Has Anyone Compared the DAC On a Bluesound NODE 3rd Gen to a Separate DAC?

Yes, it’s an excellent DAC for the money. And part of why the node is such a good product. However, it’s easily bested by many better DACs out there. It will either satisfy you or get you thru “admirably” until you upgrade. 

this is a very good review of various common DACs

 

 

All this is a good reason Bluesound should make a streamer only (call it the "Point") without a DAC and knock off $100 from the price. I guess they are afraid it would cannibalize the sales of the Node. Sad, because everyone raves about their U.I. O/S being one of the best out there.

People could start out with a Schiit Modi, Geshelli Labs J2, or Topping E30 and move on up the food chain when their wife and budget allows or just go ahead and get an Ares II as their starting point gateway drug.

Note that previously on YouTube I heard some say the Ares II didn’t pair well with the Node for whatever reason. I never found out why that was observed. Some later said there was a setting "Audio Clock Trim" that needed to be disabled. For those of you who have used an Ares II with a Node was that the key or is there a "deeper" reason such as an impedance mismatch or something?

 

Thanks, all, for the thoughtful comments and ideas!   I’ll sort through them and make some upgrade in due time.  There are a lot of good choices.  Most of the people on this forum have been on this path, and I appreciate the benefit of your experience. I’m just beginning, and looking forward to my new leisure pursuit.

I love the ifi zen stream DAC in my work space system. Research and reviews I read prior to purchasing compared with node and made major distinction in favor of ifi.