New streamer

I just tried a few streamers because my setup changed due to one of my kids taking part of my system to college.  

A lumin U1 mini w/sbooster into a Ps Audio strata as preamp feeding meridian g57 amp & ProAc 3.8’s sounded amazing- detail, tone & soundstage, liquid/coherent and musical.  Loved it - but my kid took the ps audio. 
 

I borrowed a Lumin D3 w/ internal power supply and used the pre outs w/loss less digital volume control into the same amp & speakers.  Noticeably less musical, tone and coherent and a little fatiguing.  I was a little dissapointed.
 

I used a node 2 into an audio refinement pre pro then into the meridan/proac set up and it sounded about the same as the Lumin D3.

I then used an Oppo Sonica w/ Mod Wright mods and external power supply direct into the Meridian and it sounds almost as good as the Lumin U1 mini.  Just a little less liquid/coherent but also a bigger/bolder sound.  This is what I am staying with for now. 
 

I did spend 10 days with this project so all set ups had time to burn in.  None of the gear was new in box and all had been very recently powered up.  Using Quboz, Prime, Spotify, Airplay and network attached dsd.
 

What I got out of it was that an external power supply for the streamer and a quality dac are very important.  The preamp is almost as important as the dac.  At least at the $2k streamer price point.  
 

OK, down to 3. 
I don’t want/need an internal DAC, so that eliminates the EverSolo and Rose. 
The Lumin U2 and Innuos are too large. Others (Rose RS130) are too expensive and not available used. 
Moving Node downstairs, so don’t want to do LPS. 

Lumin U2 mini, new. Perfect form factor, Well reviewed. 
Arurlic G1.1 new. Good form factor, well reviewed. However, everyone is out of stock. It must be well liked, but not sure of availability. 
Aurender N150 used. Perfect form factor, almost no reviews? Well liked within this forum. It does have everything I need & nothing I don’t. But no reviews??
Please keep any comments/ recommendations with these 3. 
Will be contacting Upscale Audio to get their thoughts, as they sell all 3. 
Can’t demo any currently, as none are available locally, except perhaps Aurender, as there is a local dealer. Will be contacting them also. 
Thanks

I also am a long time BS Node user. Started with their first one and have been using their latest N130 for quite a while now and Like it very much. The only reason I have never upgraded was because I like the operating system. After reading and hearing how much the streamer matters, I purchased a used Lumin U2 mini on here just to get the curiosity out of the way. I unfortunately have some things that are bothering me before I even get it which should be on Monday. I like using my laptop to control the Node which is a big plus because I like to surf the web while listening to music. The Lumin app is not Windows based so I can either use my phone or buy either an inexpensive Chrome Book, Tablet etc... which I ordered a Samsung tablet  so we will see how that goes. I know I can use Roon via my Windows laptop so that is another thought before I decide to open the Tablet.

I noticed you mentioned the everSolo A6, and I wanted to share my opinion on it. I must say I was somewhat disappointed. While the app does flow better (compared to Volumio in my iFi ZS), likely due to the larger DDR memory of 4GB, as opposed to 1GB in the iFi, the sound quality with the digital out to my DAC wasn't noticeably better than the iFi. On the other hand, the analog out with the internal DAC wasn't particularly impressive, and I found it to be worse than the digital pairing.

I'm not sure if I received a defective unit, but for some reason, when I directly connect it to my PA in my second system, the speakers emit a hum. Interestingly, this doesn't happen with my main system. It's not a problem when I use the digital out to the DAC. Most of the glitches previously reported seem to be resolved with the latest firmware update. However, recently, the app has a glitch that plays the first track repeatedly, even when the setting is 'list played' and not 'repeated.'

I also had the chance to audition the Innuos Pulse Mini and Zen at a show and found that they performed better than the A6. It was in two different rooms with different system components, but that was the impression I got in that short time period. Anyway, just my two cents for what it's worth.

@evank 

Your feedback on the U2 mini would be very valuable. The windows issue is not mine. I would use an iPhone of iPad. Thanks