The N20 is the one with the better clock. I believe that with USB, the DAC clock is the more critical and so with USB the difference in clocks between the N20 and N200 become less relevant. This isn’t to say that the N200 has a bad clock, but Aurender is clock centric and they even have what is consider an external atomic clock product. Juan should be back around shortly. I believe that he is a bit off the grid at this point.
Aurender N-200 Compatiblity with DACS. Is this a thing?
More specifically, I'm looking for a Dac for my new Aurender N200 streamer. I noticed on Aurender's website they have a list of compatible Dacs. I'm considering a used Berkely Alpha Series 2 Dac, although, no Berkeley dacs are listed as compatible. I didn't realize compatibility was a thing when matching considering a dac. I'm not talking about how they sound together but specifically functionality of the two components.
Second questions: The Conductor app that Aurender uses has a volume control button but when I try to use it I get the message, Volume control not available. What's up with that? Does the volume control button only work with their streamer/dac machines? Not being able to control the volume from my phone is deal breaker.
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@vonhelmholtz Yes, makes sense. I think Juan was concerned with my DAC clock as I am not yet prepared to upgrade it. In this situation SPDIF would be the temporary workaround until new DAC enters the chain and USB returns. Obviously N200 isn't comparable to N20, which is a league above my current level. |
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@malatu I'm joining this thread late as it's been an incredibly busy few weeks for me with travel. To tack onto what @vonhelmholtz and @hickamore mention, the quality and synergy between the N200 and a chosen DAC rely largely on whether the DAC can take advantage of the source's clock either through Phased-Lock-Loop (PLL). and/or further reclock the signal (in this case encouraging the use of SPDIF interfaces), or whether USB is a better interface because the DACs clock is far superior to the source. In most cases, even with good USB cables, I find USB to be noisy and more fatiguing. It can give the impression of added detail, but it's really the grittiness that simulates that, leading to fatigue. Often this is caused by the 5V of current that is running inside the USB cable, which SPDIF cables do not use. The clock in the N200 is quite good. Definitely not at the level of the N20, but still better than many DACs on the market today. It is worth experimenting with both interfaces to see which brings the best synergy in your particular system. Seeing that you settled on the Berkeley Alpha Series 2 DAC, it seems you will need to utilize a SPDIF cable that utilizes a coax RCA connector on the N200 end and a BNC connector on the DAC end. These are quite easy to find, and DH Labs D-750 can be built in this configuration. Congratulations on your DAC purchase. I'm not sure we captured it, but what DAC are you replacing? |
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