For those that have separate Streamers & DACS

So, Anipodes S30 could be setup just as a player and you would just run Roon core on the Zenith.  I have never had a customer match an antiopdes player with another brands server.  It would only connect via USB.  This is not my first choice.  

The Bricasti M5 would be a first rate option.  The M5 is at its best when connecting to a DAC via AES. 

The Chord 2Go/2Yo which is slightly less expensive is also excellent.  It has a digital coax and BNC output that are very good.  I would argue it might be slightly better than the M5 if you prefer USB.  

If you got the Bricasti M3 with network card, you would simply run an ethernet cable to it.  That is likely the best performing and least expensive option.  

@hilde45

Thanks for posting the link for Node 2 power supply upgrade. May I know your total investment in retail with Node 2 + external DAC + power supply board + LPS + Digital cable + extra power cord? I think it would be a good info for our readers to know the total upgrade cost vs a one box streamer with a built in DAC.
Thank you!

@lalitk 

@hilde45 

Yes, I do think it would be helpful for many. Good suggestion.

@lalitk and all:

$118 PD Creative board

$140 Acopian linear power supply (used, via Ebay, Florida Industrial, vendor)

$258 total.

Much better deal than the Teddy Pardo option, though that looks nicer.

Here's a photo of the powersupply sitting behind my rack, Node just where it usually lives.

other terrific (and i do mean terrific) low cost streamer option is the ifi zen stream, with an add on linear power supply, ideally at 12v dc, total cost about $600

@hilde45 

i always assumed the pd creative ps upgrade for 2i node improved the analog out much more than the rca spdif digital out, as ps improvement tends to make the analog sound purer whereas digital bitstream benefits most from superior clocking (not affected by the p-s mod) and digital noise suppression (only somewhat affected) ... did you feel the rca digital out sounded noticeably better with the added mods to your 2i?