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Experience with Bluesound Node 2 use with external DAC

I am very impressed with the Node 2.  So far my use of the Node has been with it's built in DAC.  It sounds great.  Since I don't own an outboard DAC I have had no other choice but to use the Node's DAC.  It is hard to fault it's DAC at any price much less the $500 price of the Node.  That being said, I realize there are alternatives out there than can improve upon the built in DAC.  I am at a point now where I am curious to hear what an external DAC may have to offer in terms of sound quality.  For those of you who are running a Node through an external DAC, what would you recommend and what type of improvement have you experienced vs DAC in the Node.
randyhat
janehamble
74 posts
 
I'm fascinated to read so many rave reviews about the Bluesound.  Sounds like most folks have the Node, rather than the Vault.  Which makes me wonder where you are storing your music files, in the case of Node users.  Are you streaming music files from your computer, or from a NAS?  I have a MacBook Pro  - what's the SQ like with a Node streaming music from such a computer?  Is this done wirelessly or hardwired?  Thanks for your insights.
earthtones
15 posts
 
I wirelessly stream my ripped cds from my Vault 2 in my study to my Node 2 in my listening room. I was sold on the Vault 2 because it supposedly does a better job ripping than a regular cd drive on a computer by ripping a "bit perfect" copy to Flac, plus the Vault is always on, unlike my computer. I like having a dedicated server to play my music. I also store downloaded Hdtracks files on it.
earthtones
15 posts
 
As far as wireless quality in and of itself, I'd think the source wouldn't matter, whether it's your computer or a Vault, but that's just a guess. I do know there's no loss in quality from wirelessly streaming from a Vault to a Node vs having the Node also wired by Ethernet. I do get signal loss sometimes though. I'd like to run Ethernet cables in more of my house but I'm not ready to do that because it's quite a project.
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gdnrbob
2,421 posts
 
@janehamble 
I use Spotify almost exclusively. I had Tidal for a while, but they didn't have a great classical library and I just don't get hip-hop.
Sound-wise, Spotify is great. I suspect they will go to higher definition, as there have been posts that they are offering it to a select group of subscribers. As far as MQA, I will wait for the dust to settle.
B
andynotadam's avatar
andynotadam
112 posts
 
I bought a Node 2 primarily for streaming Tidal Masters. The internal DAC doing full MQA decode is very smooth and non-fatiguing, though less incisive than playing the first "unfolding" through my Bel Canto 3.7 via S/PDIF. As others have mentioned, it benefits from upgraded cables (I use Nordost Purple Flare AC and Red Dawn interconnects with a Blue Heaven S/PDIF cable). Finally, I found that using an iFi S/PDIF Power Purifier was quite beneficial at the input to the Bel Canto to clean up the feed from the Node 2. Having said all that, on ripped 16/44 files, my Bryston BDP-2 smokes the Node 2 as a streamer which it should at many times the price.
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