2psyop - I had an iMac running iTunes for library management and Audirvana for actual streaming of my songs from a NAS drive. The iMac was connected via USB to a Musical Fidelity V-Link192 that in turn was connected via SPDIF (wire) to a Bifrost DAC - with a NAIM 5i MKII as the amplification
I’ve since replaced the iMac/V-Link/Bifrost with a Node 2 - connecting via ethernet directly to the NAS drive.
Reliability has improved, although I did experience a few dropouts of 24/192 tracks when connected via wi-fi, but that was on a day when voip phone and VPN was very active.
Sound quality was marginally better with the Node 2, but then it’s only had a few hours burn in compared to much longer on the previous setup - I expect it to get much better.
The Node 2 control interface is not quite as flexible as iTunes, and some functions, like creating playlists, is a little more awkward.
is it perfect? - not yet.
But I won’t be going back any time soon
BTW - the Node 2 sound quality improves when good IC's and PC's are used
Regards...
I’ve since replaced the iMac/V-Link/Bifrost with a Node 2 - connecting via ethernet directly to the NAS drive.
Reliability has improved, although I did experience a few dropouts of 24/192 tracks when connected via wi-fi, but that was on a day when voip phone and VPN was very active.
Sound quality was marginally better with the Node 2, but then it’s only had a few hours burn in compared to much longer on the previous setup - I expect it to get much better.
The Node 2 control interface is not quite as flexible as iTunes, and some functions, like creating playlists, is a little more awkward.
is it perfect? - not yet.
But I won’t be going back any time soon
BTW - the Node 2 sound quality improves when good IC's and PC's are used
Regards...