Pls Recommend Streamer Under $500 for Tidal “HiFi”


I’m searching for the best sounding streamer under $500 that supports Tidal’s “HiFi” lossless playback. I understand that r2r DAC is desirable, and if possible, I’d like to use the streamer as a DAC for my CD transport and play and store files from my NAS. The unit doesn’t need to have a preamp / integrated amp as I’ll be connecting it to my existing preamp which is feeding vertically bi-amped Energy Reference Connoisseur 70 speakers. Thanks for your suggestions!
128x128sleepwalker65
First impressions on unboxing the Node 2i:

”I wonder how much this fancy box and cloth bag that the Node 2i came in cost me?”

“I hope the crappy throw-away interconnect cables that are included didn’t cost me much”

”Why would they fold the CAT5e cable?”

Grrrrr...