This is good Schiit...
Hang on... this is a long one...
So I had never tried anything from Schiit Audio before in my nearly 30 years messing around in mid-fi gear. I have owned many, many amps, preamps, integrated amps, CD players, DACs, etc. Most individual units were ranged between $500 to maybe $6,000 (retail), but the majority were purchased used.
So I was messing around on YouTube one day and saw some videos on the Schiit Freya+ tube preamp. I have always been a fan of a tube preamp + big SS amplifier.... just always preferred this setup generally. So after seeing what these were selling for used (and the fact that I much preferred the black finish - harder to find), I decided to just order a new one from Schiit and give it a try. Even if it suck or was Schiity, I could sell it for a decent price and only lose maybe $200 or so. At the same time, I ordered a couple matched quads of old NOS RCA & Sylvania tubes.
Having owned much more expensive SS & tube preamps in the past, I was fairly surprised with the sound straight out of the box. As a few music sessions went by over the next month or so, it got better and better sounding. I was using a Parasound A23+ amp with it at the time and a Bluesound Node 2i for a streamer/DAC up front.
Then seeing several other videos on YouTube about the Schiit Aegir amplifiers... I decided to buy a pair of those and give them a try. I was also shocked at what they sounded like, especially at that asking price... HUGE bank for the buck in my opinion.
Then, after watching more videos on YouTube about the new Tyr mono blocks, I bought a pair of those to try. I have been going back-n-forth between these amps on/off for the last few weeks - still trying to decide which ones I prefer... they both sound fantastic and are a ridiculous value I feel.
So this brings me to my question (finally, I know)... since I seem to have a serious fondness so far for this Schiit and I am only running a Bluesound Node 2i for both streamer & DAC duty... maybe I give one of their DACs a try also??? Would it make a significant difference???
My experiences with DACs (and I have tried many) left me satisfied with the sound from the BS Node 2i alone. When trying different DACs in the past, with decent cables, etc., the sonic differences were very minor to my ears.
One specific comparison was when I had the BS Node 2i hooked up with both a pair of Clear Day silver RCA cables out and a nice Furutech digital cable out. I sent the digital stream into an MHDT Orchid tube DAC w/ the highly recommend NOS Western Electric tube, then the same Clear Day RCA cables continued onto the integrated amplifier (Plinius 8100). The other Clear Day silver RCA went directly from the BS Node 2i into the integrated amplifier. The power cord on the BS Node 2i was a Nordost Purple Flare and the power cords on the MHDT DAC and the Plinius integrated were both LessLoss DFPC Signature (so I am not hooking all this up with basic/cheap cables at all). All of this was plugged into a BPT line conditioner.
So cue up some music stream from Tidal and go back-n-forth on the two different inputs on-the-fly....differences? Yes, but not that much... not NEARLY enough to justify the additional costs of the DAC, tube & cables I felt.
So does anyone have actual experience with using a Bluesound Node 2i alone and then upgrading to a better external DAC and just using the BS Node 2i for streaming duty? I understand that there are many out there that downplay the BS Node capabilities as a DAC, but let's not make a comparison to a streamer/DAC that cost $8,000... let's really compare apples to apples.
I do not have a huge issue with buying Schiit's best DAC, but I feel like it would take that unit to have me hearing a worthwhile difference.
Thanks for your attention and any/all advice is much appreciated.
Considering the improvement I hear going to a Gumby from the inboard Node DAC, if you don't hear a significant difference going to the Yiggy I'd say you're in the wrong hobby :-) All kidding aside though if you don't hear a difference I think you need to start looking at other things going on in your system.
|
@audiofreak32 if "a great deal" is your lodestar in chasing better sound you will always be citing the infamous excuse of "the law of diminishing returns" that disappointed midfi enthusiasts make when their "great deals" don't result in significant sonic improvements. To get significant sonic gains one needs to graduate to hifi and get ready to spend $$$ to level up. Buy a Lumin U2 transport to start for $2.5K and a decent DAC like the Yiggy and you will forget your Node soon enough. Next, sell your Aegirs and buy a Pass Labs XA25 for $5K - that sonic upgrade will make your Aegirs seem broken in comparison. |
I think that's a bit of a stretch... But if you think spending that much more money gets you that much better sound, that's great. I have other things in my life I need to worry about as well. I think there are a lot of people out there that Think that their gear sounds so much better just because they spend a lot more money on it. I have seen that way too many times. |
I have the Gungnir Multibit. While it suits me just fine with my Node 2, computer and CD transport, you might also be happy with the Bifrost, which is also multibit but with a remote. I kind of wish I had the remote. But Schiit really holds its value, so buy it, try it, keep it or sell it and you're not out that much. Have fun!
|
I would agree with your view on the Schiit Aegir x2 Amps running in mono. A recent purchase, but now nicely broken in, I have enjoyed the easy relaxed sound and feel of these Class A amps, compared with my previous big power SS amp. A silky smooth 80 watt per amp, very easy to listen to for long periods of time. Easily running my slightly power hungry 86 db Wilson Benesch Square 2's with ease, highly recommended. I am now rethinking my need to upgrade my Dac (for now!), my current dac is a Teac UD-501 which I have enjoyed for a number of years. From my research of reviews on stand alone dacs over the last few months and a budget of $2,000 , I have a short list of either the Denafrip Pontus or the Gustard X-26 Pro. I do have a minor library of DSD Files so I am Leaning away R2R dacs, but they may have the sound qualities I think I may like. I hope to find a way sample these first.
|
