How much would I lose going to a Bluesound Node 2i


I'm considering going a much simpler route for digital. I play to a lot of vinyl on my Lenco TT and Era V phonostage, and so digital comprises 30-40% of what we typically listen to. My current setup is running Roon on a Synology NAS that connects wirelessly to an Auralic Aries LE, then connected to connected to my Metrum Octave DAC via Curious USB Cable and Audiophillio 2. That's a lot of links in the chain, thus the desire to simplify with a single box solution if I can.

I have really enjoyed what I've heard from MQA so far, even though I'm not getting all the goodness yet. My Aries will decode MQA but my Metrum Octave does not support MQA, so I'm not getting the full monty. I am using ROON DSP to convert streams to 96kHz and 176kHz when possible. 192kHz is not supported on the Octave.
It's my understanding that the Bluesound will provide Full Decoder support for MQA and that the internal DAC punches well above its weight, especially compared to the Node 2. So my question is whether I should expect MQA to sound better on the Bluesound than it does on my current setup, and how much Redbook will sound degraded, if at all.

I'm tempted to buy a Node 2i to compare for myself but before I do, I thought I would garner some opinions here.
Thanks!
smccull
@rbstehno ,
I am one of the MQA doubters. And, no my equipment is not outdated.
I just don't see any reason to buy into another patented codex (like Dolby), and give them my money when a high rez output will give me just what was recorded. I don't want something re-engineered, I want what the artist and recording engineer made. 
B
Hi,  While I owned the Bluesound Node 2 (not 2i), I too was interested in comparing the internal DAC with my new Stellar Gain Pre / DAC from PS.

I first used the internal Bluesound DAC, then compared with both Coax and Optical connections into the Stellar Gain. To be clear, I did use cheap RCA connectors for the analoge out of the Node. The difference was impressive, with the Stellar Gain DAC sounding much better.  I have since ordered the Direct Stream Junior.  Can't believe the 2i will outperform what I heard, and am excited to hear the DSJ. Also the DSJ is Roon / MQA.
This is not exactly responsive to your issue, but I noticed that you are using a Synology NAS wirelessly. to the Auralic..  When I moved from a small hard disk near my desk-top and DAC to a wireless Synology, I noticed a drop in SQ.  So I considered doing some drilling to set up an ethernet connection.  Before I decided to drill, I got an inexpensive 50 foot cable from ebay and connected through a stairway as a trial.  The SQ was restored and I drilled and put in a 12 foot cat 6 cable and all is well, probably better than before.
There will always be listeners who embrace the latest and supposedly greatest.  But new technology only succeeds when it represents a paradigm shift for the average buyer and becomes the new standard for everything else.  78->LP  LP->CD  VHS->DVD   Tube TV-> Flat Screen.   Quad LP ?  HDCD/SACD/DVD-A ?  3D TV, Curved screens ?   All fell flat.  With regard to sonics,  technologies like SACD and DVD-A are wonderful, with a demonstrable improvement vs 16/44 CD, but the later was enough for the general buyer, and both SACD and DVD-A are essentially dead.  

Incremental and marginal improvements are not enough to cause buyers to invest in new technology.   With MQA you have to invest in both MQA software, and MQA compliant hardware.  While there is a vigorous debate regarding the sonic merits of MQA, all parties agree that the only current beneficiary is the patent holder.  You have to pay to play.

As to the original post.  I have a Node 2.  I am aware of its deficiencies compared to higher end digital boxes.   But the Note 2 (and 2i) are better than their price points would indicate, punching far above their weight as the British would say.  However, both are improved by connection to an outboard DAC, which can represent a significant additional expense.  This begs the question of why not seek a streamer/DAC box of higher quality, instead of shuffling through external DACs (another box....) to find a good combination ?  There are several higher end, and high end stream boxes with incredible on board DACs available...and some of them are MQA compliant for what that is worth.