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How much would I lose going to a Bluesound Node 2i

I'm considering going a much simpler route for digital. I play to a lot of vinyl on my Lenco TT and Era V phonostage, and so digital comprises 30-40% of what we typically listen to. My current setup is running Roon on a Synology NAS that connects wirelessly to an Auralic Aries LE, then connected to connected to my Metrum Octave DAC via Curious USB Cable and Audiophillio 2. That's a lot of links in the chain, thus the desire to simplify with a single box solution if I can.

I have really enjoyed what I've heard from MQA so far, even though I'm not getting all the goodness yet. My Aries will decode MQA but my Metrum Octave does not support MQA, so I'm not getting the full monty. I am using ROON DSP to convert streams to 96kHz and 176kHz when possible. 192kHz is not supported on the Octave.
It's my understanding that the Bluesound will provide Full Decoder support for MQA and that the internal DAC punches well above its weight, especially compared to the Node 2. So my question is whether I should expect MQA to sound better on the Bluesound than it does on my current setup, and how much Redbook will sound degraded, if at all.

I'm tempted to buy a Node 2i to compare for myself but before I do, I thought I would garner some opinions here.
Thanks!
smccull

Showing 3 responses by uberwaltz

uberwaltz's avatar
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uberwaltz
4,946 posts
 
I maybe in the minority here but I do believe MQA makes a significant SQ difference at least to my ears in my system.
I have two methods of streaming MQA right now and I find both to be superior to non MQA albums from Tidal.

Bluesound Vault 2 via SPDIF to Mytek Brooklyn letting the Brooklyn handle the MQA. You have to hear a 24/192 recording to believe it!

Auralic Aries Mini via USB to Mytel Brooklyn again letting the Brooklyn handle the MQA. Even further up the food chain imho.

But back to the OP question.

I still feel that the internal DAC in the Bluesound products is inferior to an external high quality DAC ( as it should be considering the price difference!) but the Node 2i is supposed to be improved so you may very well be satisfied with it. At least you have the option of trying its DAC or output to a higher quality MQA capable DAC down the road.
uberwaltz's avatar
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uberwaltz
4,946 posts
 
Once Upon a time that was only way to play MQA but not for a long time.
Now any compatible streamer and DAC will do the job.
I use Bluesound Vault 2 to Mytek Brooklyn and Auralic Aries Mini to Mytek Brooklyn.
Both play full 24/192 MQA files where applicable.
uberwaltz's avatar
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uberwaltz
4,946 posts
 
Andy.
Your findings pretty much mirror my own.I am pushing Tidal MQA through my Vault by spdif into Mytel Brooklyn and it is sublime, much more detailed and spacious than the Vault DAC brings to the party.
However the latest 2i versions are supposed to have better DAC than their 2 forbears so that I cannot attest too.
I would say right now the Vault 2 into Brooklyn via spdif is at least as good if not better than my Aries Mini into BrooklyN via USB.
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