Perhaps there’s some special pixie dust in the newer models, but luckily for me, I couldn’t hear any difference 
2 Likes
i think the SQ argument for the Aurender standalone is due to the drives being installed in the device, so you remove the network from the sound quality equation (still required for control.)
I don’t have any experience with this, but it would not surprise me if it were the case.
related, i recently added an A1000 dac/streamer to my system, and like it very much.
You have already in your subconscious decided that you want to spend the money on the streamer, even if it’s pointless, so further discussion won’t change anything
3 Likes
I continue to wonder why users keep tying themselves in knots with arcane configurations. The Nucleu One solves absolutely everything!
It handles your bit to bit HD streaming it stores an plays all your digital files, again, bit perfect in any format, at any resolution and has exactly 2 connections one plug to your ethernet the other to where ever your DAC “resides”. In my case, my McIntosh C53. That’s it! 100% of my music digital life in one box! I ripped my entire collection of CD and DVDA right on to the hard drive and transfered all my downloaded high rez files to the intenal hard drive. No fuss no muss. No updates to worry about, always ready to play instantly! I have no need for any physical digital media and, if I get some I simply rip it on my computer and simply drag and drop the whole thing into the Nucleus SSD for instant transfer. I control the Nucleus from any if my computers, my phone or a cheap tablet that I bought to serve as my listening area “remote control”.
There is no fussing or wondering about “sound quality” that’s the job of the DAC residing in my C53 preamp which like any other DAC decodes anything with absolutely flawless sound quality (as good as the digital file or stream may be).
There are no multiple interfaces ,operating systems and hassles just Roon and that’s it.
I saved the best for last!
Finally, digital perfection…500 bucks.
1 Like
Because it’s a psychological condition fueled by missing knowledge about digital technology and preyed upon by people who want to sell 20k computers.
5 Likes
Like so many things audio most people have no idea how things work. Roon is just code thats compiles sorts and plays digital files it doesn’t change the file in any way. A nucleus is simply a stand alone minicomputer to exclusively run ROON nad serve as a streamer and a server. Unless you use its DSP, it has no sound either! That is what BIt to Bit means! Thus talking about its “sound quality” is an oxymoron, it has none!
As explained thoroughly many times by individuals more competent than me in the matter, since all DACs have for more than a decade, far exceeded the capabilities of human hearing they in fact all “sound” 100% exactly the same. All the babble about external clocks, jitter, power supplies, etc are just complete ■■. They may look impressive but is like killing a mosquito with a magazine or using a shotgun to do the job. In fact using a shotgun tends to cause unexpected “collateral damage”
3 Likes
Just to add my 2cents here, on the digital side, we are talking about ones a zeros, electrically, this is usually a one is 3.3V and a zero is 0V, CMOS technology will usually accept anything above 1.8V as a 1 and anything bellow 0.8V as a zero with that area between (0.8 to 1.8V) as undefined, where you can have the electronics define it as either a zero or a one. So it is in this area where you can get reading errors where a one will flip to a zero or vice versa.
You really need to have a lot of noise in the signal path to degrade the voltages bellow 1.8V or above 0.8V, usually this can happen when cables are long, and you have voltage drops in the line due to resistive losses, also you can get high frequency noise from the power supplies or other apliances using the same circuit, which can induce noise into your audio circuit. But all that said, unless the noise is so much you get a bit flip, if the signal gets to the DAC and even with noise, if it’s not a enough to cause a bit flip, the DAC will still read it as a one or zero that it is, so it acts as a filter and that is why the streamer doesn’t really matter if it’s 10USD or 20K USD, if it’s good enough to get the ones and zeros as ones and zeros to the DAC, you get bit perfect signal to the DAC, there cannot be a difference, because a one is a one and a zero is a zero.
After the DAC, when we are in analog territory, everything matters. that’s where noise or post-processing will make a difference. Also if the DAC and all electronics after it don’t have good isolation from noise, you can get noise induced into your analog line (DAC to speakers) so a 10 USD streamer with a a very noisy power supply might introduce noise in the analog side, but it’s a problem of the power supply, not the streamer output which is digital.
I can understand you can hear a difference, but It’s not because one streamer is “streaming” better than the other. It has to do with your analog side. I would spend money on trying to lower the analog noise, which could mean better power supply for the streamer or a DAC with better isolation.
I did see an interesting forum post of someone working with Audio-linux and Diretta protocol to try to minimize the electrical noise generated on the streamer side of things so that you avoid the noise getting to the DAC analog side.
It’s an interesting read if you have the time and it shows you don’t need a 20K USD streamer to get good results.
2 Likes
I’ve never auditioned any of the Aurender streamers yet I have compared streaming from the Roon Nucleus to the PS Audio Air Lens, Eversolo T8, and BlueSound Nano. Myself and a few other friends did some AB comparisons and we couldn’t hear a sonic difference between the streamers. In the end I use the Nucleus One as both my Roon Core and dedicated streamer. I installed an internal hard drive with Nucleus. I have the Nucleus connected to the LAIV Audio Harmony DAC via a Moon Audio Black Dragon USB cable. I also have the English Electric S8 network switch between my internet router and Nucleus. Lastly I have a Sbooster linear power supply connected to the Nucleus. I stream music with Qobuz. I couldn’t be more pleased with how my digital side of my system is sounding. Now if I didn’t use Roon to manage digital music I’d probably use the Eversolo T8 streamer transport. Enjoy!
Thanks all for joining the conversation. I’m happy with my choice of the Aurender N20 and convinced I have improved the SQ in my system. I have clearly heard the differences between the N20 and the N200 both in the vendor’s great audio system and in my own home audio system, Following the audition we were treated to a listen of the top of the line Aurender N50. We all heard the truly “wow” difference an Aurender N50 brought to the audition! All four of us were stunned by the big difference in SQ and one in our group was a firm believer that differences in SQ were nonsense. If I could have afforded it I would have purchased the N50 on the spot! A better USB cable also brought an unmistakable improvement we all heard too. I am just not going to ignore my ears and those of my peers who heard the same things I did.
5 Likes
Avoid clubs and club ‘expert’ opinions. Seeds of discontent.
1 Like
You can, and must, buy the N50. It is God’s will. You are not meant to live without such essentials. Besides, imagine the fun you would have and pride in ownership.
Like the old commercial: “Just Do It!”
I’m an Engineer who has built analogue and digital for many years aswell as writing much software. I used to work in acoustics. Noise in any path affects. Clean power, segregating power for digital and analogue is a decent improvement. Standard rules apply, the earlier you remove noise in any path the better. Software does make a difference but Roon is pretty good. Jplay was better but marginally now. I use Roon for the convenience and Jplay no longer (was my choice and leader back in 2013). Try an Ethernet input Dac, that’s the future, reduced signal path and conversions. I use standard cat8 patch leads for the best noise immunity. They are cheap. The data gets there either way but transmitted noise does affect downstream however small. When using USB dac input I use my own built cables (using microphone star quad professional tour grade) with no +5v to reduce noise transmission. Pro studio gear is cheaper than the hifi audio industry - that tells you something.
[Edited. I am done, sanity lost the war]
5 Likes
unironically, bravo.
I added Roon to my system a couple of months ago. I had an N20 and a dCS Bartok APEX DAC with a McIntosh C12000. The N20 was connected to the DAC with AES, USB, SPDIF cables. I cabled the C12000 so I could A/B test the SQ from the N20 in Critical Listening mode against the Roon sound. As hard as I tried I could not hear any difference between them. I really like the Roon system and upgraded to the Titan model. There was a bit of improvement in the sound compared to the Nucleus One. I was so enthralled with the Roon system and SQ that I have traded the N20, REGA P10 TT, and the Bartok to a dCS Rossinni DAC and Clock. This left me just a single source the Roon and DAC combo. I tested the C12000 output against driving the speakers directly fron the DAC. So the C12000 was traded in, Anyone interested in LP’s?
2 Likes
Thanks so much for your message. This is exactly what I was hoping to hear! I could not easily do this test because it would have required loading a hard drive into the Aurender, then adding some music and then comparing the sound. My vendor insists there is a difference in favor of the Aurender. I just don’t have the zeal to go to this extent to test the SQ between Roon and the Aurender because it would mean giving up Roon. I can’t imagine giving up Roon.
Aurender reportedly will soon release a major upgrade to the Conductor app which will allow editing of metadata. I’m eager to see how it will compare to Roon.
Why? When is enough enough?
The onus is on the manufacturer to demonstrate the value proposition that they claim. So Aurender should show that there is an audible enhancement when using their product since there is no obvious engineering reason for preferring their device to other bit-perfect servers (assuming I get the claims correctly). This is true of cable manufacturers as well. Captive audiences at vendors with opinions are only opinions.
It’s quite easy for the manufacturers to do this work using modern ADCs, DACs, or even Audio Precision devices. If they are truly worth the added bucks, they should prove it. In the absence of some robust proof, we should ignore them and focus on functionality.
5 Likes
Good point!
Finally, a plausible and sensible explanation for why the Aurender may sound better. Thanks for that.
I’m no techie, but I read that the Aurender caches the complete track that it’s playing. I think this plays a role too.
I checked with ChatGPT on this and got an interesting, if overly long answer. As usual I find it enlightening. Here it is.
Aurender’s SQ advantage (when it exists) comes from:
1. Local playback inside the Aurender → no network traffic touching the audio path.
This removes noise from Ethernet switches, routers, cables, optical converters, etc.
2. Full caching to internal SSD → no disk activity during playback.
This eliminates vibration, electrical noise, current spikes, and CPU load.
3. Conductor playback path is simpler than Roon’s RAAT path.
RAAT is robust, but has more overhead.
However…
You are using a Berkeley Alpha USB → DAC Reference Series 2, and an N20, one of the quietest streamers ever made.
In your context, the difference exists — but is subtle, not dramatic.
Let’s break it down properly
1. “Installing the SSD internally removes the network from the equation.”
True — this is the #1 reason Aurender playback can sound different from Roon.
When you play from Roon using your N20:
- Roon Core → sends audio over the network
- RAAT on the N20 receives it
- N20 processes it
- Outputs through AES/EBU to your Berkeley Alpha USB interface
- Then to your DAC RS2
Even though RAAT is bit-perfect, the electrical noise from network packets, router activity, switch clocks, and ground currents can couple into the N20’s internals.
Aurender local playback eliminates all of that:
- The N20 already has the file internally
- No network packets arrive except for metadata/control
- The CPU does less work
- Power supply noise is lower
- Jitter is minimized (especially on the OCXO clocks)
→ So yes, internal storage and local playback lower the noise floor.
2. “Aurender caches the music in full, so there’s no churn/noise.”
True, and extremely important.
Aurender’s playback architecture is unique:
Roon
- Streams audio in real-time
- CPU, RAM buffers, network packets always flowing
- More activity = more internal noise
Aurender Conductor
- Loads the entire track into a RAM cache before playback
- Then shuts down drive access
- The SSD/HDD literally goes quiet
- CPU goes almost idle
- Internal voltages stabilize
- Clock module stays isolated from noise
That “quieting of the box” is a measurable advantage.
Even if you use a streaming service (Qobuz), Aurender first caches the full track, then plays from RAM.
So yes — this absolutely contributes to the SQ difference.
3. “Does this apply even if I use Roon but launch it through Conductor?”
No — and this is a key point.
When you use Roon → N20 as RAAT:
- Caching does not apply
- Local playback does not apply
- Aurender is acting like a Roon endpoint
- You are NOT in the Aurender audio engine
- Network traffic fully determines the audio path
1 Like