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Bluesound Node 2i


Tarheel

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5 hours ago, Tarheel said:

Anyone use one for streaming?  Starting to wade into that end of the pool.  Hard wired not wireless and I don't have a smart phone.  $549 for the Node and the monthly Amazon HD at Prime rates or Tidal for the MQA.  Thoughts? 

I love my Bluesound Node2i and use it to stream mostly thru Tidal - I have made many playlists and have more music from my favorite artists than I have ever had thru all my other media options. To me it sounds fantastic but most of the music I listen to is CD quality. There isn't as much MQA content out there. Between my records and my Playlists i am so much more involved in music every day more than ever. I have an old DAC I hooked up and it still sounded great but I couldn't tell the difference between my Older DAC and the built in DACs of the Node2i. Sometime this week my Denefrips Pontus DAC arrives and I'm excited to hear it with my Node2i. one thing though - I control the Bluesound software thru my iPhone or pad - I dont know if you can use the Node2i without a smartphone or Ipad??????????? Stuck in the house not being able to do my professional photography work I have loaded up over 160 playlists so far. 

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1 hour ago, Fido said:

I couldn't tell the difference between my Older DAC and the built in DACs of the Node2i.

This seems to be the common experience for DACs of the past 10 years. The SQ and user appreciation is determined not so much by the DAC chip and the apparatus it is mounted in, but rather the peripherals: the app, the cables, the psu, the network stability, amp and speakers, etc. Don't be fooled by marketing babble and expensive 'words'. 

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2 hours ago, Fido said:

my professional photography work

 

... time to upgrade your editing skills while sitting this through? Two years ago I migrated from Photoshop to Affinity Photo myself, which I'm currently enjoying a lot. Affinity is getting better all the time... 

Affinity Photo HDR

 

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I have a Node-2i and love it, I stream Tidal mostly. One thing to note is that even if you hardwire the Node you still need wifi to control it via BLUOS app on either smartphone /tablet/laptop.

They have a version for whichever you want to run it on. If you don't have wifi just call your service provider and ask for a modem with wifi. I find the best setup is with a tablet due to the screen bigger than a phone but still compact enough to keep close by.

If your thinking getting wifi set up is too much hassle its not. its really simple and you can have a Node set up and streaming in 10-15 mins out of the box.Once set up its just so simple to use you will wonder why anyone would do it any other way.

The only time I listen to cd's now is for the better SQ from  SACD's,very rarely bother with normal cd's as Tidal is just as good.

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3 hours ago, RadBlue said:

I have a Node-2i and love it, I stream Tidal mostly. One thing to note is that even if you hardwire the Node you still need wifi to control it via BLUOS app on either smartphone /tablet/laptop.

They have a version for whichever you want to run it on. If you don't have wifi just call your service provider and ask for a modem with wifi. I find the best setup is with a tablet due to the screen bigger than a phone but still compact enough to keep close by.

If your thinking getting wifi set up is too much hassle its not. its really simple and you can have a Node set up and streaming in 10-15 mins out of the box.Once set up its just so simple to use you will wonder why anyone would do it any other way.

The only time I listen to cd's now is for the better SQ from  SACD's,very rarely bother with normal cd's as Tidal is just as good.

We have wifi for a whole house sonos system but I thought I read somewhere that sound quality is better if hard wired but I really am a newbie to all this.  I want the streaming just for my 2 ch system. 

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5 minutes ago, Tarheel said:

We have wifi for a whole house sonos system but I thought I read somewhere that sound quality is better if hard wired but I really am a newbie to all this.  I want the streaming just for my 2 ch system. 

 

All of my Sonos ones are wireless except 1 can't tell any difference. Can't see how SQ would differ as long as music not dropping out.

 

A pair of Sonos 5s sound fantastic.

 

I have BlueSound on my NAD AVR, prefer Sonos. Probably just because I had Sonos first. 

 

I'm starting to get serious about digital and leaning towards raspberry pi, to DAC to amps all controlled by Room. Give Sonos port/connect a look too. Very convenient. I have three in various locations where I already had amps/speakers. Might be all you need.

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5 minutes ago, rplace said:

 

All of my Sonos ones are wireless except 1 can't tell any difference. Can't see how SQ would differ as long as music not dropping out.

 

A pair of Sonos 5s sound fantastic.

 

I have BlueSound on my NAD AVR, prefer Sonos. Probably just because I had Sonos first. 

 

I'm starting to get serious about digital and leaning towards raspberry pi, to DAC to amps all controlled by Room. Give Sonos port/connect a look too. Very convenient. I have three in various locations where I already had amps/speakers. Might be all you need.

 

I've just ordered an Advance Acoustic wtx microstreamer for 135 euros. Wolfson MW7840 dac chip. https://advance-acoustic.com/en/multimedia-and-wireless/wifi-network-player/130-wtx-microstreamer

 

Note it is not Roon compatible. 

 

 

 
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2 minutes ago, ILI said:

 

I've just ordered an Advance Acoustic wtx microstreamer for 135 euros. Wolfson MW7840 dac chip. https://advance-acoustic.com/en/multimedia-and-wireless/wifi-network-player/130-wtx-microstreamer

 

 

 

 

 

I just got a used Sonos connect on eBay for $56 USD. That is crazy cheap for what it does. UI/UX is the key to Sonos, I feel.

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24 minutes ago, ILI said:

Good deal, new it is 399 euro! 

 

Yes! I've purchased one new for ~$400-Ish I think. One used a couple years back around 275 and now this one for a tad over $50, crazy. At anything under $100 I think they are an absolute steal. They have optial, coax and RCA out so  you can actually send the analog out through its DAC to one source and used the optical/coax to feed a better DAC with one device. The connect is older than the port. I've not heard a Port. Unless you are in the zero gravity chairs actively listening the Sonos' DAC should be just fine. On my I can't tell a difference between Sonos and my Oppo 203, but the Sonos interface is miles above the Oppo's browsing abilities.

 

Sonos is having a sale $129, on the One-SL (no spying Alexa), latest generation. Supposed to be better SQ. Mine is out for delivery. That is the price of a single middle of the road vintage Blue Note LP.  Free shipping and 45 days to return no questions asked. You can't go wrong with those terms. Try it, fall in love with the interface, if not send it back. Two ones' paired in stereo are quite good.

 

Sorry for the hijack @Tarheel 

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27 minutes ago, rplace said:

no spying Alexa

I agree, but are you not locking in to Sonos proprietary only? Can you add a klipsch wireless for instance? Wikipedia: Sonos system creates a proprietary AES-encrypted peer-to-peer mesh network

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22 minutes ago, ILI said:

I agree, but are you not locking in to Sonos proprietary only? Can you add a klipsch wireless for instance? Wikipedia: Sonos system creates a proprietary AES-encrypted peer-to-peer mesh network

 

Yes...for the most part. But I don't think that it is necessary a bad thing because they do the software part of it so good. How many threads have I seen my XXX won't sync/pair?

 

My take on it is that if I want to really listen to music it is going to be in a room full of equipment that most people roll their eyes at and it is only going to be you, maybe one other person. That is not where Sonos shines.

 

If you have outdoor spaces, a kitchen, a living room, a garage, etc. and you want very good music that just works (no computer science or engineering degree required) or you have a spouse/SO that is always complaining "I can't play music" you go all in with Sonos. The UI/UX from Sonos is literally miles ahead of every other product I've used to play digital music throughout my house. I've had Turtlebeach Audiotron, several logitec/squeezebox products, roll your own music server, BlueOS, etc. Sonos destroys them all. Plug it in, point it to your music, done. Enjoy. That does come at a cost. You are pretty much Sonos and their partners only. It is not cheap, most people on this forum are ;).

 

Anywhere you want good music done easily buy a One. They are cheap and sound great, the five is overkill for casual listening. The five is fantastic and they stopped making the three. I think the three was taking sales away form the five and that is why they stopped making it. The three is amazing for its size/cost, get a used one if you can. Anywhere you have speakers and amps, buy a port/connect. I have them running my in-wall Klipsch KL6502THX for really good music off of my AVR when not actively watching TV. Normally the KL6502THX are fed from zone 1 of AVR for 5.1 TV viewing in the living room. This gives me really good music for little additional cost for most of my first floor. I have two sets of Outdoor Klipsch AW650 also fed by Connects. That give me all the Klipsch bang with Sonos convenience.

 

Having gone down the HT rabbit hole for 25+ years if I was starting out today I'd just buy the biggest TV I could fit on the wall and a Sonos sound bar, sub and 2 ones for the surrounds. It would be 80% of my 7.1 HT with screen, projector, SF TGIV prepro, RSW-12 and a separate 2-channel amp for every pair of speakers. I've seen/heard one first hand in dedicated basement HT and it is truly one and done.

 

I've recently added Roon to the mix and it sees Sonos and takes control of them just fine. So you are not 100% locked into Sonos. But if you have different types of devices Roon can't group them all together to play in "party" mode same stuff at the same time. So  you could group 3 Sonos devices together and 3 BlueOS devices together but not all 6. I'm still learning Roon, but it is a keeper. Roon also plays very nicely with my Oppo. That UI is terrible, so Roon is a savior there.

 

Again @Tarheel sorry for the massive hijack. I'll try and quit the Sonos fan-boy stuff. Just saying grab a One, use it for 45 days and see what you think. Or go with a used connect or new port and be done anywhere you have existing amps.

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2 hours ago, Tarheel said:

We have wifi for a whole house sonos system but I thought I read somewhere that sound quality is better if hard wired but I really am a newbie to all this.  I want the streaming just for my 2 ch system. 

We use node 2i hardwired mostly with Tidal but also have Amazon HD. We started with Wi Fi but had way too many drop outs, especially with MQA, the hardwired fixed that.

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