@johnah5 Thanks for posting John. I use the Bluenode as a streamer and keep wondering about a high end streamer. Even if others can hear the difference, I am not sure I can as I don't have golden ears and am getting a bit older. If it was minimal to no difference to your and your buddy, might also be hard for me to tell a difference even if others can.
Lumin U2 mini vs Mac laptop sound test
I compared and performed a blind test for a listening friend of the following streamer set ups.
1. Router hard wire into Lumin U2 then AES into DAC
2. Wifi into Mac air, out of Mac air via cheap USB cables from my printer and an adapter to go from USB C to whatever USB termination goes into the DAC.
Conclusion. My friend could not hear a diff. I "think" I hear a difference but not confident I could pass a blind test.
Rest of system:
SPL Director DAC/Preamp
SPL S1200 power amp
Kirmuss speaker cables
Audio Solutions Figure M
I did this for knowledge and fun. Please let me know any thoughts but I can not see how spending a lot of money for a streamer makes any sound difference.
John
Love this stuff