Setup Node 2i with Sony STR-DH790

Answered

Scott Steel

• March 05, 2021 19:15

Hi all!

Need a little help with initial setup. I'm completely new to this. I have a Sony STR-DH790 and an NVIDIA Shield TV box (not sure that matters) and I want to connect the Node 2i to the receiver using RCA cables so I can enjoy MQA audio on Tidal. Is it as simple as connecting the RCA cables from the Node 2i to the RCA CD inputs on the STR-DH790 or does something else need to happen? After an extensive Google and YouTube search, there's not much to go by as a lot of people are using external DACs for some reason. I just want to get the most out of my humble setup here.

Any guidance is very much appreciated.

Cheers!

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  Rodger

  • March 05, 2021 20:34

  It is indeed as simple as connecting the RCA analog outputs of the Node 2i to the CD inputs of your Sony. The Node will always output music over the RCA out so you only need to make sure the Sony is set to the CD input to hear the Node. You say "humble" but that receiver is full of features and a great way to get 5.1.2 Atmos (which I would love to have).

  The Node 2i internal DAC is sonically excellent but there's some good reasons people might want to use an external DAC. For example, a lot of "room correction" processing found on integrated amps only works for digital inputs, so the RCA connections wouldn't work for that. Or in my case, I use an external DAC because my Hegel sounds best when using it the way it was designed, with it's built-in DAC. The only downside is that the Node will not deliver MQA files fully "unfolded" to an external DAC. But frankly, you should be in a circus if you can hear the difference between 16 bit and 24 bit.

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  Scott Steel

  • March 05, 2021 23:06

  Thank you!

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