How to replace my Sooloos

After a lot of soul searching I think i have whittled the choices down to two. The N10 from Aurender and the U1 from Lumin.

What would be the best output to use, USB or AES/EBU? On Aurender's own website it says this about the outputs; N10’s AES/EBU, BNC, Coaxial, and Optical outputs provide a superior musical presentation. As opposed to an asynchonous USB connection, where the DAC pulls packets of information from the player, N10’s SPDIF and AES/EBU audio outputs push signal out to the DAC at intervals defined by the on-board OCXO clock. With a clock this precise, trust us, you want to use it!
 
I always try AES/EBU first but then I don't have to worry about DSD. If your situation is the same you might find it to be the best option on either one.
 
That's interesting as the ACS10 only has USB. Maybe it's beefed up from the one on the N10?

After a lot of soul searching I think i have whittled the choices down to two. The N10 from Aurender and the U1 from Lumin.

What would be the best output to use, USB or AES/EBU? On Aurender's own website it says this about the outputs; N10’s AES/EBU, BNC, Coaxial, and Optical outputs provide a superior musical presentation. As opposed to an asynchonous USB connection, where the DAC pulls packets of information from the player, N10’s SPDIF and AES/EBU audio outputs push signal out to the DAC at intervals defined by the on-board OCXO clock. With a clock this precise, trust us, you want to use it!
 
What would be the best output to use, USB or AES/EBU?

Although this is often setup dependent, I've received more reports of AES sounding better than USB. Unlike some DAC, your DAC even supports DSD DoP64 from AES, so Lumin will play DSD64 music to your DAC via AES (in addition to USB).

The most important thing is that you have both outputs to choose from, then you can find out which sounds best in your DAC with your cables, for your preference.

Mr Peabody the answer to your question is stated in the web page of your unit. I would not expect a lower-priced unit to outperform the SQ of a higher-priced unit of the same generation from the same manufacturer anyway.
 
I always try AES/EBU first but then I don't have to worry about DSD. If your situation is the same you might find it to be the best option on either one.

I guess I'm trying to avoid forking out for a good AES/EBU cable AND USB cable!

That's interesting as the ACS10 only has USB. Maybe it's beefed up from the one on the N10?

Yeah it's a shame that it only has USB. With 2 x 12TB drives it might be quite attractive a proposition if it had AES/EBU too.

Although this is often setup dependent, I've received more reports of AES sounding better than USB. Unlike some DAC, your DAC even supports DSD DoP64 from AES, so Lumin will play DSD64 music to your DAC via AES (in addition to USB).

The most important thing is that you have both outputs to choose from, then you can find out which sounds best in your DAC with your cables, for your preference.

Mr Peabody the answer to your question is stated in the web page of your unit. I would not expect a lower-priced unit to outperform the SQ of a higher-priced unit of the same generation from the same manufacturer anyway.

I didn't know that Peter, thanks. May be I should actually download some high res files and see if they're worth the money :)

Howie, If you can’t use Ethernet to your DAC then AES would be my second choice before USB.

So USB is the preferred one. I guess USB can carry higher res than DSD64?
 
Free DSD downloads:
https://samplerateconverter.com/educational/dsd-music

If you need to purchase an additional card for USB input in your DAC, then don't. Just use AES.

Damn. I already ordered it bu that's okay. I'm sure it will come in useful some time later. So Peter you are firmly in the AES is better camp? I am using my AES input now from my Sooloos with a special RJ45 to AES cable.
 
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