To stay near your budget I’d recommend this Musician Pegasus R2R DAC (I own it) and LHY linear power supply for the Node. The Pegasus will give you natural tone and great detail and bass along with excellent imaging and a spacious 3D soundstage, and you can choose between non-oversampling or oversampling modes if you feel you want a bit more or less detail/incisiveness, which is nice. If possible you should run a balanced cable from it to your amp as it is a fully balanced DAC and sounds best that way, and later when funds allow if you want even more you can buy a Musician Pisces or Denafrips Iris DDC (I have the Iris) and get very significant performance improvements for relatively not much $$$ especially if you buy used. Using the upgraded power supply on the Node will up the performance to a point more on par with $2k streamers and should at least hold you over (or at least not hold you too far back) until you’re ready to do a significant upgrade there. That’s what I’d do at your budget given what you’re looking for and just one idea FWIW. Hope this helps somewhat, and best of luck.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/226670482937
Replacement/upgrade for Bluesound and Chord Mojo 2 streamer/external DAC combo
Greetings, I am looking for an alternative to my streamer/DAC combination. Currently using Bluesound NODE N130 only as a source (Spotify/Tidal/local music library) feeding my Chord Mojo 2. Mojo 2 is designed to be a headphone DAC/Amp, but it has better use as an external DAC feeding my integrated amplifier for home audio use, better sound than running it direcly via the Bluesound. The USB port in the Bluesound connects my music library stored in an SSD, so USB connection to Mojo 2 (supposedly give better signal) is no longer an option.
Looking on how to improve my setup:
- Upgrade kit and linear PSU for the bluesound. Many reviews commented on the quality upgrade in Bluesound from the kit, but wonder if anyone has any experience with the upgrade kit (from PD creative or other brands) improvement on Bluesound when running through external DAC? Will it be a noticeable or marginal difference, since i am already using Mojo 2?
- Replace the Mojo 2 with other dedicated external DAC
- Replace the Bluesound and Mojo 2 all together and find a better streamer/DAC alternative? Cambridge CXNv2 came across to my mind,
My current setting:
- Accuphase E-380 integrated amplifier and Nordost Blue Heaven power cord
- Dynaudio Evoke 10 and Nordost Red Dawn speaker cable
- Bluesound NODE N130, a Taiwanese made RCA to mini coax cable and an aftermarket power cable (not clear what brand, but thick enough cable for the Bluesound)
- Chord Mojo 2 and Nordost Blue Heaven iKable 3.5mm to RCA cable
Not looking to spend much $$$ for the streamer/DAC alternative and not planning to replace my other components, as i am content enough with the rest. Any comment/feedback is appreciated.