Bluesound Node 2i

steveinaz

Napster is supported, according to the website. Tony I'll let you know how the wireless performance is, for use with Tidal Hi-Fi and web radio. So far, Tidal has not disappointed me on the classic rock front.

Now, a shout-out to Crutchfield, I selected "free shipping" and they sent my unit 2nd day air. NICE. Should be here tomorrow.

Mikey081057

Didn't say that TB...YOUR wifi is the weakest link... Their wifi is fine... If yours is good tha =n it will be good.

steveinaz

Received my Node 2i yesterday, and found 1 annoyance; the digital coaxial connection feels loose. Not the connector itself, but it's like the cable connector isn't going in far enough. It doesn't affect the signal, but it seems a bit odd. It's almost as if the RCA connector barrel on the 2i isn't quite long enough for a solid connection

Anyone else experience this? (SOLVED THIS PROBLEM...SEE BELOW...)

stangman67

I have the 2 and I think the app is fantastic. Not having to run a Roon endpoint is a major victory for me and this app gives me everything I want without having to run Roon. I have my NAS mapped to the unit and that whole process was as painless as can be. I think the whole experience is rather fantastic, especially for the price

stangman67

steveinaz wrote: »

Received my Node 2i yesterday, and found 1 annoyance; the digital coaxial connection feels loose. Not the connector itself, but it's like the cable connector isn't going in far enough. Tried 2 different coaxials (BJC and DH Labs) with the same result. it doesn't affect the signal, but it seems a bit odd. It's almost as if the RCA connector barrel on the 2i isn't quite long enough for a solid connection

Anyone else experience this?

I’m using stereo out from my 2 at the moment but I just hooked up my wireworld silver eclipse 7 coax to check and the connection is solid and secure. I don’t seem to have the same issue that you do

steveinaz

I'll try another cable...maybe the end is too fat on the cables I have....

steveinaz

SOLVED!

It was the BJC (Belden 1694A dig coax) connector...it's connector shroud is a bit too thick on the connecting end, and there is minimal clearance on the jack panel of the 2i. Tried the DH Labs D-75 again, and it worked perfectly. Must have been sleepy last night.

So heads up, the BJC RCA jack shrouds are a bit too thick for the RCA's "recess" on the Node 2/2i.




Note the recessed area around the RCA jacks...this is what the BJC was bumping into. You need a connector shroud slim enough to fit into that recess.

tonyb

Thanks Steve, also interested in the functionality of the app.

Interesting about the digital coax. I just experienced the same problem with a tube dac 11.

steveinaz

The App is very much like Oppo's Tidal app. So the learning curve was quick. I like it, it's not super-eye candy or anything, but the functionality seems to be there. It sounds fantastic running thru the PS Audio's DAC.

I was listening to KSHE95 FM radio last night! Awesome!

tonyb

Have you tried the internal dac in comparison Steve ?

steveinaz

I haven't. I'm enjoying the Stellar DAC too much to care. LOL It indexed my attached hard drive pretty quickly (1TB). Everything seems to work as expected, no app problems and seems pretty responsive---heck of a lot better than my Oppo GUI for playing music.

Mikey081057

Have you compared streaming to any of your stored files?

steveinaz

Mikey081057 wrote: »

Have you compared streaming to any of your stored files?

Not enough to make a good comparison yet, but I am really enjoying Tidal. We were so busy this weekend getting the backyard "spring ready" I didn't get much listening time in.

tonyb

"Spring" ?? what's that ?

steveinaz

Last weekend it snowed, and was 19 degrees. This weekend it was sunny and 74, and we noticed our neighbors huge tree starting to leaf-out already!

tonyb

So I take it your satisfied with the Node 2i then ? If you had to pigeon hole it, what would it be ?

steveinaz

tonyb wrote: »

So I take it your satisfied with the Node 2i then ? If you had to pigeon hole it, what would it be ?

The only "odd" thing...there's no power switch. The manual states it is intended to remain on at all times. You can over-ride it by pressing a button and holding on top, that will basically put it in hibernate mode. You can also set the front indicator light to "bright" "dim" and "off." The input/output jacks could be of better quality.

Not an issue for me, but worth mentioning I suppose. Other than that---and the earlier caution on IC's being able to fit properly; I have no complaints. The unit feels well made, is nice looking, and is packed with features.

steveinaz

I DO have a question for Mikey---Mikey, when you add new music to your hard drive, does the unit automatically re-index, or do you do something in the settings to force a new index of added files?

Mikey081057

So I never got a chance to notice.... After I started using the Node2 I stopped buying CD's and my old stuff just sits there... I think there is a button to re index but you prolly already know that.

tonyb

If it's anything like Sonos, you should be able to set up an auto indexing time, or you can do it manually at any given time.

Sound wise Steve, your happy with it ?

Mikey081057

But I found this on the BS Forum

steveinaz

Ahhh...I think I saw something in the settings menu addressing that. Cool.

Tony--Yes, I like the sound of it. I'm more than happy with my purchase. Played some 24/96 material I got from hdtracks, mostly to verify my Stellar DAC was displaying the proper bit rate/freq and it sounds wonderful.

The Node 2i seems to be what I would have expected the Squeezebox to morph into, had in remained on the market. I enjoy the additional features like internet radio, etc, also. Of course, I really like having my hard drive directly connected.

deronb1

I also like having the HDD attached. I know the Node2 uses Burr Brown DACs, not sure on the 2i

steveinaz

deronb1 wrote: »

I also like having the HDD attached. I know the Node2 uses Burr Brown DACs, not sure on the 2i

Yes, Burr Brown PCM5122

Mikey081057

But you are using the DAC in you PS Stellar Gain Steve?

tonyb

I believe he is Mikey, so it's a non issue for him. Still, nice to have in case the dac ever gets hiccups, he has a decent fall back built in.

steveinaz

Yes, using the Node 2i as a transport only into my Stellar GCD. Played more last night with a mixture of flacs from my HDD and Tidal. Love this thing.

Need to quit being lazy and get around to downloading album art for all my rips. Yeah, that'll be fun....

Mikey081057

I might get slapped around for this but I think the Bluesound app is better and easier than the Lumin app. But I am using and going to stick with roon now. roon gives you 1 UI for all of your devices.

steveinaz

BluOS seems really intuitive. I haven't had any issues.

tonyb

So, I take it in the BS app, you can add/subtract from a playlist ? Has a que that you can access, shuffle around ? Play next or add at the end of the que ?

It can pull iTunes from a puter as well ? This is not a separate mesh system but strictly works off of wi-fi ?

I do a lot of listening out on my deck, I'd be interested to hear from you Steve, if you have any problems controlling the BS from out on your patio with the door closed.