Interesting new update for bluesound Node

[rikhav]

Not sure if this is applicable for all versions of Bluesound Node or the latest version only.

The new update allows the USB port the Node to connected to any external dac like how we would connect any PC to a dac via USB.

Specially good for someone who wants a cheap but no nonsense player and wants to usb to connect to dac.

https://support1.bluesound.com/hc/en-us/articles/4417440985879-How-to-enable-USB-Audio-Out-on-NODE-N130-

 

[captrajesh]

Not sure if this is applicable for all versions of Bluesound Node or the latest version only.

It's mentioned as Node (N130). So may not be applicable to other models.

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

Not sure if this is applicable for all versions of Bluesound Node or the latest version only.

The new update allows the USB port the Node to connected to any external dac like how we would connect any PC to a dac via USB.

Specially good for someone who wants a cheap but no nonsense player and wants to usb to connect to dac.

https://support1.bluesound.com/hc/en-us/articles/4417440985879-How-to-enable-USB-Audio-Out-on-NODE-N130-

Just curious - what are reasons to prefer USB connection to DAC over the optical/coaxial? Are there use cases where USB would yield better results?

 

[rikhav]

Just curious - what are reasons to prefer USB connection to DAC over the optical/coaxial? Are there use cases where USB would yield better results?

Not necessarily but would depend on dac to dac.
Won't be a night & day difference though

 

[mbhangui]

Just curious - what are reasons to prefer USB connection to DAC over the optical/coaxial? Are there use cases where USB would yield better results?

Like Rikhav says, it depends from DAC to DAC. Some DACS have a bad usb implementation. So coaxial would be better. However optical interface is the worst of the lot. It is inherently a jittery interface. The coax is 7 times better than the optical in jitter performance.

Optical out (TosLink) provides great isolation from the RFI of the computer. (You will still want to put a power line filter on the computer to keep the RFI from its switching power supply out of the rest of your system.)

The problem with TosLink is that it is S/PDIF, which inherently adds jitter. The faster the rise time of the data link, the less jitter gets added. TosLink is pretty slow and the rise times are slow enough that it can barely handle the data rates for S/PDIF. So there is more jitter added than with a coaxial cable. Therefore TosLink is better than coax in one way and worse in another.

The end result will depend on how well your external DAC rejects jitter. Unfortunately there is no such thing as an S/PDIF DAC that completely rejects jitter, except for the Chord. It has a big buffer and it takes 4 seconds after you hit play before you hear music.

Charles Hansen

The Well-Tempered Computer

Having said that, read this too https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/more-s-pdif-cables-jitter/

So ultimately let your ears be the judge.

 

[Samai]

Not sure if this is applicable for all versions of Bluesound Node or the latest version only.

The new update allows the USB port the Node to connected to any external dac like how we would connect any PC to a dac via USB.

Specially good for someone who wants a cheap but no nonsense player and wants to usb to connect to dac.

https://support1.bluesound.com/hc/en-us/articles/4417440985879-How-to-enable-USB-Audio-Out-on-NODE-N130-

New limited edition Node X launched