Author Topic: Bluesound Node  (Read 31275 times)

Offline mfsoa

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Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #30 on: December 27, 2015, 12:26:55 PM »
I was considering the Node2 as a SBox Touch replacement but since setting up a Rapsberry Pi I am more than satisfied.

For ~ $70 you get a very good quality digital transport (USB; Coax and toslink a little more $) that acts just like any one of my many current SB devices.

It looks cute in its tiny black case but that doesn't matter because it lives completely hidden behind another piece of gear. And I felt that I leaned something in the set-up process which is a bonus.

Highly recommended to anyone looking to establish, replace or expand their squeezebox empire.

-Mike


Offline ejk

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Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #31 on: December 27, 2015, 12:52:33 PM »
I was considering the Node2 as a SBox Touch replacement but since setting up a Rapsberry Pi I am more than satisfied.

For ~ $70 you get a very good quality digital transport (USB; Coax and toslink a little more $) that acts just like any one of my many current SB devices.

It looks cute in its tiny black case but that doesn't matter because it lives completely hidden behind another piece of gear. And I felt that I leaned something in the set-up process which is a bonus.

Highly recommended to anyone looking to establish, replace or expand their squeezebox empire.

-Mike



Mike
Any stuttering or dropouts ?


Did I say no dropouts ?
Aric Audio Super 6SN7 Line, Orchard Audio Starkrimson Ultra, Quicksilver Mid Monos, Lumin U2 Mini, Denafrips Pontus II 12th-1,Denafrips Iris DDC, Spatial Audio M3 Saphire, Hapa Audio Interconnects, TWL power cords, TWL speaker cables, Wireworld USB, i2s.

Offline mfsoa

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Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #32 on: December 27, 2015, 01:23:42 PM »
No not one stutter or dropout.

Offline mfsoa

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Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #33 on: December 27, 2015, 02:42:27 PM »
Just figured out the settings for 1X and 2X DSD and they both work w/ no issues, so far.

Offline Emil

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Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #34 on: December 27, 2015, 02:49:02 PM »
Ok, so I signed onto Tidal and connected my laptop to my Lampizator via USB cable. Same cable I used to connect my printer to my computer.
CD quality? Not quite. I'm thinking its the USB cable. Do you think substituting with a quality USB cable will do it or is USB inherently inferior to an RCA/SPDIF cable?
What about the server? Does the Node add something that that laptop alone is missing?

No stutter or dropouts so far, EJK
"Today I didn't even have to use my A.K.
I got to say it was a good day"
    --Ice Cube

Offline mfsoa

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Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #35 on: December 27, 2015, 03:01:31 PM »
Evan,
Have you listened to a cd that's been ripped to your laptop using a good (dbpoweremp etc.) ripper and player (jriver etc.)?  It could be that the quality of the usb out from the computer is not very good, as opposed to the quality of the Tidal stream. The computer audiophile crowd claims that there are some real nasty electrical goodies that can come from a computer's USB port.

How do you feed the Lamp usually?

Doubt if a USB cable will make a huge difference but it might help some.

-Mike




Offline Emil

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Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #36 on: December 27, 2015, 04:08:35 PM »
Heu Mike

No ripping for me. I'm still a silver disc man myself. I use an RCA/SPDIF cable to feed the Lamp from my transport.

I figured Tidal was an easy way to ease into it but there are still some things to get ironed out as you can see so maybe using the Node as an interface with the Lamp using RCA cable is the way to go.
"Today I didn't even have to use my A.K.
I got to say it was a good day"
    --Ice Cube

Offline richidoo

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Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #37 on: December 27, 2015, 04:40:07 PM »
Emil, you subscribed to the hi-rez version of tidal, right? They also have a 300kbps version.

Offline mfsoa

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Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #38 on: December 27, 2015, 04:57:31 PM »
Emil,

If you have a computer hooked up to a network, you can easily run Logitech Media Server (LMS) on the computer and then connect a Raspberry Pi via wireless or ethernet.  Then , the Pi, running any number of popular media players (I use piCoreplayer at the moment) will feed your Lampi with yummy music bits via USB (or coax and toslink if you add a $50 card to the Pi). The Pi will appear as a squeezebox when you run LMS.

This can all be controlled from the computer running LMS or from a tablet or phone.

This is just one of many ways to use a Pi.

Not bad for the $.

I'd guess that the node2 is a more set and forget piece - The software on the Pi is extremely configurable when it comes to upsampling/filters etc.

Offline Emil

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Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #39 on: December 27, 2015, 04:58:01 PM »
Emil, you subscribed to the hi-rez version of tidal, right? They also have a 300kbps version.

yes I did
"Today I didn't even have to use my A.K.
I got to say it was a good day"
    --Ice Cube

Offline tmazz

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Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #40 on: December 27, 2015, 07:14:12 PM »
Ok, so I signed onto Tidal and connected my laptop to my Lampizator via USB cable. Same cable I used to connect my printer to my computer.
CD quality? Not quite. I'm thinking its the USB cable. Do you think substituting with a quality USB cable will do it or is USB inherently inferior to an RCA/SPDIF cable?
What about the server? Does the Node add something that that laptop alone is missing?

No stutter or dropouts so far, EJK

I have done some direct A/B comparisons of Tidal vs my own copy of a particular CD and the native CD was better, but not by much. I don't think I would have noticed the difference between them without the A/B comparison. The difference is along the order of what you lose when you copy a CD, which whenyou think about it, isn't that what Tidal is doing, copying CDs to thier servers?

I will say it is not a completely equal comparison since the Node is connected via a Toslink port vs  a spdif connection between the CD transport and the DAC, but from my point of view it represents exactly how I will be listening so whether the difference is due to Tidal or the interface difference does not matter to me right now.

But as I have said in the past, the difference is small and in my mind a worth while tradeoff to get access to the Tidal music library. And anything that I like that much and am really concerned bout having the ultimate SQ from I will buy the CD, or even better the LP if I can find one. Keep in mind that I am looking at Tidal as a way to supplement and expand my music collection, not as a replacement for playing other formats.
Remember, it's all about the music........

• Nola Boxers
• Sunfire True SW Super Jr (2)
• McIntosh MC 275
• ARC SP-9
• VPI HW-19 Mk IV/SDS/SME IV/Soundsmith Carmen Mk II ES
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Offline ejk

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Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #41 on: December 28, 2015, 12:49:17 AM »
See this is what I mean. Try this , try that . Just get a Node and be done with it :rofl:
Aric Audio Super 6SN7 Line, Orchard Audio Starkrimson Ultra, Quicksilver Mid Monos, Lumin U2 Mini, Denafrips Pontus II 12th-1,Denafrips Iris DDC, Spatial Audio M3 Saphire, Hapa Audio Interconnects, TWL power cords, TWL speaker cables, Wireworld USB, i2s.

Offline Emil

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Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #42 on: December 28, 2015, 04:39:47 AM »
Emil,

If you have a computer hooked up to a network, you can easily run Logitech Media Server (LMS) on the computer and then connect a Raspberry Pi via wireless or ethernet.  Then , the Pi, running any number of popular media players (I use piCoreplayer at the moment) will feed your Lampi with yummy music bits via USB (or coax and toslink if you add a $50 card to the Pi). The Pi will appear as a squeezebox when you run LMS.

This can all be controlled from the computer running LMS or from a tablet or phone.

This is just one of many ways to use a Pi.

Not bad for the $.

I'd guess that the node2 is a more set and forget piece - The software on the Pi is extremely configurable when it comes to upsampling/filters etc.


Thanks Mike for the help but I have no idea you just said :lol:

The set and forget Node is more my speed
"Today I didn't even have to use my A.K.
I got to say it was a good day"
    --Ice Cube

Offline tmazz

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Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #43 on: December 28, 2015, 04:50:17 AM »
I was considering the Node2 as a SBox Touch replacement but since setting up a Rapsberry Pi I am more than satisfied.

For ~ $70 you get a very good quality digital transport (USB; Coax and toslink a little more $) that acts just like any one of my many current SB devices.

It looks cute in its tiny black case but that doesn't matter because it lives completely hidden behind another piece of gear. And I felt that I leaned something in the set-up process which is a bonus.

Highly recommended to anyone looking to establish, replace or expand their squeezebox empire.

-Mike



Did you notice an increase in SQ when you switched over to the Pi? I was running a bone stock SB Touch and was very unimpressed with Tidal when played through it. I got much better SQ with the Node. Prior to signing up for Tidal I used the Touch almost exclusively for streaming Pandora, which has limited SQ to start with so I never really bothered  to do anything to tweak it for better sound.

Of course the other nice thing about the Node is that it is pretty much a plug and play, set it and forget it device. All I needed to do to get t running was to give it my home network SSID & Password, download the Bluesound app to my iPad and associate it with my player and it was off to the races. Everything is all set up for you and it updates itself automatically whenever there are software updates.

A few years ago I would have been all over this Raspberry Pi thing. But as busy as life has gotten lately I have little enough time to spend on audio, I would much rather spend that time playing music as opposed to playing with equipment. But that's just me and where I am at right now. I have certainly been on the other side of the fence and can understand why someone would want to, and enjoy building and optimizing a computer based system on their own.
Remember, it's all about the music........

• Nola Boxers
• Sunfire True SW Super Jr (2)
• McIntosh MC 275
• ARC SP-9
• VPI HW-19 Mk IV/SDS/SME IV/Soundsmith Carmen Mk II ES
• Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 DAC/Rasp Pi Roon Endpoint
• DigiBuss/TWL PC&USB/MIT Cables

Offline tmazz

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Re: Bluesound Node
« Reply #44 on: December 28, 2015, 05:07:17 AM »
Emil,

If you have a computer hooked up to a network, you can easily run Logitech Media Server (LMS) on the computer and then connect a Raspberry Pi via wireless or ethernet.  Then , the Pi, running any number of popular media players (I use piCoreplayer at the moment) will feed your Lampi with yummy music bits via USB (or coax and toslink if you add a $50 card to the Pi). The Pi will appear as a squeezebox when you run LMS.

This can all be controlled from the computer running LMS or from a tablet or phone.

This is just one of many ways to use a Pi.

Not bad for the $.

I'd guess that the node2 is a more set and forget piece - The software on the Pi is extremely configurable when it comes to upsampling/filters etc.


Thanks Mike for the help but I have no idea you just said :lol:

The set and forget Node is more my speed

The Raspberry Pi is a miniature computer about the size of a deck of cards that can be configured to do all kinds of multimedia things.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/458478/Raspberry_Pi_2_Model_B_Media_Center

So what Mike did was basically build a computer from scratch and used it at a replacement for his Squeezebox touch. Now this is easy and not a bad idea if you already have a squezezbox system in place and have a significant amount of time invested in setting it up and maintaining it over the years. But if you were starting from scratch you would not only need to  build and configure the Pi, but you would also need to install and configure the Logictec Media System software on another PC , set all of that up and associate everything together. And some people have the knowledge required enjoy doing that kind of stuff, and that's OK...... or you could buy a Node and have it set up and running in 30 mins or less. Neither way is better, it's just a matter of what floats your boat.
Remember, it's all about the music........

• Nola Boxers
• Sunfire True SW Super Jr (2)
• McIntosh MC 275
• ARC SP-9
• VPI HW-19 Mk IV/SDS/SME IV/Soundsmith Carmen Mk II ES
• Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 DAC/Rasp Pi Roon Endpoint
• DigiBuss/TWL PC&USB/MIT Cables