Auralic Aries Mini or Bluesound Node 2?

Thanks for the replies,

I guess I don’t have to have Roon if the DS Lightning SW accomplishes what I need and that is to have some sort of management of all of my music wherever it is being streamed or local and being easily accessible via our devices (mostly iPhones/iPads). I’ll be hooking either up to the Yamaha via coaxial so the Yamahas DACs will be taking over. I like that fact I can install a HD in the Mini if needed. That would save me a connection/cable. My setup is modest, playing through some 90s KEF Reference Model 2s so I’m sure I’m splitting hairs here. If my Yamaha handled Tidal and it had a rear USB port, I probably wouldn’t be considering either of these.

I see a lot of folks here like the Bluesound and haven’t seen much mention of the Mini.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Haha - I can blame jon for owning the Aries Mini :-)  He's the one that made me aware of it.  Audio Advisor was selling them at the time with a year of Tidal.  They have a 30 day return policy too, so no real risk there.  I think I agree with Jon recommending an outboard DAC.  I tried using the Mini with the internal DAC.  I didn't think it sounded that good.  Even outputting to the Gungnir, it was only when I put the V-Link USB/SPDIF converter in between that the sound quality took a big step forward. Not sure why that should be the case but it was and not in a subtle way.   Power supply is another variable you can obsess about.  Good luck.

(Underwood HiFi has the Aries Mini at a slight discount right now).

@asahitoro I upgraded the power supply of my Mini with the Sbooster power supply which I picked up from Acoustic Sounds, it was around $350 as I remember made a huge difference. I personally go straight to my Dac from the Mini my Dac is an Audio Note Dac-3 Signature. Everyone's setup is different and ghosthouse preferred his with the v-link it all depends on system synergy at the end of the day.

Thanks jond,

Yes, I agree it's all about the chemistry of it all. I guess I'm just curious of how that may happen and trying to learn as I thought with the DAC being last in the chain before his preamp it would have the final say in the sound. Should I go USB/V-Link instead of coaxial out of the Mini too? Can that improve the sound of feeding into my Yamaha DACs? It sounds like you guys are dealing with much higher end gear so I doubt I'd notice the difference relative to the extra cost. Same with the power supply. Will $350 give me a noticeable gain in sound quality to justify the cost or are there lower cost power upgrades out there? I have everything plugged into a Furman 15i PC/surge protector and power cords are something I'm eyeballing as my next incremental upgrade.

I think I have my mind made up on the Mini as it sounds like it will serve my basic needs.