Chromecast and external DAC

kalalai, i'd actually be curious to hear how the chrome compares to the node in the same syetme--if you want to take one for the team, let us know...

Will gladly oblige. I’ll just take the Node2 upstairs and swap it with the CC. 
By the way, those of you who have an iPhone and a DAC, owe it to yourselves to try it with the camera adapter cable USB connection. It sounds incredibly good streaming Tidal HiFi. 

Lot easier than I expected. Node 2 sounds more crisp with more detail and overall just a bit livelier but only a little bit. Definitely not day and night difference and certainly not 15 times better but clearly audible nonetheless. Part of it could be the difference in cables but I think the difference is more than just cables. 
I still think the hardwired USB iPhone connection is better by a tad. Certainly cannot blame it on my WiFi sincespeedtest just showed 208 Mb/s download speed 
loomisjohnson, thanks for the encouragement. I would have continued to wonder how they compared. 

thanks, kalali. sorta what i expected--that little chromecast w/optical is still a helluva cheap thrill

@kalali you just opened a can of "upgraditis" for me, I do not care much about price, Tidal and CC is just a legit substitute for bittorents to know which CDs/LPs to buy. Now I have to actually look into this new (for me) streaming thing, shoot!!! ;-(