DAC/Pre-Amp Advice

Just did a little upgrading. Hagerman Trumpet preamp. Fed by Swagman LPS.

Black ice DAC. Put together a set of open baffle speakers . Caintuck and Lii audio.

Also a new pair of Fritz Carbon 7's. Still have 30 year old Klipsch Fortes . Depending on what I listen to sometimes the music almost encircles me.

Chuck_Tamu,

The issue with the Node (even the 130) is that it is trying to be a jack of all trades at an extremely reasonable price. You've got class leading software development, streaming, DAC, power supplies, etc all in a $600 package.....all aspects cannot be state of the art, costs must be saved.

Lot's of Node owners have opted for a linear power supply (LPS) upgrade package, and report excellent results (blacker background, soundstage width, imaging, greater clarity)....the most common one I believe is the Teddy Pardo kit which comes in at $500 to $550 depending on your Node model.

I have experience with Alvin Chee who is principal distributor for LHY, Denafrips, and Jays Audio CD transports.....I have quite a complete Denafrips stack from DDC through amp and he did recommend the kit which comes in at $280 for the power supply upgrade with the LPS. I'll give it a try, see how much it improves things; and if not, I'm only out $280

Alright guys, might have had a bit of a breakthrough, so let me know if this is something you guys know of and recommend, or if I'm off my rocker.

I'm willing to make the concession initially of my phono stage not having DSP, but I could always add it back in later with a phono stage that has a built in ADC. One that seems to get very good reviews is the Parks Audio Puffin. They have the option to get one with either a SPDIF out or Toslink out.

Have my UHD Blueray player connected to my TV, and run ARC to the Node 130. Connect Node 130 to ethernet (look into LPS upgrades and EMI filtering). Connect Node 130 to MiniDSP SHD Studio via USB. Have the turntable connect via Parks Audio Puffin to the MiniDSP SHD Studio via Toslink/SPDIF. Connect SHD Studio to DAC via AES-EBU. (I haven't found any DSP's that provide RC with an I2S output sadly. If anyone knows of one please let me know)

Is there too much risk of added noise here? I know that was brought up earlier in one of my posts. @soix in the DSPeaker unit you linked earlier, can that USB port be used for Audio in? I wasn't able to discern on their website/manual.

I appreciate you guys a lot, I know I have made it difficult on myself because of the Yamaha amp, but I fell in love with just about every aspect of that thing when I first listened to it. 

I think you are right on the C-658, it is definitely going to be and upgrade from the Node, but I think it will most likely be my fall back option. I'm interested in doing a bit more research before throwing in the towel.

Owner of a C-658. It's an upgrade if you're planning on using DIRAC and have the need for two sub outputs with digital crossover - which can help ease the load of an amp (which is my primary reason for keeping it at the moment).

This unit increased in cost by quite a bit throughout the pandemic. For $2,000 there's a whole lot of competition out there in respect to streamers, especially on the used market. I feel like my Node 2i and MHDT DAC were more musical if I were to be completely honest. Definitely good that you're doing your research. Great thread btw. 

Is there too much risk of added noise here?

BRP>TV>(Node) + (TT/Puffin)>MiniDSP>DAC>Yamaha= Yes, there is a risk of too much noise.

BRP+ TT + Node + TV>(DAC with built in DSP)>Yamaha= less risk, less $$$, hopefully better SQ