Musician pegasus DAC or Denafrips Aries 2


I have tailored down to the Denafrips or the MP to be my external DAC. My streamer is a Node 2i.  Has anyone has any suggestions/ experience/comparison with this 2 DACs. I only play through Vandy speakers.  optical or Coax to bypass. which one is better?

128x128lobinero

I was in the same boat recently...I listened to both dacs, on different systems at different times so my impressions could be meaningless.I thought the Musician sounded somewhat disjointed in the mid to upper register. Just something about it sounded wrong. The denafrips to me seemed like it was a better build quality and came across more musical,again  to me.....so I bought a Denafrips. Very pleased with what it's doing so far.

thank you @missioncoonery Now I face a greater decision as I have been heavily recommended the Aurlalic Altair G1.Has good reviews. It is a streamer/DAC at $2888! I ll have to sell my Node2i. 

I don't stream music..only cd playback therefore I can't help outside what I've already added to the discussion..good luck in the decision

@lobinero My recommendation is to keep your DAC and streamer separate. You'll have more flexibility in the future, i.e. you can upgrade DAC and/or streamer separately if you wish to. Having said that, Auralic makes some fantastic products and never a bad choice.

+1 @arafiq I’d keep DAC and streamer separate. Find the DAC that works best for you then upgrade the streamer when you can — the Node’s not an awful streamer so with a good DAC you should still enjoy some pretty good overall performance. That’s what I’d do anyway.