[AmpDesigner333]

Just purchased a Bluesound Node 2i for our demo room.  The questions we want to answer involve mostly volume control of external sources and the user interface (iPhone/iPad app for control)....

The general idea is to skip the preamp using the Node 2i to drive the Cherry DAC DAC directly (which drives the amps directly).  Primary streaming source will be Qobuz.  I'm a big fan!!

-Tommy O

[lewdogg]

That's what I'm doing in my living room setup. Node2i -> DAC DAC 1 HS -> STM2 King -> Philharmonitor BMRs. Works great for me!

[AmpDesigner333]

That's what I'm doing in my living room setup. Node2i -> DAC DAC 1 HS -> STM2 King -> Philharmonitor BMRs. Works great for me!

Loving it so far. Ironically driving the optical input from a SBT, and it allows volume control (tone controls, too, if you like) of the external source.  Haven’t tried analog input yet, but soon....

Oh yeah, mine’s white.  Thought it would be black (preferred).

[OzarkTom]

I replaced my Sony Hap-2IES with one of these and I love it. It sounds better than the Sony and much more flexible.

[JLM]

I replaced my Sony Hap-2IES with one of these and I love it. It sounds better than the Sony and much more flexible.

"Sony HAP-2IES"??  Might you mean "Sony HAP-Z1ES"?

[apstoltz]

Would it be worth one getting the 2 instead of the 2i if I were using a standalone dac?

[bacobits1]

The Nodes are indeed very good. I went with the 2i because of the AC wifi capability. I'm on Qobuz
If you are hard wiring go for the 2. The 2i has been flawless since I have had it and going into my DAC.
Oh, use a better power Cable too. Using a Wireworld Mini Electra PC.

As I had mentioned before I wanted to get rid of the Computer streaminig/ USB etc. Mission accomplished.
 

[RolandButcher]

On another thread, Stu Pitt noted that https://www.safeandsoundhq.com/ is selling refurbished NODE 2 and 2i for a solid discount. He also says:

“BTW for those that remember them, Safe and Sound took over for Spearit Sound when the owner retired. I had a great experience with Safe and Sound...”

[AmpDesigner333]

Running some experiments....



Hardest part was getting the Node to see my music library on the NAS.  NAS settings must be just right, and so does the path. Some helpful people posted about this and that helped, but it still took more than an hour to figure it out.  I play Qobuz mostly, too, so giving up on the NAS thing was on my mind.

[AmpDesigner333]

By the way....

My previous setup required a PC on the network running LMS (in the background) to serve the data.

This new setup with the Node frees up my PC so I don't need to be on the same network to listen to tunes.

I was enjoying some internet radio last night, and the user interface is pretty easy to use.  It helps that Allentown PA is on the first page of the location list.

[witchdoctor]

I like the Bluos selection of streaming services, if you haven't tried nugs.net yet might be worth checking some of their live concert recordings.

[AvsFan]

That's what I'm doing in my living room setup. Node2i -> DAC DAC 1 HS -> STM2 King -> Philharmonitor BMRs. Works great for me!

That’s one hell of a system!!! I have the STM 48v,1 HS and am seriously looking into the Node 2i but it would have to be significantly better than my current streamer/pre-amp, my Yamaha WXC50. And I would also have the Philharmonitor BMR’s, but when I finally got around to ordering them, they weren’t making them anymore and it seems like they are still not making them? What’s going on over there? Are they just not making speakers anymore? I have my Cherry stack hooked up to Magnepan LRS’s. I know terrible huh. Lol. The Node has volume control right? Does it have audio settings like treble, bass, mid bass subwoofer trine levels and so on? My current Yamaha does. One of the reasons I’ve had it in multiple systems for so long. It’s a great piece and is really a do it all piece.

[snbeall]

I have both the Node2i and Powernode2i. The BluOS system is nice. I use the Node 2i digital out to my Meridian DSP speakers. What is unique about it is that the digital output can be set to variable, thus giving iOS based control over digital volume. Apparently Bluesound has a proprietary digital volume control which allows digital volume control without audible effects. Another nice feature is the ability to do the first unfold of MQA to 24/96 and output to outside DAC. As for the Powernode 2i, and this strays a bit off topic, but the sound of the hybrid digital amp is very nice. It’s from sister company NAD. Any idea what this HybridDigital amp is?

[AmpDesigner333]

That’s one hell of a system!!! I have the STM 48v,1 HS and am seriously looking into the Node 2i but it would have to be significantly better than my current streamer/pre-amp, my Yamaha WXC50. And I would also have the Philharmonitor BMR’s, but when I finally got around to ordering them, they weren’t making them anymore and it seems like they are still not making them? What’s going on over there? Are they just not making speakers anymore? I have my Cherry stack hooked up to Magnepan LRS’s. I know terrible huh. Lol. The Node has volume control right? Does it have audio settings like treble, bass, mid bass subwoofer trine levels and so on? My current Yamaha does. One of the reasons I’ve had it in multiple systems for so long. It’s a great piece and is really a do it all piece.

Yes, Node has sub and tone controls....

[AmpDesigner333]

I have both the Node2i and Powernode2i. The BluOS system is nice. I use the Node 2i digital out to my Meridian DSP speakers. What is unique about it is that the digital output can be set to variable, thus giving iOS based control over digital volume. Apparently Bluesound has a proprietary digital volume control which allows digital volume control without audible effects. Another nice feature is the ability to do the first unfold of MQA to 24/96 and output to outside DAC. As for the Powernode 2i, and this strays a bit off topic, but the sound of the hybrid digital amp is very nice. It’s from sister company NAD. Any idea what this HybridDigital amp is?

Digital attenuation is a simple multiply operation.  The bit depth is the DAC is important here, but technically, with 24 bit data from after the attenuation, you still get 16 bit resolution even with more than 50dB attenuation, and more bits as the volume “goes up”. There should be no audible artifacts with a properly designed digital attenuator driving an adequate DAC (higher SNR is best).  We suggest the 130dB+ Cherry DAC DAC 2 HS/HSV for amazing clarity regardless of the digital volume setting.

Regarding mqa, it’s a lossy compression algorithm with DRM, so we suggest “free” (FLAC, etc.) lossless playback instead, in PCM.  All other formats originate from PCM, including DSD, if not direct to disc (no mixing).  Albums are mastered in PCM, typically 96/24 these days.  The issue of effective resolution is something we’ll save for another discussion.  Bottom line is that there’s no need to improve on high-res PCM, and there’s plenty of bandwidth to transmit high rate PCM losslessly.  This is why we recommend Qobuz for lossless high-res streaming.