Using the Bluesound Node 2i with native DAC - not great. Added Cambridge Audio DAC Magic - much better soundstage and like the overall presentation better. Had been using a CCA and DAC and honestly am not seeing a whole world of improvement with the bluesound. I like the convenience and the Aptx and the CCA will be obsolete in the near future but... I hear things with CCA on recordings that seem recessed on Node 2i. Am hoping that unit breaks in a bit and that I don't have to sink more funds into the rabbit hole but suspect that won't be the case.
Jaw Dropping Improvement?
60-something, intermittent earner here (Read “mostly starving-artist with the rare, unexpected windfall here and there.”) who has just acquired a Bluesound Node 2i. I’d be very interested to hear what external DAC, in your experience-and-opinion gave such a dramatic improvement in SQ over that of a stock Bluesound streaming device as to be jaw dropping...an absolute game changer. Does such an animal exist for less than $2000 U.S. or are improvements at this price point more in the nature of subtleties? Somewhere in between? To be sure these things are subjective but your take on this would give me a running start on researching things here with a fairly tight budget being considered — If subtle-to-low/moderate level “tweaks” to SQ are all I can expect from, say, a Qutest or Gungnir Multibit, I’ll probably stay with just the streamer and be happy.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.