Next step??

TEA FOR ONE

Super Member
Hello all,
I'm currently running a Bluesound Node for streaming online music sources. I'm looking for recommendations on upgrading the internal dac in the Node. My budget will probably be in the $700-$750 area. I will most likely buy used,as I feel I can get more bang for the buck. Please see my sig for associated gear. Lets hear some options.
Thanks!
 
What makes you think you need a better DAC? Just curious. The literature states it will support up to 24/192 and also claims engineering design expertise from NAD and PSB. There are quite a few positive reviews of the sound quality online. I suppose there are always the mulitbit DACs (schiit for example) for a different approach.
 
What makes you think you need a better DAC? Just curious. The literature states it will support up to 24/192 and also claims engineering design expertise from NAD and PSB. There are quite a few positive reviews of the sound quality online. I suppose there are always the mulitbit DACs (schiit for example) for a different approach.

Just chasin the dragon I suppose! I have also read the positive reviews,but it still makes me wonder about moving up a notch.
 
Funny, I have taken my Dac out of the chain and run my Vault 2 straight to the pre. It sounds better than it has any right too and I figured I wouldn't be able to top the sound at the sub 1k level. There are always exceptions and ymmv....
 
@TEA FOR ONE , I want to walk back what I said above. I put my ifi Micro DSD back in the chain and I have to admit after a-b ing the onboard DAC with the ifi stack that the external DAC sounds way better. That's not to say that the Bluesound onboard DAC sounds bad, but there is a definite improvement with the external DAC.

So what made the difference? I did not configure the DSD settings and the Vault 2 was not fully utilizing the DSD capabilities of the DAC. Hope this helps you. Oh and the new Micro DSD black label is with in your budget and reported to be even better sounding than my model. At this point I have made up my mind to go way higher with a Mytek Brooklyn+, but that will be at least next year. I may upgrade to the mentioned Black Label to tide me over.
 
Sound Dragon,
Thank you so much for your input. I will definitely be looking into the ifi unit. How would you describe the improvement in sound? More detail? Bigger soundstage?
 
Sound Dragon,
Thank you so much for your input. I will definitely be looking into the ifi unit. How would you describe the improvement in sound? More detail? Bigger soundstage?

Yes to both of those aspects. It's almost as if the music is a bit dull and flat and with the DAC set correctly it becomes way more dynamic and engaging.

The funny thing is that I have made a bunch of changes to my system including picking up the Vault. When I connected it all back together I decided to run the Vault straight to the Pre. I was happy with the sound.

Then I picked up a Sota Turntable and started spinning records again. All the dynamics returned to the system. I really thought that the table was just that much better.

On a whim I put the DAC back in the chain and had both the DAC and the Vault hooked up to separate inputs. Not much change there. After posting what I posted here, I realized that the Vault had not been configured with the DAC in mind. Once I adjusted the settings to account for the higher capability of the DAC, the sound between my table and digital is much closer.
 
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