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Bluesound products to add to hifi satisfaction?

I have a hi-fi system of moderate quality and price point. I actually have two systems. I would like to improve the sound and functionality of my digital music playback by adding a Bluesound Node 2.

I have an external HDD connected to an older Macbook Pro running Itunes with my library of ripped CD music and I also use Spotify on my Iphone 5s on a Pure I-20 dock as my music sources.

The rest of my system is digital, I don't run a turntable.

Currently I have a Parasound A21 and P3, Shiit Audio Bifrost Uber DAC, Iphone on a Pure I-20 dock running Spotify with Magnepan MMG speakers in one system. I have a Line Magnetic Audio 216ia (integrated tube amp) with a Benchmark  USB DAC1 and Rega Apollo CD player and the Pure I-20 dock with Iphone running Spotify with Vandersteen 2CE Sig II speakers in the second system.

Now on to the question. Would adding the budget friendly Bluesound Node 2 allow me to simplify my digital system by combining my library of music on HDD and having one place for Spotify streaming... the Node 2. Would the sound quality improve as well?

The Node 2 at $500 seems to be an incredible deal for a HQ streaming device 24/192.

Am I missing something??
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samac's avatar
samac
499 posts
 
Very satisfied Bluesound Node 2 user as well. It has great sound with its internal DAC, great BluOS, build quality and customer support.

The sound quality for me with the Node 2s internal DAC is so good that I haven't used my external DAC since I began using it. I use the Node 2 connected via Cat 6a Ethernet cable to my router.

Cheers,

Scott
2psyop's avatar
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2psyop OP
1,668 posts
 
Thanks for the feedback. Ghosthouse- that was a great review of the Aries Mini. You might want to post it as a stand alone review of the product for everyone to see. I have ordered a Bluesound Node 2, since I need something that streams and will integrate my Itunes ripped library on HDD. I hope? that it will read my drive without too much fuss. I will dig deep into the Bluesound website forum for the best setup. Perhaps later I can give a review.
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
4,319 posts
 
You are welcome 2psyop.  Might re-post that Aries Mini info as you suggest.  I did not know all that much about it when I got it.  The whole computer/ streaming thing was/is still pretty new to me.  I expect you will enjoy the BlueSound Node2.  The Aries Mini read very quickly my ripped CD iTunes library that was on a 2TB Seagate External Hard Drive.  A little over 400 CDs took maybe a minute or two at most.  As mentioned, only "complaint" is about the album art.  I think there's a fix for it but not worth the time.  It really doesn't bother me all that much since key information (individual track names; times) is shown.  I also like that you can click on the name of the track that's playing and get an expanded view that'll give the file type, resolution and speed.  Navigating between my iTunes library and My Favorites in Tidal is very fast.  Good luck with the BlueSound.  Checkout Computer Audiophile if you have not yet.  Believe there are some very positive comments about it there.

  
williewonka
3,082 posts
 
2psyop - I had an iMac running iTunes for library management and Audirvana for actual streaming of my songs from a NAS drive. The iMac was connected via USB to a Musical Fidelity V-Link192 that in turn was connected via SPDIF (wire) to a Bifrost DAC - with a NAIM 5i MKII as the amplification

I’ve since replaced the iMac/V-Link/Bifrost with a Node 2 - connecting via ethernet directly to the NAS drive.

Reliability has improved, although I did experience a few dropouts of 24/192 tracks when connected via wi-fi, but that was on a day when voip phone and VPN was very active.

Sound quality was marginally better with the Node 2, but then it’s only had a few hours burn in compared to much longer on the previous setup - I expect it to get much better.

The Node 2 control interface is not quite as flexible as iTunes, and some functions, like creating playlists, is a little more awkward.

is it perfect? - not yet.

But I won’t be going back any time soon

BTW - the Node 2 sound quality improves when good IC's and PC's are used

Regards...
jond's avatar
jond
5,916 posts
 
I'm the one who recommended the Aries Mini to Ghosthouse, glad your still enjoying it so much, and agree with what he says, with a few of my own observations. I never had an issue going straight to my DAC via the coax spdif output, obviously totally different system and Dac and digital cable. I went with the Sbooster power supply $370 from Acoustic Sounds and got a nice increase in sound quality. One of the biggest difference makers for me is the Aries can run on the much less crowded 5ghz band and I experience virtually no dropouts.  Also in case this wasn't clear you can put a ssd in the Aries but you can also, and I do, stream from an external hard drive or NAS wirelessly.  It sounds like the Aries and Blue Sound are both good devices so either way I'm sure you'll be happy.
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