How are most audiophiles going from streamers to DACS

Wow, a tremendous amount of pontificating, bad advice, and stuff that doesn’t apply, If you are going to give "advice" you could at least see what the equipment is capable of.

gotta agree w herman

folks who spout without carefully reading the question aren’t really helping

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@sudnh

you should perhaps try a usb reclocker if you are streaming from a mac book - here is one well respected choice of usb cleaner/reclocker among several on the market

https://wyred4sound.com/products/digital-converters/recovery

I have a bluesound. I think the streamers that have USB are higher $$. Your streamer and DAC will give you satisfying sound. I am using a COAX, this is what is most common.

for the new release bluesound node, the usb digital output that is coming will satisfy some users who like that connection interface

i have had very good results using spdif digital out from the node 2i... since late 2019 i tried and compared it to much pricier streamers from auralic, aurender, innuos, mytek, and using them as streamer only (not their dac outputs) with their suggested output connection, i did not hear a difference in sq

in theory, the spdif format slaves the downstream dac to the clock of the upstream streamer, whereas usb 2,0 will allow the dac to slave the server... but if the sending unit clock is sufficiently stable and does not introduce jitter (and the connection length does not create reflections), the bitstream can and will be properly received at the dac using spdif

everybody's got an opinion...

please refer to these for a proper explanation and perspective

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWM8fOCCVW4&t=1008s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grzoqEb2KMk&t=104s

op

I have 3 ways I can hook my streamer (node ) to my Dac (ares2) I just dont know what way would be the best 1-optical, 2 coax, 3 USB A to B

sorry but no you don’t, as i said earlier, you have 2 only ... the node 2i does not have a usb digital output... there is a usb jack on the back panel but that is for memory devices to read from and such, it is NOT an output

the newest iteration of the node, just released, has added a usb digital output as one the ’upgrades’ from the prior gen 2i ... your node 2i does not have that feature

https://audiot.co.uk/p-29602-node-3-wireless-network-music-player.aspx <--- read the 5 paragraphs in the detailed info prose section, 4th para down

@fuzztone

I have a Node 2I and a Denafrips ares 2 dac thats in transit

i think the op is trying to simply determine what is the best way to connect a to b

bs node 2i offers spdif optical or rca coax for digital bitstream output

rca electrical coax is considered slightly better than optical, use a good cable, ideal length 1.25 to 2 m, most use 1.5m length... good cost effective cables are available from cullen, canare/blue jeans, lower audioquest etc etc - about $100

if using optical, get a true glass optical cable from lifatec, dh labs or the link below keep lengths short as possible - less than 5 m definitely

http://www.youravcablestore.com/digital-audio-toslink-optical-cables.html