Cambridge CXN V2 or Innuos Pulse Mini?

I have the Bluesound Node, the Cambridge Audio CXU  (a universal disc player with Wolfson DAC chips), and an Ares II.

I haven’t done the research to compare the DAC of the CXN and the CXU. The DAC of the Node is comparable in SQ to that of my CXU. I think the Ares II may be a little better, but it’s not a huge upgrade IMO. It does however let me see what the incoming bit rate and sampling rate are of the files I’m streaming, and I like that. It also allows more flexibility in managing the processing, since you can choose between oversampling/non-oversampling modes and two different digital filter choices, and this is worthwhile. After getting the Node and Ares II I upgraded my cables from preamp to power amps and speaker cables, and with the increased transparency I might be able to detect more of a difference between the Node’s DAC and the Ares II. But I don’t plan to spend more time making such comparisons.

You might want to consider if your amplification and speakers deserve an upgrade more than the streamer (but I don’t know what you have there), even if $1200 won’t get you much of an upgrade. But perhaps it’s worth saving up more to upgrade them than upgrading your streamer?

@macg19

I’m not familiar with the components you have, so I can’t really judge if the Node is actually the weakest link. But some Audiogoners and pro reviewers have compared the Node’s performance to much pricier streamers (the TAS review of the Node 2 said it was comparable to streamers with an extra 0 behind the price; and I believe the newer Node is significantly better than the Node 2 in SQ).

If you’re dissatisfied with the BluOS app, that might be a good reason to upgrade; on just a sonic basis, I suspect if you went for a used, high-performing DAC you would be more likely to hear a benefit than upgrading the streamer.

Also, consider upgrading the PSU of the Node;  I just got an email from Vinshine Audio about their upgrade:

A correction to my last post.  The video from Vinshine Audio is about an LPS upgrade that apparently is made neither by them/Denafrips or by Bluesound.