The Sound
Contents
It’s always interesting to hear the differences in power supplies. We know the Bluesound NODE pretty well. And it’s just a very decent streamer. A streamer that scores extremely well in its price range on both software and sound.
PD Creative
We have done a modification to the NODE before: the PD Creative modification for the Node 2 and 2i. This modification costs about 75 Euro excluding power supply and was mostly audible on the analog output. Spoiler: this is also the case now.
The Sbooster modification is a bit pricier: about 135 Euro for the PCB. The 5 Volt power supply costs 325 Euro. So all together it will cost you about 460 Euro. That’s almost an extra NODE. Anyway. let’s first see what it brings.
Volumio Primo
With the arrival of the delightfully musical Volumio Primo, we have a nice competitor to the NODE and other streamers between 600 and 800 Euros. Now we are not going to canonize the Primo, because it is not. The reason we have it as a benchmark is that it just plays incredibly musically. But even with the Primo, power is everything. If you want to get the most out of the player, then power supply is extremely important…. with the standard adapter it’s nice… with a good power supply it’s very good.
Control and peace of mind
What does a good power supply bring to the NODE and Primo? Simple: in both cases we hear significantly more calmness. And a lot more space in the stereo image. The stereo image grows significantly. If you don’t notice that, frankly, you better find another hobby or you have a serious problem in your system.
What is also noticeable is that everything gets more roundness and body. More “meat”. Music feels a little more serious with the Sbooster powering things up. And that’s just nice. We also wouldn’t want to play without it if we were the owners of a NODE. The device really rises to another level.
Battle?
The difference between the NODE and Volumio without the modification is pretty easy to hear. And then the Volumio wins. But with these modifications applied, the difference has become very, very small. Frankly, it’s going to be very tricky in a blind test. They sound practically the same….
The Volumio seems to play a touch fresher and airier. And the NODE a little tighter and a little drier…. but again: the difference is grimly small. In short: no winner here….
Funny fact:wWe tested the Super 10 with the Primo. It’s amazing. But it’s a bit out of balance. Although, it’s the best sound I’ve ever heard from the Primo :-).
What’s the limit with a device like the Primo? Would an even better PSU like a Farad Super 10 make sense? Although the Farad is very expensive, it’s also not so hard to drop comparably serious money on a combo of hifi server/streamer + DAC (and the cables!). Everyone assumes that a separate DAC is the way to go, but I do wonder…