750$ Intel NUC vs $6000 Aurender N200: I don't hear the difference

@metaldetektor @essrand If you want a USB DAC the Musetec MH-DA005 uses an Amenero board for the USB. As a long time advocate of AES/EBU I’ve been literally blown away using this DAC with the USB input fed from my Aurender N20, which also has a 10Mhz Master Clock input. It’s so good I just ordered a new USB cable!

I was disappointed at first because I found the Musetec only offered DOP over AES &SPDIF but after a few days I realised why.

I will let you be the judge against the Grimm streamer but I did compare it to the N20 and I bought the N20.

Grimm does not offer DSD re-clocking in any of it’s products AFAIK.

The Aurender also unfolds .ISO files internally which sound better than just copying .DSF files.

The Aurender N20 plus the Musetec is an end game system for me, at least for several years I imagine.

On a last note the Musetec beats many more expensive DACs, I’ve even heard it best a $30k DAC.

Hong Kong prices for high priced DACs are falling through the floor, the Musetec is a game changer.

N.B. I don't stream because of the incredible sound I get from the internal SSDs on my N20. Although the N20 is a very capable streamer, I want maximum resolution and I have a sizable ripped music collection.

@lordmelton you make a great point, which is that you need to consider the server and your preferred DAC in tandem. The best input on my preferred DAC is AES and the best output on the Grimm is AES so that should be a good fit. Whereas it sounds like you prefer a DAC whose best input is USB, so the Aurender makes sense. I have an ok sized file collection but would strongly prefer to stream, to the extent the gap between streaming and pulling from local storage isn’t significantly. No doubt the local file sounds better in a direct A/B, but I’m interested in how good streaming can sound on its own terms.

@audiotroy thanks perhaps you might seek out Christiaan Punter to review the EVO again. He last reviewed it in 2015. He’s reviewed the Grimm, Antipodes and Aqua Linq relatively recently. So he’s got the requisite experience (it seems like some of these server reviewers don’t know what they’re doing!) and I happen to think he’s generally quite accurate in his assessments of products.

@metaldetektor Hi the USB for DSD is absolutely wonderful there is a very small difference between AES/EBU and USB for PCM and I will not be able to make my final conclusions until maybe another 2-3 weeks from now when the Musetec should be fully burned in.

AFAIK I can't re-clock the USB because there's nothing that I know of that has a USB input and output, so I may try re-clocking the AES/EBU with a Mutec and see if it makes a difference. I've tried the Grimm re-clockers and compared to the Mutec they sound exaggerated. YMMV.

As far as streaming is concerned I've listened to the Aurender N20 and N30 in hi-end systems and they both are very,very capable but since I know my music collection mostly off by heart I prefer to listen to ripped.

I built my own streamer using Clocking Cards slaved to the onboard Clocks found inside the Motherboard, I used linux OS for the Audio.

It outclassed almost all Streamers I put it against in my room except one, which was the Playback Design Dream Series Server installed in the Transport. This was using a proprietary connectionFibre Optic and it was superior to USB.

If your budget it small, stick to building your own server and get a proper Audio OS System.

Agreed. I think people putting 10K into Music servers should put that into upgrading their DACs. Until they reach the point of diminishing returns with DAC, say around 20-30K (Bricasti M21, Lampizator Pacific, Nagra Tube DAC, Brinkmann Nyquist, DCS Rossini, EMM DV2). Then perhaps spend the big bucks on a server.

It’s sad to see $10000 servers with $10000 DACs, perhaps a $20000 DAC would be a far better musical upgrade.

I have only a sample size of 1, I might get the N20 in sometime, let’s see if that changes my mind, but for now I think that the source is as important as the DAC is bunk. Get a better DAC.