OK, Streamers: "Head" units only...?

Following this thread closely. I’ve spent hours pouring over solutions to this problem. I have a stand alone Dac that I love and the synergy in my system is excellent. I know there are many in the same boat looking for a high end streamer that only streams. I don’t want any thing else. Sounds simple right? Its not.

(Things I don't need or want: Remote, Volume Attenuation, Dac, Ripper, Storage, Indexing, A crappy App, CD player, a bunch of jitter/noise, bluetooth....I think that's it.)

Upping a Bluesound would be moving to an Aurender.
Unfortunately, Aurender only offers Qobuz and Tidal, so if you want the variety Bluesound offers, your going to have to stay with them.
That being said, upgrade to a high quality DAC- like Ayre Codex or Schiit Gungnir or Yggy ( I mention these only because they outperform from their price points).
I have listened to both Aurender and Bluesound with the Codex and can say it is a very good match for the money.
Bob

You have several options here.  You might consider the Lumin U1 mini (within your budget) or the Auralic Aries G1 (also w/in your budget).  Both are just streamers and both should be a significant upgrade over the Node 2’s streaming quality.  I auditioned the Lumin mini and own the Auralic Aries G2 as well as a Node 2 in one of my systems.  But, the G1 should also be a nice improvement too.  And, both units will play well with Qobus, Tidal, Spotify and other services.  If you have a decent DAC, improving the streamer is a nice and easy way to get a big improvement.  At least in my experience. YMMV.

Best,
mgrif

OP here... ;-)
I think the progression of head only, or close to it, could go something like this:

1. Google Chromecast...$35
2. Apple APE then Apple TV...~$75
3. Sonos Connect...$350
4. Bluesound Node 2i...$5005. Project Streambox...$800 or so
6. Roon Nucleus...$1,400
7. Bryston BDP?....$1,400
8. Lumin U1 mini...$2,000

I know there are are a ton of products in the $1200 - $2,400 range and this is by no means comprehensive. There’s also the DIY world of raspberry Pi or something and also implementations of it like Project but that’s ain’t for me.

But, as one goes up market and still ONLY wants to stream a signal that goes to our existing DAC, I still want to know what we get SQ-wise what is gained going from, as an example, a Bluesound to a Lumin.
We get that the app is also crucial and a separate thread is addressing that now.
Sure, a home audition can help. But, what am I looking for.. and why is it better if we spend more?

or, are we fine with our nodes?
and, yes, I have a good dac.

I think the Bluesound Node occupies something of a sweet spot in terms of value for your audiophile dollar. The Blu OS interface is first rate and the Bluesound folks do a good job of keeping it up to date.  Add a decent external DAC and you are off to the races. That being said, both the SQ and the interface can be bettered, but you pay a premium for that extra bit of goodness, and the scale is sort of logarithmic.  At almost $2100 including lifetime subscription do I think Roon Nucleus is 3 or 4 times better than a $550 Bluesound Node 2i.  No I do not.  Do I think it is worth the premium.  Yes I do.  In my opinion the ride is worth the fare.  But that is very much an individual decision.