Streamer Recommendation.

The truth is that most folks would vouch for whatever brands they happen to own. Most have never done an extended in-home comparison between multiple brands at the same time. For example, if you’re an Aurender user, you would claim that it’s the best streamer out there. If you use Innuos (like myself), you will sing praises for Innuos. Ditto for Auralic, Lumin, etc. Also, when someone claims that they owned brand A but now own brand B which they prefer, it’s important to ask how long ago did they own brand A. Things change relatively quickly in this segment of the industry and any opinions formed based on a 3-4 year-old experience should be taken with a grain of salt.

Personally, I think all the big names -- Aurender, Auralic, Innuos, Lumin, etc. offer wonderful sound quality and reliability. There are more similarities than differences within the same price brackets. I ended up buying Innuos but I doubt I would have been any less satisfied had I bought Aurender or Auralic. If Aurender supported Roon, I probably would have bought the N10 since I really liked it. But I can tell you that I don’t find Innuos Zenith to be a lesser proposition by any means. I also know I would have been equally happy with Auralic or Lumin. Just sayin’ ...

Congrats on your decision to purchase the Auralic Aries G2.1.  I’ve had mine for over 2 years and still love it.  It works well over Wi-Fi, but I’m using pretty fancy ethernet cabling and audiophile network switch.  The Lightning DS app is easy to use and well laid out IMO.

This morning I placed an order for the Aurender N20 and was planning to sell the Auralic. I changed my mind after streaming Rihanna’s Lift Me Up on Qobuz just now The Aries is staying and going into my bedroom system feeding my Schiit Yggy OG DAC.

@arafiq 

I agree that most people vouch for what they have. However, how good a recommendation that is, is a reflection of their  knowledge, depth of experience, rigor in their search, budget, as well as their values. It is unlikely someone would not have bought the best they could. So, one must examine evidence within their post to tease out as much of this as possible and to look at their system. 

@kmmd

It is likely you will really appreciate your N20… it is a really great sounding streamer, based on my experience with Aurlic Aries G2, and Aurender N100, N10, and W20SE. While I liked the Aurlic, I found the Aurender to be a superior sounding streamer for the money and much more stable and better supported.