Streamer Advice: Bluesound Node 2 vs Aries Mini vs Oppo
Hello,
I know a lot of these advice threads already exist, and plenty of useful info from those. I’m looking for a network streamer with a budget of $500 ($600 is my absolute max). I’ll be playing my own redbook quality FLAC files, and streaming via Tidal. The Bluesound Node 2 and Auralic Aries Mini each check a lot of boxes for me, but I’m having a hard time finding an Aries Mini for sale.
My questions are...
Is there a significant benefit to the Aries Mini over the Bluesound Node 2? If folks think I’m better off with the Aries Mini I don’t mind waiting, and continuing the search for one.
And would an Oppo BDP-103 or BDP-105 be a better choice compared to either the Bluesound or Auralic?
I can’t afford the prices that Oppo UDP models are fetching, but I’m finding a lot of BDP-103s between $300-$500 and even some BDP-105s around $500-$600.
Having a Blu-Ray, CD, SACD player coupled with streaming is very enticing. Since Oppo’s digital components are no longer in production my hesitation is software support potentially going away.
Sound quality streaming Tidal is far superior on my Oppo compared to the Node 2 on its own. Both apps are quite similar. And both are run through my integrated amp. DAC in Oppo has much more detail, and has larger soundstage, with a beautiful musical presentation.
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