I did the same. I just purchased a Townshend Allegri Reference preamp which should arrive soon. I'll hook my turntables phono preamp and my Model 12 monoblocks interconnects to it for 2 channel analog.
Until I by a separate DAC, I'll use the DAC in my Classe SSP-800 processor. It supports 24/192 but down samples the signal to 24/96. It is a 2009 DAC but it still is very good.
I have the Node 2i streamer for Qobuz but don't use its DAC(so I can't get above 24/96).
Yes, the Node is a 24/192 DAC but I suspect it isn't as good of a DAC as the SSP-800's Burr Brown 24/96 DAC chips. So i may just pass through the signal through the Classe to the Allegri pre and out.
I've read many posters who did not think highly of the Node 2i's DAC and bought a
Benchmark DAC 3B or the like. That may be in my future.
If the Node 2i's DAC WAS better than the Classe's, I'd hook my Node 2i straight to the Allegri.
I may experiment with both connections. The President of Classe, Dave Nauber, opined that he thought the SSP's DAC was better than the Node 2i's DAC.
My Marantz BD8002 BR/CD player brings up a question: Do I go directly to the Allegri preamp with analog cables for 2 channel and use the Marantz's 24/192 DAC?
Or go SPDIF(or HDMI) to the Classe and pass through to the Allegri
and use the Classe's 24/96 DAC.
I would think that the Classe's 24/96 DAC would be superior to the Marantz player 24/192 DAC but I don't know. They are both using 2008 DAC technology.
