Lumin U2 or Aurender N200

Additionally I see the Antipodes K21 is similar in price to the N200. Did you consider this unit? 

@mclinnguy I have not heard Weiss 501 but I’m fairly confident that the N200 will beat its network renderer. As I stated earlier, I use stock USB cable and it sounds excellent. I don’t know what the AQ Diamond will bring to the table and will report later. But…I could easily live with the stock USB cable.

I considered two streamers - Lumin U2 and Aurender N200. I already owned Lumin a while back, a U1 Mini, and was always curious about the Aurender. Looking at design and implementation of the N200, I chose it over the U2. Right, wrong or different. Had no plans to experiment with boutique brands so Antipodes wasn’t on the list. 
 

As to the Furutech GTX-D NCF outlet…still like it. Have two now.
It starts out impressive so you will hear it right away. It then goes into a 💩 mode about 10-12hrs in. All kinds of bad sound and combinations of bad sound is what you should be expecting for few weeks. It will be fun. 

OP,

Thanks for reporting your results. I’m very happy to hear your results. 

@ghdprentice thanks! Staying up till 2am listening I’m sleep deprived but happy 😃 

There are few minor annoyances with the conductor 4 that aren’t deal breakers but nevertheless something that could be fixed. 
In example…when the iPhone locks or I’m in another app, the conductor loses connection to the n200. Have to reconnect to change tracks. 
It’s slow to update what’s playing - the track had already changed but it’s still showing either the artwork or the bitrate or both from the previous track. 
No resolution is displayed in the album covers. 
The app is practical and functional and easy to navigate/operate. It is few levels below Roon UI though. Not too far behind but far enough to notice these differences. Again, nothing deal breaking and it actually looks really nice on the iPad. Sound is what I’m after and it delivers.