Moving up from a Node 2i


I want to keep it between 1K and 1500.00, closer to a grand if at all possible. I don't care about onboard DACs, since I have a keen liking for mine. What is out there for a streamer, new or used, that will sound better than the Node when outputting to an external DAC? I like the functionality of the Node, don't want something with a sketchy user interface. But honestly, I think my old Allo Digione (Raspberry Pi) might have sounded a little more organic and fleshed out than the Node.

What say ye, Audiogon?

Oz



128x128ozzy62
A little late to the party but thought I would mention that I went from a Node 2 to the Cambridge CXN v2 and found it to be a solid upgrade. The Node was always a little flaky but the CN has been rock solid. The onboard DAC performs well and the unit supports running things balanced which is a nice bonus. 
Running a Node 2 here for close to a year. Mine has never been 'flaky'. I'm specifically posting this in response to the previous poster who reported his was 'flaky'. I do not use the built-in DAC and have always used coax digital to an external DAC.

The Bluesound app is another issue altogether. On Mac the latest version as of the date of this post wouldn't load all my favorite albums so I had to revert back to an older version. The app uses a ridiculous amount of CPU on Mac and Windows which I'm guessing is due to the constant polling of the device. The iOS app also has a bug where it flips back to albums at the exact same spot (albums starting with C) so even if I've already scrolled down to albums that begin with with a letter further down in the alphabet, upon going 'back' through the UI the app has to reload all albums further down in the list alphabetically instead of returning to the exact same place of the album I had selected to view the tracks of.

However these are minor bugs that I can deal with as other streamers lack the ability to stream as many internet sources, or they have ridiculously high price tags.
This begs the question, why are you using the app on a Mac, or any computer for that matter? The Bluos app works great on a tablet. I was using a Samsung Tab A with great results.

Oz



I have the BluOS running on an Apple iPhone SE, a Dell Venue 7 tablet and an Amazon Fire HD8 with excellent results. No need for a computer?

I have also never had any "flakiness" with the Node 2 which I’ve had from almost the time they came out, (like 3 years now). Never had an issue with the updates either.

I run my Node 2 out via coax to a DAC. I’ve also have it hooked up though the RCA outputs so that I can A/B it’s internal DAC with the outboard DAC.
@ozzy62 

I have 4+ computers, a mobile phone and a tablet. It's nice to control the Node 2 from whichever device I happen to be using at the moment. Why limit yourself to control with just a single device? =D