Upgrading Bluesound Node power supply with PD Creative (Hans B. reviews on Youtube)

The Node/PD Creative upgrade is a step in the right direction but if you can part with more cash going with a Innuos, Lumin or Aurender streamer to name a few is a much bigger jump in sound quality. I went with Innous Zen Mk3. No going back for sure. I noticed a lot Node’s for sale on the used market in the last few months. Chord Cutest’s too.

I have the Bluesound NODE N130, and upgraded about three months ago to the KECES P3 external power supply.  Opening the Bludesound box, and replacing the internal power board, was straight forward and well documented in the instructions that came with the board. the instructions were easy to follow. The Keces I bought gently used, so I suppose it was somewhat broken in; the internal board was new, purchased from pd-cf.com. The system with my Bluesound includes an Berkeley Alpha Dac, series 2, and alternatively the most excellent Doge 7 tube DAC (with upgraded tubes), and hard to find and excellent Bedini 100/100 DE power amp, with VMPS RM-40 speakers (with TRT caps, and other upgrades). There was a minor, but immediate improvement in the sound. I'd describe that as more clarity, and space between the notes, more open, less digital (I'm fundamentally a decades long analogue guy, because of being a teenager in the '70s). I'd have to open the Bluesound, and pull out the replace the original power board for a n updated comparison, and that's more work than I'm willing to do. I think the external power supply has continued to improve the sound over the last few months. I think it was definitely worth the about $500 I paid, total, for the used KECES  and the board.  I'm pleasantly surprised that I have no desire to upgrade my digital system any more. 

I also did the upgrade in the 130 and the sounds was really good!! Then I got a hold of a Lumin u1 mini and there was No going back 😀…. Stock Lumin u1 sounds much better in my system. 

Thanks. Yes, I agree the lack of sorting with BluOS is annoying.

The VitOS app is very similar to BluOS, I actually like the way Quobuz is laid out  a bit more with VitOS. It shows the full Quobuz homepage and looks a little nicer, neither app  allows you to sort your album library which I find annoying. Overall the VitOS has been stable and glitch free, it functions similarly to BluOS and they regularly update it in the App Store. 

@cforsythe 
How do the operating systems of the Node 2i and Munich M1T compare?

@christianb5s4 and @cforsythe Thank you for relaying your recent experiences. I've been playing around with different DACs lately, and so a better streamer is now on my mind. Both of the options you mention seem plausible. The Munich M1T looks interesting -- it's priced way below the Lumin line, for sure. 

@hilde45 I've done a similar jump, so here's my experience in case it's helpful. 

BlueSound N130 stock -> added PD Creative upgrade -> added Denafrips Venus 2 -> added Denafrips Terminator Plus -> upgraded to Lumin U1 with X1 PSU into Termi Plus.

Upgrading the power supply on the Node yielded better sound across the board and was fantastic bang for the buck. I noticed most improvement when using the inboard DAC on the Node but there was still improvement when feeding an external DAC. Highs were clearer, more bass, music had more energy, and soundstage was more precise.

Moving to the Lumin was night and day (as it should be for 10x the cost). The improvement was not subtle. Darker background, cleaner and clearer treble, significantly better bass and texture, midrange bloomed, and the soundstage was larger and more precise, and music was simply more engaging and lifelike.

I installed the PD Creative board on my Node 2i and used an Allo Shanti lps. Honestly, streaming to an external DAC via spdif, I really didn’t notice much improvement at all. I ended up getting a Silent Angel Munich transport, which I found to be a huge improvement over the node 2i. I use the same Shanti lps with the Munich and its a dramatic step up in performance. Changing the power supply in the Node was a very minor upgrade for me.

@rrboogie Thanks for chiming in. Can you specify what improvements you gained as you moved beyond the Node? Thanks!

i have asked PD Creative to look at the measurements of both the Zen Stream and the Node 2i and compare them.  i have not received an answer from them. i suspect that the Zen Stream is better than the Node 2i even after their PSU upgrade.

has anyone compared the measurements of the iFi Zen Stream to that of the measurements of the Bluesound Node after the PD Creative PSU mod?  trying to confirm this?  does the after market PD mod make the Node sound as transparent?

I heard improvements on both the analog and digital outputs. I no longer use the Bluesound Node 2i. Improvements were found with the Aurender X100L and now my current Small Green Computer Optical i9 into Sonore OpticalRendu is an improvement as well. I do miss the ease of the Bluesound App though.

I also upgraded my N130 with the PD Creative Board and added a Jays Audio LPS. The Node feeds a Pontus II and sometimes a MDHT Orchid. Very happy with the results.

@hilde45 Hi, I've upgraded my Node N130 with the PD Creative kit and PSU; it's been about 5 months since I made the upgrade, but yes, even using the digital outs from the Node, the SQ was/is still improved. I guess removing the SMPS PCB from the Node removes any noise it would have been generating to the streamer/DAC/Line Outs and digital outs. Combined with a decent external PSU, my Node N130 is a different proposition from the vanilla Node N130 I bought. 

Another PD Creative / Node 2i user here. Wonderful improvement over stock. I use an SBooster to power the board. This feeds a modified MHDT Orchid with a 7308 tube. No desire to upgrade.

question i have, is whether the ps upgrade of a node 2i affects the analog output section mainly, or if there is in fact proportional improvement of the digital stream it sends to downstream dacs outboard of it

That is THE critical question. I may ask him.

to me a longstanding and remaining question i have, is whether the ps upgrade of a node 2i affects the analog output section mainly, or if there is in fact proportional improvement of the digital stream it sends to downstream dacs outboard of it... it is too bad that hans b did not comment on this point in his video either... :(

@rboogie -- that's great. For me, if I have the time, I will get a much better streamer (with a return policy) and then A/B it with my BS configuration (both going out to my DAC) in order to see if there's any truth to the testimony about Lumin, Aurender, etc. Some of the best audiophiles I know have relatively inexpensive streamers hooked up to excellent DAC's.

I installed the PD Creative power supply mod in a Node 2i powered by an SBooster LPS and I can confirm that it makes a huge difference to an already excellent streamer. Lowered the noise floor, better bass articulation, reduced vocal sibilants, expanded the sound stage and let the music flow.

agreed

hans b does a real service, a valuable service, via his youtube videos