+1 kmcong
I have had a similar path with my Node 2i
I have moved through 4 different external DACs. Going RCA out of the Node to my Preamp makes my system sound so dry, dark and without detail. My progression of DACs all gave an improvement. I also went through 4 different RCA cables, a 30 year old Audioquest to a new Audioquest Carbon which was a huge improvement. I next got a Cardas Clear with was noticeable but not as huge...kind of what you would expect from the law of diminishing returns...sometimes those mid-level leaps have the most bang for your buck. I recently moved to a previous gen Transparent Reference 75ohm and it again gave a noticeable improvement over the Cardas. The Node N130 and new X both have digital out of their USB port where previous models it is only a file input connection. Some claim USB is a better way to transfer the signal to the DAC. I called Transparent and while they cannot speak to specific models and configurations of a system, they feel 75 and 110 ohm RCA is superior to USB. I have decided to stick with what I got until I am ready to make the leap to Aurender or dCS to have an all in one and eliminate the need for this cable. Have fun experimenting with external DACs...they will be great upgrades.