Top music streamer for 2019? Aurender N10’s?

I do not yet own a Auralic Aries G1 but it is on my short list (innuos Mk III Auralic G1) and I am very curious as to why i have not yet heard anyone mention the Auralic Aries G1 in this conversation. And for that fact as far as DACS goes how about the Lab 12 Dac 1? Anyone ever heard or owned that unit?

Mrdon, one previlent issue of comparing the Auralic to the Innuous is that if you want to run Roon, with an Auralic you have to have another device running Roon core.

Also with the Innuous you get a CD ripper as well.

So if you are comparing an Aurlic G1 you have to weigh in on the server issues do you want to run Roon, if so what device is going to run Roon?

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Innuous dealer

Good questions hgeifman.  Also good considerations Audiotroy (about the Gryphon DAC module having the older chip in it).  However, another HUGE dimension for me is not only sound quality, but sonic signature.  The Gryphon DAC module had a sonic signature that I really enjoyed when I auditioned it, vs other external (albeit much lesser) DACs I tested.  My takeaways were were aligned with pro reviewers who said the Gryphon DAC had a midrange that was well “grounded” and solid vs a more light and airy signature.  Also I noticed the sheer 3D largeness of the vocals to be highly enjoyable.  So even with a potentially outdated chip I find that these sonic signature qualities are most important to me.  I also found all the other “quality” metrics to be excellent as well.  Also, I don’t have any Lumin dealers near me so an audition wouldn’t even be possible.  Finally, this could be psychological bias on my part but I feel like the Gryphon DAC signature is perfectly matched to the Diablo 300 amp.  Which is probably true and no accident.  In fact, in some pro reviews of the Diablo I think that some qualities mentioned are more specific to the DAC than the amp itself.  For example I had know clue what one reviewer meant by vocals having a “golden” quality to it when auditioning the Diablo with an external DAC.  But it somehow immediately made sense when I heard the Diablo with it’s DAC module.  So, given that the Diablo DAC seems a firm decision at this point, the  Innuous seems to do all I need it to do:  Tidal integration, internal storage, good sound with good detail, at half the cost of the N10.  The Ripper and Roon support are bonuses, but to be honest I don’t get what is so great about Roon vs other players unless you really care about meta content (I don’t).  It’s not like it has better sound.  Maybe someone can explain why I should care about Roon?  Lack of AEB/EBU is a minor drawback for me on the Innuous, but a trade off I can live with because it seems to have everything else I need at a good price.

@nyev,
I have a Moon MiND2 and a Bluesound Node2. Had the Node2 first and it was convenient for using my NAS based library. But something always seemed missing in the Node2's playback; the sound seemed compressed. Always used the CD player for serious listening.

I've played both streamers through the same DAC using a high-quality digital cable, so the comparison is head-to-head. The MiND2 is easily superior to the Node2.

The MiND2 has been a breath of fresh air. Enough to inspire me to order a new upmarket DAC to compliment it. New toy next week!

I use my iMac as my Roon Core server. I leave it on all the time.

I thought Roon was some silly thing. But after having it for six months or so, I am hooked. The interface is great. And I like the radio feature. It is also great to have so much information so well organized.

I only use it for Tidal streaming, since I don’t have a digital downloaded library. Maybe it is just me, but I don’t see the benefit to ripping all my CDs. Most of which have MQA versions right on Tidal.

Another big big plus is that Roon presents a uniform interface across all my streamers. I have a PS Audio DirectStream Junior DAC (a Roon endpoint) in my main system and a Bluesound Node (Roon endpoint) in my second system. These typically have different interfaces to control them, but with Roon it all works and looks the same. If I want to continue playing an album from my main system to my second system it is easy. I just tell Roon to switch to any of the Roon endpoints.

I also like that that the Roon controller can be my iPad, iPhone, iMac, MacBook, or even my Windows 10 PC.

What I don’t like is the price. I better start saving my pennies and upgrade to the lifetime version. 😀