Bluesound Node 2 Digital Music Server Review

treitz3

Looking forward to it. 4 more days and I'll get a severe crash course on all of this stuff with plenty of examples to boot. Talk about perfect timing....

Tom

tonyb

Yeah, I can pretty much guarantee you, they used that 24k dac and the Node as just a streamer. Using just the Node on a 300k system, you'd hear the shortcomings of that built in dac pretty easily.

Like Skip said though, they were right about the MQA. It's a 2 step unfolding process so everything in the chain needs to be MQA certified. They do make some dacs with MQA certs.....but again, little stuff to get you to spend more money in my view. The quality of the dac will outweigh the benefits of the MQA in my book.

When it comes to streaming, for the most part you want to use an external dac, which means any device with a built in dac isn't going to make a huge difference. The gold is in the software with these things, not so much the hardware.

Devices like Sonos, Bluesound, Heos....are meant to replace stereo gear and be used as whole house solutions, not necessarily used in conjunction with your stereo gear even though they can. That's why some sales people seem out of touch with the options. They want you buying the brands associated speakers and gear, not incorporating a single unit into your already expensive stereo.

Don't give up on it though, there are work arounds that can make these little digital devices sound pretty effin' good. Like I said though, it starts with a good external dac.

treitz3

Getting ready to hard wire the damned thing....

Tom