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Bluesound Node - Should I?

Woodface said:
I am rather confused over which way to jump re streaming. I am leaning towards innuos due to the Sonos integration. I do like the idea of being able to download to one unit but there are a plethora of options.
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I had a Zen Mk1, I think, wasn't impressed and sold it on, hardly used it but I've since bought an RPI 3 streamer (£55) and Topping Dac D10s (£100) with a 1TB WD HDD feeding them and use that set up all of the time, nothing else system wise has changed.

BTW, all of my music on the HDD was ripped on the ZEN.
 
twotone said:
I had a Zen Mk1, I think, wasn't impressed and sold it on, hardly used it but I've since bought an RPI 3 streamer (£55) and Topping Dac D10s (£100) with a 1TB WD HDD feeding them and use that set up all of the time, nothing else system wise has changed.

BTW, all of my music on the HDD was ripped on the ZEN.
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I already have a Dac, what didn’t you like about the Zen?
 
wainwj said:
Like Paul, I also run mine through a RME DAC and I’m very pleased with it.

Having read the thread though please may I ask how, and why, people are turning the Node 2i off?

I’d assumed that since it has no on/off switch or standby button that it’s designed to be left on 24/7.
So that’s what I do.
Everything else gets powered down, but not the Node. Have I got this wrong?
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I turn off all my gear when I finish listening, it's just an old habit. I press the play button on the Node 2i for 5 seconds and put it into standby mode. It only takes around 10secs to boot up when I want to use it again. I don't suppose it matters much as power consumption is fairly low.

Apart from a basic need to be able to access Qobuz/Tidal etc and my NAS music files, my choice of streamer is driven mainly by the appeal and usability of the interface. I like the look of the Rose Audio RS150 and I have just seen that they have a RS250 on the way. Another contender for me would be NAD with DIRAC room correction built-in, but all of these are a bit pricy for me.
 
wainwj said:
Like Paul, I also run mine through a RME DAC and I’m very pleased with it.

Having read the thread though please may I ask how, and why, people are turning the Node 2i off?

I’d assumed that since it has no on/off switch or standby button that it’s designed to be left on 24/7.
So that’s what I do.
Everything else gets powered down, but not the Node. Have I got this wrong?
Click to expand...

Before I bought mine I cleared it with Bluesound - I can't access either of mine without (a) grovelling around on the floor at the back of the rack or (b) standing on a chair to reach to the top rear of the fridge, I confirmed it was OK to leave them on 24/7 and they said it was. So relax, no need to power it down.
 
Woodface said:
I already have a Dac, what didn’t you like about the Zen?
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Nothing really offensive about it just didn't make me want to play music, think that was because of the Zen interface/webpage and I was also using the LMS (?) Web page too, just seemed a faff to select music.

I had the Zen hooked up to my router, which is in another room, but the RPi/HDD>DAC are in the same room as the amp/hifi and are physically connected to the amp via the DAC.

I'm using Volumio now and I much prefer that to the Zen software/webpage and the other webpage.
 
twotone said:
Nothing really offensive about it just didn't make me want to play music, think that was because of the Zen interface/webpage and I was also using the LMS (?) Web page too, just seemed a faff to select music.

I had the Zen hooked up to my router, which is in another room, but the RPi/HDD>DAC are in the same room as the amp/hifi and are physically connected to the amp via the DAC.

I'm using Volumio now and I much prefer that to the Zen software/webpage and the other webpage.
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Thanks, the interface does appear key. Hoping to get a loan of a Zen soon.
 
Unlike @twotone I really like the way the Innuos software organises the library and keeps everything tidy.
I'm assuming you're looking at Innuos as you have a significant amount of CD's to rip?
I'm looking forward to discovering what improvements the Innuos 2.0 software (app) brings - I believe the unveiling is now imminent.
 
webster said:
Unlike @twotone I really like the way the Innuos software organises the library and keeps everything tidy.
I'm assuming you're looking at Innuos as you have a significant amount of CD's to rip?
I'm looking forward to discovering what improvements the Innuos 2.0 software (app) brings - I believe the unveiling is now imminent.
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I do have about 1200 CDs, I still run a CD player so doubt I will rip them all. I like the idea of buying downloads direct from the artist via Bandcamp. I will probably go for the Zen or Zen mini.
 
Paul68 said:
Got the new node last week and I'm really enjoying the simplicity of my first proper streaming device. The app is a breeze to use and qobuz integration is good as is Spotify fi though you do use the Spotify app and use the connect feature to connect to the node.
I'm using it as a transport in to an audiolab m-dac and it sounds very good indeed through coax, the usb will become an output with future update which I'm looking forward to as the best sounding input on the m-dac is usb.
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I’ve had mine for a couple of weeks now and it’s great. Very easy to set up and use. It’s hooked up to a Lavry DAC with coax and it’s nice to have remote control of volume etc. It was a bargain for what I paid for it. No regrets at all.
 
webster said:
You can but if you don't leave it connected it will want to 're-index' every time you connect it which, depending on the size of your library, may take a while.
A NAS is a much better and permanent solution.
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I have a networked drive connected to the same router that the Node is connected to. It found the music and indexed it all by itself. The music shows up in the Bluesound App under "Library". Works great.
 
I tryed a QED IC with the Node 2i and no sound. The Audioquest works fine, so I guess for some reason the connections between the streamer and the QED doesn´t work. Weird, no?The cable seems loose
 
wainwj said:
Having read the thread though please may I ask how, and why, people are turning the Node 2i off?
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How? Hold the play button on the top down for about 5s or so.
Why? It uses 8w when turned on, which is quite wasteful if I’m not going to use it for a bit. I tend to turn it off if I’m away for more than a day or two.
 
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