Long term customer loyalty

Answered
Andrew Thiele
Great new products guys but please don’t treat your existing customers (and fan base and biggest potential future market) with such disrespect - let us know up front what is happening with legacy products? Will my n130 get Dirac and dsd? If so when? If not are you doing any trade in specials or a discount - you have been selling up to this point - do people who have invested in your platform already get anything? This is important relationship building - if I’m going to upgrade in the future to your new products I need to know you continue to treat owners with respect - is my node n130 now a boat anchor compared to the new node?
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Comments

9 comments

Date Votes
  • Official comment
    Matt S.
    Brand Manager

    Hi everyone,

    Just to specifically respond to Andrew’s initial post. I think you will find if you look into how we have typically updated our products over the last (almost) 12 years, we try very hard to ensure new software-based features become available to all generations. We still support our very first Node product, the N100, and it receives BluOS updates regularly.

    Of course, there are features that are directly related to hardware improvements that we make with each generation. Many times, those hardware-related features cannot be applied to previous generations of the product, due to hardware limitations. This is normal in the modern world of technology. However, we try and build our products with a very future-focused specification, to keep them playing music and getting better and better for a long time after your initial purchase.

    Your product specific question was about the Node N130 getting Dirac Ready and DSD support. First, Dirac. Our plan is to make Dirac Ready available on the hardware that can support it. We are still working through those details; currently the Node (N130), Node X (N131), Powernode (N330), and Powernode Edge (N230) are additional candidates for Dirac, pending certification.

    Re: DSD. We anticipate being able to roll out this feature to all products that have a quad-core processor, as it is quite a processor-intensive feature. This includes all Bluesound products released since 2020, starting with the Pulse Soundbar+. Still in development testing for the previous gen models, but that’s our plan.

    At this time I don’t have a specific timeline for the older models to get these features, but we will keep you updated as we know more.

    Thanks for your continued support and for your great questions and comments here.

    -Matt

  • Alex

    I don't have a boat (luckily) but I do have a Powernode 2i which I just washed thoroughly of its sticky plastic casing problem. So I am ready to rock. Bring on the updates and announcements :).

    Joking aside, I think we all understand that nothing is forever. The products we buy eventually drop off the support train, and that's ok as long as there is transparency and reasonable policies in place. And I do understand that 'reasonable' may differ from one person to another, which is why transparency and openness is so important. To Andrew's point, respect is key in a long term relationship. As long as there's that (and quality of course, which goes without saying!) I am happy to do my part and contribute $ towards hardware and services to keep the train moving forward. 

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  • Conny Tornkrantz

    I started with a second hand BlueNone traded it to a new one traded that one to a second hand powerNode

    sold it and bougth a brand new powernode sold that to get an amp and the Node X. 

    I will consider to uppgrade to the Icon version depending on price and features. Right now I'm curious about the dual mono DAC's if this is a DAC for each channel and if that really is working perfect considering timing and so on. Everytime I upgrade I sell my older units and creates a new user for BlueSound that must be worth something. 

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  • Gerben

    The Node 2i, introduced in 2018, has two DACs. Some competitor has used dual DAC design as well. Nothing new here, no reason to worry about "timing".

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  • Conny Tornkrantz

    Hi Gerben, I didn't know that I was thinking that the Icon was comming with two DAC's but the "new" node hasn't that feature when looking at the specs. What you are saying makes belive that my Node X should have two dac's, well I didn't know that if it's true.

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  • Alex

    Thanks for the post Matt! Makes sense.

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  • Andrew Thiele

    Hi matt - thanks for responding promptly. Your response is exactly what was needed - excellent clarity on process going forward. It’s what i really appreciate seeing from a company that cares about its customers. And to be clear even if my node 130 does not end uo being able to use dirac live or dsd i now know i can wait to be informed of this and then decide if i wish to upgrade. It’s really helpful to understand that it’s still being considered.

    Thanks again - and good luck with the new range of products - the team has obviously worked hard. The icon will be my next logical upgrade but may be a while before my budget stretches to that purchase. Its a pretty hottly contested space in this segnent but i really feel your bluos app puts you ahead of the pack👍👍

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  • Samir Jain

    Fishing for input here.

    When using Dirac, do you suspect the built-in DAC in the blue sound icon/node will handle the signal better than an external DAC?

    Also after processing will the Hi-Res/DSD signal sent to external DAC be down sampled. Thx

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  • Tony W.
    Product Support Manager

    Theoretically, you are re-processing the audio AFTER the DIRAC filter is applied so technically you are altering the sound afterwards.

    Practically - well -that's for your ears to decide... (...but I personally wouldn't do it...)

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