Aurrender N10 vs Auralic Aries G2 Sound differences

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by George Prentice

I used to stream with a MacBook. That would not be a comparison. I have to agree with your assertion, “I keep asking myself what performance the Aurender could offer over the Auralic?” However, it has been my experience that doubling the cost of a component has virtually always resulted in noticeable and significant improvement in sound quality. On the other hand the Aurender has more stuff... like mechanical drives... which I really no not want. I have been an IT executive for my career. Disk drives are unreliable... period, have noisy motors etc... not something I want even near my audio system. That is why I was hoping to find someone that has done the comparison. There aren’t that many high end musi streamers without a DAC. I would think a lot of folks would have done this comparison. I enjoy listening to my system much more than evaluating equipment. I had hoped I was finished with it... but technology marches on. Streaming has an enormous space advantage in the home.


One other compare I just did was between the same album on the Auralic with a Tidal stream (44k) and a red book CD transport on the DACs. I could discern NO difference. This was quit surprising to me, I don’t think I have ever heard two different sources sound the same. This would support the threory that once you reach a certain level the bitstream becomes transparent and the DAC determines the character of the sound. If this bears out scrutiny I am going to be really happy. I like the Auralic, it is nicely built and will be the cheapest component in my system.

Here are my two cents, FWIW:

The Auralic Aries G2 is one of the very best streamers on the market. It has outstanding reviews everywhere. My go-to source for these reviews is Hans Beekhuzen, and it is now his reference.

If you are happy with how it sounds, and my understanding is it sounds superb, why worry about other gear? Sit back and enjoy it.

[George Prentice]

Originally Posted by rob725

George,
As long as your dac and streamer play well together, your sound is going to be much more influenced by your dac, unless your streamer/network can't keep up.

This is what I am hoping for. My limited experience recently. Playing with my Ayre USB DAC and streaming with my iPad Pro... seems to support that the music streamer is not nearly as important as the DAC... basically taking on the character of the DAC. Very unlike my analog side of my system.

George

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by George Prentice

This is what I am hoping for. My limited experience recently. Playing with my Ayre USB DAC and streaming with my iPad Pro... seems to support that the music streamer is not nearly as important as the DAC... basically taking on the character of the DAC. Very unlike my analog side of my system.

George

Actually, I'm of the view they are equally important for reasons I won't elaborate here.

Regardless, you have an awesome streamer so I wouldn't worry about, I would just enjoy it and your DAC.

[rob725]

George,

I agree with puma_cat that you have an awesome streamer. If it didn't seem to be the case that I need to run the dac's windows drivers in order to get the most out of my dac, especially when playing hirez dsd files, I would likely purchase the one you have.

[JMD]

You don't need any drivers to run the Auralic streamers.

[doggiehowser]

Aurender was the benchmark for a number of years for me but it doesn't seem to support Roon.

Auralic seems to be based off a new streaming engine. I like using Roon - so Auralic works better for me. The G2 chassis is pretty good for what it costs.. it uses milled aluminum with compartments for power supply, computing section and digital sections. Aurender and Linn systems with those types of chassis cost a lot more.

[rob725]

Originally Posted by JMD

You don't need any drivers to run the Auralic streamers.

Correct, but I don't seem to get the same sound quality from the McIntosh dacs when I rely on the generic roon. So, unless roon/mcintosh have updated their interaction or aurelic steps between and does something for the D1100, I need the driver, which for me isn't a problem as putting together a streaming computer is trivial.

[cleeds]

Originally Posted by doggiehowser

Aurender was the benchmark for a number of years for me but it doesn't seem to support Roon ...

Quite so. Aurender does not support Roon.

[George Prentice]

I am a little surprised no one has done a detailed comparison. These seem to be the two heavy hitters. I was hearing so high frequency hash the other night... but it might have been the recording. I really don’t want to do a comparison, but I think pretty soon my audio guy may have one he can lend to me. I may have to take it and see for myself. I really didn’t want to get back in that mode.

[rob725]

George, I'm curious; what were you streaming: local file, network file or a streaming service?