I built a whole home audio streaming system around node and powernode and a Roon ROCK server built on an Intel NUC. It's been rock solid, and sounds great. 1 PowerNode for my living room (uses HDMI ARC to produce sound for the TV) 1 PowerNode for the backyard/pool area, and a Node partnered with a Musical Fidelity amp for my office/listening room. Affordable whole home audio with limited wiring requirements. All you need is a decent network and speakers.
These look like some excellent new offerings from Bluesound! I love my Node X that I just picked up last year, but I think there will be a Node Icon in my future 😆
Can the node icon be connected straight to the balanced inputs on a power amp (nilai) or would the sound quality be compromised without a proper pre amp in-between eg node - pre amp -power amp. Nice review many thanks Gregg
Glad you liked the overview. Yes, it has plenty of gain. The upcoming Icon will have fully balanced outputs, the Nano and Node are RCA. Thanks for watching
"No companies make their own DACs" ..... er think Rob Watts of Chord Electronics would disagree, not to mention the folks over at PS Audio or Grimm Audio using custom FPGAs
That is technically true as they program their own DACs, you are correct, but they still buy the FPGA which becomes the DAC from a parts vendor. Thanks for sharing.
I think I may have to upgrade my node 2i with a Node Icon. I'd previously been eyeing a NAD C658 as an upgrade and for the Dirac, but the price and 4 year old DAC chips gave me pause. Thanks for the review!
I believe it will boil down to the power supply you use. There are two internal power boards for the Node that allow you to add an external power supply. The Nanao, there will be quite a few linear, switching and battery bank power options that will increase the sound quality. I would put my money into upgrading your Nodes power supply. I had the LHY Node N130 power supply, and there was an obvious sound improvement. Power supplies do matter.
We agree with what @michaelwright1602 stated. Without a power supply, we think your older Node is probably better, but we have not physically tested that yet to see. Probably best to take the money you would spend on the Nano and upgrade the power supply for your Node.
I want to see a comparison between the WiiM Ultra and Bluesound NODE ICON... because we're talking about 3x the price and also without a Phono input that the Bluesound doesn't have... the WiiM is giving trouble in this market... lol
@@AbdoAbdala I am not a specialist but many people here say that bluesound use much higher quality parts than wiim. I myself own a powernode, and satisfied. But this is my first true audio setup so not much background experience)
There is no comparison, the icon is in a completely different league than the ultra. The parts quality and implementation are on a much higher level. Cam said even the entry nano sounded better then every wiim product including the ultra. I know you wiim fan boys buy those cheap steamers think they are the best there is but it’s not the case at all. Wiim is intelligent at marketing though by sponsoring RU-vid reviewers to rave about them ,that along with the very affordable price definitely convinced people that don’t know the whole story. You get what you pay for whether you want to believe it or not , granted the higher you go the percentage drops but it’s still true. I know many will say use a separate dac and it’s just as good but if you understand part quality and implementation then even using it as a digital transport with a separate dac the node will still sound better either way. Wiim is great value for the money but isn’t on the same level just as bluesound Isn’t on the same level as a streamer costing hundreds or thousands of dollars more. More expensive streamers exist because there are some people who have bigger budgets and appreciate the difference in quality it’s not because they have more money then brains ,it’s because they know the difference ;or those products wouldn’t exist….
@@Audiodreamer192-24 thanks for the info. I currently pair my Powernode with a pair of Buchardt P300 speakers, and they sound great. However the Dirac support with the Icon is very appealing, would you suggest to make a switch?
I have (3) Bluesound Node and love and hate them. There are numerous error messages I have to deal with over the past 5 years. Recently, "remote service error and internal server error" What the hell is that? I am reaching a point of switching to a new streamer!
Sorry you are having trouble. Many on our staff have multiple units with no issues. Have you reached out to the dealer you purchased from or Bluesound tech support?
I have node 130, using qobuz. Playing next song or choosing random a bit slow. I dont know it is already like that or upgrading power supply with sbooster make an impact.
Something seems off, we have no memory and just tested to confirm. It is lightning fast if you use Quboz inside the Bluesound app, the Quboz app is maybe 1.5 seconds between. If you purchased your 130 from Audio Advice, please feel free to reach out to our team for tech support. Thanks for watching
I also bought another streamer (Eversolo A6) because the user interface of the Node 2 is so slow. I keep it around for a second system and the radio apps.
Node with Dirac is an amazing option. I had the NAD M10 a few years ago and Dirac made a lot of difference in my hearing space. However, I did feel like the amp was underpowered, and it was way too expensive to use it just as a preamp. I did briefly have the Node at the same time and using both as preamp (with my older Rotel amp), I found little to no sonic difference (with Dirac off on M10 of course). Anyway, point is that adding a decent power amp like Schiit Vidar to this Node with Dirac would beat the pants off any sub $3000 DAC+Amp combo or all in one integrated amp in my opinion.
Nice overview. I was considering a Wiim for a second system, but the Nano looks more attractive because I have a NAD M33 in my main system. You forgot to mention one thing: the BluOS app is available for the Mac as well.
I can attest to the fact that the Node Nano is AWESOME! I just needed a streamer, I don’t need all the extras on the other two but wanted something better than the wiims, the Nano surpassed what I was hoping for. Maybe because I had found streamers pretty underwhelming before I heard it. I power it off of a Halo battery and it’s 👌😎
@@AudioAdvice Interesting to see if someone is going to break the HiFi Rose Streaming capabilities…at WAY less than $6k .I’ll hold out for a better mid price streamer with I2S for my Denafrips DAC .
Bluesound is a higher quality product with better sound quality. The new icon will stomp all over the wiim ultra being that it has much better hardware also dual sabre dac chips and balanced XLR and real room correction via Dirac instead of the micky mouse use your phone mic on the ultra. It cost more because it’s better…
@@Audiodreamer192-24 ok,that’s all good ..I run a Wiim Pro feeding a Denafrips DAC ..I’m good …will I get a better streaming (Amazon Music lest say ) experience…..I suspect that to get a clearly better experience on music playback ..I suspect you’re going to spend even more …I see that i2S is missing 🧐 My next streamer will have it …
Thanks for asking this question. I assumed wrongly that the Dirac capability would still work using an external dac via usb. The fact that it doesn't makes these new Node streamers much less attractive to me.
Hi, thanks for this video! I have a question: I have a Hisense PL1 ultra short throw projector with 2x HDMI (1x eArc, 1 normal), I connect a Nvidia Shield to the normal HDMI. Could I now connect the eArc of the PL1 to the eArc of a NODE ICON, and then the NODE ICON to an amp that drives my 2 speakers? I always thought I'd need an AVR for this, but with the ICON, this maybe isn't even necessary? What would be the downsides? I know there's no Dolby Atmos support, but does it even matter when using only 2 speakers? Any answers are appreciated!
You are welcome, yes you could do that, or you could use their version that has eArc and an amp built in www.audioadvice.com/products/bluesound-powernode-wireless-music-streaming-amplifier-black
@@AudioAdvice Thanks for the fast reply - thing is, I plan on getting an Audia Flight FL Three S amp, so the ICON without a built-in amp is fine, I would then connect it via the XLR out of the ICON to the XLR in of the Audia amp. Guess the benefits of an AVR over the ICON would be that an AVR supports more formats and features such as lip sync, but from what I read, eArc should take care of lip sync, but not sure how exactly it works as I'm rather new to this stuff
@@AudioAdvice One last question, let's say I'm watching something on the Nvidia Shield with the above-mentioned setup, so the sound of what I'm watching on the Shield is processed by the ICON, and then I want to listen to music via BluOS App, but I keep the Shield running - does the icon have an input selection kind of thing where I can just select which source should be used?
@@AudioAdvice thanks for the response. Adding a parametric EQ shouldn't increase the price. I doubt maintaining a price point was the reason they didn't add it either.
Yes, but in the audio world, that is still pretty new, Pandora was really the first viable, not pirating service, it came out in 2005, followed by Spotify in 2008. Thanks for sharing
I have a Marantz Pre Pro with HEOS and I have never liked it. I've been toying with the idea of purchasing a separate streamer but I can't make up my mind which to buy. It seems like new streamers are released every month.
Ok. So basically would this work for someone who wants more than a full surround soundbar (dragon, Q990C) but can’t run wires/cut holes in the walls, etc and be able to setup a full Atmos 7.2.4 HT system all without any wires? (Except maybe sub) With the recent announcement of the dragons 12” upgrades, i and maybe others are wanting to fill that niche that true HT systems can do, for example; upgrade speakers/amps/subs and even channels as you go without needing all of the wires and installation hardware and supporting accessories plus be able to be nearly all wireless and even choose your own speakers/subs etc?? 🎉 Not sure if this makes sense, but if the Node can do everything, even Dirac that a separate receiver/processor can, sign me up!! 🎉 thanks
Sorry, the Node is a 2 channel unit. It does have eArc so you can connect a TV but you would be playing 2 speakers and sub. They also make a soundbar with wireless speakers and a subwoofer though. Please feel free to reach out to our team for more details.
The wiim fan boys club gets all triggered when Bluesound comes out with new products. They think those cheap streamers are the best there is lol I for one am glad Bluesound is innovating again. They are quality products.
Bluesound makes very high quality gear and they have stood the test of time. Wiim has done the industry good as it added a new level of competition that will result in better gear from everyone. Thanks for sharing.
@@AudioAdvice I agree that the wiim products are good value for the money and have spurred more competition, but their fan base is made up of yahoos that think they are the best out there but they are only the cheapest … for the most part you get what you pay for.
eARC allows a TV to send uncompressed Dolby Atmos, ARC is Dolby Surround, but it does not matter as both are two channel units and you should set your TV to output PCM for the best result in our opinion. Both connections allow the remote for the unit to control the TV volume. Thanks for watching
Did they fix their wifi chips yet? Node x, nad m10, powernode, I have them all and the wifi is terrible. Meanwhile my super cheap wiims work no problem is the same places.
@@AudioAdvice yup. The lowest octaves are augmented. Not in a natural way, like how Dirac does it. The bass on the sub out sounds like the augmented bass on JBL systems in a Toyota out of their "subwoofer" in the Tundra. It's not good. Wasn't a fan.
I'm so disappointed too, the ICON where my first buy, so the Eversolo DMP-A6 is the only way for Apple Hi Res as streamer. Sorry Bluesound, you ignore that so far.
Headaches and the lack of prompt software fixes come included. Let's hope they don't have the 88.2 khz sampling rate distortion bug with Tidal like NAD is having right now.
Funny, most of the comments from users have been about how the software updates have been good and the units have been very reliable, which is our experience.
@@AudioAdvice test some 88.2khz tracks through Tidal on NAD products with Dirac on. Don't have the volume loud. Sometimes it's ok for a couple days, then other times, it constantly happens. But it will distort at random out of either speaker or very rarely both. But it goes away when you skip to the next track that is not 88.2khz. It happens via BluOS and Tidal Connect. Anyway 88.2KHz is the constant... Unluckily, after the presumed removal of lasts remaining MQA's on Tidal, those files are still recognised by Bluos as MQA and processed to 88.2KHz.
@@AudioAdvice thank you. I greatly appreciate it. I've noticed the tracks have to be in a playlist like the favorites and they have to play naturally through the play queue. I haven't had the bug happen when I just select the track with 88.2 khz. So far people with the C658, C399 and 3050LE are experiencing this issue. Haven't tracked down what other NAD/Bluesound products are affected.
@@dicmccoy Give us a few days. It sounds like we need a long playlist with 88.2 Tidal and Dirac engaged. Out of curiosity, have you tried Qobuz? We realize it is not MQA.
Why not just connect my speakesr to my PC directly. I don't really understand this kind of product. Why pay for an intermediary device. PC to active speakers or TV to active speakers with eARC. Done.
@@AudioAdvice I mean use a DAC, of course. Why should someone buy this instead of a DAC, lol. Just buy a soncoz SGD-1 with usb-c interface and it does DDC into active speakers or whatever you need. These boxes serve no purpose.
Where are the digital inputs? So disappointing! With an improved dac, it’s a shame that you cannot connect a tv to or computer to the nano. Thought it was a Wiim killer. Wiim pro plus got the features right. Man, just disappointed because I’d rather have bluesound rather than wiim 🥲
