Streamer wanted

Arcam has a better DAC but a total crap user interface.

@rvpaino: not sure what youre looking for and your process seems random.
On one hand, you dropped $2K on a Lumin then cancelled it. Then, OTOH, you bash the $500 BS without even trying to find the right DAC for it that would actually get you to around $2K and some righteous SQ.

Chord Qutest, Benchmark, Mytek...get a DAC, man.
Plus, do some research!

Yiu get what you give you and your details and goals are hidden hence your results here are dubious.

Youre making apples/bananas comparisons.

Love the Bluesound 2i. Works great with Amazon (for me, at least). Connected to a decent DAC and ethernet cable, it sounds very good, even if my cd's and vinyl sound better. But for $549 it's a tremendous bargain.

Ianrmack,

Sorry, I neglected to mention I’m using a Benchmark DAC 3B.
I may retry the Bluesound with it, as the last time I used the BS, it was with a different DAC.

I think you should still consider the Sonore opticalRendu. Small Green Computers sell the bundle (opticalRendu + power supply + converter + fiber optic cable) for $700 less than the Lumin UI Mini, and IMO provides superior sound quality. Otherwise, the Node 2i is a solid choice as well. Good luck and enjoy the music :)

I ordered the Node 2i.