BS Node N130 USB to External DAC won't work

Sorry I  can’t help but I found the bs Facebook group to be super helpful for these questions. 

In looking at the owners manual for the N130, it has only one USB port. The default setting is as an input for a USB thumb driver or external USB hard drive.  The manual says that to use it as a USB output to a DAC, the Node needs updated software, and then one needs to go into the menu settings and bypass the internal DAC and choose the correct external DAC.

As you can see, it is not an automatic process that takes place when you insert the USB cable.

All of that said, I don't own a Node and have no idea if they have ever released the updated software, nor if your Node has it installed.  And, even if you have the updated software, there may be an issue if your particular DAC is not on their menu.

Hopefully someone with this Node who has gone through this particular process will come along with more details for you.

@skoczylas thanks for the FB tip!

@mlsstl I do have the latest firmware and confirmed with BS support that USB should work with an external DAC. Thanks for looking it up.

I think it just buggy software...

I'll reach out again to BS support

You did say you have a "new" Black Ice DAC. That could be a possible issue if it is new enough that BS hasn't configured their software to work with this particular model, even if it works with other Black Ice models. 

That has been an issue over the years for computer related setups -- a manufacturer will release a new model and it takes the outside software makers time to catch up.  Streamers and DACs are no exception -- still a lot of computer parts and software underneath the hood.

Do you have another DAC, or one you can borrow, to see if the Node will work with it?

@mcleans what is the purpose of this embedded URL?

Happy bluesound user here.  No problems with USB connections to ARC CD9 or ARC DAC9.  I did have problems initially, but a software update on the bs resolved it.

Got it working, just kept restarting, changing input selections, random stuff.

Had a problem with mine connecting to a Dac using usb and it turned out to be a bad cable connection.  There isn’a lot of room below the ethernet cable port so if the usb cable is too tall, or thick, it won’t make a good connection,  Something to check.