surrender n200 vs n20

I've owned a N20 for almost one year now and I can honestly say it's the best source component I've ever had, both digital and analogue. It's very slightly bettered by the N30 by a very small margin, not worth paying double the price.

I've never demoed the W20SE or the N200.

It's real strength is having a master/word clock input which really elevates its performance amongst it's peers.

Aurender's literature states that AES/EBU is the best sounding output but I must disagree. The USB with external clock is far superior even though an external clock isn't supposed to help USB - go figure. Only USB or I2s will play native DSD.

I need to buy another streamer but it's difficult accepting anything less than the N20 and I know the external clock has a big part to play.

The N20 is THE total package this side of $20k.

I clicked on the support icon at night and when I woke up there was a response.  So far I feel this was one of the most worthwhile upgrades on a long time.  
 

I keep meaning to install the 4 TB SSD  but I can’t stop listening to it.  

@lordmelton

The best output is also dependent on the DAC you are using. I have used different outputs from my Aurrender W20SE to my Audio Research CD9SE and to a Berkeley Reference Alpha 3. The AES was best in both cases. So, perhaps they should have added, depending on your DAC. 

@ghdprentice Yes, it's very dependent on the DAC, some are optimized for USB.

Have you tried using the dual AES/EBU digital outs on the W20SE? 

@lordmelton

Uunfortunately my DAC does not support dual AES. But the AES produced vinyl equivalent sound in my system.

I had a Berkeley Alpha Reference 3 DAC… I thought it would have dual AES inputs… it did not. I preferred the sound of my Audio Research CD9se DAC to the Berkeley.