Streamer Value Question Innous vs Bluesound

I’m in danger of sounding like a broken record on this issue, but in my experience, the streamer/server is at least as important as the DAC and likely more so. I enjoyed a greater improvement in sound quality by improving the streamer than I did from the DAC.  

The Bluesound Node 2i is a terrific value - a killer unit from a utility standpoint (I have one in a system).  But, if sound quality is the goal, I wouldn’t be building around the Vault or the Node because even if you upgrade the DAC significantly, the end result will still be limited.  My $.02. Of course, YMMV.

Chorus,

I have three streamers in different systems and have been able to do direct comparisons of each.  I have the Bluesound Node 2i, and Aurender N100H, and and Auralic Aries G2.  The Aurender is audibly  better than the Node 2i and the G2 is audibly better than the Aurender.  They are priced accordingly as well.  There are other users in these forums who have gone much farther upstream in performance (and price) than I have and report additional gains in performance.  And, having read their various posts on these forums, it would appear there’s general agreement that that the server/streamer is at least as important as the DAC.  Happy shopping and let us know what you decide.

Ghjuvanni: you’re making a claim that the streamer doesn’t make a difference. Fine, but you’re also using 3 examples that are all relatively simple and are budget driven solutions - and unlikely to reveal differences.  As stated before, I found at least as much difference between servers as in DACs. The difference wasn’t in tonality, but in spaciousness and detail - musicality. And, the difference wasn’t subtle.  Perhaps you could  try a better unit and see if it was a good value for the performance (if any) improvement. Of course, it doesn’t matter to me one bit that you may not want to explore this to see if it makes a difference worth spending $ on.  But, you’re also suggesting to another forum participant that there’s really not a difference - without relevant experience - at least that you’ve revealed.  We all have opinions.  Myself included.  But opinions are better received and more helpful when backed up by experience, not speculation.  So, if you’ve invested a decent amount of time and $ in your system - try a better server.  And, then come back and tell us your experience - good or bad.