Dead Bluesound Node 2
Used original Auralic Aries Femto will leave the Node 2i in the dust as would the lower priced Aries Mini. There is one for sale on A'Gon now for $700. https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9j02d-auralic-aries-wireless-streaming-bridge-media-servers?refsource=hifishark |
Corelli I agree with you, I prefer silver discs to streaming for a multitude of reasons, one of which is ease of use. Yes, CDPs can break, but I have had very few of them develop an issue, and when they did it was after years of heavy use. Streaming resembles my IT system at work, where I might have to reboot my computer several times a day. Actually, compared to that, my home streaming audio equipment seems remarkably reliable... so why did I get involved in streaming? First, using a service such as Qobuz is a great way to sample new recordings. I read many Classical Music review magazines and my shelves are jammed with CDs that were impulse purchases that I have listened to perhaps twice and now gather dust. Now if a disc strikes my fancy I stream it first, and if I really like it I buy it. Secondly, I live in a 3 story house with a system on each floor, and instead of having to run upstairs to fetch a CD I pull out my phone and stream it, if I have burned it to my NAS. I have had two surgeries in the past 4 years, and will have knee surgery after the Holidays. In each case I am confined to one level of my home for a few days and it’s nice to be able to access my music from anywhere. And finally, one day I might have to abandon the home as to difficult to manage and I won’t be moving to a space that can accommodate 10,000 CDs |
I would suggest buying a Belcanto. I can point you towards a dealer who could sell it to you for about $1,300 and save you $300. He told me sound quality is much better than the Blue Sound. I purchased the Blue Sound Node 2i to save money and added a Project DAC, but preferred the sound of the Blue Sound played by itself. I liked the sound of MQA despite what others in this group think. The Belcanto cannot play completely unfolded MQA. However, the dealer I talked to told me the Belcanto sounds considerably better. |
Thanks to everyone for the thoughtful responses. Here are a few more points: First, the factory reset did not work. Bluesound was unwilling to be specific about the failure, but did say that it was a component failure that caused my unit to lock itself into Update Mode and so no, it can't be rescued and no they won't reconsider their offer to me. Thank you very much. Still trying to get in touch with my dealer. Second, to the CDs are dead crowd, when my Bluesound Node decided to commit suicide, it was the ancient technological dinosaur silver discs and reliable Oppo player that saved the day when guests were here a few times over the recent holidays. So yeah, HR files sound great through the Node, but if it ain't workin'... As to my Qobuz playlists, lists created with the Node do not appear in my Qobuz app on my iPhone. My only hope is if I choose to replace the Node, that the 40 or 50 playlists backed-up to a flash-drive will then actually repopulate when I plug in that USB drive. A leap of faith that frankly, if I knew for sure, would go a long way towards encouraging me to get another Node. Even if I do, I'm likely to pick up a used one and not another new one. Once bitten, twice shy and all that. The Bluesound Node was supposed to be my easy entry into computer audio and streaming and only ended up reaffirming my fears. Still not sure what I'm gonna do. Definitely want to check out some alternatives. Once you have touchpad access to your 3,000 CD collection, it's tough to go back to one-at-a-timin'. Maybe I'll pull out that old 5-disc changer packed away in the basement... ? |
