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How good is Blue Sound Node 2 in WiFi vs Ethernet connection vs external CD player?

I'm considering purchasing the Node 2 in order to use Tidal in my external DAC that is much better than the internal DAC.  My objective is to have access to CD quality via Tidal in my external DAC.  However, my question is if I do not use a Ethernet connect but just use WiFi for streaming tidal, will the quality still be as good as my external DAC playing the actual CD's?
salc

Showing 2 responses by kalali

kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
I think the answer to your question will depend on quality of the CDP you use as a transport. If you are just trying to compare the differences in sound quality between a WiFi connection vs. a hardwired RJ45 with all else being equal, I don't think the differences will be significant assuming you have high speed broadband internet access and your router is not too far from your Node 2. Needless to say, hardwired connection is immune from occasional loss of reception between the streamer and the router. Curious to hear if others have noticed a difference between the two connection methods.
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 

Been using a Node 2 for streaming HiFi Tidal since March but decided to try a couple of external DACs to see/hear if it was the worth the upgrade. I also wanted to upgrade (or replace) my old CDP at the same time so I figured I'll find a way to upgrade the sound quality of both. Borrowed a friend's Bryston BDP-1 and ordered a Cambridge Audio DACmagic Plus, both with two coax inputs. All else the same, the improvements were noticeable. I expected the BDA-1 to sound a lot better but the DACmagic Plus - oversampling to 24/384kHz, sounded real good so I decided to keep it. Hard to explain but in my system the external DAC added more "weight" to the mid/lower bass for both the Node 2 and my CDP. If my budget allowed I would have seriously considered a BDP-2.

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