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New Bluesound Node – First Impressions

I'm new to streaming. To get started, I ordered the new Bluesound Node, the just-released successor to the Node2i. It arrived Friday. System: Sonus faber Olympica III speakers, McIntosh MC402 power amp, Magnum Dynalab MD208 used as a preamp, Denon DCD-1600NE SACD/CD player, and various cables, mostly Audioquest. I offer my first impressions, FWIW. I don't claim any particular expertise.

I connected the Node to the pre via Audioquest interconnects. It doesn't accept my aftermarket power cords. Used wireless, not ethernet. I have free trial subscriptions to Amazon Music and Qobuz.

First, Amazon Music. Tried some Beethoven, and some Rameau, with poor results. Compressed, tinny, and unlistenable. 10 minutes of Amazon HD was more than enough.

Next, Qobuz. Brahms, Schumann, Led Zep, Bowie. A very substantial improvement on Amazon HD. Notably, on the same tracks, the Qobuz high-rez sounded significantly better than the Qobuz CD-quality. Differences were immediately apparent on Led Zep's Dazed and Confused, available in both formats.

But the Qobuz high-rez can't compare with CD quality sound on my system as currently configured. On the same recordings, CD quality is clearly superior to Qobuz high-rez played through the Node. Detail, presence, dimensionality – there's no contest.

As a means to explore music to purchase on CD, the Node, playing Qobuz, may or may not suffice. As a substitute for CDs, I very much doubt it will do.

Let me re-emphasize that these are only my first impressions. I don't know how the Node will sound after further break-in, or with an ethernet connection, or with an external DAC, or with different interconnects/preamps/amps/speakers, or with other streaming services. I hope this post is helpful to other forum members considering this or similar equipment.


gg107
audioguy85's avatar
audioguy85
2,033 posts
 
And that is why I went with the grace digital link....$159 on sale... to spend more on a streamer is foolish, especially if you are going to use an external dac. It can stream up to cd quality, which is really all you need...and it has a nice lcd screen so I can observe what is playing and enjoy the album art. Why the node chose to delete an lcd screen is beyond me. The grace digital link is connected to a musical fidelity v90 dac. Streaming is a convenience feature at least to me. Any serious listening is done firstly via lp’s, secondly cd’s, lastly cassette tapes. You would be surprised how nice a cassette tape can sound on a solid 3 head cassette deck (Aiwa AD f770). I still find FM radio to be very satisfying, in particular 89.7 wgbh, and 99.5 wcrb, Boston. I still own 4 tuners...one of which is a creek t43. Large winegard antenna in attic pulls in stations crystal clear.
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parker65310
212 posts
 
I’ve got the Node2. When I first bought it I used the internal DAC. It was ok with high res Tidal streaming. However, when I hooked it up to a MHDT Orchid tube DAC it was a massive upgrade. I also use a digital coax (Node2 to Orchid) and RCA to Balanced XLR to my BAT tube preamp. All cables are from Silnote Audio. Excellent quality via direct sales, very affordable prices with great build quality. I took the setup to my dad’s recently when I visited for a week. He has always been very skeptical about streaming quality compared to cds and that is not the case anymore. He thought this setup sounds better than his CD player and I have to agree. He is still startled with how good it sounded. Every aspect of the sound quality was exceptional through his Martin Logan hybrid speakers (BAT tube preamp and BAT solid state amp). CDs he has listened to for decades he thought emphatically sounded better than he’s every heard them before. Quite an endorsement. Bottom line, upgrade to a separate DAC and only use the Node for the streaming itself.
vinylshadow
533 posts
 
I have the Node 2i and made a crucial upgrade.
I replaced the Node 2i's PSU borad with a PD Creative PSU upgrade board(sold on EBay) and bought a 5V/3A SBooster Linear Power Supply(Upscale Audio). I was then able to use a Vertere Acoustics Redline power cable with a 15A IEC.
The sonics quality jumped immensely. Tremendous improvement. I imagine you could do the same with your Node.

You can find forums where folks did what I did and it is unanimous how great the improvements are. I am not using the Node 2i's DAC. I'm using my Classe processors 24/192v DAC with a Blue Jeans Belden 1694A coax with Canare RCAP connectors. Although I just bought Canare LV-61S cable with Canare RCAP C4A connectors from B&H Photo that are supposed to sound better than the Belden.
oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
4,202 posts
 
I have a Vault 2i and it sounds great .  Quality silver digital coax to my RME adi-2 DAC sounds excellent.  Connected to network via CAT 8 cable.  I have used the Vaults RCA and it sounded decent , not as good as the RME , but sounds pretty good with good source material. 

I am perfectly content, I am curious how much REAL  improvement would cost.   I bought the Vault to mainly rip CDs but it quickly became my most used source due to its streaming capabilities. 
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