Powernode 2i sound control (vocal range)

Answered
Davor Mckinley

I purchased Bluesound Powernode 2i a couple of weeks ago and I think it's a great product. Unfortunately I am struggling with the sound due to the default setting having far too much 160hz to 500hz range boost, which causes voices to sound artificial and over-processed on certain songs. The bass can be perfectly reduced by using "speakers with subwoofer settings" as this is applied to the default / native sound curve, hence, preserving the original sonic character. When the tone controls are engaged, however, the player switches to a totally different equilization curve (presumably flat) meaning the sound character changes significantly. The whole midrange disappears, the vocal range gets noticeably recessed and there is loss of spaciousness / reverb to the sound- we are not just talking about sound level drop here, but the actual sound character!. The only guess I can make is that the Bluesound app doesn't match tone controls to different products, therefore, activating sound control switches all products to generic flat equilization and disregards the native sound character of the device. Unless the user is able to apply bass + treble adjustments to the default equilization curve that is native to their product, then it is pointless to have these controls in the first place as the fundamental shift in the sound character makes any such sound changes irrelevant. My suggestion would be to add a "Vocal range" setting to the app for the Powernode 2i whereby there are slight variations of the 160-500Hz range (i.e. default, which should be the highest setting bearing in mind it is already overboosted, and then slightly reduced variation(s)). If there was a way to integrate this in the same way the "select attached speakers" setting works, so that the change is applied to the native sound curve, then this would add another dimension to this already great sounding product.

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Comments

5 comments

Date Votes
  • Official comment
    Tony W.
    Product Support Manager

    HI Davor

    Thanks for the feedback. TONE CONTROLS ON is the same curve but a 6 db drop to allow for more headroom when adjusting.

  • Davor Mckinley

    Thank you for your reply Tony. I somehow managed to omit the most important detail- the sound difference occurs when playing via built in Spotify or USB port. Anything coming via optical input is fine and the sonic character is preserved. Thanks Davor

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  • Tony W.
    Product Support Manager

    Spotify is OGG so it just may be the way it is sent. The USB stuff is your content so I can't speak t that. We do not decode any differently based on source ports. 1s are 1s and 0s are 0s to us - try playing with the Replay Gain options... we generally have not had complaints or concerns and are pretty happy with the performance.

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  • Davor Mckinley

    Thank you for all your replies Tony. The bottom line is that this little amp is an absolutely fantastic piece of kit and punches way above its weight! I look forward to discovering how to get the best out of it over time!

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  • Tony W.
    Product Support Manager

    Awh schucks

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