@uberwaltz ,
I was in a similar place a few years ago trying to figure out how to get the best digital source sound quality to my dac within a modest/medium budget. My mac mini running Audirvana+ just wasn't involving compared to my vinyl rig and I was missing out on enjoying many digital recordings I have that aren't available on vinyl.
After comparing Aurelic Aries, a couple of other servers and trying every trick I could find for the Mac I bought a Sonore microRendu, a linear power supply(important!) and a Synology NAS. The advantages fit my situation perfectly. The NAS goes in next room. Bluejean ethernet cable runs to the input of the mR(sized like a deck of cards) which sits directly behind the dac and connects via a tiny included USB connector. I went with a 4bay Synology and 4 x 3TB Western Digital Red drives that slide into the NAS. 12TB will last me quite a while!
For control, the free Lumin app runs on my iPad, providing a great experience that equals the Aurelic, without bugs, but perhaps not quite at the level of the Aurender's Conductor.
SQ improvement is obvious to me & all visitors. Most agree they haven't heard a better sounding digital source and I am only using a $1200 Schiit Gungnir Multibit as my dac. Your Brooklyn is indeed formidable, give it a chance to shine!
This type of setup gives you room for growth to later change dac, get more storage or use new apps for control. The microRendu overcomes many of the challenges of digital by allowing for mechanical drives to be elsewhere, minimizing noise(RF and electrical) with a low power, single purpose approach, and running a small Linux operating system that avoids all the noisy processes that run on Mac & PC based solutions. It's a real giant killer at it's price point and supports a long term strategy making it a rare fair investment, something that doesn't come along frequently in digital! Please read Chris Connaker's 2part review for the best explanation, or some of these:
https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/28381-sonore-microrendu-reviews/
Cheers,
Spencer
I was in a similar place a few years ago trying to figure out how to get the best digital source sound quality to my dac within a modest/medium budget. My mac mini running Audirvana+ just wasn't involving compared to my vinyl rig and I was missing out on enjoying many digital recordings I have that aren't available on vinyl.
After comparing Aurelic Aries, a couple of other servers and trying every trick I could find for the Mac I bought a Sonore microRendu, a linear power supply(important!) and a Synology NAS. The advantages fit my situation perfectly. The NAS goes in next room. Bluejean ethernet cable runs to the input of the mR(sized like a deck of cards) which sits directly behind the dac and connects via a tiny included USB connector. I went with a 4bay Synology and 4 x 3TB Western Digital Red drives that slide into the NAS. 12TB will last me quite a while!
For control, the free Lumin app runs on my iPad, providing a great experience that equals the Aurelic, without bugs, but perhaps not quite at the level of the Aurender's Conductor.
SQ improvement is obvious to me & all visitors. Most agree they haven't heard a better sounding digital source and I am only using a $1200 Schiit Gungnir Multibit as my dac. Your Brooklyn is indeed formidable, give it a chance to shine!
This type of setup gives you room for growth to later change dac, get more storage or use new apps for control. The microRendu overcomes many of the challenges of digital by allowing for mechanical drives to be elsewhere, minimizing noise(RF and electrical) with a low power, single purpose approach, and running a small Linux operating system that avoids all the noisy processes that run on Mac & PC based solutions. It's a real giant killer at it's price point and supports a long term strategy making it a rare fair investment, something that doesn't come along frequently in digital! Please read Chris Connaker's 2part review for the best explanation, or some of these:
https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/28381-sonore-microrendu-reviews/
Cheers,
Spencer