I was a newbie to streaming and got a Node2i about 3 months ago. I'd love to complain about their poor documentation, but there simply isn't any. It's VERY frustrating to try to figure out the BluOS app, and the interface is convoluted..... BUT.... aside from that, it all works fine!
We are enjoying the 2i very much running optical into my Anthem D2V pre/pro. What I like about this is that it's our morning alarm clock. The brilliant Anthem has a Timer feature, so I have it turn on every weekday morning at 5:55am. The Node2i has an Alarm feature that I have set to play an internet radio station at 6:00am. So my wife and I can enjoy a German 80s NewWave station every morning while we get ready for work. I think EVERY AV-Receiver should have timer functionality on it, but I only know that the older Anthem's do. The analog performance is stellar too, if you just want to use an old Anthem AVM-20 as a general purpose stereo preamp. That's what I'm using in my other room.
We are enjoying the 2i very much running optical into my Anthem D2V pre/pro. What I like about this is that it's our morning alarm clock. The brilliant Anthem has a Timer feature, so I have it turn on every weekday morning at 5:55am. The Node2i has an Alarm feature that I have set to play an internet radio station at 6:00am. So my wife and I can enjoy a German 80s NewWave station every morning while we get ready for work. I think EVERY AV-Receiver should have timer functionality on it, but I only know that the older Anthem's do. The analog performance is stellar too, if you just want to use an old Anthem AVM-20 as a general purpose stereo preamp. That's what I'm using in my other room.