Any problems streaming 24/192 files to external DAC from Bluesound Node?

@totem395 my DAC is an Arcam irDAC with external MCRU linear power supply and POCC power cable (not that that would have any thing to do with coaxial compatibility - but it does noticeably improve the overall performance of the irDAC).  I think the no-name RCA cable I was using to connect the Node to the irDAC was not a true 75 ohm digital cable.  It 'worked' for streaming file sizes of 24/96 and below, as in sound came out and it played the songs all the way through without breaking up, but it would not support larger PCM files. 

In fact, in my system, the DH Labs D-750 wire is a revelation.  Not only does it work flawlessly with any size files up to 24/196, but it trounces all my optical or USB cables (also currently DH Labs, which I have decided are the best bang for the buck in each category) that I have used previously with the irDAC in terms of sound quality. And the Node streaming with the DH Labs coaxial cable to the irDAC is much better than any of the three laptops running JRiver I used before, which frankly all sounded pretty good in my office system using USB out.

I do not know if this is an irDAC specific issue where the coax input is just implemented way better than toslink or USB, or the coax output of the Node is much better than toslink, or the DH Labs coax cable is just awesome, but whatever the case, what I'm hearing now is making me wonder why I did not get on the coax bandwagon much sooner. Even MP4s sound fantastic streamed from the Node to the irDAC via coax.  I had planned for a serious upgrade for the Arcam DAC as part of setting up a streaming system in my main rig, but it feels a bit less urgent now.

I found that using a "good" spdif cable from the Node to three different outboard DAC's made a significant improvement.

@marco1 thanks - agreed. 

I upgraded the power cable to the Node using a FURUTECH FP-S022N cable with SONARQUEST Carbon silver plated connectors (with Mojo Cable c7 adapter) and that made another big difference for streaming - and frankly a bigger positive difference for the built-in DAC function of the Node which is decent.  But I still prefer the sound of the irDAC.

According to bluesound the node only outputs 192/24 from the RCA connections which doesn’t makes any sense to me, and at must 96/24 from the digital (optical and coaxial) ports, so go figure!

@alcecena I not quite sure what you’re saying here.  Yes the node can definitely output 24/192 files via RCA coax, with fairly high quality.  And I only think it can only output up to 24/96 files via Toslink, although it’s been a while since I checked on that spec.  I have been told by folks on Audiogon that the Node (Gen 3) can also output hi res files via USB, but it only has one USB port, and I am using the USB port in my Node to receive files from a hard drive and serve those to my DAC via coax. Since my last post on this topic I have upgraded the DH Labs coax cable to a higher quality Chord Company cable and that made a huge improvement in sound quality.

kn