Aurender Model Choices

@benanders

The evidence is in the pudding. Try yourself and you may be in for a pleasant surprise. The $6K (N200) and $12K (N20) are not for everyone…OP asked for opinion between the two and the members with direct experience chimed in.

If I may, why ask for properly demoed evidence from members here than trying the two aforementioned streamers in your system? IMHO, If you’re happy with raspberry pi and don’t have any inclination to try a streamer like N200 in your system then no amount of empirical evidence would convince you or anyone. Plenty of users here are quite content with using their laptops as a source for streaming. 

The only thing we can agree on is the origin of source file….this is indeed important much like rest of the components in your system. A well recorded file would sound good in any decent system but in a well put together system, you uncover nuances in that very recording that were previously inaudible or one didn’t know even existed.

In @jfrmusic system, the MACbook Air is a bottleneck given rest of his system. Stepping up to N200 would be a very audible improvement based on my past experiences. I have owned many Aurender models over the years, starting out with N100 and each time I stepped to next model, I heard marked improvement in terms of perceived detail, liquidity, transparency, pacing and noise floor. Did all of these nuances adds up to spending 2x, 3x or 4x more ….the answer to that would be very subjective and dependent on each individual pursuit. I’ve made my progression from N100 to N30SA….guess what, no regrets at all cause when I cue up a recording, my system gets out the way and I’m being treated with music and the story within each of those compositions.

If it were me, I'd buy a used N200 or N10 and use the rest to upgrade other components. I suspect that your system isn't going to reveal a huge difference between an N200 and N20, but it will be somewhat "future proof". The N10 was a beautiful streamer when I tested it, as was N200.

@benanders empirical and factual evidence, hearsay, bias.

I’m in this hobby because I love music and enjoy gear. I don’t measure harmonics with an oscilloscope. And I don’t have to in order to provide thoughts based on actual experience.

@lalitk covered everything else in his response so I won’t reiterate it. 

I own a N200.   Love it.    I'm using it with a Lab12 DAC and it sounds excellent.    Aurender makes good stuff.  

@JFRMusic you have gotten a lot of great advice and points of view.  I’ve cycled through some gear in my system, DAC’s, streamers, Pre’s, Amps and Speakers.  I haven’t had the pleasure of having a Aurender Streamer grace my system, based on the brands reputation, one of the best in streaming / digital.  I have had Auralic, Lumin, Node streamers, PC’s being used for streaming and ROON.  I had all in one boxes, Lumin D2, P1, Node (my first) and separate streamer / DAC’s.  Separate streamers made a difference, I compared a P1 using the streamer only to a stand alone streamer (G2) and even though the P1 is 3 - 4 x the price, stand alone streamer bested any other configuration.  When comparing streamers my experience was the differences were subtle, even with big price leaps and different didn’t mean better.  Upgrades to the streamer’s power supply, cabling, noise management beyond the streamer made bigger differences.  Synergies between the Streamer and DAC are huge.  If the manufacture of the streamer designed it work best with USB but your DAC is specifically designed for AES you won’t squeeze the best out of either.  I ran through the above to highlight you have a great set up, carefully matched with synergy throughout the chain, one piece complementing the other.  Chose a streamer that continues in that tradition, from the sounds of it, the less expensive Aurender model fits your gear the best from a synergy, cost, diminishing returns point of view.  It’s no doubt a great streamer that if you upgraded other components would still be right at home.

Some of the best advice I’ve gotten from various audiophiles and dealers is that speakers have the biggest influence over your happiness.  If you have speakers that you love, you then build your system around them.  Once you get past speakers, and amp that pairs well, preamp that matches what you value sound wise.  Then if you stream, digital chain would be the DAC being the most important piece followed by a streamer.  Now, in the digital chain everything matters but you can get a solid streamer and DAC that won’t break the bank that sound great and where you’d have to spend a lot more $$ to see improvements.  Thoughtfully and purposefully designed Streamers / DAC’s are as important as the price.  Also don’t sleep on the interface / app that comes with the streamer.  That’s a huge part of if you’ll enjoy the streamer, along with some of the features offered.  Support for those is also key, companies that routinely update / upgrade their Apps.  Aurender does, Lumin, Aurilac are 3 that do a great job with this.  BluOS is a great app, if you slide into Niam, NAD or some other higher end brands that use it, it’s likely the best app out there. 
 

Good Luck!