Author Topic: Bluesound Node  (Read 31298 times)

Offline Nick B

  • Audio Neurotic
  • *****
  • Posts: 4095
Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #60 on: February 03, 2016, 07:11:41 AM »
I upgraded the generic optical cable I was using between the Node and my DAC with a Toslink cable from Analysis Plus and am quite pleased with the results.

More details here:

http://www.audionervosa.com/index.php?topic=5875.msg75244;topicseen#msg75244

Have you tried 24/192 with this cable


Unfortunately, I don't have any 24/192 material. I've only heard a direct a/b comparison and the highs were much better.
Nick
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline ejk

  • Obsessively Audiophilic
  • ****
  • Posts: 660
  • Did I say no dropouts ?
Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #61 on: February 03, 2016, 07:43:46 AM »
I upgraded the generic optical cable I was using between the Node and my DAC with a Toslink cable from Analysis Plus and am quite pleased with the results.

More details here:

http://www.audionervosa.com/index.php?topic=5875.msg75244;topicseen#msg75244

Have you tried 24/192 with this cable


Unfortunately, I don't have any 24/192 material. I've only heard a direct a/b comparison and the highs were much better.
Nick

That was directed at Tom
Aric Audio Super 6SN7 Line, Orchard Audio Starkrimson Ultra, Quicksilver Mid Monos, Lumin U2 Mini, Denafrips Pontus II 12th-1,Denafrips Iris DDC, Spatial Audio M3 Saphire, Hapa Audio Interconnects, TWL power cords, TWL speaker cables, Wireworld USB, i2s.

Offline Nick B

  • Audio Neurotic
  • *****
  • Posts: 4095
Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #62 on: February 03, 2016, 11:29:10 AM »
OK, I'll be curious as to his response
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline tmazz

  • Out Of My Speaker Cabinet
  • ******
  • Posts: 12088
  • Just basking in the glow of my tubes.....
Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #63 on: February 03, 2016, 04:54:17 PM »
I only have 24/96 files, but they sounded great.
Remember, it's all about the music........

• Nola Boxers
• Sunfire True SW Super Jr (2)
• McIntosh MC 275
• ARC SP-9
• VPI HW-19 Mk IV/SDS/SME IV/Soundsmith Carmen Mk II ES
• Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 DAC/Rasp Pi Roon Endpoint
• DigiBuss/TWL PC&USB/MIT Cables

Offline mfsoa

  • Obsessively Audiophilic
  • ****
  • Posts: 716
Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #64 on: February 03, 2016, 06:00:42 PM »
Its not a Node but I have no probs w/ 24/192 using optical from a Raspberry Pi to my Marantz SA8005. But the coax does sound a bit better.

Offline ejk

  • Obsessively Audiophilic
  • ****
  • Posts: 660
  • Did I say no dropouts ?
Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #65 on: February 03, 2016, 10:51:30 PM »
Its not a Node but I have no probs w/ 24/192 using optical from a Raspberry Pi to my Marantz SA8005. But the coax does sound a bit better.

I guess the Lifatec cable works in your situation. Optical is iffy when it comes to 24/192 and finding the right cable to pass it is time consuming.

Here is an interesting thread

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-general-forum/toslink-cable-does-not-192khz-25489/
Aric Audio Super 6SN7 Line, Orchard Audio Starkrimson Ultra, Quicksilver Mid Monos, Lumin U2 Mini, Denafrips Pontus II 12th-1,Denafrips Iris DDC, Spatial Audio M3 Saphire, Hapa Audio Interconnects, TWL power cords, TWL speaker cables, Wireworld USB, i2s.

Offline ejk

  • Obsessively Audiophilic
  • ****
  • Posts: 660
  • Did I say no dropouts ?
« Last Edit: May 14, 2016, 07:22:06 AM by ejk »
Aric Audio Super 6SN7 Line, Orchard Audio Starkrimson Ultra, Quicksilver Mid Monos, Lumin U2 Mini, Denafrips Pontus II 12th-1,Denafrips Iris DDC, Spatial Audio M3 Saphire, Hapa Audio Interconnects, TWL power cords, TWL speaker cables, Wireworld USB, i2s.

Offline tmazz

  • Out Of My Speaker Cabinet
  • ******
  • Posts: 12088
  • Just basking in the glow of my tubes.....
Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #67 on: May 19, 2016, 06:07:33 PM »
In my experience, the internal DAC in the Bluesound is not all that great and I do all my listening with my Node outputting digital to an EE Dac. It will be interesting to hear how an MQA album played via the Nodes internal DAC compares to a standard redbook version of the same album played through an external DAC. Time will tell......  :-k
Remember, it's all about the music........

• Nola Boxers
• Sunfire True SW Super Jr (2)
• McIntosh MC 275
• ARC SP-9
• VPI HW-19 Mk IV/SDS/SME IV/Soundsmith Carmen Mk II ES
• Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 DAC/Rasp Pi Roon Endpoint
• DigiBuss/TWL PC&USB/MIT Cables

Offline Emil

  • Audio Neurotic
  • *****
  • Posts: 1171
Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #68 on: May 30, 2017, 08:07:32 AM »
Maybe its time I get my feet wet with computer audio.

Let me understand this:

1) I need a tablet, laptap, phone or some computer device
2) Pay 19.99 a month for a subscription to tidal
3) Purchase this Bluesound thingy
4) Connect the computer with the Bluesound thingy via wifi. Easy?
5) Connect the Blusound to my DAC via a cable

Sound quality better than Redbook CD?

Emil you have a whole bunch of questions there so let me address them one at a time. First off the Bluesound Node is simply a network streaming device. All it does in and of itself is feed audio files from your home network into your stereo system via a WiFi or hardwired Ethernet connection. That can be digital files that you ripped yourself and stored on a hard drive, digital files that you purchased and downloaded to a hard drive via service like HD Tracks or files that you stream in realtime from a cloud service like Tidal.

The box itself has no controls other than a mute button so you need a computer tablet of smartphone to configure and operate it via a free Bluesound app. If you just want to listen to streaming services you can control it from your phone and don't need a computer at all. Of course if you are going to Rip and store files you will need a computer or a NAS drive to store, but that is up to you them on. (I think you might be able to download from HD Tracks directly and store the files on a NAS or USB attached hard drive, but I have not gotten that far into yet so I can't say for sure.

Setup was painless and other than having to update the firmware to recognize Tidal (being an older unit the firmware it shipped with was looking to connect to WIMP in Denmark, which was the original rollout of what we now know in the US as Tidal).

The Bluesound app provides native Tidal support, so unlike the Squeezbox there are no third party plugins to track down and install. (And BTW, Tidal offers a 30 day free trial so you can check it out on your PC and see what they have to offer before committing to signing up or buying any hardware to support it.)

As for the sound, with the painting I have been doing, kids home from college for Thanksgiving and trying to get all the outdoor Christmas decorations up while the temps are still in the 50s I cannot say that I have had a whole lot of sweet spot listening time since installing the Bluesound, but I have had enough to get some pretty strong initial impressions (and of course like everything else I am sure the unit will benefit from some break in time). It is really hard to do a truly valid A-B comparison with a CD because in most cases you never really know exactly what version of a CD that Tidal ripped for their library (with the exception of some specific audiophile pressings that have distinctive markings on their covers). But that said, in the few brief A-Bs I got the chance to do I found that Tidal sounded no worse than a decent CD pressing. Putting in an orginal CD of the same album yielded a small difference that I would categorize as similar to kind of a increase you might get from upgrading a well done CD pressing from the stock aluminum to the gold version. The differences are there if you listen for them, but they are no where near OMG revelations. And in my mind, if I am really concerned about having a high quality sit down sweet spot session, I am heading down the basement to pull out the vinyl copy anyway so not having the ultimate redbook SQ is a small price to pay  for the amount of access I get to all kinds of recording. (It's like having the whole stock of PREX right in the living room with me   :drool: )

getting myself closer to taking the plunge.

Question: I've seen streamers in the thousands of dollars such as Aurender and Lumin. Whats the point? All its is is a "bridge' between tabklet and dac. No? What am I missing here
"Today I didn't even have to use my A.K.
I got to say it was a good day"
    --Ice Cube

Offline Emil

  • Audio Neurotic
  • *****
  • Posts: 1171
Re: Bluesound Node/ MQA JUNE 1
« Reply #69 on: May 30, 2017, 08:10:19 AM »
MQA coming to Bluesound June 1

http://www.bluesound.com/en-us/news-en-us/2016/bluesound-and-mqa-bring-the-studio-experience-home/?cl

Do we need a MQA decodeable dac?

This comper audio is a pain in the ass :lol:
"Today I didn't even have to use my A.K.
I got to say it was a good day"
    --Ice Cube

Offline tmazz

  • Out Of My Speaker Cabinet
  • ******
  • Posts: 12088
  • Just basking in the glow of my tubes.....
Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #70 on: May 30, 2017, 11:20:12 AM »
There are two levels of MQA decoding, hardware and software. My Bluesound Node performs MQA software decoding. I will take an MQA encoded files from Tidal and either decode it in software and run it through its own internal DAC, outputting a left and right line level audio signal or is will take the decoded MQA and out put it as a 96/24 digital signal that can be then [processed by any DAC capable of reading a standard 96/24 file.]

The Tidal Desktop App will also perform software MQA decoding with no additional equipment needed.

My limited high level understanding of hardware MQA is that the algorithms in a hardware MQA chip are customized tot he piece of equipment it is installed in and therefore the decoding takes into account the sonic signature of the unit so that the output is as close as possible to the original signal even given the units particular colorations. According to the MQA web site , hardware decoding yields performance similar to what one would see from a 192/24 signal. How the measured or determined that I have no idea, but it is what they claim.
Remember, it's all about the music........

• Nola Boxers
• Sunfire True SW Super Jr (2)
• McIntosh MC 275
• ARC SP-9
• VPI HW-19 Mk IV/SDS/SME IV/Soundsmith Carmen Mk II ES
• Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 DAC/Rasp Pi Roon Endpoint
• DigiBuss/TWL PC&USB/MIT Cables

Offline Emil

  • Audio Neurotic
  • *****
  • Posts: 1171
Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #71 on: May 30, 2017, 11:27:28 AM »
Thanks, Tom

can you address this question?
Question: I've seen streamers in the thousands of dollars such as Aurender and Lumin. Whats the point? All its is is a "bridge' between tabklet and dac. No? What am I missing here
"Today I didn't even have to use my A.K.
I got to say it was a good day"
    --Ice Cube

Offline tmazz

  • Out Of My Speaker Cabinet
  • ******
  • Posts: 12088
  • Just basking in the glow of my tubes.....
Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #72 on: May 30, 2017, 08:16:06 PM »
Thanks, Tom

can you address this question?
Question: I've seen streamers in the thousands of dollars such as Aurender and Lumin. Whats the point? All its is is a "bridge' between tabklet and dac. No? What am I missing here


The tablet is just a remote control for the streamer and has nothing to do with the actual playing of the music, just like the remote for a CD player. The streamer itself is an interface between your network and your audio system whether it be to stream music off of the internet or to play files you have stored on your computer or some sort of network storage device. They can output a digital stream to your DAC or use an internal DAC to do the D/A conversion right in the streamer.

I would assume that more expensive streamers contain better DACs. But I have no first hand experience with any streamers other than my Bluesound Node, which has a MSRP of $500. And as you can imagine at that price it has a pretty pedestrian DAC. But since I already had an EE DAC that I am very happy with, the internal DAC was really of no concern to me.
Remember, it's all about the music........

• Nola Boxers
• Sunfire True SW Super Jr (2)
• McIntosh MC 275
• ARC SP-9
• VPI HW-19 Mk IV/SDS/SME IV/Soundsmith Carmen Mk II ES
• Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 DAC/Rasp Pi Roon Endpoint
• DigiBuss/TWL PC&USB/MIT Cables

Offline mfsoa

  • Obsessively Audiophilic
  • ****
  • Posts: 716
Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #73 on: May 31, 2017, 04:34:09 PM »
Get a Pi and have it do just what you want it to. Best $100 you'll spend on your system. The future and all that stuff

Offline Nick B

  • Audio Neurotic
  • *****
  • Posts: 4095
Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #74 on: May 31, 2017, 08:19:16 PM »
Get a Pi and have it do just what you want it to. Best $100 you'll spend on your system. The future and all that stuff

Don't you need to have some good computer skills to put together and set up a Pi?
Nick
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS