The Dark Side; Digital audio equipment recommendations and setup.

I have the 2i and have been very happy. But between Roon and the 2i, one of them does not like playing Tidal. It plays 2 or 3 tracks and then skips part way through a song onto the next and the next... Thankfully I was planning to ditch Tidal soon anyhow.

Listening to the 2i right now through my Marantz 2230 (which I just picked up from the repair shop). Sounds great.
 
Okay, officially experiencing LP replacement burn out. What do I need for an endgame digital system and how much should I put away? What should I look at? I will probably be grabbing a pair of Wharfdale Lintons, maybe selling my records that are mediocre pressings and keeping my turntable for audiophile releases.
 
Ghost said:
Okay, officially experiencing LP replacement burn out. What do I need for an endgame digital system and how much should I put away? What should I look at? I will probably be grabbing a pair of Wharfdale Lintons, maybe selling my records that are mediocre pressings and keeping my turntable for audiophile releases.
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whats your budget.. because i dont think you have enough for say a holo may (the 5 grand R2R dac that's been routinely praised)
 
Ghost said:
Okay, officially experiencing LP replacement burn out. What do I need for an endgame digital system and how much should I put away? What should I look at? I will probably be grabbing a pair of Wharfdale Lintons, maybe selling my records that are mediocre pressings and keeping my turntable for audiophile releases.
Click to expand...
duke86fan said:
whats your budget.. because i dont think you have enough for say a holo may (the 5 grand R2R dac that's been routinely praised)
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Are you going to a lot of streaming ? I dont think you can go wrong with a Bluesound Node 2. There blowing out the current models for $100 off (under $500 ) and you can use your own files as well. Someone else can speak if Hi Res DSD file are compatible.

You can improve the dac part down the road if you need/want. Chord and Denafrips dacs are well regarded, two different sounds though.
 
JohnnyCashFan said:
Are you going to a lot of streaming ? I dont think you can go wrong with a Bluesound Node 2. There blowing out the current models for $100 off (under $500 ) and you can use your own files as well. Someone else can speak if Hi Res DSD file are compatible.

You can improve the dac part down the road if you need/want. Chord and Denafrips dacs are well regarded, two different sounds though.
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What @JohnnyCashFan said, the Node 2i is a good place to start and you can build on from there. Are you thinking you are going to be using a hi-res streaming service or digital files locally?
 
duke86fan said:
whats your budget.. because i dont think you have enough for say a holo may (the 5 grand R2R dac that's been routinely praised)
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Not sure yet frankly! Not sure what’s out there!
JohnnyCashFan said:
Are you going to a lot of streaming ? I dont think you can go wrong with a Bluesound Node 2. There blowing out the current models for $100 off (under $500 ) and you can use your own files as well. Someone else can speak if Hi Res DSD file are compatible.

You can improve the dac part down the road if you need/want. Chord and Denafrips dacs are well regarded, two different sounds though.
Click to expand...
jamieanderson1968 said:
What @JohnnyCashFan said, the Node 2i is a good place to start and you can build on from there. Are you thinking you are going to be using a hi-res streaming service or digital files locally?
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Yes I’m a huge streamer, don’t really have any digital files except my high school library of torrented music lmao. I’ll check out the Node 2i! Doesn’t sound like an expensive way to get started
 
Ghost said:
Not sure yet frankly! Not sure what’s out there!

Yes I’m a huge streamer, don’t really have any digital files except my high school library of torrented music lmao. I’ll check out the Node 2i! Doesn’t sound like an expensive way to get started
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Yeah if you are exclusively streaming on Spotify or Tidal or Qobuz, then a simple all in one streamer will work great as a start, you probably don't have to spend money on roon because it's mostly for managing both streaming and local files so something with Spotify or Tidal connect will work wonders
 
duke86fan said:
Yeah if you are exclusively streaming on Spotify or Tidal or Qobuz, then a simple all in one streamer will work great as a start, you probably don't have to spend money on roon because it's mostly for managing both streaming and local files so something with Spotify or Tidal connect will work wonders
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The bluesound node is Roon ready regardless so it’s not an either or.
 
Ghost said:
Okay, officially experiencing LP replacement burn out. What do I need for an endgame digital system and how much should I put away? What should I look at? I will probably be grabbing a pair of Wharfdale Lintons, maybe selling my records that are mediocre pressings and keeping my turntable for audiophile releases.
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#1 - what streaming platform will be your primary? That's a big factor.
#2 - Set your top budget and consider if you want a single unit or separates
#3 - Decide if there are any must have file types. MQA tends to be the hot topic for streaming. DSD for downloads.

Those 3 items cut down the options a lot.
 
displayname said:
3 - Decide if there are any must have file types. MQA tends to be the hot topic for streaming. DSD for downloads.
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This one has a lot of asterisks

MQA is in a bit of hot water as it's not lossless, only one streaming service uses it (tidal), some don't like the sound and how grainy it can be (like me) and a video by golden sound showed a lot of the shady practices of them



For downloads there aren't nearly as many big controversies with DSD.. the issue isn't with the format in general, more just the fact that there is not a lot of music available in DSD.. mostly classical, jazz, and a somewhat notable classic rock collection, and it's getting in hot water because of sites like superhirez shutting down so it's much harder to get files unless you somehow can rip SACDs

John darko likes to talk about it too.. it's best to focus more on the CD quality and maybe hires if you have qobuz or Apple music or Tidal but v only MAYBE and how they sound compared to all the stuff instead of focusing on unicorn formats..
 
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Ghost said:
Not sure yet frankly! Not sure what’s out there!

Yes I’m a huge streamer, don’t really have any digital files except my high school library of torrented music lmao. I’ll check out the Node 2i! Doesn’t sound like an expensive way to get started
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I don’t have the Node but I’d second that kind of route especially if you can hook up an external DAC to it later on. I did that with my Aries Mini (which aren’t easy to track down anymore sadly). But it leaves you with an upgrade path if you find yourself streaming a lot. You could eventually use the Node as just an end point for Roon if you go that route but as others have said, Roon’s strength lies in combining local downloads with streaming platforms. If you’re just streaming and don’t do multi-room audio, Roon is overkill.

I really like Qobuz as a streaming platform. I wouldn’t let MQA or DSD necessarily stop you from buying a streamer right now especially if you can later put a separate DAC in the chain. Once you get a streamer you should be able to get a 30 day trial of Qobuz for free (if not maybe I can send you a free trial link?)

I’m really Glad I added digital to my setup. It does make you focus on higher quality pressings of albums on vinyl and then I can download or stream other albums I like but don’t NEED on vinyl.
 
MikeH said:
Once you get a streamer you should be able to get a 30 day trial of Qobuz for free (if not maybe I can send you a free trial link?)
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You can get 3 months of qobuz free if you are on the music direct newsletter

And personally.. both me and my brother thought the American idiot 192 on qobuz sounded better than the mqa 192 on tidal (on a 150 dollar portable DAC and 100 dollar headphones)..
 
duke86fan said:
This one has a lot of asterisks

MQA is in a bit of hot water as it's not lossless, only one streaming service uses it (tidal), some don't like the sound and how grainy it can be (like me) and a video by golden sound showed a lot of the shady practices of them



For downloads there aren't nearly as many big controversies with DSD.. the issue isn't with the format in general, more just the fact that there is not a lot of music available in DSD.. mostly classical, jazz, and a somewhat notable classic rock collection, and it's getting in hot water because of sites like superhirez shutting down so it's much harder to get files unless you somehow can rip SACDs

John darko likes to talk about it too.. it's best to focus more on the CD quality and maybe hires if you have qobuz or Apple music or Tidal but v only MAYBE and how they sound compared to all the stuff instead of focusing on unicorn formats..
Click to expand...

Yea I haven’t used DSD or MQA once really in the past year or two I have had my digital setup and still am really happy with the sound.
 
Ghost said:
Hey Darksiders!

So if I already have an integrated AMP would I buy the Powernode 2i or just the Node 2i?
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Upscale and other places might still have some Node 2i's, stores were discounting them $100 off recently with a new model coming out. You could probbaly even pick yours up from Kevin's.
 
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