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

@jastralfu thanks for the compliments on the system! I looked at your system page and the pictures show how much attention and effort went into assembling that setup. Nicely done!!!

As to testing the Rose with the Denafrips stack…in my experience my mac mini used as roon core and streamer was easily beat by a dedicated streamer. Going direct to DAC. But…when you have a DDC in the chain that reclocks the signal, the results may very well be different. So we can only speculate about how the Rose as streamer would sound vs. the Mac. Never know until you try. 
 

@audphile1 Thanks!  It’s labor of love, I suppose, like everyone else on here.  Slowly learning about things, what I like and trying different components.  

@metaldetektor thanks for sharing your experience. The many positive reviews of Grimm seem to imply it is the best thing since sliced bread, but this easily forgotten concept of synergy is the most important principle. Was this a DSD observation that gave the Playback the nod, or was this preference observed across all formats? 

The side two of it is the inconsistency in the A/B testing between the two use cases, the subjective nature of it all and the part where the inaccurate data posted here will result in misguiding others who are potentially striving to improve their systems. May be I’m completely off track here, but here are my $0.05 cents (inflation adjusted).

@audphile1 you are not completely off track- I am with you 100%. Opinions are one thing, and taking personal preferences into account one cannot argue the decision if someone comes to a conclusion, but if forum posters wish to have a credible forum it is the responsibility of all to ensure that is an educated decision  with a sound and valid process, to the best of our volunteer hours permit of course. 

Then again, maybe the clickbait title was enough for some posters to ignore the whole thread.