Aurender N10 still Relevant in 2025

CuriousJim. That is my thinking also.

Depending on the asking price,  the N10 is still a great streamer and unless you have a really good “rest of your system “   you probably won’t be hearing much of a difference between N10 and the N200.  Not saying that there’s little or no difference, but when you’re talking quality, there comes a point where very good is very good.

@pdjmwj 

I agree the Aurender N10, despite being released in 2015 and discontinued in 2021, is still a good streamer in 2025, particularly if you have good DACs and plan to use its AES/SPDIF outputs. However, when I upgraded my N10 to the N20, the sound quality increased significantly. I suggest you look at the N20 and its features.   Based on my experience, the Aurender N20 does indeed represent a significant upgrade over the N10, especially in sound quality, making it a strong recommendation for anyone considering an upgrade.  Aurender makes other streamers but I am not familiar with them.  As posted above, I suggest you do some additional research on these models and maybe some other brands.

HOWEVER, my next upgrade was to the Infigo Audio IS-1 Streamer (About $5,000) running Audiovana for another step up in sound quality. "The Infigo Audio IS-1 Streamer running Audiovana is a high-end digital music streamer known for dramatically improving sound quality. It features a dedicated Intel quad-core CPU with one core solely devoted to music playback, ensuring uninterrupted audio processing. It supports multiple operation modes including Audirvana Server, Roon Endpoint, HQPlayer NAA Endpoint, and UPnP endpoint, making it compatible with most music players on the market.  It has many choices  that make the steamer very useful.  

The streamer uses an ultra low noise linear power supply and includes gigabit fiber optic isolation for the network connection to eliminate noise and jitter, thus creating a very clean and transparent audio signal”. I suggest you look at the Infigo Audio IS-1 steamer.

Yes, there a slight learning curve when using Audiovana but it is not that difficult.  The IS-1 Streamer supports other source options so you pick the one you like including Roon.  

Click here for mfg info

See my comments on the Infigo Audio IS-Streamer

I started streaming with a Bluesound Vault 2i in 2019 and when it was time for a significant upgrade I went with the N200.    Its been a great machine , I wish I had more time to use it.    No regrets , it is built like a tank and sounds great.  

Bought an Aurender N200 last year and love it. With the update it now works with Roon. Don't think the N10 offers that. The N200 also has the super capacitor for proper shut down in a power failure. This has saved my files twice. Not sure the N10 has this.

Good luck,

aldnorab 

I Owned the Hi Rose 130 and wanted to love it. Beautiful machine. However my Mac Laptop sounded better. I tried all the Eversolo models, up to the 8. Laptop still was better. Finally went to Arunder N200 and was happy. I eventually moved up to the N20. That is endgame for me. 

N10 is good streamer (better than N150) if you’re using AES/SPDIF output from streamer. Having said that, I would not buy N10 if Aurender is no longer pushing software updates. So check with Aurender if they are still supporting N10. 

Streamer choices greatly depends on your DAC. Are you connecting the two together with USB or AES / SPDIF.  If USB, N150 would be upto the standard (this means your DAC has a superior clock and decent USB implementation).  

Never mind the N250, I must have imagined that one. I do not know that it is in the works. 

@ghdprentice N250?  Did you mean N150 or does Aurender have new model in the works?  If you meant N150, my understanding is that the N10 still has a better clock than the N150?

The N10 is still relevant. But I think you will get equal sound quality from a N200. The N200 and N250 have been significant advances. 

I own an N20SE and N100. I have heard the N10... there was an upgrade to the power supply a couple years before it was discontinued that made the later ones sound better than the earlier ones. I have also heard the N20. 

I have also heard the Rose... definitely the sound quality is better with Aurender and you get the most recent Conductor app to control it which is highly regarded.