The main draw with Roon is the awesome user interface as well as the sound quality is better than say iTunes. You would have to run the roon core software on a computer then from there you can send to your DAC as a RAAT (Roon Advanced Audio Transport) which is the highest quality way to stream from Roon. I hear it as far superior to airplay or spotify connect or Tidal even in my system. Roon is a joy to use and explore your music far better than Tidal and it integrates Tidal so think of it as a way better Tidal user experience as well as better sound. You can use your phone as a remote control to run roon or an iPad or a desktop app as well. It's a little confusing to make sense of how it works. I was terribly confused when I first looked into it but I can tell you it's one thing I would never want to be without. A roon lifetime membership is about the same price as a new node 2i
Any advantage to Bluesound Node 2i Versus Streaming from PC
I'm trying a loaner Bluesound Node 2i streamer which salesperson said will sound better than streaming from my PC. I doubted this since both are just feeding a digital signal to my Amp. It's just zeros and ones right? I have the Bluesound connected with a decent (not high end) digital coaxial cable to my Lyngdorf 3400. The PC is connected with a cheap USB cable to the same Lyngdorf. The sensitivity of both inputs is set to 0dB. The bluesound is set to fixed volume and the PC volume is set to max. I am playing Tidal through both input devices. I am trying to discern if there is any difference in sound quality. When played through the amp the bluesound volume is a whole lot louder than the PC. I have not found a way to level match the two inputs for comparison. The bluesound sounds good and is a lot louder per any particular volume setting on the amp. Does this mean the Bluesound is sending a better signal to the amp? Is the coaxial cable a better medium to transmit the audio signal? Is this the reason it's louder? Could the Tidal feed through Bluesound be better than the Tidal Desktop app on my PC? I need some help as I have to decide by Saturday whether to keep the Bluesound or return it. Other than sound quality there are only minor advantages to owning the Bluesound which don't warrant the purchase. My amp has a built in streamer but no built in Tidal (which is the reason I'm using the PC.)
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- 56 posts total
- 56 posts total