconsidering.  I have a Bluesound node with a linear power supply and a nas. I just put in the nas to replace playing my music thru my iMac. This along with the power supply mod elevated the sound and performance greatly. I’m very happy now! The problem I feel with Aurender is again being locked into a proprietary system that’s not nas friendly. I like to tweek and upgrade and Aurender doesnt seem the best in that area..I’m still open but looking more toward a Lumin u1 transport when and if I decide to upgrade. Until then I’m very happy with the upgraded node and nas.