Upgrade Conundrum, DAC, Streamer, or???

Audition Part 2. At home with a dCS Network Bridge 21-23/10/2022

My Home System
Pimped Node2/SBooster Eco mk2/Ultra mk2
Mutec MC-3+usb
Pimped Black Ice Glass fx DSD wifi
MFA Baby Reference V1
Nord ONE UP SE NC500M
Martin Logan Summit.
Power Inspired 1500S regen.
Chord Shawline ICs & Epic XL SC
Assorted branded PCs

NOTE:
dCS Network Bridge wired into Mutec via AES/EBU (VD/Neutrik) + 2x VD, BNC clock cables (dCS as slave).

Having had an afternoon being blasted by some impressive kit during my visit to Studio AV, I thought the 1st thing I should do once I’d managed to shoehorn the dCS NWB into my rack, was re-acquaint myself with the Node2 sound signature. After around 20 minutes I decided it was time to have a listen to the NWB. Nope. Had to spend 10 mins level matching Node to dCS ready for the a/b, once done I settled down for a listen (all necessary dCS setup done at SAV so was just plug N play) I setup the same track on Qobuz, as I was currently playing on the Node then swapped to the NWB. Hmmm! Are we getting some deja vu going on here? Well we're only halfway through a track, let’s leave it playing for a bit before swapping back. I swapped back to the Node after about 30 mins and realised, yes there is a difference. I spent the rest of the evening going back and forth between the Node & NWB giving each 20 - 30 mins between swaps, finally going to bed at 11:35, so an initial a/b session of nearly 7 hours.
I was awake again at 5am so on went the system and the a/b-ing continued as a solo venture until Dave @bigfool1956 arrived at 1pm, he then lent his reviewers ears to the evaluation. Due to time constraints and his expertise we basically swapped between devices and repeated tracks over the course of about 2 hours, at the end of which (surprisingly for me) our views on the Pros & Cons of the NWB Vs Node were pretty much the same, though he preferred both units direct through the BI (No Mutec).
Had a couple of hours break whilst I ran some errands, and following a chat with Tony Sallis (Coherent) I spent the rest of the Saturday (another 7 hours) listening only to the NWB, as that way when I plugged the Node back in Monday or Tuesday, any differences (if any) would be more apparent.

Node2 Vs NWB. DIFFERENCES.
The NWB gives you a bit more of everything: Slightly larger, deeper soundstage, greater air and space. More inner detail and better definition across the frequency range. It's a nicely detailed sound.
The only area the NWB loses out to the Node is on richness/warmth, maybe that's a function of the less defined lower mids/upper bass, but that doesn’t matter as I happen to like it. BUT!!!! The dCS Mosaic App is the most Prehistoric piece of garbage I’ve ever had the misfortune to encounter. Aside from the fact it allows me to set a downsampling frequency so its output is able to work with legacy DACS, in my case 24/96 on Coax and Toslink spdif. It’s UI is fugly and clunky, it uses a 3rd party service (airable) for internet radio, and whilst I can access any of the mixes on RP which I use for 95% of casual listening, it does not support album art for (artist/album) nor does it support the 3 dot menu for direct access to the artist on Qobuz, Tidal. I know I could get Roon/HQPlayer et al for this but that's an additional expense.

CONCLUSION

It’s now 1:30pm Sunday, I’ve been listening to the NWB now for near as damn it 31 hours, not bad going since I only fired it up here around 6pm on Friday.
I think I’ve given it a fair crack of the whip, and I’ve enjoyed listening to it, but there was no ‘Fook me sideways with a bargepole, I can see where my investment is going’ moment.
I mean, come-off-it, this NWB should have been a no-brainer SQ wise. A £1,000 Pimped Node/Sbooster/Ultra combo Vs a £4,000 NWB. Where’s that decent level of additional SQ that £3,000 should bring to the table. Yes there were improvements in the sound Vs the Node but marry this to the seriously shite App that would have me wanting to use my phone or tablet as a projectile, and there’s no way I’m putting my hand in my pocket for the NWB to the tune of £1800 less what I could get back on the Node.

So that’s it, I spent the week getting excited about a serious upgrade to my digital streaming admittedly at a cost of between £1,400 & £3,200 but if the SQ uplift was there I’d have splashed the cash. It's not been a wasted exercise though as it’s been an education, maybe I need to lower my expectations, or possibly I’ve got a better streaming rig than I realised. This process has not finished yet as I have a couple more manufacturers devices to investigate over the next couple of weeks, these devices however whilst being in a similar price bracket (one via the used market) they have additional value added facilities that could sway me. The idea being that if I can't get as large an SQ uplift for my <£3.2k then the useful extras could be sufficient compensation.

The Manufacturers and devices Im looking at are:
Cocktail Audio X50 D
Innuos Zen mini mk3 < Zenith mk3

As I said it's been an educational journey. If the Innuos or Cocktail can give me a similar uplift in SQ to the NWB, or slightly better + give me the additional functionality of ripping and storing then that balances the cost/performance equation far better for me.

lurch I can't really agree with you regarding the Mosaic app, it is nowhere near the quality of Roon, but to say it is fugly/clunky is going over the top. What are you comparing with? I have read other dCS users actually prefer the sound quality of Mosaic over Roon, we didn't find a difference to be honest, but what it shows others are able to use the Mosaic app.
I'll be interested how you find the apps/sq on the Nova Fidelity and Innuous players

Off to wrap my ears around an Innuos ZenITH mk3 this afternoon. Will pit it against my Pimped Node2 direct into my DAC, this will hopefully lay things to rest once and for all. If a ZenITH can't show the Node a clean pair of heels then I doubt anything at a price I'm prepared to pay will do it for me.

John,
I used to ask myself. Do I need to spend 3x the price or even more from my current streamer or dac for a 10% improvement? Next question, is it my main or primary source for listening or my vinyl rig?

Well done in buying the Zenith, I'm sure it will prove even more successful over time.

I'm confused....why do you have to sell the Mutec?

Great write up. Really informative and logical.
Totally helpful in pointers for when I’m in a position to change and possibly upgrade the digital side of my system.
Thank you

I have many, many Innous owners with Mutec's and they will not part with them even when compared to their own the Phoneix usb model However all their dac's are capable of higher sample rates on AES / SPDIF. Alan I believe is also a Zen user.

Yeah.. wot he said.
Pondered all sorts of dac & streamer changes but the Mutec for me ain’t going nowhere