I believe that would depend on the DAC used. For instance, my Raspberry pi uses DAC +, whereas my Node uses the internal DAC. I haven't spent enough time with the Node or comparing the 2, but i would be interested in seeing how much better it could get with an external DAC. Either way both sound good. If you are looking for a low cost entry, the Raspberry Pi is a great option, and there are many quality DACs to choose from.