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.
lg1

Showing 1 response by rareace

You can improve the Bluesound by swapping out the stock PSU with: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bluesound-NODE-2-2i-upgrade-low-noise-PSU-interface/324146967047?hash=item4...
Then power it with a good 5V linear power supply.

Also upgrading your Ethernet chain makes a huge improvement such as a Gigafoil V4 (powered with a 5V LPS) and Network Acoustics ENO with a high quality Ethernet cable. 

If you decide to go with an external DAC and use coax the iFi SPDIF Purifier 2 (powered with a 5V LPS) also makes a nice improvement. 

Everything matters when it comes to your digital front end. 
-Alex