Bluesound node 2i DAC VS Vincent SA-T7 DAC

Hi superstoked, I’m not an authority on DAC’s by any stretch of the imagination, however I run a Node 2i and a Node 2 in both my systems. Within the last couple of months I dipped my toes in the external DAC waters. I run an April Music Stello DA100 Signature in the main system,and a Beresford Bushmaster in the secondary system. Both are not top of the line,and both older DAC’s. That said,I’m still very happy with what they have to offer. I noticed more detail,and definitely a much,much larger holographic soundstage on both. I can only imagine how much better a newer,and higher end DAC would sound on either system. Like you,I was running the Node products via rca analog out. I was very happy with the SQ.( Ignorance was bliss!) Keep using the DAC in your pre,since you have that option. 
   Best of luck!

Hey thanks rocray! Same here, I’m a vinyl guy, but my thorens is currently away being restored so digital it is. I now have three DACs, the bluesound, the Vincent, as well as a music hall c-dac 15.3 dac/cd player. I run my television audio through the music hall and it’s no slouch either. It has the same burr-brown, PCM 1796 24 bit/192 kHz and DAC: Wolfson WM8805 chipset that I think some McIntosh gear uses. After some considerable listening time, I’m convinced my ears aren’t lying, the toslink has better SQ. As far as connectivity, I am using the fiber optic bridging from a 5G router on frontier fios, (it used to be Verizon but here in Florida now it’s owned by frontier. My amplifier is a Bob Latino ST-120 that I built from a kit. Speakers are Bob Crites “cornscala’s”. I’m not sure I’ve reached the summit of audio perfection, but I don’t feel the need to climb any higher, well, at least for now!

@superstocked, what music services are you listening to thru your Node?
Are you using ethernet from Fios router to Bluesound?

I would love to have my Node 2i connected via Ethernet,but my audio room is over our finished basement and ceilings downstairs are dry walled. So,I’m pretty locked into WiFi. One huge improvement vs the Node 2 is the dual band WiFi. It makes a big difference for connectivity. 

At first I had tidal and got on the MQA bandwagon and the fact it had more content. However I realized this content was mostly music I didn’t care for. I also found that I preferred qobuz hi res SQ over tidal’s MQA. So as far as my connection goes yes I bridge the signal from the 5G router using Two TP-Link Gigabit Ethernet Media Converter, 1000Mbps RJ45 to 1000M Multi-Mode SC Fiber (MC200CM) connected together with fiber optic cable. This eliminates long runs of Ethernet cable prone to RF noise and competing network WiFi traffic. The SQ improvement was significant.