Why Streaming Service Sounds ‘Flat’ vs Tune In /Local FM /Radio Paradise

I just got a Bluesound Node 130 today from Crutchfield and just finished hooking it up.  Using it wirelessly in my garage system.  Just a straight setup with their cables (horrors!).  It only been playing about 90 minutes (WBGO Jazz out of Newark) .  Well I'm very pleasantly surprised how nice and clean it sounds.  Not compressed, Ella sounds like Ella.  Bass has more weight than I thought it would.  Just gonna let it play for a day then add it as an end-point to Roon.  

It sounds better than it has right to at $600.

Regards,

barts

@jacobsdad2000 So your truck does not have a streamer. You stream from an iPhone and then use a lossy method like Bluetooth or Apple Car Play to get it into your truck's audio system.

@jacobsdad2000 So your truck does not have a streamer. You stream from an iPhone and then use a lossy method like Bluetooth or Apple Car Play to get it into your truck's audio system.

@mwinkc yep, not that complicated, RP Icon is on the screen in my truck through Apple Connect. I press the Icon and music plays. 

@james_edward 

I have the Node 130 (the one after the 2i), and find the SQ superb with Qobuz and Tidal, with hi-res, well-recorded music (equivalent to LP quality).  But the 130 may have significant improvements over the 1st and 2nd generation Nodes, which I haven't auditioned.  I have three ideas for you:

1) use the Diagnostics function in the BluOS system Settings to check your Wi-fi signal strength, if you're not using a hardwired internet connection to the Node.  It needs to rate "Excellent" to successfully stream hi-res, although I think a weak signal would be more likely to cause dropouts or buffering than impair fidelity.

2) Try using a USB cable from the Node to the DAC, if possible.

3) Be sure to compare apples with apples--e.g., the same album on the Node as the CD you're using, and try a few different albums, preferably ones that are well-recorded in the first place.