New streamer? N150 vs U2

@txp1 

What most streaming enthusiasts seem to undervalue is the quality of the program. Bluos is simple, reliable and completely satisfies my needs, which is to use strictly my android phone as a remote control for operating Qobuz. As far as I'm concerned, after reading the reviews of programs other than Bluos and their ability, or lack thereof, to function flawlessly with android phones, it's a no brainer. Bluos is the clear winner for my application, hands down. In my opinion, there is no way to quantify the quality of streamers unless you first talk about what application you want to use to operate it. It seems so obvious but it always blows my mind that seemingly experienced audiophiles hardly ever approach that part of the equation even so it is by far the most important part of the streaming process. 

My comments concerned the Bluesound N130 vs the Lumin U1 Mini.  I know nothing about the Aurender product.  Sorry about any confusion.

@baylinor You nailed it! Bluos is boss!

I would like to say something useful. I have read many reviews of Lumin… an excellent streamer. I also own two Aurender and after my experiences researching  and auditioning an streamers, no question I would go with Aurender. It is all they do and produce unquestionably one of the best on the market. There is nothing better  in the high end as to get into alignment with a leading edge, major player in the  field, company on a component. You find refinements and nuances not present in the competition that may not be obvious at first blush. Each level of Aurender raises the bar in sound quality. The flagship streamer I own equals my outstanding vinyl analog rig. I would look very carefully at the Aurender.

@leorousseau DAC, power supplies and streamers. They’re all integral to the thread when discussing a Node vs something else. 
 

@doni thanks for the clarity. It helped.

@gdnrbob Bob, the DAC is the elephant in my audio room. I’m not sure how much I like the Chord Qutest. It’s very smooth and delicate. It use’s very little power, similar to the Sbooster and the BS Node 2i, so I keep them all powered up 24x7. Important with our high electric costs here. I still have a Cary DAC-100t in my system connected to a Mac Mini. The 2014-era Cary sounds better than the Qutest on many classic rock songs. It’s “meatier”. I’m not sure what the proper audio term is. The Qutest is definitely better on jazz and on female vocals. And the Cary DAC has better soundstage width and depth. I run Amarra audio software on the Mac and it makes a big difference in sound-quality. I frequently compare the same song on Amarra to the anode 2i.