Why I Sold My Aurender N200

“Some say the more money you throw at it, the better it will sound (especially when it comes to Aurender)”

@navyachts

That’s has not been my experience regardless of brand and Aurender is no exception. I have come to an understanding that the relationship between cost and sound quality isn’t always linear. There are numerous factors one must take into account such as system synergy, choice of downstream or upstream components, room acoustics, tweaks and personal listening preferences….they all play significant roles in the overall perceived improvement.

While higher-priced models often incorporate advanced tech and superior parts that can enhance performance, the actual degree of auditory benefits may vary given each listeners audio system and listening skills. 

@lalitk +1 (sorry, but I wasn't referring to you) 

I have the N100 and when I added it to my system I finally felt like my digital sounded as good if not better than my high end vinyl rig. So if your card sounds equal than great it’s all about your ear and taste! 

@navyachts audirvana has Bricasti in the list of “Plays” approved partners. 
Have you tried Audirvana vs Roon via network/ethernet? 
I’m curious if you hear any differences there. I’ve tried audirvana long time ago before Bricasti in my system and my current M3 is DAC only no network. If you get around to do this comparison please either post here or message me. 

Just don’t buy aurender in the 1st place, I didn’t, I bought an Auralic instead for both sq and especially the Lightning DS software. I sold the Auralic because usb sucks and went with a great sounding dac with an Ethernet card in it, much better sq than usb. I heard my dac with i2s instead of using Ethernet and I went with a streamer this year that it’s only job is to be a Roon endpoint, accept Roon data from a server outside of the audio room, and outputs i2s to my dac.