Servers: Are we there yet?

@mofimadness 
Because the vault has to be connected to the Internet to play at all.  

Thats the the sole reason why I purchased the Node subsequently.  

oblgny,
Why are you saying that the vault has to be connected to the internet to play?
Why are you saying that your computer has to be on for the vault to play?  
After reading about it, the vault acts as a NAS and has internal storage. You should be able to play files stored in the vault device without internet nor computer. If you have another NAS(e.g. Mycloud, Synology, etc.) connected to your router, any files stored there should be accessible by the Bluesound app and played without computer nor internet.
Yes, you need internet to play streaming content (e.g. Tidal, Quobuz). If you have Bluesound app on a wireless device(e.g. tablet or phone) can't you control the vault wirelessly without a computer? Reviews seem to say that you can. 
Sorry, if I misunderstand, but it sounds like you are inadvertently making statements that kill Bluesound's lack of functionality and probably aren't true. With best intentions, Cheers,
Spencer

I don't agree. The Vault has to be connected to the internet only to download album art for the locally stored files, or play music from cloud service providers such as Spotify or Tidal. Even if you're sharing files within your network, you don't need internet access. I thought that was the whole point of the Vault product.

I looked into the Sony product but it also required internet connection to download cover art or play Tidal. The other thing is that I don't see any digital output on the Sony. I might be wrong but I think what that means is that you cannot use another DAC if you wish to at some point.

I'm confused. How is the Sony any better (in terms of functionality only, as we don't know the SQ differences) than the Bluesound Node 2 and Valut 2 combo? What am I missing?

I'll second that.  I have a Bluesound Vault 2 and Node for downstairs.  I happen to have my computer next to it so that I can pull in files from a previous iTunes collection via the Vault but I don't need the computer to run the Vault.  In fact, I'm typing on said computer right now and listening to CDs that I have burned directly to the 2TB hard drive of the Vault

Thanks guys for the input.  I was pretty sure that's how the BlueSound product worked.

Also, if I've read the Sony HAP manual correctly, the only way to get CDs into it's internal drive is via the CD drive on a computer with Sony's proprietary software installed.  So you would actually HAVE TO use the computer to do that function.