Wanted to share this. I ordered a PS interface board for the Node 2i from PD Creative. The product is made to remove the internal switching power supply to use with a separate PS. Was an easy upgrade with good instructions. I purchased an Allo Shanti 5v PS and gave it a whirl last night. I was surprised by what I would call a really nice improvement in SQ. Bass was improved, image was better/larger, timbre of vocals, etc. was more holographic. Pretty damn cool! No way to be objective about this but I was easily able to hear the difference. Far less subtle than the difference between dacs and certainly cables I have tried.
I am using the 2i as a streamer only. I changed the Ethernet cable to fiber optic with an Ifi power 2 9v supply on converter at the streamer end about 2 weeks ago. If there was an improvement, it was subtle. Perhaps it eliminated a limitation that made the PS change more noticeable. Who knows? My 2i runs into a Denafrips Aries 2 or Schiit Bifrost 2 via SPDIF/Coax. The rest of the system is Maggie 1.7i, Schiit Freya+, Purifi amplifier. Cables are Bluejeans balanced where I can. Streaming Qobuz primarily. My desire to get a CD transport is gone.
Well worth the ~$250 I paid. I would have guessed the difference between streamers (when not using the internal DAC) was not substantive. Wrong! Nice to be wrong.
