New Bluesound's Node 2i

I’ve been using a Node 2 as a Roon endpoint in a minimalist second system. The Node 2 benefits from a better power cord. I built a silver PC with Furutech and Oyaide ends. Also, it can definitely sound better through an external DAC. I took from storage an old Marigo Apparition RCA digital cable and a Theta Gen Va DAC with balanced outputs. These feed a pair of Pass ACA 1.6 Class A kit monoblocks. The Node 2 downsampled by Roon from 24/192 to 16/44.1 for the old Theta sounds better that the Node 2’s integrated DAC at 24/192. Nice to know that the Theta still stands up! But the Node 2’s integrated DAC isn’t bad.

Node 2i's bread and butter is the operating system and the multi-room function. There are other options out there that sound better. The internal DAC is average at best. The Rotel 1572's DAC sounded better than the Node 2i with MQA even. It's a good starter kit that is for sure. I have since moved onto a separate streamer (metrum ambre) and DAC (Metrum Onyx).. you always think it sounds great until you hear better and thats what makes this hobby so fun...and expensive! cheers on your journey 

The Node benefits greatly from an upgraded PC, for me it's like night and day. Also, add a good DAC with a high quality digital coax and streaming is taken to a higher level.

I have a Node2 connected to a Schiit Gungnir Multibit. 90% of the time it works great streaming from my Synology NAS using Roon. My problem is my main listening room is upstairs and the furthest from my router. All my other Bluesound products are closer and really never have issues. But my Node2 struggles at times with dropouts. Especially with higher-res files (like 24/192.) I wonder if just the improved wifi alone in the 2i would solve this? Obviously I don't care about the DAC inside, just the connectivity issue. I could probably hire an electrician to run CAT6 cable up here and install a jack to plug my Node2 into for about the same price as buying a 2i. But maybe the dual-band 802.11ac (which my router provides) would do the trick. What do you think?

In my case with the 2i, the wired connection sounded incredibly better than the wireless connection. If you have ethernet cable long enough to reach upstairs, it might be worth it to just run the cable on the floor to test the sound.