Bluesound Node 2i

[MC39693]

Are you only interested in streaming or do you include other digital sources; ripped CD, USB digital file management, Bluetooth etc. If digital source management in general, then you will need to decide if you want multiple “boxes” or consolidated sources to one “box”. And then, do you want to do DIY such as a Raspberry Pi or a commercial product such as Bluesound Vault.  Good luck! Once you’ve opened the Pandora box of digital sources... it can be a rabbit hole.

[Tarheel]

1 hour ago, MC39693 said:

Are you only interested in streaming or do you include other digital sources; ripped CD, USB digital file management, Bluetooth etc. If digital source management in general, then you will need to decide if you want multiple “boxes” or consolidated sources to one “box”. And then, do you want to do DIY such as a Raspberry Pi or a commercial product such as Bluesound Vault.  Good luck! Once you’ve opened the Pandora box of digital sources... it can be a rabbit hole.

I just want to be able to stream Tidal or Amazon HD through my 2 CH system with as few boxes as possible and great sound.

[TasDom]

@Paducah Home Theater

Cory just became a dealer for Bluesound. May want to PM him for a price

[rplace]

3 hours ago, Tarheel said:

Turns out the lady friend has two Sonos One's.  I hadn't paid much attention to them before but streaming Positively 4th Street (Bobby Dylan). 

 

Pair them together for stereo or move them to two different rooms for his and hers music. You are off to the races my friend. Cool thing about Sonos is the App. I'd be curious to see what you think after a couple of days. Now go get a Connect.

[rplace]

1 hour ago, Tarheel said:

I just want to be able to stream Tidal or Amazon HD through my 2 CH system with as few boxes as possible and great sound

 

Sorry for beating that dead horse....again....but if you goal is music through an existing 2-channel system with zero hassle, the Sonos Connect is made just for you. Especially if you have two Ones already. Down the road you can bypass it's DAC if you feel the need (I bet you don't) with the Coax out or Optical out.

[Schu]

done it many times in several configurations... it works reasonably well.

[Tarheel]

Looks like the Connect is now a legacy product.  The Port is suppose to be an upgrade but $450.  The reviews are all over the place.

[Fido]

I just got my Denefrips Pontus DAC and now have that hooked up to my Bluesound Node2i playing into my Primaluna Evo 400 into my fathers old Forte speakers and HSU subwoofer and damn doesn't it sound Spectacular!!!! So fun building these systems and merging yourself into the music

[rplace]

4 hours ago, Tarheel said:

Looks like the Connect is now a legacy product.  The Port is suppose to be an upgrade but $450.  The reviews are all over the place.

 

You are way over thinking this. Buy a used connect. If you don't love it I'll pay you for it. You going to believe me it Twitter/FB/Reddit?

 

All the legacy products are going to work moving forward. The sky was falling with them late last year. It's all been resolved. Trust me.

[Fido]

22 hours ago, Tarheel said:

Looks like the Connect is now a legacy product.  The Port is suppose to be an upgrade but $450.  The reviews are all over the place.

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.

[Willne1]

The Bluesound is maybe the best purchase I ever made. I stream music from the HDD's on my PC and Amazon Prime non HD.

[RadBlue]

On 4/7/2020 at 8:24 AM, 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. 

Yes hardwiring the Node-2i will get better SQ but i'm not taking about that. You need to control the Node with a device with a screen, like a phone or tablet or laptop. You install the softwear on  your selected device and it will connect to the node via wifi letting you surf and select what you want to play.

I know it sounds complicated but it really isn't. When I got mine I got all mind set like "ok gonna sit down, concentrate so I do this right", 10 mins later I was like "what, that's it I'm up and runnin …." 

[Fido]

1 hour ago, RadBlue said:

Yes hardwiring the Node-2i will get better SQ but i'm not taking about that. You need to control the Node with a device with a screen, like a phone or tablet or laptop. You install the softwear on  your selected device and it will connect to the node via wifi letting you surf and select what you want to play.

I know it sounds complicated but it really isn't. When I got mine I got all mind set like "ok gonna sit down, concentrate so I do this right", 10 mins later I was like "what, that's it I'm up and runnin …." 

some people claim that several streamers, including the Node2i actually perform better thru wifi than hard wired - all I know is that i stream everyday thru the node 2i with no drops and the songs sound fantastic

[DALEDEEE]

I bought a refurbished node 2i last fall.  I then bought a Topping D90 DAC and now we're talkin!!  I use a $30 coax to connect.  I ran a Cat 6 cable to the Bluesound from the router.  The only complaint I have with this whole system is the Amazon HD interface with the Bluesound controller.  I had used Amazon music for sometime into some Edifier wireless speakers.  It is quite easy and you can navigate quite easily.  Much of that is lost with the Bluesound.  I have done some reading and as near as I can figure out it is a metadata issue from Amazon.  This setup sound is superior to my Rotel 975 CD player.   

[MeloManiac]

9 hours ago, DALEDEEE said:

I bought a refurbished node 2i last fall.  I then bought a Topping D90 DAC and now we're talkin!!  I use a $30 coax to connect.

 

I'm not sure how to understand this correctly. It seems to me that the node 2i is redundant and the Topping D90 does have fabulous specs. So what does the node 2i do that the Topping D90 can't do?

[Full Range]

Specs are one thing - and I’m not for or against any brands 
The physical streaming is one thing that new technology has made huge advances, and most brands do this well 
 

However what makes for a great component is the DAC especially if you have sensitive speakers 

What I’m trying to say is, a better quality / design DAC is the difference between a good sound or a brilliant sound 

 

 

[MeloManiac]

12 minutes ago, Full Range said:

Specs are one thing - and I’m not for or against any brands 
The physical streaming is one thing that new technology has made huge advances, and most brands do this well 
 

However what makes for a great component is the DAC especially if you have sensitive speakers 

What I’m trying to say is, a better quality / design DAC is the difference between a good sound or a brilliant sound 

 

 

 

As so often in the audiophile world, it cost a few hundreds to move from 'average' to 'good', and costs a few thousands to move from 'good' to 'brilliant', right?

 

[Full Range]

25 minutes ago, ILI said:

 

As so often in the audiophile world, it cost a few hundreds to move from 'average' to 'good', and costs a few thousands to move from 'good' to 'brilliant', right?

 

One can use an external dac if you like the streaming features of a particular brand component, but want better sound 

A simple way to make a DAC better is to use the USB2 standard laid out 
They recommend 

For high quality audio systems - audio component manufacturers should use Adaptive asynchronous setups and very little extra cost 

 

 

[MeloManiac]

On 4/7/2020 at 2:41 PM, 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

 

Note it is not Roon compatible. 

 

 

 

 

It has arrived and it is brilliant! Up to now, I was using an Amazon Fire Tablet as DAC for Spotify Connect, hooked to my amp with an rca cable using the headphone output. My Tube cube has only 3w output so it wouldn't play loud at all. With the Microstreamer, it produces a lot more decibels now. 

It is very small: the Tube cube is the size of a CD case, thus wifi streamer is a lot smaller.  It plugs directly into the rca connectors of the Amp. No cables required. 

 

 

 

[DALEDEEE]

On 4/10/2020 at 1:15 AM, ILI said:

 

I'm not sure how to understand this correctly. It seems to me that the node 2i is redundant and the Topping D90 does have fabulous specs. So what does the node 2i do that the Topping D90 can't do?

You may be correct that the Topping D90 will receive Bluetooth.  However, I can hard wire the Bluesound.  My music room is in the basement while the router is upstairs.