New streamer

@12many 

Very weird. I was unable to get the original receipt so asked Aurender to provide manufacture date. Just received this from them. 

“According to our database, your unit was shipped to the US on September 9th, 2022. Based on this shipping date, your warranty is valid for two years from that date, ensuring coverage until September 9th, 2024.”

I have no idea why… the only thing I can think of is I bought it from an authorized dealer. 

@mojo771 

The Aurender N150 has only one review I can find, therefore I am not positive that it is vastly superior to the A6/A8. There are certainly no professional head to head tests. Steve Huff stated the Lumin U2 mini was superior to the A6 (& perhaps the A8.. I didn’t remember), so I eliminated EverSolo. I never really closely looked at them, but maybe a great choice. 

Most on this an other threads recommended Aurender, as did Upscale Audio. It has LPS, is a great brand, with a great following. Seemed like the right choice to me. 
Decisions… decisions. 

I use only Qubuz, so no issues with any OS.

While I appreciate the various recommendations, I personally am down to my stated 3. The local Aurender dealer has no N150’s in stock so struck out there.
Calling Upscale shortly. Thanks.

Just talked to Chris at Upscale Audio. First, my 3 choices are his most popular and most recommended  streamers in that price range. Sound wise, he said they were all very close but ranked them as follows;

N150 (only in critical listening mode), then the U2 mini, then the Aries. 
App wise, he said the Lumin was definitely last. 
Any thoughts from Lumin owners on the Lumin app?

Thanks

@mclinnguy

Interesting, I never knew about that. So once those are installed one wouldn’t need to turn up the volume in order to flatten out the curve, as typically humans have to in order to increase lower frequencies to the same level as midrange. Thus the invention of the loudness control (Mcintosh). So you enjoy your hifi at lower volumes than those without hearing aids.

interesting observation. Not sure. I have only not had loudness control for the last 6 weeks with the purchase of my Rogue. Have been listening at lower volume since its install, but I chalked that up to the quality of sound. I do remember thinking recently, sounds great at low volume… why did I ever need loudness control…

I would think they had the same phenomenon as the human ear, but if so, at what volume would they be flat? My guess is at a lower volume than the human ear. 

First impressions Aurender N150:

I promised I would give my honest impressions of my new streamer. I will break it down into different aspects of my new N150, and compare it to my Node N130.

Unboxing: i was impressed with the significant weight of the N150, more like the weight of my preamp, particularly when compared with my Node. It is very well built. 
Design: The appearance of the Aurender is stunning. Pictures don’t do it justice. Easily my best looking component. While mine is silver & my other components are black, my existing components have enough silver accents, and N150 black accents to blend. The form factor of the N150 is perfect (for me).

App: Conductor is easy to use and intuitive. The translation was seamless. I was pleasantly surprised that Qobuz playlists created on BluOS were there and Conductor apps existed for both iPad’s & iPhone’s. 

Sound: I listened to Adele, Miles Davis, Cat Stevens & Diana Kroll. All were higher res Qobuz streaming. I would say my Node sounded very good. The N150 sounds great. Everything sounds a little better, soundstage, separation, clarity, crispness, & smoothness, through the frequencies. Bass clarity is outstanding. It is not as significant an improvement as my cartridge, tube or DAC upgrade, but a very nice improvement. You may be able to have similar results with LPS for the Node, not sure, but this complete package is IMHO worth the investment. I think my digital side is now as good or better than vinyl. Except for nostalgia, I may never listen to vinyl again. 
When it arrived, my wife said take a picture of your last audio upgrade. It is… I am set… for now. 😏

Thank you everyone for your outstanding guidance. 
 

@lalitk 

Thank you, I think I will be very happy. Will do on the performance. Stealing my high quality PC from my AVR (with the recent add of my Rouge pre, it is now only used for HT). Bought a good quality USB cable (XLO UltraPLUS) & have quality CAT 8 LAN cable on order. Should be set! 

@markmuse 

please give me your thoughts on the mini.Changed my mind… still in the running. Thanks

@marco1 

Brilliant! Thank you for sharing as I thought otherwise. Perfect!

@12many 

Will do. It arrives Friday...we shall see. It sounds awful good now with my Node & Qutest, as my Qutest was a major improvement from my Schiit MM2. So I am thinking a subtle improvement. I hope to be surprised, but will be happy with any improvement. 

Ok, adding the N150 to my list. Aurrender gives me a slight pause as a dealer on another thread warned when buying an Aurrender, budget for repairs. Anyone had any issues? 
I don’t use Roon. 
The Innuos looks good but is too large for my space.  
I do prefer an off the rack solution. 
The Lumin U2 standard might work, but would be sitting on only 3 feet as my shelf angles in the back. Might be a problem. 

This was easy… going with a used or potentially new N150. Was reading other streaming discussions in addition to this one. This particular OP also owned a Qutest and was questioning whether it could keep up. The discussion was N150 vs U2. He went with the N150. 
 

“The N150 is in-house and on its second day with 10 hours of total listening time.  I’ve got one main thing to say— the problem wasn’t my DAC. The Chord Qutest is a fully competent DAC when input by a really good streamer.  Wow!  I don’t have the N150 fully optimized and the improvement is easily heard, ESPECIALLY the much improved center stage. Imaging! Much more ‘fleshed out’.  Center stage depth is also much better.  Stage width is excellent.  And only 10 hours burn-in at this time.”

The N150 is a great form factor, recommended by most of you, already has LPS, the Qutest is a good match, I like the USB only solution, the appearance and what appears to be great sound! Done!

@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 

@evank 

BTW, what DAC do you use?

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

j just bought a slightly used Aurender N150 at the Music Room. Thank you for all your recommendations, to come to the (I believe) right choice. I look forward to its arrival! Thanks again. 

@lalitk 

Thank you! I think I will!

Most people recommend having a separate DAC. I bought my first DAC as a low cost solution to my new Marantz AVR having cheap TI DAC Chips because of the AKM fire. The low end Schiit was a significant improvement. My system has come a long way since then.
I have only had 3 DAC’s, and the first 2 were low end Schiit’s. I can only tell you that my new Qutest is heads & shoulders above my MM2, which was better than my Mani 2, which was much better than my AVR built in DAC. 
I will let you know the results with my N150, but YRMV. Regardless, I think you will see a significant improvement just moving from optical to USB. 

@mojo771 

This is a quote from another post. He too was questioning his Qutest purchase. He then bought an N150. He stated:

“The N150 is in-house and on its second day with 10 hours of total listening time.  I’ve got one main thing to say— the problem wasn’t my DAC. The Chord Qutest is a fully competent DAC when input by a really good streamer.“

YRMV, but I am already happy with my Qutest and look forward to the N150 taking it to the next level. 
That said, the A8 is very well reviewed. I believe Steve Huff loved it including the internal DAC. 

Great points. Another reason I selected the N150 was form factor (width). I needed to put my new streamer on the top shelf, left of my center. The A8 was too wide. 

Another factor was price. I bought it at 5:00 AM, the first day it was listed as a trade in at The Music Room. Less than 1 year old, no external marks, fully tested, 30 day return, 90 day warranty for $2,000, with CC & reward points! Wrong color (silver), but too good to be true. $350 cheaper, newer & in better shape than anything on the used market with all the benefits that TMR offers. Life is good!

The A8 is a great streamer and is beautiful. All the best!

@lalitk 

Perfect! That was one of the pluses mentioned by Upscale when I talked to them about my potential choices. 

Great to hear that was true!

Can’t wait until it arrives. 

Aurender users, I was reading some of the user guides, and noticed they do upscaling. I know this is system dependent & that my results may vary, as a starting point, do you use it? If so, to what level. For example, the max that your DAC can handle, or some specific number like 44/192?

As a reminder my DAC is a Qutest and I stream Qubuz. Thanks!

@lanx0003

Thank you for the clarification…

@mclinnguy @audphile1

Thank you!

To quote Cat Stevens… I am old… but I’m happy…

@audphile1 

XLO UltraPlus

@audphile1 

Thanks, it is new. I don’t get cable burn in, but will bow to greater minds than mine… now running node nonstop to DAC. 

Bought it based upon a USB cable forum recommendation on Audiogon. Was a little concerned, based upon the heavy discounting, that it wasn’t a good cable. Glad to hear it is!

@audphile1 

I just looked at the USB thread. You were one of the 3 that recommended this cable. 😎

One more observation. Was listening to Nora Jones “come away with me” last night  The NODE presentation was very light and airy. The Aurender presentation was airy, but was fuller, more robust. I actually preferred the NODE presentation… although I suspect the Aurender was more accurate. 
Whereas, the more robust Aurender presentation of any Diana Kroll is much preferred, as the NODE presentation was a little weak, less engaging. Interesting.  
For those NODE users, it is indeed an excellent price/performer. 

One more thing… hearing aids. Many of us are getting up in age and our hearing is not what it once was. I bought very good hearing aids because of this ($6,000 Signia’s). Side benefit, it flattens your hearing across the musical spectrum. The audiologist tests your hearing at about 20 different frequencies and adjusts your hearing aids accordingly. 
The universal setting maximizes the sound of a human voice. However, 3 of the brands have a recorded music setting which flattens your hearing across the spectrum. Think of it as equalization for your ears. Even if you don’t have hearing loss, your hearing probably is not flat. Food for thought. Thanks!

Thank you all. I am very happy with my purchase. 

@balooo2 

i assume you went from a Node x using the internal DAC. If so, you significantly improved your DAC moving to the A8. 

Everyone, I think my observations have mislead some of you, perhaps most or all of you. I made an outstanding purchase and could not be happier. The N150 is a perfect fit for my system and I think has brought my system to my ‘audio nirvana’.

That said, I think marco1 said it perfectly, streamer improvement doesn’t smack you in the face, like say going from a $600 phono cartridge to a $3,500 phono cartridge (Node to N150), but the improvement is well worth the investment.

I was being very careful not to NODE bash. It is a remarkable streamer… for $600. I am ecstatic with my choice . Thank you.

Upgraded power cables and cat 8 Ethernet cable with 1gb speed to N150. The only remaining investment I plan is a 20A dedicated electrical run. As my nephew put it (an EE with an excellent system) “it’s something audio people do when they have run out of things to buy”.
It’s been a fun journey since my first system in 1973 when I was 21: Marantz 2270, Dual 1229 w/Shure SME T2 imp, Rectilinear III LowBoys, Soundcraftsmen 2012A. Been through a lot of iterations since then, but this is the first system I can honestly say beats my first. Thanks!

@audphile1 Thanks. As you know, 2 schools of thought on that. 2 dedicated lines provides separate power for digital vs analog or amps vs other. The potential downside is ground loops. I have only class D amps, both in my AVR and my 2 channel amp, so probably don’t need 20A, let alone 2, but will do 20A regardless. 
I also understand all appliances should be on the opposite leg from audio. Thanks!

Quick post on Aurender warranty transfer. While the warranty does transfer, unless the purchaser of the used Aurender can obtain the original sales receipt, the warranty start date is the date of manufacture. Per Aurender support:

The warranty for the N150 is valid for two years from the initial purchase date or the date of manufacture. To ensure that the warranty is properly transferred to you, it would be beneficial if you could obtain a copy of the original purchase receipt from The Music Room. This will help in verifying the remaining warranty period.

So if you are selling and advertising a transferable warranty, you would need to provide a copy of your original receipt to the buyer. 

@oddiofyl I agree! Thanks  

@lalitk 

I bought it used. It was a trade in.