Streamer vs computer?

I am pretty sure you need an MQA device to finish the unfolding of the MQA titles on Tidal. With a Mac you can get 96/24 kHZ res, but with MQA certified device (streamer or dac) you can get 192/24 kHZ res. Of course there are many, many people that do not like MQA and say that the sound is not great, losing bits, not lossless and other things. But that is another can of worms.
Feel free to correct me, as I have not listened to MQA on a mac. I am sure it sounds great!

I have a Node 2 and really like it. But I have to say it fits my budget. I cannot afford to buy a $3000 streamer and $2500 DAC. Also I wanted to get away from using my computer to play music. For me, it was not designed to be a music player, like the Node 2 is. I can access all my older Itunes ripped music files on a NAS, play streamed music, enjoy Tidal MQA ....all by using my Ipad as a controller for $500. It has already proved worth the investment. I have ran it out to a Benchmark DAC and a Schiit DAC. To my ears, MQA played with the internal BS Node 2 dac sounded best.

The debate over MQA is a big can of worms. Some think it sounds great for what it was intended for....a streaming option. Some think you lose bits and it does not sound good. Still others think it was invented by Darth Vader and will kill all music via the Death Star.
I am not sure (except I don’t think the last option is valid). The Node 2 (internal DAC) should not be compared to the Ayre codex. Because the Ayre is 4x the price of the Node 2. One should expect it to sound much better. And lastly, when I sent a signal out to my Schiit Bifrost Uber and also the Benchmark DAC 1 they will were getting the Redbook res. In those cases, the Bluesound sounded as good or better. With MQA master files, the Node 2 sounded better on about 80% of the albums compared to redbook. Once again, IMHO.