My advice would be to keep the Node and start with a good DAC. My personal favorite is the Chord Qutest, and it should work great with your Node 2. I have had my Qutest paired with a Node 2i. More recently I picked up a Roon Nucleus, and am now using the Nucleus via USB (in my case Curious USB Cable) to the Nucleus .... and simply love it. That combo in its entirety would more than likely bust your budget. But if you take a stepping stone approach, a good DAC would be the very first item on my road map and will give you the best bang for the buck in terms of enhanced SQ.
