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Better DAC: Asgard 3 w/ multibit DAC vs Bluesound Node 2i

I have a Rega Elicit-R integrated arriving on Wednesday. I am moving the two front channels from my Marantz HT to the Elicit.  I plan to use the Elicit's Direct In from the Marantz receiver preamp outs so I can use the Elicit amp to drive the front speakers (Kef R3 non-meta).  Then, for 2-channel listening, I'm going to stream from the Node 2i to the analog inputs on the Elicit.

I also have a Schitt Asgard 3 with the multibit DAC module that I'll use for headphone listening (the Elicit has neither a DAC nor a headphone amp).

Does anyone had any thoughts on whether I should run analog out from the Node 2i to the Elicit -OR- run digital out from the Node 2i to the Asgard, then let the Asgard convert D to A and run that to the Elicit.

1. Node 2i analog out -> Elicit analog in

2. Node 2i digital out -> Asgard digital in -> Asgard analog out -> Elicit analog in

Am I missing any better options?

thobro01

Showing 1 response by lanx0003

lanx0003
1,079 posts
 

Path 2 but, since there is no Dac in Asgard, path 2 should be revised to

2. Node 2i -> MultiBit Dac -> Asgard -> Rega Elicit

The reason for path 2 is simply that internal Dac in Node 2i is not that impressive. Actually it is also suggested that you upgrade your streamer to something better like Node X BS, Ifi Zen Stream or Wiim Pro Plus

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