Bluesound Node 2i

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by rockin_since_58, Jan 11, 2019.

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  1. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    Anyone using the windows desktop app?

    There is a win 7 app, any experience with that?
     
  2. adamos

    adamos Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southeastern PA
    I have the Windows desktop app installed (on a Windows 10 machine) and it seems to work ok for me. I rarely use it though because it's on a desktop computer in another room.
     
    Tim S likes this.
  3. grx8

    grx8 Senior Member

    Location:
    Santiago, Chile
    I’ve been using my 2i for around 6 months now with very good result. For the price and size, good iOS app, not sure if it can be beat.
     
    Tim S, Kristofferabild and Bubbamike like this.
  4. Kristofferabild

    Kristofferabild Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denmark
    Just a quick update: I hooked up my old AA Dac to the Bluesound and it sounds lovely. I It sounds much more relaxed and musical now imo. The Bluesound could sound a little harsh at times which resulted in fatigue and that has completely disappeared. Instruments also sound much more real. My girlfriend commented that before it sometimes sounded like the music was playing in a cupboard. I think she was referring to the hash sound / edgy sound which had a sort of ringing characteristic at times.
    I also changed the old VDH 1000 mk2 coaxial cable to a Chord Digital C and I frankly amazed how much of an upgrade that turned out to be! Much better dynamics and open sound. Voices and details are also greatly improved.

    Very very happy with the Node 2i on digital out to my old dac.
     
    adamos likes this.
  5. hman

    hman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northport, NY
    I've had it for several months, and realized that I never replaced the RCA cables that it came with. I just swapped in a pair of Audioquest Golden Gates. It made a huge, huge difference. The Bluesound sounds about 30% better.

    Everything is clearer. The soundstage is broader, while remaining realistic. Cymbals, hi hats, drums in general are more prominent. Bass is tighter and less soft around the edges. Midrange, in general, is improved.

    Most important are the little details in the recording that were absent before; little organ bits, small percussion flourishes, rhythm guitar.

    It sucks that I hadn't remembered to do this sooner, but I'm happy with the rather significant improvement.
     
  6. yodog

    yodog Well-Known Member


    Try a pair of analysis plus silver apex rca’s and I’m sure you’ll see another 30% increase. Retarded expensive I know but I took the plunge and wasn’t let down. So far only Wireworld and analysis plus are the companies that haven’t let me down. I will find out soon if Shunyata is legit or if their nr v10 venom power cable that I’ve ordered like 2 months ago is the real deal or not. If it’s not I will probably be so disappointed I may just mention it hear if there’s a relevant thread talking about the snake oil in the audio cable industry (there are many).
     
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  7. hman

    hman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northport, NY
    I just bought a Mytek Liberty for $200 off retail. I've read that this DAC takes the Bluesound to the next level. I should receive it mid-week. I'll keep you posted.
     
    russk and Bubbamike like this.
  8. btltez

    btltez Forum Resident

    Location:
    I'm From Detroit
    anyone here using the Node 2i with Roon? Just purchased a Node 2i to use in my living room specifically to get hi res via my vintage vinyl rig. Set up was flawless but getting delays in music starting via Roon and BlueOS iPhone apps. Music will be playing but no sound. Then sound but if I skip a track no sound etc. This is via wifi but I have high speed internet and no other issues with other devices. Spotify and Tidal stream fine thru the Node, but cannot get Roon and Node to play nice. Been on Roon forums and this has been an issue with many others for a long time now it seems.
     
  9. hman

    hman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northport, NY
    I'm not going to get into details, but the Mytec Liberty takes the 1s and 0s from the Bluesound and translates them into extremely detailed, revealing, smooth sounding instruments and vocals, presented on a broad, accurate soundstage.
    The Bluesound's DAC does this too, but not nearly with the same level of clarity and precision.
    The Mytec makes all of the equipment in the chain sound better.
     
  10. rodentdog

    rodentdog Senior Member

    Not wanting you to spend more $$ but...I have 3 Bluesound devices. Switched from Wifi to Extollo 1500 power line adapters. One at the router, one at each Node. I have had a much more stable experience since.
     
    GuinnessDan likes this.
  11. btltez

    btltez Forum Resident

    Location:
    I'm From Detroit
    Any noise/interference with those? And by ''much more stable" do you mean trouble free? Any stutters playing music? etc? Thanks for the tip and info...
     
  12. grx8

    grx8 Senior Member

    Location:
    Santiago, Chile
    My 2i is connected through a powerline and works ok, but sometimes it still stops while playing. Not very often.
     
    btltez likes this.
  13. rodentdog

    rodentdog Senior Member

    The powerline adapters made the Bluesound units much more stable. Hardly ever have issues.
     
    btltez likes this.
  14. Ghulam Rahmatullah

    Ghulam Rahmatullah Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Bay Area
    Most discussion points on this forum is around the sound quality of node 2. Without a doubt the player sounds great - even better when connected to an external DAC. Yes power cords make a difference and so does quality SPDIF cables. What I have not seen are comments/questions and solutions on how horrible the Blueos app is. I am using Amazon Music HD and the API is horrible to say the least. It’s not even fully baked - you cannot add songs to playlist or even create new playlist. If you have songs on an external drive - it does not let you add or create a playlist. I cannot believe how they can market a product and release it to the consumers at below sub par standards. Thoughts or comments?
     
  15. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    Lots of bluesound customers commenting on this on the bluesound forum for amazon music. Bluesound says amazon not providing the information they need to get their interface to show all this stuff and to work better and they are bugging amazon about it, so eventually it should be fixed. No one knows exactly how long that might take.
     
    h46e55x likes this.
  16. grx8

    grx8 Senior Member

    Location:
    Santiago, Chile
    I run the iOS app using Tidal and it works pretty good. Sure, it´s not the best app ever, but the developers continue to update and improve it at least monthly.

    This is also something to get: RC1 Remote Control
     
    Tim S likes this.
  17. Paopawdecarabao

    Paopawdecarabao Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I am considering getting the Liberty as well. Thanks for your impression.
     
    hman likes this.
  18. cdash99

    cdash99 Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    I've ranted about this in the Amazon HD thread, and also received a similar response from Bluesound, where they indicate that they can only work with what Amazon provides them. Their Tidal integration is better but not perfect.

    My question is for Qobuz subscribers, insofar as the Bluesound interface is concerned. Good, bad, indifferent?
     
    displayname likes this.
  19. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    Yes, I'd like to know, too.
     
  20. yodog

    yodog Well-Known Member

    What if you don’t subscribe to any of these services? The node 2i still a good choice?
     
  21. sotosound

    sotosound Forum Resident

    I’ve used it on occasions in conjunction with my Vault 2, and it’s fine for my own use.

    I use it for playing back files on the Vault’s hard drive and for searching and researching my music when I’m in the office writing a forum post or similar.

    The look and feel is a bit different to the iOS, iPadOS and Android apps because it’s tailored more towards a wide screen plus keyboard and mouse.

    For me, the bigger issue with the Windows app is the device size. I prefer having an iPad on my lap to a laptop. Hence I’d only use the Windows app if both the iPadOS and Android apps had hung.

    As yet, however, only the iPad app has a habit of disappearing up its own a*s.

    It struggles with searches. For instance, it can hang when selecting a track from search results. Re-booting the iPad tends to fix this. The Vault 2, itself, just keeps on playing with no-one at the controls until I reboot the iPad or start up the app on another device. It can also play back a selection somewhere above or below the one that I’ve selected from search results, or even play the same track irrespective of which one I’ve selected from the list.

    Also, the iPadOS app really doesn’t like apostrophes in song titles. Given how many tracks have apostrophes, this is a big issue for a music-related app. Put in an apostrophe, e.g. “Love’s” and it returns no results, whereas my Android phone does.

    I also have to say that the latest version on the iPad has taken a retrograde step since it looks more like something tailored for a phone. For instance, pause and volume are no longer shown on-screen together. Instead, the user has to toggle between volume control and playback control.

    I still think that the whole Vault / Node concept is good, but someone without a technical or analytical mind could struggle on occasions. If I’d not worked in IT and understood about search results and arrays and pointers and search strings and rebooting apps etc. then I’d have returned the Vault 2 within days of purchasing it.

    Bluesound have also been aware of the search issues for years but, as yet, haven’t sorted them. Is this actually an issue connected with Apple?
     
    Tim S likes this.
  22. olson

    olson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pilgrim Hills
    I am a Roon user and have a Node 2i connected to my router, in another room a Powernode 2 connected via WiFi, and do not have the issues you describe.

    I am using a Sonictransporter i5 from Small Green Computer for my core.
     
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  23. hman

    hman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northport, NY
    I also use it to stream flacs stored on a NAS. It sounds better than either of my disk players using the same DAC.
     
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  24. yodog

    yodog Well-Known Member

    Can I somehow transfer the songs I have downloaded onto my 512gb iPhone XS directly to the app with my iPhone? Or do I need to download iTunes or whatever it’s called now on my windows computer and download my entire iCloud library of music and load it to the node 2i that way? I’m just a bit confused on how it recognizes and stores “libraries and playlists.”


    Also is there a way to reboot or shut down or turn on the node 2i from the iOS app?
     
  25. adamos

    adamos Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southeastern PA
    I primarily use the Node 2i to stream my own FLACs from a NAS drive. That works great and I find that the BluOS interface is pretty good for that purpose. It’s not perfect but I’m happy with it overall.
     
    hman and Tim S like this.
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