Upgrade from modified Bluesound Node 2i and linear power supply (LPS) ?

depends on the resolution of the rest of your system

the node 2i works pretty well as streamer but even with power supply upgrade, the onboard dac is mediocre and can easily be improved upon

Wrong jlss the node21 I’s a decent streamer but for most modern dacs the node 2i will not derive the best sounding digital most modendacs will want to be driven by usb

Asyncronous data transfer lowers jitter

And you need usb to do so

You will be amazed at the difference

We only recomend servers or streamers that offer usb or ethernet data transmision

Yes there are devices that can or may sound great via other methods however in our tests a properly implimented Usb interface is the only way to go

A computer is not a properly implimented usb device

You need a dedicated purpose designed device to do so

Dave and Troy

AUDIO INTELLECT NJ

Or i2s if course.

Thanks for the input!

Jss49- I should have added that I use a Chord Qutest DAC via coax digital output from the Node 2i using a AudioQuest Carbon coax digital cable and then Cardas Golden Reference Interconnects from the DAC to a Cary SLI-80 integrated amp.

Audiotroy - FYI, not trying to debate, I only know what I’ve read regarding USB vs SPDIF inputs.  The engineer/designer of my DAC has posted in a different forum that in general the coax digital input is the best input for top audio quality on his DAC.  He’s not the only engineer who feels that way. There’s also an audio engineer who occasionally posts in this forum and has posted that getting top sound quality from USB is difficult.

@audiotroy

you are entitled to your opinion but its just an opinion bro...

lots more to the spdif vs usb debate than asynchronous transfer and jitter... jitter is but one form of digital noise, important as it is to manage...

people own use a single dac at a time, and how that particular dac is engineered to receive what form and mode of digital feed - how clocking, galvanic isolation, aliasing etcetc determines what works best for that dac

i have been through some 50 dacs with a number of streamers using different connections since 2020... specifics matter, generalities don’t

here is a more complete explanation and discussion on the topic

https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/13124137-the-unique-evils-of-digital-audio-and-how-to-defeat-them