Bluesound Node 2i

[BultyBoy]

I've just fitted the Fidelity Interface board and an Allo Shanti power supply. It is definitely much better to my ears. You can follow individual instruments now whereas is was a muddled sound before. I am so impressed with the Bluesound. The confusion to me now is being told yesterday that another dac won't make much difference if any. There is so much conflicting advice out there...

[Tim]

There is so much conflicting advice out there...

Welcome to the world of audiophile HiFi!

However, your statement is slightly flawed, what other DAC would this seer be advising on? What I can tell you is there is a difference when you play music from the coaxial output of a Node 2i via a Rega DAC, but I wouldn't say it was worth the extra £600 that difference will cost you. Whether that difference is 'better' is also very subjective, but it's certainly different.

That kind of advice is pretty irrelevant as DACs can be as different as chalk and cheese. I would say you will probably have to pay more for a DAC than the value of the Node to reap any significant improvement, which isn't worth it IMO.

So relax and enjoy what the Node 2i does well and don't fret about trying to improve it, that would not be an economical venture at this price point and you could end up chasing your tail down a rabbit hole of discontent.

Just enjoy the music

[BultyBoy]

Well interestingly it was an RME Adi 2 that I was originally asking said person about which is imposed to be rather good on every review I've seen. But your right about accepting what is already very good and yes I am enjoying the music, hours every evening whereas for many years 20plus I forgot the pleasures of having a live band at home 🙂

[Gromit]

I've just fitted the Fidelity Interface board and an Allo Shanti power supply. It is definitely much better to my ears. You can follow individual instruments now whereas is was a muddled sound before. I am so impressed with the Bluesound. The confusion to me now is being told yesterday that another dac won't make much difference if any. There is so much conflicting advice out there...

Thanks for the mention of the interface board and external psu, it's something I'm interested in trying. From what I've read (not exhaustively though) the board & psu makes a bigger difference when using the Node's internal DAC.

My own, very brief, try-out of Teac DAC vs the internal ended up with a slight preference to the former. Very subtle, but certainly demonstrable - the Teac having a more rounded, less forthright presentation, but perhaps more mature. Now the unit's run-in it would be interesting to re-compare. Also doing a comparison between coax and optical output - there does seem to be a split on which is better.

[Lurch]

With regards the interface board, a cheaper but as effective option is the Polish one that's sold via eBay (the designer is on the wam) it's what I use in mine fed by an SBooster, I also feed my Node2 into a pimped Jolida Glass fx dac (tried an RME & Quetest and couldn't hear £800+ difference to the std Node DAC).

[Jimbo]

With regards the interface board, a cheaper but as effective option is the Polish one that's sold via eBay (the designer is on the wam) it's what I use in mine fed by an SBooster, I also feed my Node2 into a pimped Jolida Glass fx dac (tried an RME & Quetest and couldn't hear £800+ difference to the std Node DAC).

The Node 2 DAC is very good and hard to beat at the price. I have also heard the Qutest in my system and thought it sounded great but double the price of the node 2!

[BultyBoy]

In the last few weeks I came across Brad Mehldau Art of the Trio and have been listening to the albums. This week I got to volume 2 live. It is absolutely astonishing, I have never heard anything so live before in front of me, the band are playing just there. What a stunning recording if you like jazz or try it even if not. After hearing something like this I think I have answered my question whether I need a better dac, most probably not. Perhaps they do however make some recordings sound 'better or different but I think I'll hold on for now.