Upgrading from my Bluesound Node 2 streamer

I can recommend 3 under $1K.  2 can be further improved with power suppies under $500. It really depends on what you stream, what output you desire and extras like headphone amp and DSP.  I have Android and all 3 control apps are better and they sound better than the BluOs I also have.

I should say I have a $200 Android phone. That’s all I use and it’s great. There is a Tab A and an iPod around here. I have no need to fire them up.  My wife's iPhone works fine too.

Thoughts on Aurender?
Looking at some used units but they are USB only. Another expense since I’m using SPDIF at the moment.

Thoughts on Aurender and sub $500 USB cable?

I appreciate everybody’s help. Thanks

I use the Aurender N100H into an Ayre Codex and it sounds great. I have a few friends using the BlueSound Vault with the Codex as well. I do not know if the DAC in the vault is any different than the one in the Node but the Bluesound units work really well with the Codex.

The Bluesound app is a bit better than the Conductor app for the Aurender but that may be personal preference. The Aurender used to require an Apple iPad to use the app but they have come out with an Android app that works on android phones. Plus Aurender support is really good.

You might want to contact John Rutan at the Audio Connection to discuss. He's is a Bluesound and Aurender dealer. Good Luck!

emil

Thoughts on Aurender?
Looking at some used units ...

I bought an Aurender N100H in January as my first real streamer. It sounded great and looked slick, but that’s all I can say in favor of it. I just shipped it off just this week to The Music Room at a sharp loss, but it was worth it to get it out of my life.

Many people praise Aurender support, but I found the responses to my few issues were sluggish and disinterested. It was sometimes apparent that they didn’t even bother to read my inquiry - the suggested remedies were ones I’d told them I’d already tried.

The software that runs the streamer is frequently updated but always remained buggy - the company doesn’t seem much interested in improving it. When I asked about importing and exporting playlists, I got a pendantic response explaining how that would be nearly impossible to achieve. Oddly, Winamp was capable of this decades ago and JRiver and others have figured it out as well.

And heaven forbid you have a even a momentary loss of power - you’ll be in for a world of hurt trying to get the OS up again.

The reason I sold the Aurender to TMR was that I couldn’t sell it directly to a user in good conscience. It’s not that the unit was actually "defective" - it functioned as designed. But beneath its slick exterior resides a computer and software that is not ready for prime time, imo.

I replaced the Aurender with a Bryston BDP-3 and couldn’t be happier.