Bluesound Node 2 Digital Music Server Review

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Comments

  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 18,230
    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
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    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.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 18,230
    Getting ready to hard wire the damned thing....

    Tom
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~