@jaudio1 The Node 2i and older have no USB. The newest version NOde which the OP has DOES have a USB out. I am aware of this, because I own the latest version of the node and have tested the coax against the USB and it was a vast difference in sound quality when paired with a denefrips Pontus
Bluesound Node 2021 DAC - I sold my Denafrips Ares II
I assembled my system last summer, after 20 odd years in the hifi wilderness. I’ve never been a vinyl guy, so wanted all the convenience of streaming, plus a CDP for my old collection.
I went for the latest iteration of the Bluesound Node - N130, a Naim Nait 5si and a pair of Quad S2 speakers, and Audiolab 6000CDT.
From reading various forums, watching YT videos, you know the script; I convinced my self that I needed an external DAC, as the majority view seemed to be that the BS Node DAC wasn’t very good. As I hadn’t owned hifi since the late 90s (Naim Olive) bi-amped system and Audo Alchemy DDE, I had no reference for how DACs sounded these days.
Anyway, in my new found conviction that I must purchase an ext. DAC, I purchased a Denafrips Ares II. Got it, plugged it in, and didn’t look back. I was content, it sounded good.
Then, about 2 months ago, I was fiddling around inside the Bluos app, with the subwoofer crossover, with a mind to buying a sub to supplement the LFs on my little Quads, and I had the belated brainwave to a/b the Node DAC and the Denafrips. I whipped out some spare ICs and off I went.
OK, I felt like such a fool, really stupid - I a/b’d for literally hours, trying to convince myself that the Ares II was night and day difference - it must be right? The Node DAC is sub-par, not good enough, mediocre, if things I read were correct.
But, in my system, to my ears, this wasn’t the case; I had difficulty discerning any significant improvements, certainly not £800 (£600 pre-owned) worth of difference.
I’m not knocking the Ares II, but in my system, the cost and the difference it made - and the difference between it and the much maligned Node DAC could not be justified sitting in my system at that cost.
Feeling like a complete tool, for rushing headlong in to the DAC game, I re-sold the Denafrips, bought a REL T5x and here I am.
I’m not going to look a further fool and say the Node DAC is the best, but i feel it is criticised unduly, at least the newest version at any rate.
Thanks for reading, I’m not sure this is a cautionary tale, but I just thought the experience worth sharing
Showing 6 responses by jin78
I recently purchased the Pontus, been in my system for 2 weeks. I also have the latest blue sound node. I bought the Pontus to replace my project DAC and the internal dac on the Node. I was also happy with the node internal dac for a while, but got the itch as you did. After about a week with the Pontus I was a bit underwhelmed, could not figure out why it wasn't sounding as good as the reviews made it out to be. It wasn't until I switched to the USB out on the node and sent the signal directly to the Pontus, instead of coax, that this thing really started to shine. I emailed Alvin about the issue and he suggested using the USB with this combo. Made a huge difference in clarity, soundstage, all of the above. Just wondering how you connected your blue sound to the Pontus, cuz this could be why you were underwhelmed.
|
@painter24 you were definitely using some good quality cabling, however, if you would have used the USB out to the Aries it may have made all the difference. I'm only assuming this because that's what happened with my Pontus. Not sure if the USB implementation is the same on both models. As others have said, there is definitely a compatibility issue between the node coax out and the denefrips dacs. Signal voltage coming out of the node coax is lower. Anyway, the node is a great little device. The app is nice. The internal dac sounded pretty darn close to my project S2 plus dac. Enjoy that new sub, might want to snag one of those one day! |
@painter24 Yes indeed, reached out to Alvin and he confirmed that the USB out on the new node is the best way to hook it up. He said the coax out on the node may not be compatible with the denefrips in high res possibly due to a lower the normal voltage output, however I heard a significant drop in sound quality on anything streamed whether high-res or CD quality. When using the USB out from the node, the data retrieval is handled by the dac, and since the dac is of a higher quality it will result in better sound quality. When using the coax out on the node, the dac now has to try to correct the information and apparently is not doing a great job of it due to incompatibility issues. Hence the lower sound quality when using coax. This obviously could all change if using a different streamer.
|
@joshindc The problem was that even though he was using high quality coax cables, there is an incompatibility issue between the bluesound node and denefrips dacs when feeding with coax cables. Even on the newest version of the node, this issue exists. I know because I have the same node that he has. I was trying to figure out why the Pontus wasn't sounding awesome after nearly a week of break-in. Another couple of members suggested I try USB connection. I grabbed a cheap USB cable and as soon as I hooked it up BOOM huge difference. I reached out to Vinshine who distributes denefrips and it was confirmed that this is a known issue. So moral of the story is, if you have the old bluesound node 2i, don't pair it with denefrips or upgrade to the newest node with USB outs or other streamer. I don't know if you saw my earlier posts but trust me man, this is probably why you were unimpressed. Again, I didn't have the Aries, I have the Pontus. But I would hope to think that the Aries is an upgrade to the internal dac of the Node. I'm not trying to discredit the Node, it's a great product especially for the price but the denefrips Pontus easily topped it.
|