I’m looking for something to get more than the 16/44 that AirPlay offers to my main receiver.
I’ve been reading up on the Node 2i and will be cabling it (I cable everything I can) but when reading through the thread here about problems with 2i kit someone mentioned you could just stick a DAC on your Roon server and connect that (and I hadn’t even thought about it).
In Sweden the Node 2i is just shy of 6000SEK (about 550€/$600)and now i’m thinking maybe I should just pour that money into “just” a DAC and get some sort of payoff for it.
But then I read that you could get some sort of mysterious interference from your Roon server if you do that. My Roon server is a not-supported-but-very-much-working NUC5i7RYH with SSD and 16GBs of RAM running ROCK.
Any advice?
Well that should give you better than AirPlay. And it should give you an idea of how a direct link from NUC to amplifier sounds. USB won’t be any worse. You should be able to enable audio over HDMI in Roon.
I have been using the following configuration and was quite happy with it until two weeks ago:
-ROCK installed on a ROON supported NUC and used exclusively as a core (wired to the router)
-Node 2 in the living room using the S/PDIF output to feed my integrated/DAC
the only limitation was 24/96 max (I never managed to get a proper result outputting 24/192 although claimed by Bluesound but, maybe it a compatibility issue with my S/PDIF cable or DAC)
Unfortunately, 2 weeks ago, I started to get a cyclical perturbation every 25 seconds with this configuration. The Node 2 used with its own app does not have the issue so I suspect a soft incompatibility between ROON and the Node 2 … Great! I am lucky I only own one of heir products! After all sorts of trouble shootings and a tube of aspirin, I moved my NUC to my living room and connected it directly to the USB input of my integrated/DAC. Honestly, this is the best configuration I have heard so far with my set up. The only caveat being the NUC ventilator getting a bit noisy from time to time when asked to upsample to DSD 128 but this normally lasts a few seconds and I guess I can live with that! The sound is clear and articulate, now I can read all the formats of my library and stream Qobuz 24/192 without any issue. I might invest in a dedicated streamer later (Allo Usbridge Sig + linear PSU or SoTM 200 Ultra Neo + its PSU) BUT I will need to hear a significant improvement to my present set up… otherwise, I think I will stay like that and enjoy quite a few DSD downloads for the money. I hope this can help you in your decision.
