Anyone tried the Bluesound Node 2i streamer?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by BroJB, May 14, 2020.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. rpd

    rpd Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville
    Does it matter sound wise Toslink vs SPDIF?
     
  2. Adeep

    Adeep Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fort Lee, NJ
    I believe coax is better, but am not positive. I'm using coax in my main system and Toslink in my second system. By the way, when both systems are on, what's playing on one is playing on the other. I can control Bluesound on either of two computers or the iPhone app
     
  3. BroJB

    BroJB Large Marge sent me. Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans
    I wouldn't call the sound analog-like.

    It's digital, but without the iciness you can get from digital sources. It provides a big soundstage, so if you like an expansive sound, you'll really enjoy it.

    I've done some A/Bs with vinyl and high rez Amazon Music files, and they both sound great, just in different ways. The vinyl is, as you might expect, typically warmer, while the Node delivers a very crisp, detailed, wide and somewhat forward presentation.

    I'm an analog guy, but I'm enjoying the sound of the 2i.
     
  4. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    That's what I want know. Thank you for the follow-up. I have another set of question.
    on your settings, is your volume set at fixed or variable?
    is you tone control on or off?
    I'm gonna swap my original amp in front of the node 2i so I can determine and atleast I have a muscle memory of this setup on the way how it originally sound without any changes for almost 7 years. In this way I would know if I need to keep the node. Don't get me wrong, it does sound incredible if youre looking for it particularly. Like what I mention earlier, I'm not the type of person that swaps gadget like changing wives. If I can make it work great, if not Ill just end up buying the same one I have to begin with. Its outdated, but the sound is the main factor.
    Thanks,
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2020
  5. brownmagic

    brownmagic Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Singapore
    I did an A/B between the Node2i and the Elac Discovery streamer and I ended up buying the Elac Discovery. I tried them both as a stand alone streamer.

    I believe they are at different price points so both of them are great buys at their respective price points.

    Software wise, Bluesound Node2I had more streaming options but the Disco ran Roon Essentials and had integration with Tidal and had spotify connect so it was enough for my needs. I think Amazon will get supported with future firmware upgrades.
     
  6. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    I've been using a Node2 and Vault2 for two years streaming Tidal with great results.
    If for some reason you want a more analog type sound it's all in the DAC. The DAC i use with the node is an Audio Research DAC8 it sounds closer to analog then any other digital component I've owned.
     
    adamos and Classic Car Guy like this.
  7. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    Thanks for the update. I remember we had a talk before and youre always been very helpful. One of the big part of this is the volume level of the music. I think the node 2i can be set fixed but on maxed. for there own reason. On my old player I can set it automatic. I really wanna get it done the right way and not screw-drivering the system every other 2 days.
    Thanks again...
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2020
    Tim 2 likes this.
  8. BroJB

    BroJB Large Marge sent me. Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans
    I have the volume set as variable so I can control it with the app. I don't use the tone controls, as I found they flatten the sound considerably.
     
    Classic Car Guy likes this.
  9. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Interesting. Haven't had a need to change the volume level in the time we've had them. If I can ask, why do you need to change the output level, and what were the results ? thanks.
     
    Classic Car Guy likes this.
  10. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    That's a very good question: Lets just simplify the connection and set aside the DAC unit.
    If you connect the your player (or node 2i) via RCA straight to the back of integrated amp, there is just a certain volume level that it can manage. The specs that your read wether its 200 or 500mv (low level input / output) so and so forth has to be correctly dialed before you proceed to the next step. If the volume is much higher that than the input capability, its going to create a distorted sound / "clipping". It is nessesary to balance this otherwise youll never get the full potential of your player and your amplifier. Just like what @BroJB said
    "I have the volume set as variable so I can control it with the app. I don't use the tone controls, as I found they flatten the sound considerably."
    These are things that a lot of enthusiast are missing and quite often true. There are ton of ways how to balance this.. One thing I use most is just a headphone to target the optimum sound level. Once you do that I'll youll be able to figure out the min and the max (if you need to adjust your volume level). "be mindful the numbers you get from specs are totally different from what you'll encounter in real time"
    On my setup, I try not use extra gadgets as much as I can. (just a principle of simpler the better) If I can use the DAC built in with the player, that'll be great. 325sqft room with 6-1/2 tower speaker 42 watts of tube amp "no subwoofers". When I listen to a music lets say Telegraph Road - Dire Straits. There are lots of continuous bass roll-off in that music which is good bass evident and I can feel it continually. Its really filling. Honestly once I got my setup right, I never touch my pre-out, analog eq for years neither I try to buy the latest and the greatest. You'll know when you get it done right.

    By the way, I wanna thank you for encouraging me "hardwired" my setup. That was a lot of digging and crawling on the wall space but it actually saved me a lot of time now and convenience. I don't have to run down and pickup the files from the uploading network.
    Like what you said.. Do it right = "Hardwired files beats wifi 10 to 1"
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2020
    Tim 2 likes this.
  11. blowinblue

    blowinblue Kind of not blue.

    Location:
    SoCal USA
    I thought about hard wiring my Node 2i. The wires were in the walls from when the house was built but I'd have to pay to have my Spectrum guy sort things out. When I first got my Node 2i I had to take it upstairs to within a few feet of my wifi router to get it to connect. Stereo is downstairs. Same thing happened with my Ring Doorbell. Had to bring the Ring within a few feet of the wifi to make a connection. Then we were informed on numerous occasions that our picture and/or voice would get wonky on Zoom meetings. The Node was always losing its connection and often would take 10 to 20 minutes to reconnect.

    After some online research it dawned on me that my wifi router (Asus RT-N56U) was just not capable of reaching everywhere in our two-story house. Yes, I'm a slow learner. So we splurged and bought a Google Nest mesh system with two extensions. Problems over! Even on the rare occasions when the Node loses its connection it immediately reconnects with a few taps on my iPad. And no more problems on Zoom. Now I have no inclination (or need) to hard wire the Node. That makes me smile. :)

    M. M.
     
  12. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    I missed something. The hardwire is addressed to the sound quality.
     
  13. Claude M

    Claude M Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I hard wired my node 2 as well. Also, not sure if it has been pointed out, you can rip all your CDs, put the files on a PC that doesn't get shutdown, and then path the node 2i to that directory and play all your music that way. Took me about a month to do all of them, little by little but got it done.
     
    adamos, Classic Car Guy and Tim 2 like this.
  14. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Interesting to say the least and it sounds a bit complicated.
    I've never had a distorted sound or clipping of any kind or any sonic issue for that matter before adding a DAC or after in either system. :shh:

    Glad you went with the hard wire, I didn't at first and regretted it.
     
  15. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    I purchased a Bluesound Vault-2 for my main system, it includes all the functions of the Node-2 and more, we recorded all the CD's onto it, I can also access them in my garage system with the Node-2. All hard wired.
     
    rodentdog, adamos and Claude M like this.
  16. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    So your node 2i shows up inside your My Network folder? Oh that's good idea for future expansion.
    What I wanna try in the future is my plug in my library of music directly to the USB router, and control it in the bios, when I upload / download its still hardwire transfer even if I shut down my main PC. controlling it on a stand alone Bluetooth remote or remote control.
    but before I go into this, I wanna tackle the main ingredient first by finalizing the player.
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2020
  17. Apesbrain

    Apesbrain Forum Resident

    Location:
    East Coast, USA
    If you'd like to avoid having a PC running all the time, you can put your files on an external hard drive attached to the USB file server port (below) on the rear of your router, if it has one. Or on a NAS such as a Western Digital My Cloud connected via ethernet port.

    [​IMG]

    An optimal solution is to use a NAS as described and also an external hard drive as your off-site backup.
     
    Tim S and adamos like this.
  18. Dignan2000

    Dignan2000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    If you’re playing hi-res files, you’ll likely need to use the SPDIF connection. Toslink can’t reliably transfer files larger than 24/96.
     
  19. adamos

    adamos Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southeastern PA
    I mainly use my Node 2i to play FLACs off a WD MyCloud NAS drive, which works well. The Node 2i is connected via WiFi for convenience but I’d like to eventually try Ethernet.
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2020
  20. qqbbbpp

    qqbbbpp Member

    Location:
    Singapore
    I am also using echo dot before I got the Node 2i.
    I purchased it to try out MQA on Tidal and it's awesome! (But of course my baseline is the echo dot. I haven't tried other streamers.)
    I think Node 2i is the cheapest option for a MQA decoder and renderer.
    The caveat is you have to use the analog output (RCA) to avail its full MQA unfolding capabilities.
    Nevertheless, it sounds great using RCA or SPDIF connection.
     
  21. vinylshadow

    vinylshadow Forum Resident

    Location:
    The south
  22. BroJB

    BroJB Large Marge sent me. Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans
    For someone who's a casual listener, the Echo Dot does a great job at a really cheap price. The Node is clearly better, but the Dot delivered a very pleasing sound.
     
  23. vinylshadow

    vinylshadow Forum Resident

    Location:
    The south
    I am trying to use my Android (through USB(using UAPP and OTG cable)) as the controller for TIDAL, Qobuz etc. I wasn't sure if I could do that with the Node 2i.

    Did some reasearch and read that what would work is to use a Network Bridge streamer. USB in, SPDIF out to my Classe DAC.

    But it does look like the Node 2i accepts USB and has coax out so as I will research more between the 2.

    I read that Google will soon be coming out with an updated Chromecast 2 which will should allow casting of 24/96(currently only 16/44.1). A cheap alternative to get Qobuz but not TIDAL 24/96. At least I don't think you can get TIDAL 24/96 without MQA...MQA won't allow casting of MQA. Only hard wired app..

    But the network bridge or Node 2i is likely the way.
     
  24. qqbbbpp

    qqbbbpp Member

    Location:
    Singapore
    You can control Node 2i via the BLUOS app and key in your Tidal account and Amazon music (I haven't tried Qobuz). Then just connect Node 2i to your Classe DAC via SPDIF.
    The USB port of Node 2i is for external storage just in case you want to play your songs from an external HDD or USB thumb drive.
     
  25. BroJB

    BroJB Large Marge sent me. Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans
    All the services you list are integrated into the app. So yes, you control all of them through the BluOS app.
     
    vinylshadow likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine