Bluesound installed DAC - music killer?

@jmphotography 
I have read that the Qutest can be overly bright or analytical in some systems. . Can you tell us what speakers and amplification you are using? Glad to hear you are enjoying the Qutest.

@ericsch Sure. I am using an 18 yr old pair of B&W CDM9NT being driven by a PrimaLuna EVO 300 integrated. Using an older Kimber Illuminati D60 coax cable between the 2i and Qutest and Kimber Hero RCA between the Qutest and PrimaLuna. I did not pick up any sense of brightness, and like I said I was using the incisive neutral, which is basically no tone control/filter. I listen to a lot of female vocal like Norah Jones and Alison Krauss and sometimes she can get up there and get edgy in the higher octaves and I did not sense any brightness or harshness to her voice. Instead she sounded more present in my sound room than I have ever heard. Hearing what I hear now I can say the Node 2i had some graininess, this DAC is detailed, like every note is so precise in its own way. Oh and this was all right out of the box, a lot of people say it has to burn in, well it sounds great now.

@emergingsoul

Ever throw a sheet over your speakers?  Sure sounded like this to me when I began using bluesound.

If you are connecting to the net using the supplied ethernet cable, you might consider purchasing the Supra CAT 8+ from seller "zendada" on eBay.  Its only $59 which includes free shipping.  Calling it CAT 8+ is a bit of advertising fluff, as its really only CAT 8, as Supra does not make 8+.

Using this cable made a big difference on my node 2i.  A very noticeable one day or so break in difference.  If you go this route be sure to not accidentally order from the Supra seller out of England.  If you do you get hit with a $18 shipping cost and three week or so delivery time, versus free one day shipping from US seller "zendada".

I am using an external DAC with my 2i, but thought the built in DAC was ok for casual listening.

Soooo disappointing.

Just curious what you're comparing this $500 piece of gear to?  Is there an equally priced streaming DAC that blows it away that I'm not aware of?

After owning a Node 2 for a few years (since it's release actually) I've wondered if/when Bluesound would develop a streamer sans DAC and upgraded parts. Surely it would cannibalize sales but only in the small audiophile market.