Node USB input/output questions and bypassing the DAC

Bill McCarthy

I just ordered a Node today and had some questions on the USB output/input. My plans are to connect a USB hard drive to the Node to play FLAC and DSD files.

I contacted Bluesound Tech and they said that DSD was not supported. But that I could bypass the DAC by... "in order to bypass your Node 2i's internal DAC to your external DAC, navigate to Settings> Player > Audio > Enable Output Level Fixed and Enable MQA External DAC."

If I bypass the Node's DAC can I use the coaxial or optical output to connect to an external DAC or CD/SACD player with digital inputs?

Thank you for your time!

0

Comments

6 comments

Date Votes
  • Official comment
    Tony W.
    Product Support Manager

    Hi Bill

    Though we do not support direct DSD playback, rather than DoP (like most DSD systems), your BluOS App for windows does have a one-time DSD to PCM conversion utility. Here's how; https://support.bluos.net/hc/en-us/articles/360019447014

  • Simon Tippett

    Hi, I don't know what the official answer is but I have the MQA external DAC setting switched on in Bluesound settings and use a coaxial cable to a Topping d90se external DAC with no issues. I use Roon which displays your signal path and it says it's working fine with the Node just passing the signal and the Topping doing both the rendering and decoding. Hope that helps.

    0
  • Bill McCarthy

    Hi Simon, Thanks for your response it was very helpful! I'll be connecting the Node to a Marantz SA-KI Ruby using a coaxial cable as well. Thanks again! Take care, Bill

    0
  • Bill McCarthy

    Hi Tony, Thank you for your response and suggestion, much appreciated! Would it matter if the DSD files are stored on a hard drive and not my laptop? If I use the coaxial output (bypassing the Node's DAC) will DSD or DoP be passed without conversion to the Marantz SA-KI Ruby's DAC? If it does work that way that would be perfect. 

    So far I've been very impressed with Bluesound's support either via email or here. Thanks again! Take care, Bill

    0
  • Tony W.
    Product Support Manager

    Thanks for your kind words Bill...

    When converting, they will be dumped to your laptop - you can then copy them to the drive... but long term, consider a more proper Network Attached Storage for a better experience. Though files are processed the same for playback, USB drives are meant to be a quick short-term solution while a local library is a better long-term solution. Here's why; https://support.bluos.net/hc/en-us/articles/360000465747

     

    0
  • Don Phipps

    I have an IotaVX SA3 amplifier.  It has a built-in DAC.  Is there a way I can bypass the DAC in the Bluesound Node and use the DAC in the amp?  I think there's an easy way to make this happen, so look forward to learning how to do this!

    Don

    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Didn't find what you were looking for?

New post