My SACD Transport feeds so much better signal to my DAC compared with streaming end...


I mostly use Roon to stream my 2000+ album digital collection with Bluesound Node + Ideon 3R Master Time reclocker + Ideon Ayazi MKII DAC. Recently I got a used PS Audio PerfectWave SACD Transport to rediscover my CD collection from years ago that my parents brought back to me from their home, which I have not touched for a very long time. I thought the 3R reclocker would clean up much of the signal from the Bluesound to the extent that streaming will not sound much worse than CD -- Indeed, I have been satisfied with its performance. I was wrong. The CD playback experience totally blew me away. Much darker background, much better soundstage and depth, lots of details, and better dynamics with great authority... I guess you really need a good streamer to catch disc playback! At any rate, I plan to upgrade my front end to one that works with the SACD Transport's I2S output so that I can enjoy my SACDs as well...

joyceulysses

The Node really isn’t up to the level of your Ideon components, and a better streamer with a linear power supply would up your streaming performance.  Even just adding a LPS to the Node would help a bit. 

Makes sense! If I end up moving Ideon components to the second chain I will probably still replace the Node.

One other thing you can try with your Node is to replace the power supply. Several options out there, everyone who has done so says it's a significant upgrade.