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New Bluesound Node – First Impressions

I'm new to streaming. To get started, I ordered the new Bluesound Node, the just-released successor to the Node2i. It arrived Friday. System: Sonus faber Olympica III speakers, McIntosh MC402 power amp, Magnum Dynalab MD208 used as a preamp, Denon DCD-1600NE SACD/CD player, and various cables, mostly Audioquest. I offer my first impressions, FWIW. I don't claim any particular expertise.

I connected the Node to the pre via Audioquest interconnects. It doesn't accept my aftermarket power cords. Used wireless, not ethernet. I have free trial subscriptions to Amazon Music and Qobuz.

First, Amazon Music. Tried some Beethoven, and some Rameau, with poor results. Compressed, tinny, and unlistenable. 10 minutes of Amazon HD was more than enough.

Next, Qobuz. Brahms, Schumann, Led Zep, Bowie. A very substantial improvement on Amazon HD. Notably, on the same tracks, the Qobuz high-rez sounded significantly better than the Qobuz CD-quality. Differences were immediately apparent on Led Zep's Dazed and Confused, available in both formats.

But the Qobuz high-rez can't compare with CD quality sound on my system as currently configured. On the same recordings, CD quality is clearly superior to Qobuz high-rez played through the Node. Detail, presence, dimensionality – there's no contest.

As a means to explore music to purchase on CD, the Node, playing Qobuz, may or may not suffice. As a substitute for CDs, I very much doubt it will do.

Let me re-emphasize that these are only my first impressions. I don't know how the Node will sound after further break-in, or with an ethernet connection, or with an external DAC, or with different interconnects/preamps/amps/speakers, or with other streaming services. I hope this post is helpful to other forum members considering this or similar equipment.


gg107

Showing 1 response by calvinandhobbes

calvinandhobbes
312 posts
 
+1 to what @patrickdowns and @lalitk suggested for improved sound quality. The suggestions from @lalitk align with my experience as well

To get the best out of Node, you need to use,

1) Ethernet with decent quality LAN cable, like Supra CAT8,
2) External DAC as @hilde45 pointed out,
3) Decent power cord, try Cullen PC with figure 8 IEC,
4) Decent quality Digital Coax cable,

I went through this journey last year of building a digital front end for streaming. Background on all of this is that I’ve mostly avoided digital for 32 years because of the harshness that I hear from a lot of digital music and because I think vinyl has sounded more musical. I got a Pro-ject Stream Box Ultra S2 streamer which I started using via Wi-Fi. My initial DAC was an AQ Dragonfly Red with a 3.5mm to RCA cable to plug it into my main system.

Two tweaks that you might try before returning the Node streamer. My perception is that these changes will improve sound quality no matter what streamer you end up with.

1. Turn off Wi-Fi and use an Ethernet cable: As @lalitk suggested, the most significant improvement that I saw in digital with my initial tweaks was to turn off the Wi-Fi receiver on my Pro-ject streamer and use an Ethernet cable.

I can share one trick for doing this. My audio system is upstairs and my Ethernet port is downstairs. I didn’t really want to run 75 feet of Ethernet cable through my house. So I got a TP-Link RE230 Wi-Fi extender (https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/range-extender/re230/) and used that as a remote Wi-Fi receiver to create an Ethernet access port from which I could run an Ethernet cable to my Pro-ject streamer. Creating an Ethernet access point with that $30 TP-Link Wi-Fi extender has been one of the most significant sound quality tweaks that I found in digital.

2. Try a better sounding Ethernet cable: When going to an Ethernet cable from Wi-Fi, I got two Ethernet cables:

I’m not sure what I expected to hear, but got the Supra cable to cover my bases. Well, going from the AmazonBasics cable to the Supra cable gained about 50-70% of the improvement that turning off Wi-Fi made. From what I’ve read, the reason is lower noise due to better shielding from RF interference and other electro-magnetic interference.

These were the improvements that I heard from these changes:
  • More presence to voices and instruments which sound more forward and distinct in presentation
  • Richer tonality
  • Less grain to the sound
  • Better resolution due to a lower noise floor (This is audible when comparing a cleaner signal to one that is less clean)
  • Easier to follow bass lines
  • Pace seems faster due to more clarity and better definition to the leading edge of notes.
I’ve since tried out a number of DACs and have ended up with a Denafrips Pontus II DAC, but the initial inexpensive changes I suggested above (with a total cost of about $100) were very worthwhile even before laying out significant money for more expensive DACs.
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