Bluesound Node Icon Streamer Review

[GXAlan]

Just so we are on the same page, the first few slides here is what I'm referring to.

That first bullet point is key. “Until it reaches the noise floor of the analog components of the DAC (unit as opposed to IC).

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The Fosi ZD3 volume knob is a digital encoder and to my understanding, it’s using the ESS’s internal digital volume.


If you take a look here, I talk about SINAD once you take into context amplifier gain.

Imagine you are at 110 dB SINAD at full signal and 60 dB SINAD at some lower signal, like 0.1V. If the preamp output at 0.1V goes into an amplifier with a certain amount of gain and into a speaker with a certain amount of power, and your volume is 90 dB, then the 60 dB is woefully inadequate. But if that 0.1V generates actual audio volume of say, 40 dB, then your horrible 60 dB SINAD is more than enough to be audibly transparent since your actual signal is only 40 dB.

With this is mind, your goal is to make sure there is minimal noise at idle (the putting your ear next to the tweeter test). Even if you don’t hear the hiss at the listening position, if you walk by the speaker when changing discs or just doing some sort of activity, you will want to minimize that hiss. In a home theater environment with 16 channels, that minor hiss can cumulatively add up as well…

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Hands down, the Bluesound Node Icon is one of the quietest streamers with WiFi, a display, HDMI eARC, Dirac Live in a small footprint.

At 3.7V, the MiniDSP SHD only hits 111 dB SINAD.

Then look at the multitone

Compare the Bluesound to something like a Topping D90 III

And consider the fact that the D90 is a DAC only and the Bluesound Node Icon has a powerful CPU to handle Dirac and streaming, an ADC to allow line input, a subwoofer output and crossover, a fancy display that is larger and potentially radiating more EMI/RFI than a smaller WiiM Ultra screen…

 

[sapphari]

Thanks for the reply. I think I learned something from it. I still think a better way to measure this is to provide a full depth signal and ramp the volume on the unit you are measuring.

 

[GXAlan]

Thanks for the reply. I think I learned something from it. I still think a better way to measure this is to provide a full depth signal and ramp the volume on the unit you are measuring.

The most important thing is consistency, for sure. I don’t disagree that there are different approaches to measurement, but even when you think about Stereophile, consistency is better to allow comparison even if “better” metrics are necessary.

But what I like to ask is if differences in measurements matter?

 

[sapphari]

Completely agree - consistency is the baseline.

If you are asking if differences in the method of measurement matter, I think 100% yes. There wouldn't be so much kurfuffle on here about it if it didn't!

 

[GXAlan]

Completely agree - consistency is the baseline.

If you are asking if differences in the method of measurement matter, I think 100% yes. There wouldn't be so much kurfuffle on here about it if it didn't!

lol. There is a lot of kurfuffle, but I think the 35,000 ft view is to look at measurements as a way to encourage “good engineering” and “keep companies honest” (like verifying published specs against actual specs).

What gets lost, and impacts stuff like resale value or even commercial value, is when people get a little too focused on minutiae. There is not going to be a big audible difference between the RME or the Bluesound Node Icon, unless you have a high gain amp with high efficiency speakers. In my case, I have active speakers, so I don’t get to simply switch to a different amp and the quiet noise floor of the Node Icon is great.

MQA is emotionally charged because it *seems* like a counterintuitive “sloppy engineering” in the setting of an otherwise advanced product. Better would be to see it as a “design choice that is polarizing” and it is OK to see a well engineered station wagon, well engineered sports car, and well engineered golf cart and disagree with the trade-offs the engineers have chosen to make.

 

[sapphari]

I think measurements effectively encourage better engineering and honest spec setting, but they don't completely fix the problem (of poor engineering and misleading specs). Companies are still going to cut corners and fluff specs, because 1) they are not regulated and 2) the market is generally undereducated.

It would have been smart, IMO, for MQA to be a toggle on/off (off engaging traditional filters) for the Icon. That would almost completely resolve the section of the market who 100% will not purchase a product that only uses that filter approach.

End of the day I'm really happy with the Icon's performance in my setup.

 

[antcollinet]

Good comparison. Do you agree the high distortion is from compressed dynamic range? If so, that's not a great way to perform the measurement. Instead, give it a strong signal and ramp the volume on the equipment being measured.

It isn’t distortion when at low output level, it is noise dominated.

Think about it - the noise out of the DAC is fixed (based on the bit depth and the analogue electronics.

So as you reduce the signal level, the SNR gets worse (lower signal, same noise).

If you look at the slope in the chart, for every 10dB lower signal, you get 10dB worse THD+N - exactly as expected.

It doesn’t matter, because if you can’t hear the noise in the silence between tracks with the output at full, then you also can’t hear the noise at low signal level.

 

[sapphari]

You are right, distortion is not the correct term. The point you make, that signal correlates with the measurement, is the problem. This is a measurement of the source, not the Icon.

 

[antcollinet]

You are right, distortion is not the correct term. The point you make, that signal correlates with the measurement, is the problem. This is a measurement of the source, not the Icon.

No, it isn’t. It is a measurement of the DAC of the icon.

It basically tells you something about the the noise level out of the DAC, and the output level at which distortion gets larger than noise.