First impressions Aurender N150:
I promised I would give my honest impressions of my new streamer. I will break it down into different aspects of my new N150, and compare it to my Node N130.
Unboxing: i was impressed with the significant weight of the N150, more like the weight of my preamp, particularly when compared with my Node. It is very well built.
Design: The appearance of the Aurender is stunning. Pictures don’t do it justice. Easily my best looking component. While mine is silver & my other components are black, my existing components have enough silver accents, and N150 black accents to blend. The form factor of the N150 is perfect (for me).
App: Conductor is easy to use and intuitive. The translation was seamless. I was pleasantly surprised that Qobuz playlists created on BluOS were there and Conductor apps existed for both iPad’s & iPhone’s.
Sound: I listened to Adele, Miles Davis, Cat Stevens & Diana Kroll. All were higher res Qobuz streaming. I would say my Node sounded very good. The N150 sounds great. Everything sounds a little better, soundstage, separation, clarity, crispness, & smoothness, through the frequencies. Bass clarity is outstanding. It is not as significant an improvement as my cartridge, tube or DAC upgrade, but a very nice improvement. You may be able to have similar results with LPS for the Node, not sure, but this complete package is IMHO worth the investment. I think my digital side is now as good or better than vinyl. Except for nostalgia, I may never listen to vinyl again.
When it arrived, my wife said take a picture of your last audio upgrade. It is… I am set… for now. 😏
Thank you everyone for your outstanding guidance.