External DAC connection for Bluesound Node 2i (after "Another streaming newbie" thread)

“I think the difference(s) you hear using an external DAC will ultimately depend on the quality/resolution of the rest of your "system" and in some cases the quality of the cabling, both digital and analog, used through the system.”

+1, kalali.

Some folks here heard nice uptick in SQ using a Ayre Codex DAC with Node 2. I have tried few mega-dollars DAC’s just for the kicks with my Vault2 and found Coax connection always sounded better over Toslink.

I only use my Vault 2 for CD ripping.

Have had Node 2i hooked up to both Bryston BDA-1 and to a Chord Qutest by both Toslink and Coax cables.   Toslink cable was an Audioquest Vodka.   Coax digital cables employed have been Tributaries 75 Ohm  Delta Digital and a Transparent  75 Ohm digital A/V cable.  In all cases much preferred the outboard DAC to the Node 2i internal DAC.  Only marginal differences between the different cables employed.  The Transparent was the better of the 2 Coax cables, but nothing wrong with the Tributaries cable.  With BDA-1 slight preference for Coax.   With Qutest, Vodka Toslink beat out Tributaries Coax by slightest of margins, but Transparent Coax bested AQ Vodka Toslink again by a very small margin. 

What made a big difference for me was using the Supra CAT 8+ ethernet cable bought on Ebay from seller zendada. Very nice and reasonably price. If you go this route be sure to buy from zendada and not the seller from England or you will have a relatively high shipping cost and three week shipping wait.

Incidentally the CAT 8+ designation is just a bit of marketing ploy, they are really just CAT 8.

I used the Node 2i DAC with my all analog McIntosh C45 pre-amp and Audioquest Wind interconnects and thoroughly enjoyed the results. I've read the Node 2i DAC is a Burr-Brown, but not verified.

When I replaced the C45 with a C49 I used the pre-amps coaxial connection (with one of the Wind interconnects) and I hear better sound from the 2i.  There was enough of a quality difference that I have not gone back.   I used the other Wind cable to connect my MCD 201 SACD/CD player to the other coaxial input.  Again, there was better sound quality.  Another benefit of using the C49 is seeing the digital playback numbers on the C49.  I still have Wind XLR cables to play SACD on the 201.  I use Qobuz for high-rez streaming on the 2i.  Another question this setup has answered (for me) is, "yes, you can use a short (.5 meter) RCA as a digital interconnect and not hear EMI/RFI". 

You will get a lot of chatter about the 2i being a gateway streamer, which it is, but I have noticed that some of those espousing this have this streamer with its build problems.

We agree that it's a gateway streamer.  I think it's a great value and a good way to start if you're not sure that streaming is going to be for you.  It has good sound quality for what it is, but like many other things in our hobby, if you stop there, you may be missing a lot.

I'm not sure what your point is with the rest of your sentence, other than it seems to be a red herring.  I'm one of those that have that streamer.  My problems were due to trying to connect to it using a wireless connection, which seemed to work fine at first.  I made some changes to my network (including "better" CAT 8 cable, which was a complete waste of money) and upgraded the firmware on my streamer and started having issues.  I have run an ethernet connection to the unit and it's been rock solid ever since.  The folks that did have actual problems got good customer service and prompt replacement of their units.

I've had my share of issues with Bluesound - getting them to connect to my network, taking forever to index the shared files on my network, dropping out, etc.  I had some issues with my Node 2 about the same time I did with my NT-505, which is part of what led me to believe it was a network issue, and not a device issue.

When you're streaming there are a lot of moving pieces - your network, whatever device you're using to control it, and the device itself, not to mention the service you're connecting to.  They don't always all play nice together and not everyone on this forum is a network expert.