I’m auditioning an Aurender N20 versus the Aurender N200 because I’m interested in improving the sound quality of my system. I’ve been using a great sounding Audio Alchemy DMP-1 with this musical Chain:
Roon Nucleus > Cat 6 Ethernet > Audio Alchemy DMP-1 > AES/EBU > Berkeley Audio DAC Series 2 > Luxman tube amp and preamp > Quad ESL-63 speakers. I’m told the Aurender would be a significant upgrade.
My biggest dilemma is whether I could give up Roon in order to enjoy what is said to be the superior SQ of Aurender.
In one situation I could just insert the N20 where the Audio Alchemy sits in the musical chain and ignore the Aurender App and continue using Roon as the music source.
Or I could embrace the Aurender ecosystem and put one or two SSD’s inside and move my music files inside the Aurender (with one optionally used as a Raid array, though I’m told that would potentially add unnecessary noise to the system). I could then enjoy all my music formerly stored within the Roon Nucleus, plus Qobuz and Tidal and Radio. The Conductor App would be the primary control in that case, bypassing the Roon Nucleus and the Roon App.
I’m not inclined to do the latter though I’ve been advised to do just that.
I can’t easily compare the pure Aurender music stream to the Roon stream during an audition to assess the so-called superiority of the Aurender. Has anyone tried this?
Since the Nucleus supplies bit-perfect digital data when not applying DSP, you should make your decision based on software functionality. SQ will not be impacted assuming the Aurender devices are also bit perfect. A better SQ enhancement might be to consider solid state amplification.
You really have to make your own mind up, but my experience is an Aurender anything won’t sound better or worse than a NUC or Raspberry Pi if we are talking about providing data to a DAC. Don’t let sensationalist posts seed uncertainty and doubt, you can’t hear data, bit perfect is bit perfect.
Then why do I hear so many complaints about Roon SQ. I hear that message regularly. Just a few weeks ago my audio club was discussing this topic. A couple of members had tried two streaming options (other than Roon) and claimed the sound was much better. I find this very subjective, but if the message is repeated often enough, there is a tendency to give some credence to that point of view.
Indeed! That’s for the cost of the N20. I may choose the N200. Luckily I’m buying barely used at a nice price. It’s still a lot, but it will give me joy.
Depending on age, climate conditions and last service to the panels, you might get a much better bang for buck sound improvement by getting them properly refurbished!
Also, maybe invest into and read Floyd Toole’s just released 4th edition of …
… to realize, that most audiophiles are stuck in the circle of confusion while clinging to decades old mantras, fed by the specialty high-end audio industry and nescient influencers abound.
For the same reason you don’t see posts claiming the earth is round or we landed on the moon in 1969. People rarely post positive reviews spontaneously. Most posts are complaints about perceived deficiencies, not about how good Roon sounds (it does). I suspect a poll in this forum would reveal the vast majority of users are very satisfied with Roon’s sound quality. I know I am. None of this really matters though. What matters is what you think. See if you can audition an N20. My opinion and the opinion of many on this forum is there are few gains to be made in a good digital chain and you have both a good digital and analog chain. You might find more effective and cost effective improvements using room treatments.
Frankly, I have been perfectly happy with Roon’s SQ, but the itch to improve is driving me. As for room acoustics, many say “that is the single most effective way to improve sound” and the female in me says “no way, not in my living room”
No physical treatments needed to use REW or Housecurve to improve the frequency response of the room, though I tend to combine the two together without going overboard on aesthetically-challenging treatments.
I get the itch. I currently have about four amps too many in my system. I agree with others about the price of the N20. I don’t think it’s a very good bang for the buck proposition. That may not be a consideration for you. The heart wants what it wants.
what were the metrics for better? “better” is relative - said differently, what specifically was heard that was preferable? did everyone note improvements in the same areas?
as the saying goes, distortion a listener finds pleasing is typically described as “good” or “better”.
while these may be true and valid statements with regard to personal preference, they are not objective references.
It is possible to implement Roon in such a way that will impact SQ and hence the complaints - in most cases i see, the Roon user is connecting their DAC directly to ROON via USB which can introduce noise into the audio stream in some circumstances which is why ROON does not recommend this approach if you want the best possible SQ. As you clearly are not doing this you need not worry about the SQ from ROON
It certainly has occurred to me that almost every user, and maybe even every user, has a different music chain and that can certainly impact Roon’s sound quality. I just never thought beyond that generalization and your specific example was clarifying. I e also continued to hear: Every thing makes a difference. And I think it does.
That’s definitely not my experience. My Audio Alchemy DMP-1 sounds different from either the N20 or the N200, both of which I just finished auditioning. And the N20 and the N200 sound obviously different from one another. No question.
