Can a Bluesound Node's Streamer Be Bypassed and be used as an External Dac?


Can I bypass the streamer on the Bluesound Node and use it as an external DAC?

I just bought a Aurrender N200 streamer.  It's current paired with an older external DAC.  I can barely listen to my system now because of ear fatigue!  The higher frequencies are shrill!  Previously, I used the Bluesound Node and enjoyed it and could listen and moderate volume levels for hours. 

I want to confirm that it's the older DAC is the problem.  Can I bypass the streamer on the Bluesound Node and use it as an external DAC?

Thanks!

 

malatu

I think it may have an optical mini input that should allow you to use it as a DAC. 

There is an mini optical input on the Node but I've never tried using it and wouldn't hazard a guess about how it works. Suggest you contact Bluesound support directly.

The streamer is much better than the dac, thus you can bypass the dac, commonly done, but not the streamer.

I have my tv going into the mini optical of the Bluesound node 2i and sending the digital signal through to my Denafrips Ares II dac. If I want to listen to qobuz I just open the app and select something to listen to and the audio switches to music from anything you select whether is radio paradise, qobuz, etc. If I want to switch back to tv all I do is go to the "hamburger button" in the Bluesound menu and select optical input (tv) and it goes to the tv signal and sends it to the dac. Now if my tv is off and I turn it on, the Bluesound will automatically pick up the signal and play tv audio, and if there's music playing with the tv off, it will automatically switch to tv audio. Now this works very well for us as far as switching the digital signal back and forth, but I would also like to think that it would still do the same internally using the Bluesound dac as well. It's really late right now so I hope that I explained this well. Any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.

     Leo 

Also, the best part of this auto switching to tv audio when the tv is turned on is that I don't have to worry about what the node was playing prior when my wife goes to watch tv. It might glitch once in a bluesound moon😜, but it's very rare.

"Just wondering,  what DAC are you using?"

A vintage Sony DAS-703 ..... circa 1985!  Yep,1985!  It's temporary until I find a replacement for it. Though, I was hoping to bypass the streamer side of Bluesound and use its dac to confirm in fact the vintage DAC is causing my ear fatigue and not the Aurrender N200.

For what it's worth, the vintage dac sounded fine when used with the Bluesound Node.  I could listen to the pair for hours without ear fatigue.

 

So are you using a format that is only 16/44k?   Most of those early DACs were not even capable of a full 16 bits of resolution anyway.   Digital has come a long way, if you are auditioning the N200 and can exchange it for an A200 I am sure you would find that is sounded great with Qobuz or Tidal

The N200 is worthy of a great DAC so if you pair a modern DAC with it I am pretty sure you will like it 

I’d buy a cheap reasonable Dac like an Ifi, Schitt, Topping or something off Amazon that you can get ASAP for under $200 to give you something listenable as you search for a suitable good Dac.

Easy peasy. USB, Optical and digital rca on the N130. I’m running USB to a Denafrips Pontus ll.

You really need a better DAC for a streamer of the quality of the Aurender. Very envious I wish I could afford an Aurender N200.

It’s only a $50 dac inside your better off with a AQ stick 

spend $900 for the latest Denafrips Aries2 that’s better sounding  then any streamer at $3k 

If you have an Aurender, you owe to yourself to have a good DAC. The DAC in the Node is below average in a Node 2 or 2i, and a little better in the Node 130.

I think the Node 2i DAC is pretty bad even compared to my trusty old DacMagic (later generation but still an older thing by today's standards...still sounds great for "redbook" CDs and my old Squeezebox Touch now mostly used as a clock), so I bought a Bifrost 2/64 and that sounds amazingly good with high rez streaming from the Node.

Why? The dac in the node is not good. Many many options better for very little money.

The N130 Node's only digital audio inputs I know of are the HDMI E ARC and Toslink. USB, coax & optical are digital outputs. The USB is either local file inputs or output to a DAC.

100% garenteed  not coming from the Aurender. I have experience with many and own two.