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Seeking DAC Advice for a Secondary Two Channel System

I have a secondary two channel audio system in my home office consisting of an NAD 326BEE integrated amp, Dynaudio Excite X14 speakers and a single REL T5x subwoofer.  While I also have a Rega RP3 turntable and an NAD CD player, I mainly just use this as a digital system.  I use Roon with an Innuos Mk.3 as my Roon Core and a Bluesound Node 2i as a streamer/endpoint.  When streaming I use Tidal and Quobuz.  Occasionally I stream with Spotify which I do directly from the Bluos app because of the lack of compatibility with Roon.  Music preferences are rock, Americana, folk, soul/R&B and some electronic music.

I want to see if I can upgrade the sound and am operating under the assumption that the Node is my weakest link.  It has been suggested to me that one option would be to buy an external DAC and bypass the DAC imbedded in the Node. Alternatively I could replace the Node altogether.  I think my budget is around $500 but I don't know what I don't know.  I would also hope whatever piece of equipment I buy is somewhat small in size.  I don't have a lot of room on my rack to spare.

I would greatly appreciate any thoughts/suggestions this board might have on this quest.

Thanks in advance.

@puppyt

puppyt
benstelz
60 posts
 

I hate how enthusiast forums of almost any type often end up blowing past the stated budget and recommending things way beyond that level. In this case though, I actually agree with the idea. $500 may get something different sounding, maybe a little better, but probably not significant improvement.

Moving closer to $1k should bring a much more obvious upgrade. Even if you have to wait and save for a while, that would be worth doing. I'd stick with second hand units to save big.

Right now for under $1k I can find listings for the original Auralic Vega, Metrum Amethyst, a few nice units from ExaSound, a Wyred4Sound DAC-2 DSD with Femtoclock upgrade, and a classic Sonic Frontiers SFD-1 mkII. All of those should make a large enough difference to be worthwhile and give you years of enjoyment. 

puppyt OP
110 posts
 

Mike B -

The Innuos is actually used in both systems.  It is connected to my network via a Wire World Ethernet cable. It is physically located in my home office with the secondary system. In my main system (located in a dedicated music room above my garage) I have a LUMIN T2 streamer so when using Roon I can just toggle to either the Node or the LUMIN as endpoints.

 

@puppyt

 

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puppyt OP
110 posts
 

@jastralfu 

@benstelz 

When I mentioned my budget was $500 it was because I had no real idea.  It is clear to me from these responses and other research I have done that $500 isn’t going to buy me meaningful improvement. That is exactly what I didn’t know but needed to know. I am willing to move to the $1,000 range for noticeable improvement. Thanks for helping to guide me there.

benstelz
60 posts
 

@puppyt Of course! When we aren't bickering about things, this forum can be a really helpful place.

I'd check out the sales side of Agon (as opposed to the forum side which we are on now), as well as the other competing Audio Mart site. Sort by price in the DAC section, and start a list to research.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
8,112 posts
 

@puppyt for a dac with a small footprint look into a used Chord Qutest. Excellent dac in your price range. Another option is Geshelli Labs but between the 2 I’d probably opt for Chord. 

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