DAC for Aurender N200


For past 2 years I have been running Aurender N200 into Musical Fidelity M6s DAC. The DAC is built like a tank and very versatile, but I must connect via coax since Aurender clock is superior to DAC clock.
Well, I am ready to upgrade DAC for SQ reasons and presently inclining to PSAudio MkII for US mfr, good reviews, good service, current bargain price.
Q1: What DAC (<$8k) would you consider an optimal match for the N200?
Q2: N200 has very few outputs compared with other streamers in its price class.
I know Aurender has always inclined to USB. All else being equal, is USB the best output?

 

hickamore

@jimboman I use AQ Diamond and it sounds very good with the Bricasti. Good luck and keep me posted. 

I already had a CEC DA5 as my DAC, which went perfectly with my CEC TL5 CD transport. I then went the 'whole hog' with digital and purchased the Aurender N200. I couldn't be happier with the N200/ DA5 combo via usb. Not to say that there are better alternatives but I'm too busy enjoying the music to experiment! :-)

cheers, Paul 

Seems like this topic pops up every few weeks so I'll toss my Canor, DAC 2.10 into the mix. For $4K it's is as good if not better than all but the very hiend Mola Mola, Berkeley, DCS and Meitner pieces. I listened to a bunch in the $3-$7500 range and the Canor was superior in almost every way to the others including Weiss, PS Audio, Benchmark, etc. The separation of musical instruments in the soundstage is what floored me. Zero grain, no digital remanence whatsoever. I am partial to tube DACs especially in a highly resolving setup and this Canor has been a terrific addition to my system. Definately worth a demo. Just my experience...

@hickamore 

I think that’s the way to go. My best set up was a Rogue RP7 w/upgraded tubes and a pair of top of the line Odyssey Kismet monos. Only had one source so figured it was overkill .

sold everything and bought a Coda CSiB integrated. A very fine integrated but did not compete with my previous set up. 

@hickamore, my suggestion would be to audition the best DAC that you can afford and that sounds good to you. Streamers don’t mean a thing unless they’re sending the bits to an equivalently capable DAC.