Bluesound NODE2 to connect to Phantom

[LEPPAL]

I'm about to give up on Spark, not only do I have trouble with it dropping out and there is no evidence that Devialet are gointing to build an interface with Expert, since looking at other UI's (Roon, Bluesound etc) it has become appared Spark has a long way to go to be competitive. So on that note I've tried a Bluesound NODE2 but can't get it to talk to Dialog or Phantom - any ideas?

[martinskeem]

I use Sonos Connect with the optical toslink input on the dialog (or may as well be the toslink on the phantom). Node 2 has an optical out as well, so same setup will work.

Whether or not it will fix dropouts depends on the reason why it drops out. The dialog still needs to communicate with the phantoms, which seems to be the problem in some cases, if not all.


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[LEPPAL]

Sure - I've tried Optical out to both my Dialog and Phantom with no success. I understand there is an issue with volume control using Optical in that NODE2 doesn't support variable when using Optical so you need to have it set to fixed but this leave an issue around controlling the volume of the Phantom, as it doesn't have a remote.

[LEPPAL]

I use Sonos Connect with the optical toslink input on the dialog (or may as well be the toslink on the phantom). Node 2 has an optical out as well, so same setup will work.

Whether or not it will fix dropouts depends on the reason why it drops out. The dialog still needs to communicate with the phantoms, which seems to be the problem in some cases, if not all.


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Sure - I've tried Optical out to both my Dialog and Phantom with no success. I understand there is an issue with volume control using Optical in that NODE2 doesn't support variable when using Optical so you need to have it set to fixed but this leave an issue around controlling the volume of the Phantom, as it doesn't have a remote.

[martinskeem]

Ok. So does it work, except you have to use spark/remote for volume control?

Sonos has optical variable output btw and It's supposed to be of no consequence to SQ. But of course bluesound supports bitrates beyond cd quality and sonos does not.


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[MrSinister]

I use a node 2 and it works perfectly. Volume is set to variable. Did you turn on optical in settings of spark?
UI of the node is nice altough the android app is much better than the Ipad.

Only thing that doenst work is the autoswitch on the Phantoms/dialog because the Node is always on. Also the default volume in spark (35) is way to low.

[Johnnydev]

I can't understand this.

I use 2x silver,1x dialog the remote, quobuz, MacBook pro with all my music and my tv connected by optical to one of the phantoms.
only my dialog have an internet cable from my netgear r7000 router and the rest functions complete wireless.

I use only spark from all my devices without any problem.

No any other problem at all and the best sound i ever had

[davidadamson]

Me too no problem no drop outs


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[LEPPAL]

I can't understand this.

I use 2x silver,1x dialog the remote, quobuz, MacBook pro with all my music and my tv connected by optical to one of the phantoms.
only my dialog have an internet cable from my netgear r7000 router and the rest functions complete wireless.

I use only spark from all my devices without any problem.

No any other problem at all and the best sound i ever had

Thanks for everyone's input - you inspired me to keep trying.

Just been playing and gone back to an earlier configuration of Netgear r7000 connecting wirelessly to Bluesound NODE2 which is connected to Devialet Dialog via Optical, Dialog then talking to Phantom and it's now working - not really sure why as it did not first time round. Only difference was my Netgear was on 1.0.3.x and we upgraded it to 1.0.6.x, or was it just user error in set-up???

I did initially get it running with Optical from the NODE2 directly to Phantom but had to control volume from Spark and tracks from NODE2.

With my final configuration (via the Dialog) you still need to set the volume to full (or as near as your dare) on Spark (can then shut it down and don't need it running in the background) when NODE2 audio settings is set to variable, which allows you to control the volume from NODE2, also works on the Android app :-)

[iliapas]

The streaming device, whether Sonos or Bluesound, plays back the original lossless stream, in PCM, say 192/24.
If output through TOSLINK optical, the PCM stream will arrive (possibly with some added jitter) as is.
Variable volume control _before_ sending output through TOSLINK optical connection means that the stream is going to be processed in the Sonos/Bluesound device to apply the digital volume control. As the Phantom still expects 24bit signal, there is no other way to reduce volume than to simply send zeroes in some of the bits. So every time you reduce volume by 3dB you lose 1bit of accuracy. At -30dB you will have a signal of 14bit from source 24. If original was 16bit, you will have 6bits of resolution left.
There is no way around this without controlling the volume on the final DAC (inside Phantom).

TLDR: Digital volume control over optical output (on Sonos/Bluesound) is just applying negative gain and reducing bit-resolution, by 1bit per each -3dB.