Streaming Tidal - What hardware is out there beyond the Bluesound

The Auralic Aries Mini would be your other choice in the $500 range that I’m aware of. I’m still on the fence on getting it or the Bluesound Node 2. There doesn’t seem to be a definitive answer as it sounds like they are both great products with some different features/capabilities. I’m hoping others chime in here as well.

I have had a Dell laptop, quad core I7, 16 gigs of RAM, 1 tb internal disk drive, 4 tb external disk drive (to store AIFF files from recording CDs on iTunes, plus hi-res AIFF files purchased from HD Tracks), USB out to my DAC.  A few months ago I started a subscription to Roon, whose "core" runs on the Dell, iPad app to control.
I purchased a dedicated music server a few years ago, don't use it anymore.

I’ve been very happy with my Node 2 particularly the flexibility that it provides. I have used it as a "Streamer" as well as a preamp/streamer directly connected to my amplifier. The mobile app supports basically everything a preamp can provide - volume control, balance, tone control, including a subwoofer connection. The question to ask is what else is out there that is WiFi capable and provides all this in a single box, with decent quality, and supports MQA content for under $500. Bluesound reliability and on-line support has also been excellent.

+1 Kalali,
I use the Bluesound Node 1's, but only as streamers.  
Though the Node 2 is supposedly better DAC-wise, I would keep the Node 1's and get better DAC's. For the money, I can't think of anything else comparable. Also, directly connect via ethernet rather than Wifi. 
Bob