Aurender ACS100 as streamer/player

Sorry to revive a 3 1/2 month old thread, but I have the same question about the ACS100 as the OP. So the two negatives that hamper it's performance are the switching power supply (an easy fix, though at 19V, 3.4A, not as easy as most), and the lack of a "audiophile" grade USB output. Several here have suggested that a DAC with a good USB implementation will overcome this limitation. I have a Singxer SU-6 that converts USB into pretty much any other type of output you could want, including my preferred AES, and it does a fantastic job of it. It's currently being fed by my M1 Mac Mini (running nothing but Roon) and it sends the signal to my Yggdrasil LiM. This is my headphone rig and with the recent addition of a MacIntosh MHA200 tube amp I'm getting pretty phenomenal sound. I know virtually everyone here says using a computer for any kind for audio is a mistake, and while I'm skeptical about the difference it would make in my system, I'm willing to try it and see for myself. I'm aware the Aurenders don't do Roon. I think I would be fine without it. I know many believe there is a small sound quality deficit when using Roon, and maybe there is, so hopefully any relative clunkiness of the Aurender app would be overshadowed by the quality improvement. The big question for me is, since there's nothing special about the ACS100's USB output, what exactly am I gaining over the Mac? I'm confident the SU-6 would do a great job with the signal, but it already is doing that with the Mac. Is it worth spending over $4K (incl power supply) to try this?

@shooter41 

The primary usage of the ACS100 is for ripping CDs, which you didn’t mention at all in your post. 

If ripping CDs is not what you need, then I suggest looking for a used Aurender N100H which has a linear power supply built in and would output USB to your DDC. 

Or if you want new consider the N150. 
 

@rockrider 

The N150 is a valid alternative. I was originally more interested in the ripping capabilities until I read from someone who compared Aurender ripped files to more commonly sourced ripped files and found that there was nothing special about them. I would miss the bigger, color screen on the ACS, though.

@rockrider

+1

Ripping CDs at this point in time is just not a good use of anyone’s time or money. Better to add the cost of the transport and to be purchased CDs and but a better streamer. My Aurender sounds as good with exact match Cds and typically streaming sounds better on the half million high resolution albums on Qobuz.