Aurender N20

I just placed an order for N20.  I was contemplating between N20 and N200 because my set up was USB.  My dealer, Scott Walker in Anaheim, came to my place and set his demo unit up so that I can compare USB through Chord M Scaler to Dave DAC vs. AES/EBU direct to Dave.  AES/EBU was clearly better.  Much more natural sound, better dynamics, bigger sound stage, etc.  It took less than 5 seconds of music for all 3 people present to unanimously pick AES/EBU as the much preferred connection.  We listened different kinds of music just to be sure, but the difference was not subtle at all.  I ended up trading in my M scaler and ordered a new N20.  BTW, using the conductor app on my M1 Mac mini via big screen is great.  More stable than Roon.

@jeffreyw

So, how did this story end? I also have a DAC, Holo May DAC KTE which supposedly was designed with a superb USB, but my N20 sounds great with AES. In my case I compared a 1k AES to a $250 giant killer USB and I preferred the AES. Perhaps, not a fair competition.

@vonhelmholtz 

I went in a different direction and paired my DAC with an Innuos Pulse. I had difficulty getting an audition of the Aurender. I'm very happy with the Pulse!

Congratulations..enjoy!

Thanks! I wish I could have heard an Aurender. I believe I would have gone the N200 route because of budget.