All, I always wonder about this too - can someone explain how the “delivery mechanism” (my phrase) of the 1s and 0s of a digital signal can make any difference, and to the extent it does, why is that? I also have the node 2i and am tempted to sell it, get a better dac and run a usb from my iPhone and play tidal. My understanding is that iPhone will unfold mqa. How would this be different than using the node as a streaming source if it just delivers 1 and 0s? I appreciate everyone’s anecdotes but can someone explain the technicalities?
That said, on another system using a Schiit dac, data from a cd transport seemed to outperform my Tidal phone stream of the same content via USB. I can think of no technical reason for why this should be... but it does leave me with the uncomfortable idea that a “better” streamer - e.g. the AlloOne products - may have merit to the extent they eliminate electrical noise from data delivery.
Please share your thoughts.
That said, on another system using a Schiit dac, data from a cd transport seemed to outperform my Tidal phone stream of the same content via USB. I can think of no technical reason for why this should be... but it does leave me with the uncomfortable idea that a “better” streamer - e.g. the AlloOne products - may have merit to the extent they eliminate electrical noise from data delivery.
Please share your thoughts.