Streamer upgrade? follow up.


I posted the first part of this earlier in the week. There are a few other threads running concurrently here about this same subject.This is my personal experience with this situation.Ive been using a Aurender A100 streamer/dac which is they’re entry level unit, the SQ wasn’t horrible but I was pretty sure I could get it better.In a attempt to do that I purchased a Denafrips Pontus two and a DhLabs Mirage Usb cable to use with the A100 utilizing its Usb out.The two local hi fi dealers here in SO Cal both told me this would not produce much of an result and in my opinion after trying it they were both correct. So… as I stated in the first post I was coming from a “bit is bits” perspective which was I was convinced adding a better Dac would accomplish my goals, I just couldn’t believe that the zeros and ones  could possibly effect the quality of sound. But not being one to give up I decided in for penny in for a pound Id see for myself if there was anything to the other side of this conversation, I wanted a new toy for Xmas anyway.So I traded my A100 plus some cash to TMR ( nice people btw) for a shiny new Aurender N200 which arrived yesterday. Last night the moment of truth, I hooked up the new unit with the exact same everything as before in my system nothing different but the streamer.I let the tubes and everything else warm up for a few hours,picked a song I knew inside and out sat down and pressed play. Immediately within the first few notes of the Stones “ Wild Horses “ I knew I had made the right choice and that I was wrong believing  bits are bits “. I really don’t have adequate language to describe the difference in sound quality other than to say I feel like Im in someone else’s home listening to they’re far superior system, its that drastic.I can with complete confidence say this has got to be one of if not the most significant upgrades Ive made in my system, scouts honor!              PS. Grinin ear to ear here.                                                            

bikeboy52

 

Santa Claus is doing magic...

He could do the same magic if you have been ordered Node 2i instead and, he would in addition gift you in addition $5500 :⁠-⁠)

This is true if you compared them directly in your audio system and heard no sound quality improvement. Then of course you would buy the less expensive Node 2i and be happy.

If on the other hand an Aurender N200 is significantly better sounding then you have a decision to make. Am I willing to pay more to get unquestionably better sound performance streaming my music. I suspect that most listeners/music lovers will opt for the improvement they clearly hear.

Charles

If your system has a bottleneck south of the streamer,  you will never reach the streamer’s full potential.   
 

I only will recommend something if I have used it first hand, own it, demo’d it or used it in some capacity 

I can recommend the N200 if the rest of your system is of the same caliber it is worth a demo.   
 

Like I have said numerous times, the Node / Vault is a great streamer    The N200 is better in every metric, especially the most important aspect ….  Support. 
 

Aurender support is exceptional 

“This is great ad for Aurender N200 which I will never ever spend my money on 

what’s the op experience coming to streaming? 
Aurender , auralic is a joke 

they are the first streamer/ dac recommended by 99% of people here and most of this guys are dealers and so on”

I could not disagree more with this statement 

No experience with Auralic but have heard they are great too

oddfyi

 

we did a shootout of our 432EVO aeon vs the much more expensive aurender N20

 

long story short our aeon produced a far bigger and deeper soundstage

we are a 100% upgradable and are a full

Roon core and endpoint as well.

aso we can confidently state we can beat the N200

 

Dave and Troy

audio intellect

432EVO US importers

 

 

 

n

j

Now Santa Claus may have some problem in deciding whether to put Node 2i in the case of an Aurender or in the case of some other "respectable " streamer to do his magic, including the magic of returning money back. 

Given that Santa Claus may already be in a deep meditation and rest after hard Christmas work, it only remains to trust yourself. This thread, intensively or non-intensively is an implicit advertisement for the label and one particular product which costs a lot of money. If you guys are so willing to spend your money in a magical improvement for a well-advertised product, go ahead. There are thousand people suffering because of the lack of meal, i would rather donate than contribute in making rich individuals  richer. Do you really have an idea why N200 or whatever their product costs 6k, couldn't it cost 5,4, or 2k?

Music and audio  is as important for me as my work. I am willing to pay for something that can be justified, 6k for a  streamer, a simple computer with an incorporated monitor, for me, is just unjustified, it is not a technology that takes that much money to produce it. For me, this is just a dirty business and I would not like to contribute despite that SQ is so important for me. In fact, i sometimes think that i am fine with a little disturbed reproduction during streaming because it somehow makes digital sound more analog.

Can somebody explain clearly what particular advantages in SQ they have upgrading streamers?