Bluesound Node 2

[Apesbrain]

The Node 2 somehow flew under my radar. Along with microRendu and SMS-200 it's now a possible contender as a replacement for my SB Touch.

Any opinions?

I really want to upgrade from the Touch but just can't seem to make up my mind with all the streamer options not to mention third party PSUs, reclockers, cables, etc

There really isn't much if anything the Bluesound can do over the Touch. What improvement are you seeking?

[Apesbrain]

It's weakness is classical music, and, a little less weaker, jazz (you can not select one concerto in one go, you have to select the different pieces of the concerto separately).

This sounds like a tagging issue. Each movement should have the same ARTIST and ALBUM tag and sequential TRACK numbers. Use the TITLE tag to identify the particular movement, e.g. "I. Adagio".

 

Just scroll to ARTIST > ALBUM, and play.

[Apesbrain]

For those into Tidal streaming, it passes upto 96khz into my non MQA dac

Can you explain this further? Is MQA via Bluesound digital out limited to 24/96?

[Apesbrain]

I was ready to buy and talked to a dealer (Portland, OR) and learned that the Vault does not have wifi. It has to be hardwired which is not convenient for me without installing a new wifi modem at the hifi.

 

Can't you put the Vault near your existing router and copy to it files ripped from a more convenient location such as a laptop:

 

https://support.bluesound.com/hc/en-us/articles/200387457-Accessing-the-Bluesound-Vault-s-Internal-Storage-From-a-Computer

 

Hard to argue it's not a good idea to wire your server.

[Apesbrain]

I was ready to buy and talked to a dealer (Portland, OR) and learned that the Vault does not have wifi. It has to be hardwired which is not convenient for me without installing a new wifi modem at the hifi.

While in the shower it occured to me that I'd probably misunderstood your use case: you want the Vault near your hi-fi so you can use its analog/digital output. Ok, so here's another idea: put the Vault where you want and use a pair of Powerline adapters to "wire" it to your existing router.

 

TP-Link AV200 Nano Powerline Adapter Starter Kit, up to 200Mbps (TL-PA2010KIT)