Solo streamer

Both sides in this debate are correct.

1- It's a terrible decision if the OP sticks with his DAC and there is zero reason to  think he will.

2- When he upgrades his DAC he will be ahead of the game.

Had a momentary blackout in the house yesterday. Aurender was on and lost connection to the tablet. Worked for hours to reestablish it. No luck. Called Aurender. They were not available. Turned it on this morning. Now working perfectly.

Mysterious!
 

btw, I played an LP of a Haydn symphony that I know sounds wonderful.  Compared it to the same performance on Aurender.  Sounded identical.  
Digital performance has evidently been perfected.

Sorry to hear. My rule of thumb on anything with networks / devices is… the moment you get into a problem… reboot the iPad, if this doesn’t fix it, start at the source and work forward: reboot the router, extender, and finally the streamer.

Did you try CLM with Coax input to your DAC? 

My Innuos Statement streamer is supposed to be optimized for USB and yet the Ethernet output sounds better.  My Lampizator GG3 DAC is supposed to be optimized  for USB input with the new JL Audio USB board and yet the S/PDIF sounds best (I use BNC but have been told AES3 is best and am currently gathering coin for a Jorma Digital XLR).

I think some of the USB hoopla manufactures tout is for marketing to keep up the competitions claims.  I don't believe USB is the best source or input.

Also, keep in mind as your gear gets better you really need to invest $$$ in your cables whether USB, S/PDIF or Ethernet and to realize the potential of your streamer along with at least one quality audiophile switch and an Ethernet filter like Network Acoustics will lower the noise level appreciably.

Upstream sound quality has a bigger impact than downstream.  You are better off with a better streamer than DAC.  

@rvpiano it’s awesome to see you like the N200 and keep raving about it. Keep the thoughts coming.
By the way I expect the N200 to at least match the performance of your cd transport/player. I was close to giving up on streaming and and going back to spinning 💿 until I tried the N200. I have to give credit to @ghdprentice ​​​​and @lalitk for battling it out with me in one of my posts a while ago and recommending Aurender when I was complaining about the sound when streaming using Roon and Bricasti M3 as its end point. I didn’t think I can get the kind of boost in sonics with the N200 but it just simply dispatched the network card/streamer in the Bricasti M3 DAC.