Bluesound Node 2i

[Thaddeus Smith]

7 hours ago, ILI said:

 

Question: Where does Roon get all this information about the music? Who wrote this, or is it a case of 'data leeching'? At Qobuz, at least every review has its author's name. 

Can they do this, legally, are they paying the writers royalties? Not much is found about that on roonlabs.com

 

There are companies who curate and provide this sort of information, such as GD3, Discogs, SonataDB, Musicbrainz & freed. Some are free and some have fees for access - that's one of the reasons roon Costs so much (besides development costs and the fact that "audiophiles" only take something serious if it costs more than it should). They've worked very closely with these Metadata providers, negotiated the access fees, etc.

[rplace]

27 minutes ago, ILI said:

Why are they 'hiding' this from the public? If it was something the company really invested in, they would put this on their frontpage and use it as a sale argument... Qobuz does it. 

But not Roon, they mostly focus on 'their partners' and the 'technology'.

 

Just my opinion, but to me, you have seemed negative towards Roon from the start. Why would you care where they get their data? Music reviews are people saying their opinion. Some you agree with some you don't. Just like movies or food critics. I don't think they are hiding anything. They are in business to make money. Good for them. I'm smelling the shit they are shoveling and I like it. Others won't I'm sure. I like the fact that we don't all agree. I've tried many times to warm up to country music, I can't but I can appreciate that others do.

 

It is free for 14 days. Try it and make up your own mind or don't. Every review of every album has the name of the person at the end of it. I've never once googled that person to see if they have any street cred. From what I can tell, and I could be wrong, the data does not come form Roon. they are using the data and presenting it in an extremely usable, friendly manor. I enjoy it, I find it worth the cost (my personal evaluation) I tried to share my experience with others....whom I think are like minded. I've gotten a lot form the Klipsch forums, I try to give back when I can. I'd never recommend Roon to a 20-something with a pocket full of MP3s anymore than I could have appreciated Roon, had it existed when I was blasting Aerosmith at 17, driving around with my windows down.

 

I'm probably not even using the term Review correctly. When you find something you are interested in you tap/poke/click it and get more information than opinion. This person collaborated with that one who also was involved for a brief time with this person/group. Or how something seeming unrelated is truly related to this or that. I was reading about Jimmy McGriff and found out that he shares the same birthday with a guy I actually traveled to NYC in order to see Jimmy McGriff. Nothing life changing but truly unique to me Jimmy McG and they guy I saw him live with. I don't think Madonna and Jay-z are ever going to give me something like that unless they buy up a company like Roon. I have the opinion that the folks at Roon truly care about music like I do. Read about how/why they came to be. I could be wrong, maybe they just have me fooled.

[MeloManiac]

30 minutes ago, rplace said:

Just my opinion, but to me, you have seemed negative towards Roon from the start. 

 

English is not my native language, and when I wrote about 'hiding' it , I was looking for a better word, one that didn't have a negative connotation, but couldn't find one.

 

I'm from a generation where the source of the info matters. Just to know if it is reliable. Also, mentioning your source is one way of 'honoring' the writer, if not financially. Also, I am more intested in analysis and interpretation, rather than 'tidbits and facts', which in my opinion, are collected by clever datamining.

 

I find it remarkable Roonlabs has no tab 'about us' on their website, but rather 'partners'. I dug a bit deeper, and their blog reveils: "From Bangkok to Paris and Toronto to Montevideo, we’ve always been a “pants optional” operation, meeting on Skype, and passing the baton from time zone to time zone in a kind of global relay."

This seems to suggest they are a group of codewriters working together and putting together a fine piece of software, technically advanced, and intuitive in use, and they had a great success in partnering up with many audiophile companies.

 

I'm just wondering why they don't even have a Wikipedia page:

 

 

Also, there are some worrying issues concerning 'security'. I'm not sure I want to give these guys, with little credentials, full access to my complete home network...

 

And I'm not the only one asking questions:

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/roon-labs-doesnt-talk-about-itself-much/73621/2 

[MeloManiac]

https://blog.roonlabs.com/what-a-journey/#more-28

 

At least there, we find a bit of history.

[rplace]

18 minutes ago, ILI said:

English is not my native language, and when I wrote about 'hiding' it , I was looking for a better word, one that didn't have a negative connotation, but couldn't find one.

 

I'm from a generation where the source of the info matters

 

I too was looking for a better way to phrase "why would you care where they get their data" as soon as I clicked the submit button. Of course the source of the info matters, you want it to be factual, accurate and the correct parties credited.

 

I was trying to make the point that if we go on the assumption it is correct, then Roon is a great way to consume that information. I'm past the part of questioning their motives or legitimacy (can't say that about too many things these days). @Thaddeus Smith seems to have cleared up some of the ways/how it happens. I don't see Roon as really producing any great content or any content for that matter. In my opinion they are more like the Louvre collecting the best (my stuff) and displaying it in way that is truly a joy to behold. Its a cathedral to my music presented it a way I could never have envisioned on my own, without their help. I loved my LP collection and later CDs for what they represented in various stages of my life. Music is personal to me. Roon "gets that".

[artto]

On 4/8/2020 at 2:01 PM, Fido said:

If all you need is just a music streamer the Bluesound node 2i is excellent and with a good dac the sound can be amazing. I live in a small townhouse so I don't use Sonos or Musicast etc to have different setups in different rooms. In my office I use my computer and KEF LS50 Wireless setup running Tidal. The Bluesound in my listening room is so easy to use that it works seamlessly and you can be up and running within minutes.

"the Bluesound node 2i is excellent and with a good dac the sound can be amazing."

 

Why would you want to do that? Bluesound Node2i IS a DAC.

[Schu]

Xactly

 

use a streamer to 'your DAC' of choice

[Fido]

1 hour ago, artto said:

"the Bluesound node 2i is excellent and with a good dac the sound can be amazing."

 

Why would you want to do that? Bluesound Node2i IS a DAC.

Yes the Bluesound Node 2i has two built in DACs and they sound pretty good but I decided to try the Micromega DAC I already owned and it sounded pretty much the same as the built in DACs in the Node2i. I bypassed the Node2i DACs and replaced the Micromega with an R2R Denefrips Pontus DAC and to my ears it makes the entire system have even better synergy. I think that synergy in a system is critical. Building my system has been Forte Speakers and HSU Sub first. I then added the hybrid Mac MA252 Integrated before trading that for my 100% Tube Integrated.Primaluna EVO 400 amp. I then added my turntable and phono preamp before getting the Node2i and then my Denefrips Pontus and its all finally come together.