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Need DAC/Streaming Advice

I currently own a Bryston BDP-2 digital player that I run through a Bryston DAC.  As far as playing high resolution files via a thumb drive or other external drive, the BDP-2 sounds great.  The streaming part leaves a lot to be desired.  I can stream Tidal but it is extremely slow and the IPad controller is pretty lousy.  I can listen to Sonos through the DAC into my main system but obviously there is no hi-Rez via Sonos. I would like to find a better solution and am willing to start over (I can move the Bryston components to my secondary system).  What I would like to find is a higher end streamer for my main system that would allow me to stream Tidal, Spotify and Deezer if possible while also playing digital files via thumb drive etc. I have no idea if that can be done in a one box solution or if I would need a separate streamer and DAC.  I would very much appreciate any and all thoughts.  Thanks in advance.
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bosssound's avatar
bosssound
120 posts
 

+1 @mzkmxcv4+1 @big-greg

Aurender N100C (@lalitk) is a very good product with many attractive features but when I auditioned that vs a Bluesound Vault 2 I could not hear a difference. System was Parasound Halo JC2BP--> A21 --> Vandersteen Treos. (I am able to hear differences with power cable and fuse switches.)
At home, I very happy with sound the Vault 2 produces in my system: JC2BP--> A21 --> Vandersteen Quatros.
You have to consider that since Bluesound manufactures in bulk they can purchase components  at prices and access engineering talent that small companies that sell much smaller number of products cannot match.
Vault 2 has very similar guts to Node 2. In addition to streaming, you can rip CDs conveniently to an internal hard drive and play them back.
mahler123
3,353 posts
 

Puppy 

Thats a little discouraging, as I have ordered a BDP 3 to pair with my DAC3.  I have had Bluesound for the past 3 years but I am finally throwing in the towel after not being able to use it for a quarter of that time.  When it works, it’s a nice product 
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mastercraft1990
19 posts
 
I have had the Node 2i for a couple months now and haven’t had any problems with any of the glitches mentioned here. My problem is reading all these posts and thinking about a stand alone DAC upgrade and if it’s worth it. 
mahler123
3,353 posts
 
Depends on the rest of your system.  If it is reasonably resolving, I would say yes, it’s worth an external DAC
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puppyt OP
97 posts
 
Mahler:

I’m beginning to wonder if any of these streaming options are really that good. I would assume so much depends on your WiFi network. As I understand it, The BDP3 digital player is a big improvement over the BDP2 so hopefully your experience will be much better. After reading all of these posts I decided to purchase the Node 2i. For only $499 I figured I wasn’t making a huge investment and I can always use it in my secondary system if it doesn’t perform as I hope. I my also spring for the upgrade to my BDP2 which essentially turns it into a 3.

Does anyone know how long it takes to rip a CD into the Vault? I have about 6000 CD’s and won’t live long enough to get them all ripped but I would like to get the best part of my collection into a hard drive.
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