Bluesound Node 2

Mikey081057

In my endless pursuit of whole house audio nirvana I added a Bluesound Node 2 to my system today.

The Node 2 has some nice new features coax digital out, built in Blutooth 4.0 and upgraded processor and ethernet.

I like this low profile version as it racks nicely.

Very nice product and the Node and Node 2 can sync wirelessly and source multiple systems in your network.

tonyb

Excellent Mike, now that you have some time with the Bluesound, can you elaborate on the software, pro's and cons, sound quality ? Curious minds and all that.

Mikey081057

No stranger to digital streamers, I purchased my first Node back in May timeframe and immediately discovered the flexibility and SQ i was looking for in a streamer.

I have used PC with JRiver (nice sound but made my back hurt as I had to stand over the pc while messing with it).

I have a Logitech SB Touch. Which i bought used while my back was hurting from the PC/JRiver combo. My only negative on the SB Touch is that i had to spend a lot of time maintaining/hacking it which worked great but it was cutting in to my limited listening time.

I then purchased a DefTech WAdapt... Which now lives in my WCloset. nuff said. I don't think Deftech is committed to the product as they are very slow to "adapt" to some of the new streaming services (Tidal for example). Their original marketing shpiel was that they would be adopting Tidal but when I talked to them about "when" they talked about "if ever".

Started doing some research for a streamer that would do everything I wanted and came across the Node. The Node's SQ features, services and User Interface all fit my requirements.

The Node2 is just an improvement over the Node and is still compatible using multiple Node family products as part of a whole house system.

I am using the Node2's digital coax output into my Marantz SA8004 SACD players coax input.Setup can be done in less than 5 minutes.

The 8004's analog outs are feeding the Parasound P5 pre which feeds the Parasound A21 via balanced interconnects. There are my setup options, this I feel is my best option taking advantage of the SA8004s DAC. I might try going digital coax directly to the P5 shortening the signal path, but I don't think that will make it any better than it is right now.

The Node's User interface is very intuitive and allows you to tag playlists from your streaming service as well as select anything you would like from your streaming service. Takes a little getting used to but is very fast and well organized.

Now to the sound quality... I have listened to many of my favorite redbook CD's and their compliments from Bluesound/Tidal and can hear literally no difference. Now that's not to say you won't hear any subtleties with your ears but when I go from CD to Bluesound I can't tell any difference except the Bluesound has a bit more gain.

Net result is that you are looking for a streaming player that is technically solid, looks and sounds great and don't want to spend half of your listening time fiddling with the settings and integrating and patching the interface this is a very strong player.

YMMV

tonyb

Thanks Mike, hows the software ? Easy to use....responsive ? Any time delays ?

txcoastal1

I had purchased a Bluesound vault a couple years ago for the LSAF shows. My main issue was not being able to just click and add a song and save to a playlist. Has Bluesound fixed this issue in the UI?

My 2nd issue was I repacked the unit with all original packing and boxes but when I got home it had come apart like a clam shell. The thin plastic around the screws gave way. I am very meticulous packing and unpacking gear as I have traveled with 10's of thousands dollars in gear for these shows without a single scratch or mishap.

So now the unit has been put away. It still works but the adding songs to playlist issue wasn't going to fly.

tonyb

Sure hope they solved that issue, that's a pretty big deal breaker for streaming audio.

txcoastal1

Here is the same issue 6months ago...still wasn't fixed. When you have several thousand songs and come across a good one to add while doing a show or just hanging out and you can't....really a turn off. You basically have to recreate an entire playlist.

https://support.bluesound.com/hc/communities/public/questions/203270828-Playlist-management?locale=en-us

txcoastal1

This issue may have been resolved Sept. 10th, 2015

https://support.bluesound.com/hc/en-us/articles/206794887-How-Do-I-Add-a-Track-to-a-Saved-Playlist

Mikey081057

tonyb wrote: »

Thanks Mike, hows the software ? Easy to use....responsive ? Any time delays ?

The software is easy to install and use. I never ran into the adding song to playlist issue I guess mainly b/c I play albums, or I add albums to playlists. even when i "Group" the players (Node and Node2) I see no delays or lags. My network and router are very fast so i would expect 0 performance problems
I have used the BS app on my android phone and tablets and it works fine.

ukcolin99

I was looking at Bs Vault 2 this morning. Mikey & TXc where do u store your music is it all digital? My son stopped by last weekend, suggested I get a digital storage device located next to my system to play directly instead of home network through iTunes...

txcoastal1

Although the Vaults have 1and 2TB storage I keep my music portable on WD external USB Hdrive and a backup my a raid PC

ukcolin99

Thank txc, mine is on a 3T Fantom HD, I really don't want to have to load everything onto a new drive...

Mikey081057

Mine is on a desktop hard drive... I believe you can also connect to a NAS on your network or a even a USB memory stick into the USB port.

mrbiron

I'm very intrigued by the "2".
How do you navigate the folders on a hardrive connected via USB? Through the app? Top display?
Does the top display more than just the play functions?
Does it have spotify in bedded so that i just change the song with my phone or am i streaming to the device via bluetooth?
Is it just the two inputs, USB and Optical?

Thanks!

ukcolin99

Re-reading mikey's excellent summary & after quick chat w/crutchfield expert, thinking of buying BsV2 and loading music into the vault, no more iTunes everything on one drive, optical connection into P5 in the mail and A21just received might be nice. Is the music management system okay? Can I create playlists on the vault? thanks

tonyb

The vault stores the music, the software gathers it and should allow you to create playlists....I hope.

My Sonos does, I can create playlists between all media, mix and match between music services and personal cd's. I see no reason why the BS wouldn't, but I'd check with users first.

ukcolin99

Thanks Tony, those are my expectations, can't find any reviews, unit not on Amazon & Crutch only has reviews on Vault 1. Unit will look nice on my shelves/rack.

tonyb

Mikey, get back to Colin on the usefulness of the software please. Since you have one, your insight is valuable to the man and others interested.

Mikey081057

So the app controls the player and your library. I am not sure in the case of Spotify I if but with Tidal you connect to Tidal and playlists, albums and such are being controlled by the player thru the app. I know Spotify has the connect feature where you plan you play from your mobile device via blutooth... Of course all of this is subject to having the PAID versions of the service.

Mikey081057

The best folks to buy from is Audio Advisors and I am sure Corey could do a better job splainin than me

erniejade

Corey is fantastic. I have delt with him sevel times.
that unit looks interesting. Can it send dsd to the dac? Can the usb port just have like a 2 gig drive on it?

tonyb

I don't believe they can send DSD Ern. Don't think any of them do. You'd have to move up to a dedicated music server for that.

mrbiron

Mikey081057 wrote: »

So the app controls the player and your library. I am not sure in the case of Spotify I if but with Tidal you connect to Tidal and playlists, albums and such are being controlled by the player thru the app. I know Spotify has the connect feature where you plan you play from your mobile device via blutooth... Of course all of this is subject to having the PAID versions of the service.

Yeah, i have the paid version but i dont want to stream via bluetooth. I was hoping the software was embedded so that there could be a hard connection. My laptop is currently sitting in this role.

ukcolin99

Thanks mikey/tony, unit not cheap, if it can replace iTunes with similar storage, indexing, playlist, review/star system that works I'm in. Aside from Siriusxm in the car I have not been streaming, like look of Tidal although $20 pm seems high ( I pay siriusxm $25 for 5 months or I threaten to cancel it's been 3 years since they called my bluff..). Any votes on the best value/quality/variety/ease of use on the music streamers appreciated?

Mikey081057

mrbiron wrote: »

Mikey081057 wrote: »

So the app controls the player and your library. I am not sure in the case of Spotify I if but with Tidal you connect to Tidal and playlists, albums and such are being controlled by the player thru the app. I know Spotify has the connect feature where you plan you play from your mobile device via blutooth... Of course all of this is subject to having the PAID versions of the service.

Yeah, i have the paid version but i dont want to stream via bluetooth. I was hoping the software was embedded so that there could be a hard connection. My laptop is currently sitting in this role.

I can only deduce that since the old BS Node didn't have Blutooth that the Spotify app was embedded but i will research on the their forum.

Mikey081057

ukcolin99 wrote: »

Thanks mikey/tony, unit not cheap, if it can replace iTunes with similar storage, indexing, playlist, review/star system that works I'm in. Aside from Siriusxm in the car I have not been streaming, like look of Tidal although $20 pm seems high ( I pay siriusxm $25 for 5 months or I threaten to cancel it's been 3 years since they called my bluff..). Any votes on the best value/quality/variety/ease of use on the music streamers appreciated?

I haven't used Itunes in many years now and can only assume that it is better than when I threw my Iphone against the wall after Itunes lost all my S**t for the 3rd time.

Mikey081057

So it is using Spotify Connect thru a wireless network connection. I only had Spotify Connect on an Yamaha receiver that I had and it was meh.... Yo can directly connect FAT32 storage devices as well as USB mem sticks. No DSD.

erniejade

I am still surprised a lot of companies are not doing more on the dsd side of things as well as making the storage ntfs compatible. I am looking for a solution that is small, get rid of some of the laptop power supply noise that can do dsd and ntfs as well as stream. The search continues!

This really looks like a great unit and reasonable on cost!

ukcolin99

DSD = SACD?

tonyb

ukcolin99 wrote: »

DSD = SACD?

Basically, yes. Your not going to find these all in one devices cheap that will do it though. Like I said, dedicated higher end music servers do it, but it will cost some. If you just want cd quality, Sonos is hard to beat mainly because they have the best software out there and ease of use. BS kicks it up a notch with being able to play higher rez formats, but I'm not sure how well their software integrates as I've never played around with one. That's where Mikey comes in.

You might be able to find a few used MS'ers from the likes of Teac or Sony that can stream DSD for roughly 5-800 used. Cambridge too I think has something in their line-up as well.....a few others also.

Mikey081057

I believe if want to try one ... purchase one from A A and if you don't like it return it. I have used JRiver on a pc, SB Touch, Deftech WADAPT and this is what I have settled on for convenience and sound quality.