[kphinn]

I’ve been keeping my headphone gear separate and removed from my home stereo setup. Partially because there are different use cases. Headphones on for work at my desk or chilling out where I don’t want to disturb anyone, 100% streaming. The fixed gear comes on when I want the whole house to rock or if I want to share the detailed listening experience.

My fixed home gear includes McIntosh tube amp, Vinni Rossi preamp, Zu speakers, Origin TT, etc. It’s probably a 50/50 split between streaming and vinyl. For the last 5+ years the streaming source has been a BlueSound Node. I’ve had the v1 and their newest Node n130 and have been very happy with them. When they work.

BlueSound has the worst customer service out of anyone in the audio gear realm, and I’m having another issue with the new Node.

Has anyone compared the FiiO R9 to something like the Node as a streaming source? The R9 should win out as a headphone amp, no doubt. But what would be the benefit of one over the other for a home stereo source?

 

[kphinn]

Update. I found this, where the R7 is compared to the Node X as well as the DMP-A6. Seems like a close wash on all three when used as a streaming source for a home system. However, the reviewer didn’t discuss where the FiiO would obviously standout: headphone use.

 

[Lindholdt]

Darko also had a review on the R7, where he looks into it as a headphone amplifier as well.
Regarding the R9, I don't think anyone knows how it sounds at this point, as it hasn't been released yet.