Comments

83 comments

  • BM

    Waiting 7 months for usb out….would be very disappointed if update doesn’t come end of year…..

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  • Christian Allen

    According to Tony W (Product Support Manager) last post today on this subject... I do NOT expect the USB Out firmware 'by the end of year' He is not saying that any longer. I guess Tony been out of the loop the last few months. Also Tony did not address (silence) the hardware problem speculation leading me to believe there is something to it. I'm sad... I will start my Amazon Return process of my Node.

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  • Tony W.
    Product Support Manager

    Hi Christian (et al)

    On another thread, you were following and I redirected back to here this morning, I mentioned;

    Thank you all for your enthusiasm - as mentioned elsewhere, please follow this link for updates on when the new NODE N130 will feature digital output via USB in a firmware update - as mentioned it is a priority of our Development Team to deliver this update as quickly as possible

    In short, the issue of delivering audio output via USB is not one of hardware limitations. 

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  • Thomas McCarthy

    My Denaphrips Dac just got a new USB firmware update. People tell me it's a huge improvement and the sound is amazing..
    Ill take them at their word :p.

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  • Alexander Voronin

    We all will get it with with Node 4 and hopefully without asterisks but who knows :)

    Personally, I do not believe it will be delivered this year. I got 2 items for multiroom and both required USB audio output on my setup.

    I did mistake going with Bluesound Node.

    Bluesound Product Management did mistake with fooling their customers playing short term and deliver product with asterisks, long term - trust is lost, so many disappointed people.

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  • Alexander Voronin

    This is nice example how branding is ruined by minute and thoughtless Product Management decisions, by lack of proper estimation and subsequent communication even if mistake is done.

    Negative is in social media and everywhere around this, but this is not the biggest problem, biggest problem is that your reputation and your customer is lost while you Bluesound were hunting for quick wins  / $.

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  • Thomas McCarthy

    I really don't think Bluesound took the demand for USB serious...so little effort has been given to it. I think they assumed most people who bought their product was/is looking for a all in one item...where they would be using the built in dac. I don't think they anticipated just how many people would be using an external dac.

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  • edward

    So the BS-Node Coax works normally.

    Great, mine does too.

     

     

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  • Christian Allen

    @Christian Allen , what will you replace your node with?

    Sam, 1st off... If one does not need USB Output the Node N130 is very nice. However I want USB Output. Just tired of waiting

    I will get an ifi Zen Stream

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  • edward

    Good find Christian !!

     

    https://ifi-audio.com/products/zen-stream/ 

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  • Nikola

    I’ve bought Node specifically for USB output with hope that it will be a quick update. Now it only collect dust…

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  • edward

    Having things drag on leaves the door open for speculation.

    One thing we know is every OS 'these days' already has ready made drivers to connect the hardware to the software with regards to USB audio. With Linux its Alsa, Mac its CoreAudio, Windows its WASAPI, even Android has MTP [media transfer protocol] drivers. These drivers exist in our everyday hardware, phones, computers, laptops, etc....they work, they just need to be installed to work. Installation takes all of a minute or so, reboot and you're up and running. The only issue is to make sure 'your software' can talk to the driver.

    Hardware <-----the thing you can see and touch

    Software <-----BlueOS in this case ie computer code that does stuff

    Drivers/Modules <-----bits of code that 'link' software to hardware

    For the Node, the hardware is there [we can see the USB port], the software is there [we can log in and interact with it], the drivers are readily available. So the issue can only be their software is having problems talking to the driver and/or their hardware is so unique that standard drivers won't work. Or, its just so low of a priority that they've contracted their Devs to work on completely different things.

    Thats my EWAG....

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  • Mark

    Unfortunately given the time line and corporate focus on new product development [just look at their website!!!!!] I believe the entire Node future USB output is pure fantasy or perhaps it was a charade all along. I believe this is a company that has transitioned from a trusted technology company to a pure commodity play. 

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  • Ace of Spades

    I may be following Christian's path of return BSN and getting the Ifi Zen stream.  USB output functionality is a critical feature for my streamer.   I'm hesitant about going Zen stream as I've extremely anti the DIY hack products like Rasberry PI.  I'd rather go higher end like Auralic or Lumin than go with the cream pi.

    With that said I'm going to pair a streamer with a DDC (Gustard U18 or Singxer SU6) to both reclock the signal and go I2S into my DAC.  With that said the BS team already responded:

    "Yesterday's update did not include USB DAC output, not from lack of trying though and we are still looking to add it very shortly. That being said, it is very unlikely it will support I2S."

    Shouldn't the DDC be able to take any working USB signal process it and support I2S without needed anything from BS other than a functioning USB output?

     

     

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  • edward

     I believe this is a company that has transitioned from a trusted technology company to a pure commodity play. 

    @Mark, you make a very good point....if this were a stock they would be about to miss their earnings and are losing their trust with their investors....re: Nikola EV company with the truck rolling downhill.

     

    USB output functionality is a critical feature for my streamer.

    @Ace, yes USB output is extremely important, but mainly in the Audiophile community. Although we are a small segment of the whole consumer base, we have the loudest voice on the consumer market. Most reviews and buzz around an audio product comes from us, we are not to be ignored, lied too or taken advantage of, we do our research and can easily spend our money elsewhere. 

    On a positive note for us consumers, we have a lot of forums and message boards on the Internet. The word gets out quick and mistakes are corrected very quick. We also have lots of options and a lot of Audiophiles with very deep technical backgrounds who can provide useful input.

    Good luck guys, between this and the lack of real 5Ghz Wifi support its time to reevaluate.

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  • Enricoclaudio

    Those are great news, Matt. Thanks for sharing :) However, the MQA dropouts are not good news for me as I’m Roon subscriber and Tidal subscriber as well. Currently I have no dropouts plying MQA out of the NODE coaxial output. So I’m guessing the coax output would keep its current stable state, right? 

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  • Thomas McCarthy

    Thanks Matt for the update. :)

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  • Mick Day

    Hi Matt,

    Thanks for the good news could you please clarify regarding the Roon dropouts with MQA is this with the Bluesound doing the MQA decoding/unfolding or when the external DAC does the decoding / unfolding? Or both?

    Either way still great news....

    Regards Mick

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  • Tony W.
    Product Support Manager

    Absolutely, Tony has the patience of a Saint, for sure he and the support crew has done a very commendable job.

    Aw shucks... 

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  • Chas Andreae

    Quick question regarding the MQA bug. I got the new node so that i could better integrate my dac with Roon. I also use Tidal so a lot of my music is MQA so unfortunately this bug seems like it may impact me. My question to the Tony is if i do the first or both folds on my roon NUC server will the Node process the audio ok or will the bug still be applicable.

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  • Larry We

    No USB Output Update for 2i (Slapping Head) Never !? If not this will be a Bluesound deal breaker for me. Never again will I buy your products. Programmers can easily write the update for 2i. Just a greedy money grab by Bluesound

    -1
  • Rod Haggerty

    I looked and have not been able to find a single instance of BlueSound claiming it was updated yet.

    In most cases, you have 30 days to return it.

    Research is your friend.

    -2
  • Tony W.
    Product Support Manager

    When implemented - it will still be 1s and 0s so there are no audible difference in quality regardless of the ouput port

    -5

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