Lumin U2 vs Aurender N200

  I went from a Bluesound Node 2i to the Aurrender N200.  Night and day.  My DAC is a Berkeley Alpha Series 2.

 @john1629 buying new equipment is so much fun, so congrats. you got some very good posts with good info. here's my thought. I have heard both the N200 and the Lumin U2. @ghdprentice is die hard Aurender guy for good reason. It is still the best SQ experience for the price range. Amazing sound. Lumin is good but not anything like the Aurender. That said, I agree I think you need to upgrade with a new DAC, considering a used A series Aurender (A200, A10) would solve that problem and not break the bank as badly. Their units have great internal DAC. happy hunting!

@milo0812 

Have you heard the N200 + DAC2 vs A200?  If you have an A200 and want to improve upon what you have, what do you buy and what do you dispose of?  If you have a N200, you can easily upgrade the DAC.  Of course you can just not use the internal A200 DAC, but as a streamer does the N200=A200?

Besides the whopping cost difference note that the Lumin works with Roon and Aurender does not. (Roon done right needs some other goodies,FYI) 

Great DAC and Streamers will cost with the desired better audible results. 

Here’s a Lumin X1 Stermer/DAC. The T3 or used T2 great too.  Aurender and many others also great. The choices are many with SQ matched. 
 

P.S.

This month’s Sterophile raves and raves about the iFi Audio NEO Stream. It’s $1300!