Thoughts on 3 music server implementations (aurender, sonare, ps audio), help please

[Hoo Fighter]

Hi guys. First time poster, long time lurker. A couple of years ago, I purchase an Olive 06HD. Beautiful piece of equipment that is now currently a brick. Quite bitter, but you live an you learn. Anyway, I'm considering alternatives. I currently have my music collection ripped to flac via J River. I am going to move the collection to a NAS. With that backdrop, I'm considering 3 similar, but different options.

 

1. Aurender N100H ($2695)+ DAC ($???) - The Aurender has a 2TB hard drive, which I could use for my core collection. But, can also access NAS. Since I use J River, would like to leverage that, unsure how that would work, though I think it is possible. The music app for the aurender seems quite robust, (though I would be using android and I understand the app is still beta there). Additionally, this would require a USB dac.

2. Sonare Signature Renu ($2895, though website says contact them for a deal) + DAC ($???) - Can leverage J River via the NAS. Would require SPDIF or i2s dac.

3. PS Audio Directstream Junior DAC ($3999) - Can leverage J River and NAS. Only piece of equipment needed.

 

Also, I think I would like to leverage tidal in the future, but currently don't. I know a lot depends upon the DAC that accompanies the Aurender and Sonare and I'm currently considering Shiit Yggdrasil and Chord Hugo TT, but am open to other suggestions. Anyway, what are your thoughts on these three approaches, particularly on costs, flexibility, future-proofness, and most importantly, sound quality (again, I understand DAC is key here, but I've given you some thoughts on what I am considering). On dacs, unclear on how important usb, spdif, or i2s connection type is to the equation.

 

thanks,

Gary

[Hoo Fighter]

Gary, at the AXPONA show here in Chicago a little over a week ago we demo'd the Aurender N100H with the new Resonessence Labs Veritas DAC ($2850). Reviewer comments included Herb Reichert of Stereophile's report on our room and Andy Quint of TAS here (1/3 down) and here.

 

You can simply copy the contents of your JRiver music library to the Aurender or to your NAS. If using the NAS you need to run Aurender Media Manager (AMM) to scan the NAS to populate the database stored in the iPad with cover art and metadata.

 

Thanks Brian. I actually demoed the Aurender with the Chord Hugo and it was my initial choice of options. I think it is the most versatile of the three. But I've come across these other options and am interested in the pros and cons of each approach. Interesting that each of the main implementation components are different ( a streamer, a renderer, a dac), yet I believe all approaches would satisfy my needs. Thanks for the info on J River usage.

 

Not familiar with Resonessence, but I'll do some research.

 

Gary

[Hoo Fighter]

What is your budget for a DAC?

I'd like to keep it under 3k, which is why I'm looking hard at the Shiit. I know the Hugo is more, but you get the headphone amp with it...not sure I need a headphone amp though...

[Hoo Fighter]

Firedog, thanks for the informative post. I had considered your question about the split db from a slightly different perspective. As I said, I currently use J River, so don't really need another interface to manage the music. The interface for the aurender seems quite robust, so I am willing to consider it. I plan to continue using J River, so I'm trying to figure out how that would work with the aurender and make sense and doesn't create a lot of extra effort. I noted that I would leverage the 2TB hard drive because I perceive there may be some benefit to playing music from the local hard drive rather than across a network (which, btw, would be over wifi to a D-Link DAP-1522 wireless bridge). There may not be.

 

I agree that the key to the PS-Audio is that whether I like the DAC. I'm a little confused by the built in bridge. Both of the other options connect to a network, so what does the PS-Audio offer that they don't.

 

Also curious why you think the Aurender is the least future proof as it seems quite flexible? I view the 2TB hard drive as a bonus, they offer up a version which doesn't have it for $200 less.

 

Gary

[Hoo Fighter]

Sonore, not Sonare, sorry for the typos....

[Hoo Fighter]

Thanks for all the interesting points of view. As I further considered the options and potential of Roon, a new contender enters the fray:

 

Bryston show HDMI BDA-3, Roon Ready BDP-2 at CES 2016 | DAR__KO

 

The Bryston combination BDA-3 and BDP-2 seem to cover all of the bases with it being roonready (not exactly sure what that means yet) and dsd included. It's probably overkill with all of the options, but I do have an Oppo 103 and can leverage the ability to play sacd over hdmi with the bryston setup. Additionally, I wouldn't need a nas, but could use portable usb storage devices as connecting that directly to the Bryston seems to result in a higher audio quality over accessing files from a NAS over a network....

[Hoo Fighter]

David, We are neighbors. I live in Lake Barcroft. I demoed the aurender n100h and Command Performance AV.

[Hoo Fighter]

I hadn't considered the microRendu, but it seems to fit the bill for what I/m looking for. Amazing the number of mind-boggling options there are out there in this space.....

[Hoo Fighter]

Is the microRendu on sale? Site says availability coming soon....

[Hoo Fighter]

micorRendu now available for purchase through the site....

SONORE microRendu

[Hoo Fighter]

Actually, i'm fine with a solution like the Aries. My initial plan has been to leverage a NAS. That said, I'm slowing down a little as a number of new products are hitting the market that appear to be worth exploring (the microRendu, sotm sms-200, bryston pi, etc....)...Head spinning options out there....

[Hoo Fighter]

"lumin"

 

I considered them, place I visit sells them, but I want the flexibility of a separate dac.