Mrpsync, I also suggest the Ifi Zen Stream. There is a 20 minute video on Youtube from Audio Excellence (dealer in Toronto) comparing the Node vs Zen in which they basically say the Zen is *alot* better in sound quality. And they are not the only ones praising it. Some people with very high end systems are using it. Good luck.
My Node 2i has become a rather expensive remote.
I purchased a Gustard X26 a few months back and am happy with it. However, it has become apparent (to me anyway) that the SQ through USB connection is superior to Coax with the Gustard eventhough the USB connection is via Apple camera adaptor from my ipad. The Node 2i connection is coax (Node is connected via ethernet cable from Eero). Becuase of this I find myself using the the ipad vs the Node 2i %80 of the time, hence making the node more or less an expensive remote and expendable except for convience.
So, I'm looking for advice from members on better USB implementation (or i2S if that is a better option). I also want to be able to use apple protuct as remote interface. This technical stuff is new to me so I don't want to spend alot $$ to get started. I figure the camera adaptor is a pretty low bar and I want to make sure I can decern the difference before proceding to spend sigifigant money. Below is what I think is the pertinent info you'll need to help.
*I have Fiber Optic internet (Sonic)with a Adtrans 411 modem and Eero router (Cat 5e from modem, cat 6 from router to node 2i. https://portal.adtran.com/web/page/portal/Adtran/product/1287787F1/4488
* I stream both Qobuz and Tidal. Prefer Qobuz.
*I use the USB cable that came with Gustard from adaptor
*I've tried different Coax cables ( coax was superior to optic) and couldn't decern a difference among them. So at this point I really want to focus on USB or I2S implementation for this discussion.
*advice from router to modem to streamer to cables is all welcome. I don't suspect I can do all with budget limit but priority is always useful.
*Budget is absolute max $1000 and prefer to buy used and keep to $750.
Thank you all in advance!
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@poseidon1500 and @fuzztone thank you for your input and recommendation. I looked a little deeper into the “stream” and placed on order and I’ll report back. If I’m really happy with it I may try the Matrix 2 for i2s and see if I can squeeze out even more SQ. thanks again |
Unfortunately it didn’t work out for me. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not tech savvy, but I couldn’t get mine to work properly. After several attempts and reboots I was able to get BT and Airplay to work( tidal only, never got anything from Qobuz). I was never able to get hi res playback from either wifi or Ethernet. I did attempt to go through they’re customer service. However the process through creating a “ticket” and waiting for response was insufficient. After about 7 days of pure frustration I gave up and returned the unit. I decided that either the unit was buggy or the product/ company was not “plug and play” enough to suit my needs. I’m in no hurry so I’ll wait for different plug and play product or until IFi is more consumer user freindly. There was a silver lining though. In preparing for the iFi I bought several Cat cables ( 5, 6, 7, and 8’s of different brands) to test. Since the IFi didn’t work out I tried it with the node. I was skeptical there would any difference, and there wasn’t ( to my ears) until I tried the linkup cat 8 which someone recommended on different thread. It definitely sounded not only different, but better. Quieter background and better separation while also being less edgy in the highs. In fact it sounded better then the usb camera adaptor. So a win for $30 😎 Not only that, but now my video streaming is also better! So I tested my upload and down load speeds and they nearly doubled and my latency is down to. |
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