I have not tried that combination or anything close to it, but that sounds like a big waste of money. The DAC in the Bluesound is the biggest limiting factor in your digital chain. Spend your money on a better DAC and use the Bluesound as your streamer. While both matter, The DAC will have a much bigger impact on Sound quality than the streamer.
DDC Sound Improvements???
I'm trying to put off buying a new streaming transport. Of the Hifi Rose RS130, Innuos Stream 3, and Matrix NT-1; the NT-1 was clearly the winner to my ears with a greater sense of clarity/transparency, sound stage width and depth, and neutrality that it presented.
I currently have a moded BS Node with LPS that has been hard to beat thus far. Will the new Gustard U26 DDC truly improve sound quality with the blacker backgrounds and sound stage dimensions. The DDC would also allow me to use i2S.
$1,000 for a DDC vs $4,000 for a transport is pretty tempting. In my head this additional filtering in the DDC would give me the sonic improvements of a great streaming transport.
What are your thoughts and experience?
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I added a Denafrips Iris and it provided a substantial improvement using i2S into my Musician Pegasus DAC and would expect you’d get a similar improvement. However, I wouldn’t throw $1000 on a DDC to use with a Node and would put that level of $$$ toward a significantly better streamer. That said, given my experience if you can find a used Iris for around $400 that’d make a very worthwhile upgrade that probably will get you much closer to what a better streamer can do, but I’d consider it a stopgap until you’re ready to upgrade to an all-around better streamer. |
I currently only use the Node as a transport feeding my Gustard X30. @fthompson251 The current setup is pretty decent for a streaming option. Are there better options? Yes! I wanted the Innuos to be a total revelation (at home demo not observation in the store) but it wasn't to my ears and my system which is well sorted. The Hifi Rose RS130 was okay but the Matrix NT-1 presented a better sound in which my wife and my store rep both agreed. A purpose built transport will have better filtration out the gate in an all-in-one solution but I'm torn. Will the DDC add the last bite of nuance to the system or should I look at the 1 box solution. Reviews out on the U26 are great so buying a DDC for 1/4 of the price is all appealing. @soix what is your transport in your system? |
For what little it may be worth given differences in systems and subjective preferences, I use a cheap digital front end- a Shanling ET3, as a file transport from an SSD outputting via USB. I installed the earlier Gustard (U-18 DDC) to run I2s into a Gustard X 26 Pro. Substantial improvement in clarity, tone and harmonics/depth. Sounds better than I would have expected using very modest digital gear. The system is a substantial one, voiced for vinyl playback through tubes, SETs and horns with multiple woofers and though I don't compare the two for a "best," there are some recordings on which the digital system just shines. If you can buy/try and return without penalty, may be worth exploring. I have no experience with the Node and do not use streaming services- all local files. Good luck! |
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