Bluesound Node is ahead of it’s time. PLUS, it’s an all inclusive PreAmp… my headphone never sounded better out of its jack, then into balanced AAA 789… incredible! Four Stars
Bluesound Node 2021 DAC - I sold my Denafrips Ares II
I assembled my system last summer, after 20 odd years in the hifi wilderness. I’ve never been a vinyl guy, so wanted all the convenience of streaming, plus a CDP for my old collection.
I went for the latest iteration of the Bluesound Node - N130, a Naim Nait 5si and a pair of Quad S2 speakers, and Audiolab 6000CDT.
From reading various forums, watching YT videos, you know the script; I convinced my self that I needed an external DAC, as the majority view seemed to be that the BS Node DAC wasn’t very good. As I hadn’t owned hifi since the late 90s (Naim Olive) bi-amped system and Audo Alchemy DDE, I had no reference for how DACs sounded these days.
Anyway, in my new found conviction that I must purchase an ext. DAC, I purchased a Denafrips Ares II. Got it, plugged it in, and didn’t look back. I was content, it sounded good.
Then, about 2 months ago, I was fiddling around inside the Bluos app, with the subwoofer crossover, with a mind to buying a sub to supplement the LFs on my little Quads, and I had the belated brainwave to a/b the Node DAC and the Denafrips. I whipped out some spare ICs and off I went.
OK, I felt like such a fool, really stupid - I a/b’d for literally hours, trying to convince myself that the Ares II was night and day difference - it must be right? The Node DAC is sub-par, not good enough, mediocre, if things I read were correct.
But, in my system, to my ears, this wasn’t the case; I had difficulty discerning any significant improvements, certainly not £800 (£600 pre-owned) worth of difference.
I’m not knocking the Ares II, but in my system, the cost and the difference it made - and the difference between it and the much maligned Node DAC could not be justified sitting in my system at that cost.
Feeling like a complete tool, for rushing headlong in to the DAC game, I re-sold the Denafrips, bought a REL T5x and here I am.
I’m not going to look a further fool and say the Node DAC is the best, but i feel it is criticised unduly, at least the newest version at any rate.
Thanks for reading, I’m not sure this is a cautionary tale, but I just thought the experience worth sharing
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Thanks again for the all the thoughts and insights. There have been a couple of posts which I feel could explain why I came to the conclusion I did. @jin78 you’re the 2nd poster, I think, who has highlighted that there maybe a compatibility issue between the Node and Denafrips DACs through coax. I think someone also mentioned Alvin himself had confirmed this? @rhljazz also made a good point on Page 1 regarding the fact that all outputs on the Node are active; so a/b’ing with ICs from the Ares II, and the Node fed in to my amp simultaneously could have been flawed, and probably was not an accurate method of comparing the two DACs. I’m enjoying reading all the different angles people are coming from with this, I’ve gained some knowledge and insights I was previously ignorant of. @zoophaugus you could also be accurate in pointing out I may have jumped the gun by selling on the Ares II. In hindsight, if I was armed with the knowledge the contributors to this thread have given me, I may not have acted as soon as I did. But, 🤔 I do think at this point in time, a sub was of greater benefit to the overall sound of my system, and the Ares II paid for it £ for £. So I’m left with a little feeling of not regret exactly, but "yeah ok, maybe I was hasty" Moving forward from this, as mentioned, my next step is to mod the Node with the Teddy Pardo kit and PSU. People who have modded their Node with this and similar 3rd party upgrades, only seem to have had positive experiences. After this,........ Nothing! I’m going change my mindset, sit back and hopefully just enjoy what I have. I do love the fundamentals of my system; Nait 5si and Quad S2s, and of course, the recently added REL and what they give me. Thanks again guys, very much appreciated
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@painter24 - I meant to ask - how old is the Nait 5si? I had a Nait 5i from new It came with a built-n "design feature" - you have to replace the power supply Caps after 10-12 years. I had mine 10 years and they stoped the amp from working
Just thought you should be aware about that "feature" Whilst I loved the sound of the 5i - this feature put me right of Naim as a brand i.e. for amplifiers, so I sold it and moved on to a Bryston
At the time it was a toss-up between the Bryston and the Sinaudio Moon Regards - Steve |
@williewonka Hi Steve, the 5si was fresh from the Naim factory in September to my dealer. I had a demo unit on loan for a couple of months until the new stock arrived. Yep, the unit will probably need re-capping after x number of years, my dealers parting words when I picked up my new unit was, "see you in 20yrs". I know it was tongue in cheek, but if I get 10 to 20 years before I have to re-cap; for me personally, that's fine. I live in England, so not too much hassle, plus there's a company called Witch Hat Servicing ran by ex-Naim engineers in England that also carry out repairs and upgrades on Naim gear, I believe they are less expensive. They also make 2 alternative speaker cable lines as alternatives to the NACA4 & 5 Kind Regards
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@painter24 - Living in Britain you have the advantage. There are not many guys that will "upgrade" a NAIM in Canada, so I had to go through the distributor Not sure if this is the cause, but I left my amp on 24/7 since I heard Naim recommended this approach - wouldn't do that again Know what you mean about the cables - I was very disapointed with all NAIm cables/connectors, so I made my own - they work much better and specs are well within tolerances for NAIM amps. Happy Listening - enjoy |
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