18 MORE THOUGHTS on the Bluesound NODE X

This video is brought to you by AudioQuest:

🎥 Camera: Jack Kaminski / John Darko
🎬 Editor: John Darko
🌈 Colour: Olaf von Voss
🕺🏻 Motion GFX: John Darko
💰 Ad segment: Jana Dagdagan

0:00 Intro
0:30 Fomo-Fi
1:59 Apple Music
4:32 Sonos
7:44 Digital sources #1
9:57 Digital sources #2
13:15 USB DACs?
15:22 The ghost of WiiM
18:37 What about the Eversolo?
20:22 Don't forget about beginners
22:17 Powernode X?

Bluesound NODE X

Bluesound NODE N130 (2021)

Wiim Mini

FiiO R7

Enleum AMP-23R

Zu Soul 6

#spotify #applemusic #hifi
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[carolineleonard]

I want to thank you for your thoroughness and explanatory output. They are comprehensive and great. Full stop.

[thebestoffools]

Dear John. The pops and crackling bug is when playing songs of different resolutions in playlists, not albums. I had this bug in Tidal. If you play a whole album, you don't get pops or crackling because songs on a same album are usually all of the same resolution. But if you have a playlist that has songs that go from low or lossy resolutions to song in high-res (like 48 to 192), you can get some pop and crackling (like a short digital noise) each time a song of a different resolution from the previous one starts playing. This usually happens a fraction of a second at the beginning of songs. This bug was logged I think more than 4 years ago and there doesn't appear to have any fix for it yet. And if I remember correctly, it was happening when the Node was used as a streamer hooked to an external dac. Mine was hooked to my Rega Elicit mk5's internal dac via a digital coax cable.

[NeilBlanchard]

Installing an external linear power supply on the Node 2i (and probably on all versions of the Node) - makes an enormous improvement in the sound quality. There are two companies that offer such power supplies - they both replace the internal switch mode power supply with an interface board (that has additional filtering and capacitance) and let you plug in an external 5V LPS.
And same goes for the WiiM - and it is easier to install a better power supply. Because it has a USB power plug.

[aeromaniac]

Thank you for fielding our questions. It shows you care! I personally feel like some of these questions sort of open up the discussion of "how much work and money does it take to make you happy/content with your music listening?". Just curious to know: do most of everyone here see this world of stereo being closer to a trade, or a passion? If I saw my piano and percussion work as a passion and not a trade, then I'd have confusion over what level of conviction do I need to possess in order to properly create music, but if I treat it as a trade, then my end result isn't necessarily focused on not being a "sellout" but rather just making sure my music creation quality increases over time as skill and creativity develop. It'd be the difference of practicing scales to improve dexterity rather than spending time trying to discover a scale that reflects my honest musical expression. I can safely say that in my 25+ years of writing and playing music, I've grown to care less about my "truthfulness" and more about my "wow that was fun!". What's been different is that I've accepted that I'm not able to tell someone what "real" music is, and ultimately that kind of attitude is too simplistic and reductive of others' experiences and life journeys... too preachy? lol

Do audiophiles also feel this way? Or is it entirely different?

[twiggyzappa]

I just missed this by a few weeks. I just purchased the standard node and knew I should've waited!

[OzSteve]

As always, love your videos John.

I was setting up a small system in my home office. I was looking at the Node X and the FiiO R7. I was lucky enough to be able to borrow the 2 locally for the weekend. I put the Node X through it's paces (and also in my main system) I didn't know how far I wanted my office system to go (did I want bookshelf speakers and an amp or powered monitors)
I then tested the R7. I fell inlove with it right away over the Node X. As all I really wanted was Roon/endpoint and PC speakers before looking into it.
So, I have the R7 and some Logitech speakers (for now) and my Focal MG Clear's and it's better than I imagined for what I wanted.
While I tested the Node X in my main system, it really was a huge let down there, as I run a G2 Auralic Aries and Chord TT2/M Scaler combo

I am really looking forward to the R7 review, be good to see if we have the same thoughts on it.

[riccardogiusti]

Thank you Darko because I think you are the only one to compare all the Nodes only as a streamer. I think it is the most probable use.

[alexorigoni]

So I, somewhat embarrassingly, am one of those people who uses a bluesound node as a streamer into a $6, 500 DAC. It didn’t start that way, but my $8, 500 prepro only has 2 zones available, and I frequently use 4 zones, all 2 channel “hi-fi”. The solution for getting around time delays was to use the 2 zones on my prepro, with high quality amplification, in my 2 main rooms, and 2 additional bluesound powernodes for my less important zones. The DSP time alignment from the source node then keeps everything in perfect time alignment.
It may not be the best network streamer, but it’s the best I’m aware of that handles multi zone without processing delay issues.

[Eliseheartspolitics]

Haha “the hifi equivalent of Narnia” love your work and sass John. Keep up the great work 😊 I’ve learned so much from your videos. Cheers, Elise

[riversx]

Wonderful follow up John. I appreciate that you’re listening.

[Another_Audiophile]

I think the comments section is also a discussion place. Maybe questions about compressions are not directed to you John but to anyone who might have experience with specific products. I agree that still, they have to mention it

[BrianMackinnon]

Are those Kef R3 Meta's in blue behind you???? Keep up the great content :)

[theisfh]

Do I see KEF R3 meta in the back? Is that a secret indication of a future video?

[markyexley]

The headphone amp was an attraction for me. I thought I would hold back on my FOMO, hoping that Bluesound would not follow up with an inferior Node. Hey ho the 2024, same headphone output, newer DAC than the X and £200 cheaper (who needs a remote for these anyway?).

[garganega]

The best $350 I have spent on my system was paying an electrician to move my ethernet port to directly behind my system. My Node is hard wired and it runs perfectly.

[JKadison]

Thank you John for all the useful information on the NodeX. I bought mine after researching quite a bit and this additional information has been awesome!

[fishwinker]

FOMO-Fi had me smiling ruefully - I really like the look of the the Node X, but I live in Turkey at the moment and getting hold of tech is tricky and expensive. I'll be moving to Europe in a couple of months though, and I sort of expect them all to be sold out. The enforced wait is allowing me time to dream up a system though, so I was pleased to hear that the digital out is the same as the older version. My pockets sadly aren't deep enough for the Peachtree, but the Sabaj A30a is apparently also a digital amp, and people seem to be quite impressed with it... So it's only really the headphone amp that I'd be missing out on, and I could always keep using my old(ish) Aune that drives my HD58Xs very pleasurably.
The comment about the relative quality of the Node as a source was interesting as well. I have an Allo Digi One, and although it sounds great, it hardly gets any use as I haven't found an OS that works well and is easy to access for both my wife and I. I've currently got it running on Volumio, and although it works, it's just not very stable. So in the end, we tend to use my Nvidia Shield via its USB, as everything just works effortlessly, either via the TV or our phones.
Finally, I think my wife would prefer the look of a white Node than a silver one!
Thank you for a really informative couple of videos, plus all your past videos on Bluesound products.
PS, the Sabaj apparently has a sub output with a low pass filter, but I'm waiting to find out if they also apply a high pass.

[hunndre]

Got the Wiim Pro paired with a SMSL SU-1. I belive this is the best bang for the buck setup as of today.

[pepesalome]

I have recently bought the Node X and the word “noticeable” is on the spot. I really enjoy The difference with my earlier Node 2i..

[fraserhoggan]

Owned one for a couple of months - good price from SevenOaks and connectivity excellent. Size/space an issue for me, and needed something that works well headphone wise - and this does. The App is good and handles Qobuz natively. It’s not perfect, but absolutely workable, and the DAC is better than my Apple hardware and other device. App works well on IOS and MAC, especially the latter. The sound is very revealing, more so than my A&K HC3 which I previously used with iPad. This is just way more satisfying overall