Bluesound Node 2

[Alexdad54]

There are a number of images available of the interior of the Node 2 that clearly show the BurrBrown PCM 5122 chips but nothing I can find so far that shows much of the inside layout of the Powernode 2. I'm not able to tell anything from the single small picture of the board on the Bluesound Powernode 2 website page.

[fredduc]

Interesting answer - didn't think about that...

[randyhat]

Whatever is in the Node 2 it sounds good.  It could be a squirrel on a treadmill for all I care.  The Node 2 sounds much better than it has a right to at it's price.  I have acquired, traded, upgraded and accumulated a lot of equipment in my 40 or so years as an audiophile.  I don't claim to have golden ears nor is my present system state of the art but it's pretty good...and revealing.  I am amazed that a product like the Node 2, which costs less than the feet on my VPI turntable, is as good as it is. If it can be bettered with a good external DAC then it has the potential to be spectacular.

[DarwinOSX]

6 minutes ago, randyhat said:

Whatever is in the Node 2 it sounds good.  It could be a squirrel on a treadmill for all I care.  The Node 2 sounds much better than it has a right to at it's price.  I have acquired, traded, upgraded and accumulated a lot of equipment in my 40 or so years as an audiophile.  I don't claim to have golden ears nor is my present system state of the art but it's pretty good...and revealing.  I am amazed that a product like the Node 2, which costs less than the feet on my VPI turntable, is as good as it is. If it can be bettered with a good external DAC then it has the potential to be spectacular.

Squirrel on a treadmill ?

I've been meaning to get a Node 2 to connect to my Kef LS50W speakers. Seems like a good time to try it. 

[harmonica2]

When I attended the LA Audio Show, I went to the Bluesound/NAD room to listen to some MQA for the first time.  Impressed, I asked the rep about using the Node 2 as a the main DAC for my system.  He sort of shrugged and said "it's a pretty good $200 DAC, but the DACs in the NAD amps are better."  He went on to suggest buying a NAD integrated with a Bluesound card.   I ignored his advice, and I'm happy I did (the DAC in the Node 2 sounds great to me), but I'm sure there is room for improvement.  Perhaps Bluesound with release a Node 3 (2+ ?) with dual mono DACs, for example.  By then, there will probably be MQA 2 (doesn't exist, but it will!) and Tidal Ultra (I made that up, too) and god knows what else.  I'm glad I spent only $500 on my DAC/streamer.  It will be worthless in 5 years and I'll gladly spend $500 again for an upgraded one.

[DarwinOSX]

1 minute ago, harmonica2 said:

When I attended the LA Audio Show, I went to the Bluesound/NAD room to listen to some MQA for the first time.  Impressed, I asked the rep about using the Node 2 as a the main DAC for my system.  He sort of shrugged and said "it's a pretty good $200 DAC, but the DACs in the NAD amps are better."  He went on to suggest buying a NAD integrated with a Bluesound card.   I ignored his advice, and I'm happy I did (the DAC in the Node 2 sounds great to me), but I'm sure there is room for improvement.  Perhaps Bluesound with release a Node 3 (2+ ?) with dual mono DACs, for example.  By then, there will probably be MQA 2 (doesn't exist, but it will!) and Tidal Ultra (I made that up, too) and god knows what else.  I'm glad I spent only $500 on my DAC streamer.  It will be worthless in 5 years and I'll gladly spend $500 again for another one.

That's 2 or 3 times the cost of a Node 2..

[newworld]

19 hours ago, harmonica2 said:

When I attended the LA Audio Show, I went to the Bluesound/NAD room to listen to some MQA for the first time.  Impressed, I asked the rep about using the Node 2 as a the main DAC for my system.  He sort of shrugged and said "it's a pretty good $200 DAC, but the DACs in the NAD amps are better."  He went on to suggest buying a NAD integrated with a Bluesound card.   I ignored his advice, and I'm happy I did (the DAC in the Node 2 sounds great to me), but I'm sure there is room for improvement.  Perhaps Bluesound with release a Node 3 (2+ ?) with dual mono DACs, for example.  By then, there will probably be MQA 2 (doesn't exist, but it will!) and Tidal Ultra (I made that up, too) and god knows what else.  I'm glad I spent only $500 on my DAC/streamer.  It will be worthless in 5 years and I'll gladly spend $500 again for an upgraded one.

Good thing that you ignored his "advice". It's just a matter of how your unit fits into your system. Surely you didn't need to get another amplifier.

[randyhat]

Anyone heard the Node 2 paired with the Yggdrasil?

[arcman]

The Node 2 Dac sounds slightly better than my Peachtree Nova Pre. I would say you would have to get out of the "general consumer" dacs to improve upon it. I'm hearing TEAC and MQA is partnering. A Teac MQA version of the 501 would be the perfect dac and price range. 

[Leroy Bad]

On 7/23/2017 at 5:35 AM, randyhat said:

Anyone heard the Node 2 paired with the Yggdrasil?

 

I'm waiting on an answer for this question, because I plan on using it with the Yggdrasil also if I get one.

Are there any websites with any special sales going on at the moment?

[Mustu]

Has anyone done a A/B of the SMS 200 and the node2 ? 

 

 Cheers 

[gomle69]

Love my Node 2. I use it in a head-fi set up with an Argon headphone amp, AudioQuest Red River interconnects and NAD Viso HP 50 headphones with most of my music from a Qnap NAS. I think the Node 2 is a true bargain considering the sound quality, features (MQA, Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz, Deezer, Bluetooth, internet radio etc...) and price.

[randyhat]

Just how good is the Bluesound 2?  I have it and am very impressed with the sound quality compared to my Bryston BCD-3 CD player.  I am amazed at the level of performance of this inexpensive (by audiophile standards) component.  But, I have not had any experience with any other streaming option. If Bluesound is entry level, how much better does it get?  If I were to move up to something like a Lumin or Aurender streamer/dac combination what could I expect to gain in sound quality?  I am curious to hear from folks who have compared the Bluesound to more expensive products or tried it with better external DACs.

[BilboAlaska]

I have a Node 2 and a Vault 2 and they sound good compared to my cd players:

Line Magnetic LM215 cdp,

Audiolab 8200CDQ;

Rega Apollo. I asked this question way back about playing the Bluesound through a more expensive DAC. 

Tascaam cdp

 

My problem is that my internet connection is wireless only and not very good. I end up playing cds more in spite of the fun of finding new music on Tidal. Maybe someday when I move.

 

 

 

[BilboAlaska]

I am not sure my problem is my wifi. The Node 2 often fails to connect to my wifi but my iMac, iPad and iPhone all work on the wifi. The Node 2 shows a solid green light and the Node2 shows up in the system settings of both iMac and iPhone so it has a signal,  but fails every time to connect. It has worked but won't anymore.

 

Bluesound help center is good but not direct like Apple Care is. You have to email to make an appointment for them to call you which I have done several times. I am dead in the water. Help is days away.

 

[Melvin]

8 minutes ago, BilboAlaska said:

I am not sure my problem is my wifi. The Node 2 often fails to connect to my wifi but my iMac, iPad and iPhone all work on the wifi. The Node 2 shows a solid green light and the Node2 shows up in the system settings of both iMac and iPhone so it has a signal,  but fails every time to connect. It has worked but won't anymore.

 

Bluesound help center is good but not direct like Apple Care is. You have to email to make an appointment for them to call you which I have done several times. I am dead in the water. Help is days away.

 

 

Curious if you've checked your wifi signal via Bluesound Diagnostics? Here is the link if you are unfamiliar with this simple tool:

 

https://support.bluesound.com/hc/en-us/articles/201940663-What-should-my-Wireless-Signal-Strength-be-for-best-performance-

 

I only ask because I've got nothin' else for ya. Sorry. I use my Node 2 wirelessly without issue however, when I first set it up I had to move my AirPort Extreme a bit for a better signal. And by a bit I mean 6 or 7 inches! I used the Diagnostics tool to figure it out back then. I hope you get it sorted out. Best.

[BilboAlaska]

Thanks. I have been moving it around. I have wireless internet so I cannot use my Airport Extreme because there is nothing to wire it to.

 

 

[Melvin]

Ahh .. now I understand what you're saying (apparently I'm a bit slow). I hope Bluesound support can help. 

[BilboAlaska]

Thanks. Unlike the Node 2, The Vault 2 does need to be hard wired so I tricked it by using an Airport Express hard wired to the Vault 2 providing the wifi that it should have. That does work....sometimes. 

Will report back. Cheers.

 

[BilboAlaska]

So now the Airport Express on the Vault 2 will not connect. Is it the iPad, the AE or the Bluesound at fault. I can play music on the iPad with Tidal and headphones. Anyone want a Vault and Node? Mine are going in a dumpster soon.

 

[mdelrossi]

Bilboalaska,

I'll take them if your gonna dump them.

[BilboAlaska]

On 4/18/2016 at 1:56 AM, JakovH said:

 

My audio server cost me close to twice this once sotm components, multiple lpsu's, passive case, updating jrmc licenses, trialing other software etc. were taken into account. The hours poured into it don't count. Whatever change there is in SQ, I don't hear it. And ease of installation and use, there is no comparison. Better to trial it if you can though.

 

Ha. Still waiting to talk to Bluesound. We are exchanging emails but that is not going to cut it. 

[BilboAlaska]

So the problem turns out to be trying to use a wifi hotspot (from an iPhone, wireless modem or tablet) to connect to the Bluesound Node 2 instead of wired internet modem. 

I finally got it to connect by playing with the system settings until the Node and the iPad were in synch. The Node will connect to another hot spot instead and you have to go into the settings and try to figure out how to synchronize it. So it worked on an iPhone until I tried to switch to a wireless modem hotspot and failed and now I can't get back reconnected with the iPhone hotspot. So it can be done but it is not worth the time and effort.

 

It is equally hard to use a hotspot to stream with an Airport Express. After 4 hours on the phone with Apple Care service I got the AE working with the hotspot wifi. It is impossible to find an Apple service tech who ever streamed music to a home hifi with an AE or any other device, such as Bluesound or Muzo. 

[MikePM]

Node 2 came today, and as I think about setting it up, I have a question.  Which BluOS app do you think works better, both using a tablet, and/or a phone?  I have an old iPhone 5 to use right now, but I intend to buy a tablet to leave out as the main remote to operate the node.  Since the Node 2 will be in the equipment room, there will be no line of sight, or set top operation.

 

Your opinion as to whether the android or ios app is more stable, easier to use, or just looks better, would be appreciated. 

 

Thanks.

[audio.bill]

I can't really say that I've seen much difference in stability between the iOS and Android apps, but having a larger screen definitely helps which would I assume favor using your tablet over an iPhone 5.