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Bluesound Node Icon Owner Impressions

I received my Node Icon about two weeks ago, and I'm curious as to whether my impressions are shared...

It replaced a Node 2i, which was fed into an Esoteric K07x, using it's internal DAC. Right before I received the Node Icon, the Esoteric transport crapped out, so I am not able to make an 'apples to apples' comparison; I'm now using the Icon's DAC and the Esoteric is out of the picture for a while.

This is still a work in progress- I want to bring up the Esoteric again to hear how it's DAC compares, but another player currently resides in the spot. 

To my ears, the Icon sounds much better after being left on for hours- glare/sibilance gone. I routinely left the Esoteric on as it also sounded better than when cold. So it maybe just that the DAC's sound better when warm.

I feel the Icon is giving me more bass than the Esoteric DAC, though perhaps at the expense of a little 'air' in the top end.

The Icon also was much more sensitive to my low strength WiFi signal- it would drop out frequently, not load content, etc. I added a temporary ethernet cable snaking through the house, which cured the problem, but I feel the WiFi signal sounded better. I can't put my finger on it, but I'll do some more listening.

I'm currently using the single ended RCA outs, I don't have any XLR cables to try out.

I'd be interested in other's initial impressions- please post.

 

 

james_edward
james_edward OP
121 posts
 

Thanks Soix,

I feel validated that I'm not just imagining the SQ degradation via Ethernet.

Guilty- I am using an ethernet cable that is low end to say the least. It's flat, so I doubt it's twisted pairs in there. I have a split level house, and running a wire from the router to the Icon is a bit tricky. Within a week or so I'll be running a real Ethernet cable with some help from a friend.

I tried a Mesh extender about a year ago with no luck.

I didn't want to mention it in my initial post, but after noticing the sound quality change, I ordered this from Stack Audio.

Audiogon Discussion Forum

Someone inquired about this filter on ASR and at the end of the thread I believe they had sentenced him to death...

Hopefully between the proper run of Cat cable and the filter I'll be in harmony. As it is, it sounds pretty good, so any improvement is a plus.

Thanks for the reply.

 

 

 

soix
9,693 posts
 

I wouldn’t give up on the Mesh/extender option with a better Ethernet/CAT cable as a really long Ethernet run can’t be helpful and could get expensive depending on the cable. Also, you should seriously consider adding a good LPS from the likes of Teddy Pardo, SBooster, or LHY as many have found doing that boosts the Node’s performance close to the level of much pricier streamers. And for only around 400 bucks it seems like a very cost effective upgrade. FWIW.  Given customer feedback the Stack filter seems worth a try, and please share your results if you could. 

kmcong
54 posts
 

I have to agree with soix regarding the LPS.  I have a Node2i,  using the coaxial digital out into a Denafrips Hermes 12th ddc,  then into a modified PS Audio Directstream DAC Mk1.  I am using the Node2i rather than a more expensive streamer because of the BluOS; I stream from Amazon HD and Idagio and it's the only OS that supports both of these streaming services.  I moded the Node2i with a TeddyPardo LPS,  and it made a huge improvement in the SQ! It wasn't a "Yeah,  that's better " improvement,  it was a "holy crap" improvement!! I've thought about getting a new Node Icon, but since I'm not using the internal DAC,  I'm not convinced I would see any improvement in SQ. Bought the Hermes DDC instead,  which did make a difference. I'm thinking that since I'm using the digital out from the Node,  the only improvement might possibly be less jitter,  but the Hermes reclocks the signal using two high quality OCXO clocks,  The Hermes also allows me to use the I2s input on the APS Transformers modified Directstream DAC. 

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