wbt0927
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Recently my 1980's Marantz receiver died. I've always been interested audio and love to have music playing all day and so I decided to spend a little money on an intermediate system: I bought a new Hegel 190 and a Bluesound Node 2i. I got a pair of used Dynaudio 34's and a used NAD C546BEE cd player. I've been streaming with the BluOs app: Tunein, Radio Paradise, Calm Radio, iHeartRadio etc. I've also ripped a few hundred of my CDs using the XLD software and added a NAS to my network. The sound is great and the variety and convenience of computer audio is amazing compared to what I was used to. However, my reading on the subject of computer audio and high resolution music have convinced me that I am still in the moron stage regarding this hobby (think of a caveman loose in a nuclear power plant). This revelation came when an old friend of mine gave me a Mytek Liberty DAC for free. I began wondering if the Mytek DAC would sound better than the Hegel (built in DAC) or the DAC in the Node 2i when it occurred to me that I did not know how to connect it! I spent time reading as much as I could about A/B testing (most of it way over my head) when I realized that I don't even know what DAC I'm using now (Hegel or Node 2i). I have the Node 2i coaxial out connected to the Hegel coaxial 1 input. Which DAC am I using? Which DAC am I bypassing? I have no idea. I can't even begin to imagine how to connect and test the Mytek. Which in or out. What cable optical/usb/coaxial? My ignorance is profound. I'm not afraid to read. I taught English on the high school and college level for 25 years and I've noticed that most of the literature on high res computer audio assumes a base knowledge that I simply don't have. I need advice and direction on this subject and my system connections. Sorry that this post is so long but I've been away from this subject for so long that a concise description of my ignorance is impossible. Thanks for your time. Bill