I’m not arguing that there isn’t a difference. Yes, when a record is properly recorded and mastered, high-res and lossless formats do sound better and, yes, even my lowly $30,000 system shows these differences off.
What I’m arguing is that the difference is not as big as you’re implying. There might be the odd case where the difference is easily heard, but like I said, 99% of music out there does not possess the inherent sound quality that high-res and lossless audio formats can benefit from.
Why does my opinion offend you so? I don’t need to argue. I know enough about audio and digital formats to know what sounds best to me. If SQ was not important, I would not have the system I do.
Again, I’m not arguing with you about what sounds best. I agree that Tidal and Qobuz sound better and I regularly use these streaming services in my system all the time. I took offense to the claim that Spotify sounds “horrible”. This is a dramatic claim.
You took offense at my opinion of Spotify! Put on your big boy pants!
What I find interesting in this sub-discussion learning that people here have 20K, 30K and even 150k dollars worth of equipment is how uncanny real all you must be hearing the music. I’m 45 yo and I “think” I still got my hearing good though not as good as when I was younger BUT, I swear to you all: with my just 8K dollars equipment, now specially with my new NAD M22 V2 amp, when I hear my music I really feel that I’m inside the studio and the band or artist is singing just a few meters from me. Everything sound absolutely real, like being there, I can hear the singers breathing before singing and musicians getting ready to play their part! I don’t know if my components are very analytical or what BUT if what I’m hearing right now can sound 10x, 20x or 30x more “real” that must be the most incredible sensorial experience ever. That along can justify any price!
P.S. I don’t know if another reason why I’m hearing everything so real is because I’m sitting close to my speakers, almost like near-field listening…
Next time you are in Florida take a drive to Suncoast Audio, you’ll find plenty of gear there north of $50K.
Sometimes I’m thoroughly thrilled by the sound quality of Spotify. It is my main catalog of music for deciding what CD’s to buy. It’s costing me a lot of money, I’m buying 3 or 4 CD per week based on great sounding stuff I find on Spotify.
Have a listen to this one on Spotify. If it doesn’t cause the hairs on the back of your neck to stand on end then you have a weakness in your system somewhere.
For what it’s worth I upgraded from the Node 2 streaming directly into my older NAD 326bee (using the Node 2 DAC and it as a streamer) and am now using PS Audio’s Stellar Gain Cell DAC. The Gain Cell DAC is remarkably better than the Node 2. That being said, I’m sure this is a culmination of the DAC and pre-amp section…not to mention its power supply and overall design.
Regarding MQA, even though my Node 2 does MQA it in now way sounded playing MQA files just for the sake of being able to play MQA. I wouldn’t go back at all.
I’m streaming my music files now through my SoTM music player directly to my Stellar GCD using Audirvana and upsampling everything in Tidal to DSD and it sounds AWESOME. Sure, I still have an upgrade path in mind (Matrix SPDIF), but I’m loving what I’m hearing.
Truly, upgrade and never look back in my opinion. And while you’re considering what sounds good…consider a music streamer like the SoTM or MicroRendu. Why? It sounds better than the Node 2 as well. I have my Node 2 plugged into my Stellar GCD right now as well as my SOtM and listen between the two regularly (my wife uses the Node 2 as the interface is easier), and the SOtM surpasses it EASILY.
Hope my 2 cents helps a bit…I imagine the DS would be an even further upgrade!!!
FWIW: After my speakers and my Pre/Pro with Anthem Room Correction, adding the DS Sr. with the Bridge Ethernet card into the mix has been the most impactful single upgrade I have ever made in one of my systems. It is a bit of a cliche, but playing familiar music ripped and downloaded to my iMac over Wi-Fi/Ethernet to the DS Sr. was revelatory — like hearing many recordings for the first time. I can’t recommend the DS Sr. enough at its price point. If one were to grab a used one off of a caring audiophile on the used market, what a bargain!
Cheers.
Very interesting suggestions, thank you. I understand your logic: why MQA files if I can have millions of songs (all the Spotify catalogue and/or the non MQA Tidal catalogue -which is the biggest- upsampled to DSD resulting in a sound that ends being superior than the one produced by the Node 2i playing MQA files).
I’ll check all your equipment suggestions.
Interesting! I presume you have the Anthem STR preamp, right? Do you find a noticeable good impact after using the ARC room correction feature?
The equipment combo I suggested…SOtM streamer an Audirvana, is about as much as the Node 2. Very affordable for the quality.
Yes thank you. Only thing is that I’m 100% streaming via Tidal and Spotify to hear music. Even though I being buying CDs since earlier 1988! and stopped completely about 4 years ago. No CDs for me anymore…so I don’t have any ripped music files in a HDD. But, from what I understand you, BY having a streamer connected to the PS Audio’s Stellar [Gain Cell] I would get a much better sound than what I’m having now with my Node 2i, right?
I’m now on the quest of looking for a very good DAC, preferably with MQA decoding, that could make a noticeable improvement over the Node 2i but without necessarily being that DAC the DirectStream. I mean, before spending $7,000 on a single DAC I should look first for other alternatives.
My HT and stereo preamp duties are handled by an Anthem AVM 50v 2 Pre-Pro. Best short version description of ARC’s effectiveness I can offer is that it results in cleaner and clearer bass response and greater resolution of details. I have yet to tweak my system or room then re-run ARC and find the performance is better without ARC engaged. YMMV.
You should be just fine I’m streaming Tidal 100% of of the time as well and don’t have any hard disk storage whatsoever. So yes if you hook up a streamer like the SOtM directly to the PS audio gain cell DAC you would be getting better sound than you are with the bluesound. The DAC in the PS audio is much better than the bluesound, and the streamer is better engineered than the bluesound as well. This is no fault of the bluesound, it’s just that the bluesound couples a streamer, DAC, power supply and the ecosystem into a $500 bundle which isn’t bad for the money at all.
thank you!
As mentioned it won’t be 7k (more like 5k). It seems like you never really intended to spend what it would cost to get a DS- either way it won’t be all that hard to better the BS internal DAC. I used the Node 2 with a Brooklyn dac for a while and the improvement was dramatic. You could also get the less expensive Mytek for around 1k and it also has MQA. There are many options between 1 and 2k (with or without MQA) that would smoke the Node2 on it’s own.
To tell you the truth I was almost decided to buy the DS but what really put me off was the fact that I also needed to buy the Bridge II. As I don’t live in the US, trading off it’s impossible and my buying options are limited, starting from the fact that when I browse PS AUDIO products in this page, unlike you, I can’t see the prices and they won’t let me buy the equipment. I need to buy it from other sites like Music Direct and both components would be $7,000 plus my country taxes. $8,500 -approximately-, even though is a big sum it’s not an issue to me if in return I would get a real improvement on the sound I’m getting. That’s why I haven’t let go the idea yet but I’m also looking for alternatives. On of the cons of having high end equipment here is that I can’t sell it back. I don’t have access to Ebay or AudioGon from my country as a seller because to have the product send to the buyer’s country it’s a lot of paper work and authorizations and no one in my country would buy a used highly valued equipment at a reasonable price. ANYWAY, I’ve learnt to life with that reality and as I said before, if that would get me to a remarkable experience I won’t hesitate. Let’s see how it goes. Thanks,
P.S. That Brooklyn DAC looks very promising. I’m going to read about it.
You might also consider something from the Aurender line…
I think I read you live in Costa Rica! My daughter lives in Guanacaste. She’s been living there for a couple years now. She works for a high end housing developer. She really loves the life style. Shes a fit outdoorsy type. She’s not ready to come back to Chicago.
I’ve been trying to convince her to buy a pair of KEF LS50 wireless speakers. Would fit her lifestyle perfectly. I assume there’s a dealer in San Jose.