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  3. 150919-115405

Schitt Yggdrasil Vs. Bluenode 2i (Shock!)

I am having a bit of a dilemma. I recently added a Node 2i to my setup to be used primarily as a streamer. My digital rig consists of
- Amp: Rogue Stereo 100 (GE and Amperex Nos tubes)
- Preamp: Primaluna Evo 100 (GE and RCA cleartops Nos tubes)
- DAC: Latest model of Schiit Yggdrasil
- Speakers: Monitor Audio Platinum 100 II
- Analog & digital Interconnects: Audioquest Silver Extreme
- Speaker cables: Audioquest Rocket 44
- Power cables are all stock, and no attention has been paid to power supply

I had been pretty satisfied with my setup after breaking in the Yggy; I subsequently added the Node 2i and was using it as a dedicated streamer and never bothered using it as a DAC. A buddy of mine who is contemplating the node 2i came over and I offered to use the Node DAC on my system so he could get a sense of the performance. I was initially pleasantly surprised by how good it sounded, but the shock came when I started doing A/B comparisons with the Yggy and I honestly could not hear the difference between the 2 DACs. I subsequently spent the last few days comparing them and I still can't discern a difference. So my question is
- Is the Node 2i just that good?
- Or is my system not transparent enough to highlight the difference?
- Or are my ears are just not sensitive enough to pick up the difference?
- Do I need to invest in more expensive power cables and supply?

I'm interested to hear from others who have had experiences with these DACs or similar, because I'm seriously contemplating putting my Yggy up for sale.
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Showing 1 response by mahler123

mahler123
3,028 posts
 
I picked up a Node2 that was a demo unit from a shop that was closing a year ago.  I already used a Vault2 in my main system and a Node2 in my living room system, to which I recently added an Anthem AVR.  The demo unit that I acquired was for a basement system that has been cobbled together from various parts and the AVR down there is a Pioneer Elite that is about 15 years old.
  In the living room I run the Node2 digitally into the Anthem,as the newer DAC in the Anthem sounds better than the Node2 DAC.  In the basement I started the Node2 into Pioneer through the Node2 analog outputs, figuring that the DAC in the Bluesound had to have a better DAC than the ancient Pioneer AVR, but that wasn’t the case.  It sounded glaring, really hard to enjoy, but much less so than when I changed to the digital outputs.  Just thought I would pass that along
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