Just got a new Bluesound Node. Very disappointed!

Check the Audio settings, there are Bass and Treble adjustments.    Maybe they were invoked by accident.   I have a Vault 2i and it sounds ok with it's internal DAC.  Should not sound as you described 

You could have saved lots of money and bought the Grace Digital Link @ $179....I've only mentioned it like 100 times....it does the same thing....it STREAMS .....

Didn’t think node does DSP. I haven’t had one for a while. But with all things working correctly you shouldn’t hear what you describe.

I checked the eq buts it’s off. Tried it but the must lost dynamics. 
 

OP,

While the Bluesound is a budget streamer… what you describe does not sound right. Have you tried alternative connections? It has 4 different outputs… I would try an alternative. Something wrong with the interconnect.

I’ve tried different interconnects - sound is a weee bit better, I’ve also switched between toslink and coax digital outs. No difference.

weirdly enough if I airplay to the BN the highs are dialed down but you lose resolution.

it’s almost like there’s a slight metallic sheen to the music. 

My Node 2i feeding Tidal to a Bel Canto DAC3 has none of the boosted treble you describe, I find the sound very balanced and completely enjoyable.

Could be a defective unit. 

Something weird is going on....  my Vault 2i ( pretty much the same as Node) was connected to a NAD M51 and it sounded fantastic.   I would do a hard reset on the Node.  The BS / M51 combo was very balanced top to bottom.    Subterranean bass and smooth on top.   It should sound great with that DAC.

I would agree, your Node has issues of some sort. A reset might do it, easy enough to try. For the $$$ the Node (especially the current one) sounds really good. 
 

Important: Audio clock trim

- BluOS uses small adjustments to the audio clock to maintain glitch-free audio synchronization. Disable this when using an external DAC that cannot cope with these adjustments.

There is a setting that you might like to change to see if it makes a different in term of sound quality

Bluesound has outstanding customer service. The IT guys helped me a couple of times. I can't imagine they couldn't isolate and fix your problem.

Return it.  There are other options out there, both less and more expensive.

You will want to make sure the tone controls are set to off and that you have the volume set to "output level fixed".

Airplay is not even remotely at the same level of performance.

I have to agree, I think you got a defective unit. 

If you don’t like it return it. It should sound good. If not maybe what was there before was relatively rolled off? Different strokes….. What sounds good or not is a highly subjective judgement. Or it could be defective. It happens!

Also I have started using airplay of late and that too sounds very good. Either to a Cambridge streamer or to a quite meager Roku stick. Pleasantly surprised! There is no technical reason I know of why it shouldn’t sound good if done well.

What do you expect rule of thumb 25% of the cost on average goes into the build including packaging $125  you truly need to spend at least around $1k at bare minim7m to get any respectable fidelity , the Denafrips Pontus 2 by far the best under $2k dac out there that is a very respectable Audiophile product .

buy a little green computer as your Roon ready device with a Solid state 1-2 terabyte hard drive , save until you can buy one these are very cost effective products that are excellent value.

Check the sound settings. It may be that you’re on the “subwoofers” setting which high passes your speakers. I had this problem as well. If it’s on turn it off

I have not heard such dramtic issues, whch suggests something else wrong. But its not good. I haveposted many times that the node << a $99 schiit modi 3 driven by FLAC+ USB PC.

and in context the Modi 3 is an excellent to outstanding entry level product, but 2-3 gradiations below what i use.

Mediocre. But solid mediocre....

All these suggestions for buying something else and bluesound is not that good and the like have some merit, but I think you should get IT to help and see what the unit can sound like, when you have fixed or addressed the problem. I can tell you your Camero is not a very good sports car, you should get a Porsche but if the problem on your Camera is a flat tire, it would make sense to fix the tire and take it for another spin with 4 good tires before you invest in the Porsche. My two cents..

Subwoofer setting was a good suggestion.   Bluesound is actually pretty good for the money in my experience.    You need to spend two or three times the amount to better it.

So where did my thinking go wrong with this thing. I always assumed to use it as a transport for the digital signal from the BNS and never use it’s internal DAC. So as long as the data file is “true” shouldn’t the SQ be determined by my outboard DAC?

long combative debate about importance of source (Streamer/CD Transport) vs DAC...I believe it all matters...not all do

So as long as the data file is “true” shouldn’t the SQ be determined by my outboard DAC?

Yes…Maybe not 100% but  very close for all practical purposes. As long as everything is configured and operating properly. At least that is my experience to date after 15 years of streaming.

I auditioned the Bluesound Node together with the Lindemann Limetree Bridge, I found the BSN did improve with better outboard DAC's but only marginally, with the Lindemann the better the DAC the better it sounded.

A lot of audiophiles buy and then sell these Node products because they don’t like the sound quality even after upgrading the DAC. Just a fact. Don’t shoot the messenger. 

The way the OP describes the problem makes it sound like a defective unit to me.  And transports do matter.  The DAC is the bigger determinant of the pairing, but the the situation is analogous to a disc transport DAC combination.  You wouldn’t pair a top notch DAC with a $20 DVD player as a disc transport, and a poor player streaming into a good DAC will sound similarly compromised .  I’ve used the Node 2 and streamers that cost 10 times as much.  The more expensive players sound better but the Node has a decent “floor” if not as high a ceiling

Maybe your previous stuff was rolled off and the Node is just showing you what is really there?  But that’s academic. If you don’t like it, give it back. Simple. 

I don’t know if I agree with the digital being rolled off. What I mean is the song is the song (the digital data), from a digital standpoint unless it get modified in the digital realm, the reproduction of the song (analog section) however can obviously make a difference. I guess it’s analogous to tv, the digital rendition of Star Wars is the what it is, but your DVR (pick your poison here) ultimately determines the quality of the picture along with the TV.

Which means to say l’ve been using my DAC on other CD transports; cheap and expensive with literally very little difference in sound quality and with certainly no rolling off frequencies

I mean, every CD player specifications I’ve ever seen has a frequency response that’s flat from like 2 Hz to 20,000 Hz plus or +/-1 dB.  

Not to hijack this post, but obviously many of you on here have tried the gambit of low priced streamers up to ones far more than I could afford. 

My question is this:  How do you think the sound quality of an iPAD feeding an external DAC via USB compares to say the Bluesound Node feeding the same DAC via USB?  Would there be any noticeable or notable differences? 

Currently I use an iPAD to feed a Schiit Modi II but was looking at getting a Denafrips Ares II as my "end game" better DAC.  Would I hear (in theory) a better quality of sound, or does the limitation of the iPAD say I ought to get a better streamer as well one day to pair with the Denafrips? 

Thanks. 

To the original poster, I would return the B/S Node and perhaps try another one from another vendor to hopefully not get one from the same batch run. If it (the first one) is defective you’ll find out.

Sadly this goes for nearly anything in manufacturing the last two years. Manufacturing items in fits and starts due to Covid, supply chain issues, particularly the chip shortages, has lowered overall statistical quality of many items from streamers to cars.

Since we know many have the Node and are happy with it at its price point, this tone anomaly does seem to indicate something is amiss. Good luck!

And thanks to @Alvin1118 for the heads up about the Auto Clock on the BS Node. Something to keep in the back of my mind if I ever get one.

The only problem I’ve had with my node is tech support and that’s lately. 

@last_lemming 

Beyond the basic troubleshooting, there are plenty of threads here on how to get best possible sound from BSN. If you’re new to streaming, there is a bit of learning curve (probably not as deep as your analog) so you need to be patient and allow BSN to settle in your system. When using a external DAC, make sure you’re using a good digital SPDIF or USB cable. You mentioned hearing a slight metallic sheen in your music with BSN, here are couple of things you can do to restore naturalness to the music, 

1) Upgrade Ethernet cable to Supra CAT 8 (buy from eBay seller zendada)

2) Upgrade PC cable to Shunyata V14 - C7 or similar

3) Try a inline LAN filter like Acoustic Revive RLI-1GB-TripleC (buy from eBay)

All of the above tweaks + external DAC should help you get most out of BSN in its stock form. There is power supply upgrade as well for additional $258 but I wouldn’t go that far yet. 

Did you turn off the clock as another poster suggested?  This has a huge impact on sound quality.  It always makes a positive difference when you have an external DAC

I just got my node setup yesterday. Had a lot of problems initially and with the help of their it persons got it working great. No problems with the sound yet. I did buy the unit used from another individual, so I don’t know if there were problems before. 
  That said, I did a factory reset (pay attention to the led colors) , deleted the BLos app, and reloaded it again. After about 45 min , everything was up and running. 
  One suggestion I might make is to remove the Dac from th signal path to see if that makes a difference. Second , change the inputs coming into your preamp and evaluate. You might have done this already to track down the gremlin. This process would show what the problem is. It might be even bad cables or a connection problem. 
I know it is frustrating, I had the same type of problems with my turntable hookups. Rerouted cables did the trick for me with that. Good luck.

I own and have upgraded the power supplies in both the 2i and n130.  I’ll pre qualify my observations -  I’m streaming Tunein radio and Spotify, not the ultra fidelity services.  Entry level.  Anyway, stock the 2i has a warmer, cozier presentation while the n130 is less coarse, more dynamic and open/detailed, comparatively a bit  tipped up and light in the bass.  Adding a MHDT Orchid brought a very minor reduction in glare to each.  As in, What?  Did I just blow $1200?
The power board upgrade brought  better extension, low level detail and boosted bass, the Orchid now crushing the internal DAC s.  The n130 streamer still a bit hot on top for my taste and a mellower tube in the Orchid helped some.  It is without a doubt the better performing streamer-only option (using external DAC) of the two.   The 2i streamer has a lot of grunge by comparison.  As for taming the top end, I tried the Schiit Loki mini, liked it, and have the Loki max, love it. 

OP,

”I always assumed to use it as a transport for the digital signal from the BNS and never use it’s internal DAC. So as long as the data file is “true” shouldn’t the SQ be determined by my outboard DAC?”

That is a very logical assumption… but just not true. I have used many streamers from iPhones, MACs, through $3K, $5K an finally I own a $22K Aurender flagship steamer… each step provided better sound (you must have a DAC up to the task of course). My Aurender is simply stunning and brought my digital end to the level of performance to the high end analog side of the system.

I also have an Aurender N100 in my headphone system. You can see my systems under my UserID. 

I highly recommend looking at an Aurender streamer… they come at many price levels. They only make streamers and many of the best.

@last_lemming 

"What I mean is the song is the song (the digital data), from a digital standpoint unless it get modified in the digital realm," 

It does get modified in the digital realm by xmos chip or similar when converting the streaming signal to something that can be transmitted via cable which sounds like optical in your case. Optical typically has the lowest resolution/sq compared to usb AES or I2S.  I would try a usb connection if the hardware has that option and as others have said, seems like a setting somewhere could be the main culprit....  

Thanks for the responses I’ll respond to a few questions

i did turn off the clock. Didn’t make any difference 

i use the coax and toslik out to evaluate. The coax is a good hi-end cable. 

I have not tried going straight from the BSN rca out to the preamp. 
 

this system used an ARC Classic 60 tube amp, Herron 1a/166 preamp, and the NAD M51 DAC. Speaker cables are PAD, and cabling is all over the place now, but is currently Cardas Clear light. 

Hi,

I agree with other comments. I suspect that you have a faulty Node. I bought mine a year ago with the sole purpose of streaming Radio Paradise MQA. Used as a stand alone until buying a TEAC ud701N which accepts MQA in via spdif and usb. Having read your findings I had a session today with the Node as a stand alone player/DAC, listening to RP and quobuz hires tracks. Bass is solid with good definition of bass guitar and kick drum. Not quite as good as the TEAC nor is the wide detailed top end. I don’t hear what you describe. Amp is Luxman and speakers Dali Epicon 6 with hybrid soft dome and ribbon tweeters. Reasonably resolving. Mazzy Star is playing as I write and lovely “air” to vocals and instruments. Hope you solve the mystery. Both TEAC and node are fed with Audioquest cinnamom ethernet cat 7. Audioquest power cables and Chord rca/ XLR./ coax. 

"AUDIO OUTPUT FIXED" setting helped mine sound better.

That is my setting as well

Exchange it for another one. I have a Node in my office system, and a Powernode in my bedroom system… both sound very good. Something’s wrong with the one you got. 
 

Also, for a fun experiment, see if you get similar results from a laptop (as a streamer). Will be enlightening either way. 

Something wrong in your setup double check everything

When people buy new toy they're excited and forget and make mistake the connection, settings, etc.....

Liza,

Ive been over all my connections several times not to mention all the settings. I think people here may be right when they say there is something wrong with it. 

@last_lemming

Wondering if you read my post above? I have been a very happy owner of a 2i for the last couple of years, running it though an external DAC.

To repeat:

You will want to make sure the tone controls are set to off and that you have the volume set to "output level fixed", (the latter assuming you are using a separate preamp and not using the Node's preamp function).

The Node is a ton of fun.

I have a five of the node 2i units in different systems around the house. While each of these systems also have cd players, turntables and in most cases an outboard DAC I use node through its analog RCA output. Streaming service is Tidal and I do MQA whenever possible. One of the systems does feed an outboard DAC. I had the Mytek Brooklyn + and found it to be somewhat bright. I am now using a Cambridge 200 and like the sound better. I also like the nodes by themselves. While I have heard direct comparisons against better sounding/more expensive units, I think the Bluesound is an incredible value for the money!