You have the gear, run the experiment. The NODE DAC isn't broken, but it can easily be bested by a standalone DAC. Easily doesn't mean veils lifting and wives noticing.. Improvements will likely be nuanced and subtle, but crucial, in my opinion.
With my standalone R2R, USB from the Node gives the cleanest and smoothest sound. Again, you will have to try. Implementation often dictates topological advantages*. (See: XLR vs RCA)