THe short answer is the Bluesound is the better fit for you due to:
1) You wish to use external DAC. The Node2i will do 24/96 from it's coax output. Maybe even 192 I think. The Arylic is limited to 16/44
2) The App - The BlueOS app is very good. Had no problems with it. No glitches or random freeezes. But the best bit?
All music plays gapless - I tried Amazon HD, Tidal, Qobuz and Spotify over last 3 months. I can't get my head round why so many streamers cannot do gapless.
Here are some more thoughts on the Arylic S50 Pro
If you want a low cost streamer this cannot be beaten for the price. Including shipping direct from China, it was £140 and took only 6 days to reach me. It sounds really good and has a decent enough DAC (ES 9023) I preferred the sound over the Node2i DAC (BurrBrown?)
THe 4STREAM app is also good, but can have the odd glitch, freeze. More so on the new S50 Pro+, so maybe just some updates needed to fix this. Had no problems with performance, all streams play without issue
My main gripe with the S50 - no gapless playback from Tidal or Qobuz. It really bugs me! No such problem with BlueOS
Touch of buyers regret from me you might think. Should probably added an external DAC to my Node2i but instead I sent it back and went Arylic
I think the Node2i with a good external DAC will win hands down on both app experience and overall sound vs the Arylic, but at much higher cost.
Both streamers were connected via QED RCA cables to my Musical Fidelity M2Si amp with Dali Oberon 5 speakers.
I use Qobuz as my streaming app now. I think MQA on Tidal is snake oil, but if that is important to you - the Arylic Sabre DAC is not MQA capable, the Node2i can handle it (assuming you use Tidal)
Some screen grabs of both the apps talked about! (green is 4STREAM)
View attachment 2071View attachment 2072View attachment 2073View attachment 2074
Hope this helps