Finally taken the plunge and ordered a Node 2i due to the price reduction. The vast majority of written and YouTube reviews are very positive and the the £100 off could not be ignored. Someone sold a used Node 2i on eBay yesterday for £362 + £ 9 p&p! Unfortunately Richer Sounds have stopped selling at the reduced price, so I brought mine from Amazon. I have been watching this thread for a couple of months and can't wait to hook it up to my system. Any keys tips folks on initial set up?
Thanks - I intend to use the analog RCA connections to my amp. I will now look at selling my old Arcam rDac wireless as it will now be redundant. Already have Spotify Premium and will try Tidal when they have their next 3 month offer. Not too sure the kids will appreciate me swapping streaming services.I got mine on Saturday and have been using it 5-6 hours every day since without a single issue. I did have to connect it via Ethernet over Powerline though, but that's mainly because my WiFi isn't very stable for music purposes. I have mine connected to my amp via the Coax Digital Output.
I found it very easy to set up and so far, have found BluOS to be a very good app. I use Tidal currently and have been comparing BluOS with Roon. If there is an improvement with Roon, I haven't been able to hear it, so will likely drop Roon when my free trial runs out at the weekend.
Just make sure you allow BluOS to update your Roon 2i when you first switch it all on and you should be good to go. This update took a little time on mine, but it's worth it.
Enjoy! It really is a bargain at this price.
I just connected up the SBT, then using Shairtunes2 plugin to be able sync the SBT and 2i over Airplay (played via FLAC's from my iPhone). Which seemed about the easiest way to facilitate A/B switching on my amp given 2 different platforms.
Basically zero difference.
Tl;dr, My experience with all these 'value' units sporting Delta-Sigma based chips is they fundamentally sound the same!
I would suggest if your SBT is working and you're happy with the software and platform, then put the 2i money into an external DAC and treat the SBT as a transport.
Very interesting write-up, thanks for experimenting! I feared buyers remorse if purchasing the Bluesound Node 2i, particularly if not noticing any tangible increase in performance.
I'm now turning my attention to the Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 as a neater one-box solution!
Depends on your amp I guess but it's highly likely that the money put towards an 1120 in your case would be a better overall spend than even an external DAC now - certainly if what's touted on here is even merely half true about them!
I also quite like the idea of these TDAi amps but I'm a little concerned the 1120 is not powerful enough (I certainly don't want to go backwards in power), the 2170 seems dated and lacking features compared to the other models, and the 3140 is simply rather expensive!
I'm currently using a Yamaha AV amp into my Kef speakers, and have been thinking about getting an integrated amp with HT bypass for a while, to get more out of the music side of things. The power of the 1120 is the one thing that worries me - I'm trying to get one for home demo, but I'm concerned that if I like the concept, I made end up just shooting for the 3140 which I'm not sure will get past SWMBO!
I'm currently using a Yamaha AV amp into my Kef speakers, and have been thinking about getting an integrated amp with HT bypass for a while, to get more out of the music side of things.
You’ll find my topic on the Hi-Fi Separates forum. I have a Yamaha RX-A3010 feeding B&W speakers and wasn’t at all happy about the sound quality I was getting. In short, after demoing both a Naim Supernait 3 and the smaller XS3 I opted for the latter and I have my hi-fi system back.
AVRs just can’t cut it for music with a couple of exceptions. A Rega Elicit might suit your KEFs. Get a home demo - you can’t judge things in a shop.
Thanks Ray, just noticed your thread. Will need to set aside some time to read it all properly, as it's quite a long one!
I've been debating whether moving from a Yamaha to Arcam or Anthem AV amp would help with music duties, but I'm increasingly coming to the inclusion that a dedicated stereo amp/streamer is probably the way to go.
I suppose it depends on whether you would like a one-box solution (Arcam) or two like me.
If you have no say on what iron she wants how can she influence your hifi decision?Thanks Ray. Obviously my preference is a two-box solution, but I haven't put that past my wife yet. She is most likely to take a different view.
You assume Tejstar doesn't wield an iron, and that considering how many boxes are on display in the shared home is solely his decision.
So much casual sexism in one sentence.
So much casual sexism in one sentence.
Crikey! It was meant as a joke. Humour generally pokes fun at people. Lighten up lady.
@TB Rich , well said sir.
Someone posted me a jpg many years ago of a male protester standing at the back of a group of women protesting about equal rights. He was holding up a placard with "B**ch, iron my shirt" on it. It was probably that which jogged my memory. I think he lived but cannot be sure.
On two occasions when the 2i went to a new song during shuffle play there was a pretty massive rise in volume even though I have the volume limiter setting