I was investigating this question recently and the people on this forum were very helpful. I decided to go with the blue sound node2i because I think this is the technology that is going to change quickly and I wanted to reserve a big amount of money for the dac, which makes a bigger difference, and is a more evolved kind of component, compared to streamers. I will also use the DAC with my CD transport. I like the idea of keeping these two things separate because one of them is going to become outdated much faster than the other.
If you do a bunch of research, you will see that the blue sound gets excellent reviews just about everywhere, even though it is entry-level. I do not plan on relying on the Dac inside that unit for very long. I picked it up, open box, from Crutchfield for $440. Quite a great deal and an excellent interface that I find it easy to use. I think it is a easy solution and now you could focus on the DAC.
If you do a bunch of research, you will see that the blue sound gets excellent reviews just about everywhere, even though it is entry-level. I do not plan on relying on the Dac inside that unit for very long. I picked it up, open box, from Crutchfield for $440. Quite a great deal and an excellent interface that I find it easy to use. I think it is a easy solution and now you could focus on the DAC.