Bluesound

rickelrod

Active Member
It seems there has not been much in the way of discussions regarding Bluesound products. I have read about chromecast but not had the opportunity to hear the sound quality. While at a brick and mortar today picking up some repaired equipment I had the opportunity to hear it first hand. I thought overall the Flex and Pulse 2 sounded nice. I am mainly looking to feed a streaming source (Tidal) to different areas of my home and it seems very flexible. Would those who use Bluesound products please share your thoughts and experiences? One thing that I liked was its ease to operate.
 
I have three Node 2s in different systems throughout the house. Easy to use with the iOS and mobile apps, not so much with the Windows app. The sound is excellent with the digital outputs, and very good with the analog outputs. I'm looking to add a couple more to other areas of the house. There have been a few quirks, but Bluesound support has been great - fast and very helpful. I have not heard the Flex or Pulse, and I'm curious what people think of those.
 
I have three Node 2s in different systems throughout the house. Easy to use with the iOS and mobile apps, not so much with the Windows app. The sound is excellent with the digital outputs, and very good with the analog outputs. I'm looking to add a couple more to other areas of the house. There have been a few quirks, but Bluesound support has been great - fast and very helpful. I have not heard the Flex or Pulse, and I'm curious what people think of those.
So the Node is more of a streamer/server that utilizes your system(s) ? You are not using any of Bluesounds speakers?
 
I've owned a Node 2 for a few months now. It's absolutely fantastic. I use it exclusively for streaming Tidal and to be honest it has changed how I listen in a very positive way. It does have a USB port on the back that allows for external drives and USB sticks to be attached. I'm 100% streaming so I have not tested out that feature. The user interface on the iOS app is great. I've connected it to some multi-thousand dollar DACs and can say it's good enough to use with any DAC your budget allows despite the modest price of the Node 2.
 
I am also a Node 2 user. I stream Tidal and Tune In Radio

I did a lot of reading and narrowed it down to this device or the Aurilic Aries Mini. My thought was that the Blusound was better due to having a better DAC. What several people have said is the DAC in the Node 2 is the equivalent to $500- 600.00 external DACs.

I think it sounds better than the Apple Express and Apple TV with external DACs. THe main benefit for me was NO DROPOUTS!

The interface with my Ipod and Iphone is really good but could use improvement.

I will probably buy another Node 2 for my upstairs system. But, if Bluesound were to make a less expensive streaming device with less features (ideally the same DAC ;-) I would definitely buy that.

I have never heard the Bluesound self powered speakers but if I needed a self powered speaker, I would definitely consider them.
 
I did a lot of reading and narrowed it down to this device or the Aurilic Aries Mini. My thought was that the Blusound was better due to having a better DAC. What several people have said is the DAC in the Node 2 is the equivalent to $500- 600.00 external DACs.

Exactly this. The RCA outs sounds very...very good.

I also looked at much more expensive similar components ranging up to around $3,500. In the end I decided...that most are Raspberry Pi based and have the digital outputs. I was specifically looking at the Bryston BDP-Pi and Bryston BDP3. Having auditioned those products, which are very good, I don't feel like I am missing out and saved a lot of money at the same time. That's coming from a strong Bryston fan that has owned a lot of their components over the years.
 
You should also consider the Yamaha WXC-50, I recently picked one up after considering the Sonos Connect and the Bluesound Node 2. Quite happy with the performance and features. Definitely worthwhile to put this into the mix for you consideration.
 
You should also consider the Yamaha WXC-50, I recently picked one up after considering the Sonos Connect and the Bluesound Node 2. Quite happy with the performance and features. Definitely worthwhile to put this into the mix for you consideration.

Meh. The Yamaha has only recently support Tidal via an update. I consider the Node 2 a more mature product for Tidal. The user interface is and how it in implemented is important. That's one of the reasons the Node won out for me over the much more expensive components from Bryston.
 
I have a Bluesound Pulse that I picked up from my local Craigslist at an insanely low price. I think that it sounds pretty good with the built in speakers, not too bad for background music in a bedroom/kitchen/office area. I wouldn't have paid full price but that is due to price versus need rather than sound quality for me.

I do plan on picking up a Bluesound Vault 2 in the next month or two. Looking to rip 4K+ CDs to a music server... running out of places to put these things! :)
 
I have a Bluesound Pulse that I picked up from my local Craigslist at an insanely low price. I think that it sounds pretty good with the built in speakers, not too bad for background music in a bedroom/kitchen/office area. I wouldn't have paid full price but that is due to price versus need rather than sound quality for me.

I do plan on picking up a Bluesound Vault 2 in the next month or two. Looking to rip 4K+ CDs to a music server... running out of places to put these things! :)
Which of the 3 Pulses did you get? I was told by the salesman that they like the sound on the smallest and larger one but not so much the mid sized one.
 
Which of the 3 Pulses did you get? I was told by the salesman that they like the sound on the smallest and larger one but not so much the mid sized one.

Don't really know which model I have, I'll have to take a look at it when I get home tonight.
 
I have the 1st generation node (since Jan 2015) and like it very much.
  • It is Spotify Connect capable which allows everyone in my family to use the main music system
  • It can pull music files stored on my headless computer
  • The BluOS app is nice and convenient, although I have Roon as well and use that most of the time
  • I use the analog output - sounds very good to me
An extra line input would be nice and I will probably upgrade to the Node 2 soon.
 
I have the 1st generation node (since Jan 2015) and like it very much.
  • It is Spotify Connect capable which allows everyone in my family to use the main music system
  • It can pull music files stored on my headless computer
  • The BluOS app is nice and convenient, although I have Roon as well and use that most of the time
  • I use the analog output - sounds very good to me
An extra line input would be nice and I will probably upgrade to the Node 2 soon.
I use the 1st gen node,and like you,I'm happy with it.
 
I am thinking the Node 2 and one of the speakers for the kitchen to get started. We have an old stone house and running wiring inconspicuously is almost impossible. The speaker will be nice to move around in the rooms where my equipment isn't. I am concerned that the Node and the speaker may have trouble communicating. Thanks to all for your input.
 
The node and the speaker don’t need to communicate with each other. As long as each device by itself can reliably connect to your WiFi router, you are all set.

Using the BluOS app, music can be cast to the node or speaker or both.

That said, I have the node on a wired connection to the router.
 
Using a NODE 2 as a replacement for a SB3. The sound is fuller, richer even the USB in sounds better than OK.
 
So I picked up a Node2 and Pulse 2 speaker. Speaker sounds much larger than its size and quite nice. Good for what I bought it for, quality background noise and casual listening without the production of setting up another system, wiring etc. Wife not fond of all the hardware. Have not installed the Node 2 yet but will report back with my thoughts.

Rick
 
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