2. analog
  3. 161022-152419

Bluesound Vault 2i, with external DAC and hi-end CD player

In trying to get rid of the thousand physical CDs i own so I demoed the Bluesound Vault 2i against my Theta Miles CD player (with a Krell integrated amp and Thiel speakers.) The Theta produced better sound so I sent back the vault. Someone suggested that I use an external DAC, like the Chord Electronics Quest DAC, with the Vault 2i to produce the quality of my CD player. Has anyone any experience with this scenario?
llarry
jl35
3,944 posts
 
a better DAC will help the vault, but only so far

bluemoodriver
193 posts
 
I have a Node2i and it is easy to do A/B tests because all its outputs are hot. I found a small preference for using coax out to an external dac (the one built into my amp) over RCA out of the Node - but I couldn’t tell if that was because of the different cables or because of the different dacs. I keep reading about the amazing difference cables can make, so, you know...
vanson1
126 posts
 
I have a Node2i and agree with the feedback regarding that using an external DAC improves the definition and clarity. 

I tried several DACs and they all sounded differently. It's a matter of finding the best match to the rest of your system.

It's kind of like tuning your system to find the sweet spot between sterile sound and smooth but slightly muddled. 

I found my sweet spot at least to my ears. 


More to discover