Bluesound Node Wireless Multi-Room High Resolution Music Streamer - White

I purchased my Bluesound Node 130 (2021 version) to replace a 15 year old Logitech Squeezebox Duet music streamer. The Logitech streamer has been a pain in the a$$ since I first purchased it. It has lost connectivity dozens of times since I have owned it. I’ve worked in IT for over 25 years so I’m no technical slouch. Often it would take me an hour or two to get this thing connected again. When it was working it was great but when it wasn’t it was totally frustrating. So I finally decided to get a more modern streamer. Right before the Bluesound Node I purchased a Wiim Pro Plus. It had great reviews and was cheaper than the Bluesound Node. However, it was defective and wouldn’t produce any sound so I returned it and decided to upgrade (I think) to the Bluesound. The current Bluesound Node is version 132 (2024 version). It’s $699. The version I purchased was $349. Yes, the new version has a better DAC and other upgraded components. I’m not an audiophile and my sound system is older and not particularly high end so I doubt I would ever be able to detect the difference between my Node and the new model. At half the price I’m very pleased. As for setup it was very easy by just following the prompts. I was streaming music from my Amazon Music account within about 5 or 10 minutes. My ultimate goal was to stream my vast music collection that resides on my Windows computer. With the help of ChatGPT, that took me probably a couple of hours. I had to change Windows settings that I never knew existed. Again I’m an IT guy. But this was a Windows issue and had nothing to do with the Bluesound Node or the BluOS app on my phone. Anyway, now that I got that working my next task was to get the multiple playlists that I had previously created with Winamp to work with the Bluesound Node. Once more with the help of ChatGPT I got this resolved and working after about two more hours. I just want to reiterate one more time this was just an issue of getting the playlists in a compatible format that that the BluOS app can use and not an issue with the Node itself. I have seen some reviewers who have mentioned connectivity issues with the Bluesound Node. I have not experienced these yet and hope I never do but I will revise this review if that happens. The only negative thing I have to say is that there is no On/Off button. It is constantly powered on when plugged in. Other than that I am very happy with my purchase.

The Bluesound Node is my first experience with a dedicated music streamer. What a treat for my ears! For nearly two decades my 400 CD Sony changer has worked flawlessly. It finally failed and replacement parts are almost impossible to find. Thankfully I was forced into the modern era of streaming. Previously I had streamed to a tablet and cast that to the stereo. The streaming was convenient but not noticeably better sound quality than CDs and seometimes worse. The sound quality of the Bluesound Node is amazing even when just streaming CD quality music (16bit by 48K). The real joy is streaming high resolution sound (24 bit by 96K) from services like TIDAL. Vocal harmonies present each voice distinctly. Bass lines are cleaner than I have ever heard in recordings. When listening to older tracks, with which I am very familiar, I hear details and subtleties I never heard before in the recording. I have also copied several of my CDs to a flash drive which Bluesound Node plays perfectly. Although some have complained about setting up the BluOs app I encountered no problems setting up the app on IOS or Android. Everything worked perfectly out of the box. Instructions and ‘user manual’ are minimal. What drove me to pick this specific streamer? Bluesound Node handles multiple streaming formats and higher resolution than most streamers under $1K. If I am going to stream, I want to get better fidelity than CDs. It sounds so beautiful😊

Owned this for a year so honest review. I have this hooked up to a Marantz 2235 B from the early to mid 70s. Easy to link to any of your favorite streaming services. Equally easy to send bluetooth signals to it from your TV or other devices. It will also broadcast to bluetooth receiving devices. I use it primarily to send Qobuz to my Marantz via RCA jacks. The DAC is okay, I've heard better but you can put your own DAC through it so I may try that in the future. Over all I think it's a great little box that doesn't take up any room. Every now and again I'll have connectivity issues where my phone doesn't connect to it or it has trouble connecting to the internet. Nothing I haven't been able to fix by either cycling the unit on/off or reseting my router. It happens probably every 8 to 10 times I use it. That's why it's not 5 stars.

I've been been an audio/video hobbyist for almost 5 decades. Not having Musk or Bezos bucks, my buying philosophy has been to try and find the best value audiophile grade quality gear that I can afford. My Bluesound Node purchase has stayed true to this product buying strategy and then some. As a DAC it sounds great paired with my Parasound Halo P5, Muzishare tube amp and Focal Chora 826 speakers. I am also impressed by how many playback sources it supports including playing back the vast music library that I have on my NAS. This may not be the most expensive or sexiest DAC/Streamer being discussed in the audiophile community but for me the Bluesound would hold its own against any of these "High End" DAC/Streamers at a price that you do not have to mortgage your house to afford. The only issue I had using the Bluesound was trying to connect it to my wireless network using the IOS version of the Blu OS Controller app. The Bluesound Node connected to my network fine. But the app repeatedly would not see it on the network which precluded me from finishing installing the Bluesound. After spending several hours trying to work through this issue, once installed the Bluesound Node has worked flawlessly. As someone who does not have unlimited resources, I could not be happier with this purchase.

Such a disappointment. Spent two hours trying to get it to connect to my phone app. Then it wouldn't let me move on until I linked to my wireless subwoofer (which I don't own), and after trying everything to get it to work, I put it back in the box out of pure frustration to send back. I've read nothing but great things about the Bluesound Node from other audiophiles, but I guess those comments were from years ago. Really bad software and interface. Worthless streamer. Reluctantly, I bought a WiiM Ultra after this and have nothing but an amazing experience with it and a nice DAC.

Affordable, Convenient. Good phone app for control. I use this as a library server for several hundred digital albums on an attached SSD. Quick and easy access. I use an outboard DAC so I can’t speak to the Node’s onboard DAC sound. I don’t currently subscribe to a streaming service.

I bought both Wiim Pro Plus and this older Node and the Node even on sale is quite a bit more money. But the build quality is night and day and the sound is fuller than the thin sounding Wiim. I found out after getting the Node that it’s from the same company behind NAD. That’s nice to know since NAD is a solid HiFi brand and I have their CD player which is excellent quality and value Yeah it’s around $100 more than the Wiim but if you use it even just a few years I think it’s more than worth it in terms of sound quality Highly recommend you don’t have to wonder if you spent enough this is good enough quality at a reasonable price

Me pasé meses leyendo sobre este producto y no me decidia a comprar, porque he tenido mala suerte con todos los streamer que he comprado hasta ahora. La interfaz de usuario es clara y limpia, funciona bien o mas o menos fluida, aunque algunas veces he tenido que ir a la app de Tidal para operar con mayor fluidez. La transmisión de música en formato MQA es completa, pero en verdad el MQA se escucha muy bien sin necesidad de un dac especializado en este formato, no es necesario en lo absoluto comprar un dac MQA. Antes estuve reproduciendo a Tidal con un simple Chromecast de 50 dólares y nunca tuve mayores problemas, con este aparato he ganado algunas cosas como el uso de Tune In sin anuncios por lo menos para escuchar la radio local. Este Bluesound no tiene chromecast incluido como otros modelos, lo compré por error creyendo que sí. Aun con todo lo considero una buena compra y si creo que esto funciona, mejor que el aparatito de Google y que el Yahama Cast que tengo desde hace tiempo. El dac interno es mejor que los otros dac de que dispongo y mucho mejor que el dac interno de dos de mis amplificadores pero no mejor que el interno del Piooner AVS519.

FANTASTICO!!! Non tanto economico, ma quando lo si toglie dalla confezione ci si rende subito conto di avere in mano un prodotto molto serio e di alta qualità. Molto carino anche il sensore di prossimità. Ma ciò che sicuramente lo rende un passo davanti ai suoi rivali è sicuramente la sua App BluOS, stabilissima e semplicissima. Come libreria esterna ho utilizzato un SSD Samsung T5 da 1 Tera tramite USB. Oltre alle centinaia di radio internet gratuite e i molteplici servizi a pagamento come Tidal, Spotify etc., è compresa gratuitamente Radio Paradise che trasmette file MQA e che ho apprezzato tantissimo. Qualità audio in cuffia sorprendente e collegato al mio impianto a valvole in classe A .. senza parole. Questa nuova versione che sostituisce la precedente Node 2i monta il nuovo DAC PCM5242, non so come possa suonare con un DAC esterno di livello superiore. Ottimo servizio di consegna e imballaggio. Lo consiglio!

Ce lecteur reseau est une merveille . Une mise en service d'une facilité déconcertante, un boîtier qui respire la qualité et musicalement une claque et il n'est pas rodé! Une application ultra simple et conviviale. Ne chercher pas plus loin !

Wonderful sound. Nicely designed. The Blue OS is straight forward.

Excellent sound and app

Wer ein tolles Klangerlebnis für einen verhältnismäßig guten Preis sucht, landet zwangsläufig beim Bluesound Node. Meine Bewertung bezieht sich ausschließlich auf das Streaming von Hi-Res über Netzwerk an meiner HiFi-Anlage. Ich suchte einen audiophilen Netzwerkplayer für meine HiFi-Anlage bestehend aus Rotel A14 MKII,CD11 Tribute und B&W CM9 S2. Es ging mir nur um das Streaming von Tidal Master über Netzwerk. Ich möchte wegen der verlustfreien Wiedergabe weder Bluetooth noch AirPlay 2 benutzen, obwohl der Bluesound auch das unterstützt. Dabei kam es mir hauptsächlich auf die Klangqualität an. Habe mehrere Netzwerkplayer zum Test bestellt und Klang sowie Bedienung für meine Ansprüche verglichen. U.a. Cambridge CXN V2 und WIIM Pro, umd alle erschwinglichen Preisklassen abzudecken. Der Node konnte in allen Belangen überzeugen. Er ist hochwertig verarbeitet, bietet Klanglich dank hochwertiger DAC eine breite Bühne und sorgte beim Probehören oftmals für ein breites Lächeln bei mir. Wohlgemerkt mit meiner HiFi- Kette. Die Bedienung und Einrichtung über die Blu-Os-App war spielend einfach. Es sind sämtliche Streamingdienste vertreten. Somit muss man sich über den Netzwerkplayer keine Gedanken machen, möchte man mal den Anbieter wechseln bzw. wenn man auch mehrere Anbieter nutzt. Ebenso ist ein Netzwerktuner mit unzähligen Lokalen und Internationalen Radiosendern integriert, die hochauflösend übertragen. Habe nur 2 kleine Kritikpunkte. 1. Es könnte die integrierte Tidal-App etwas Benutzerfreundlicher sein. 2. Ich würde ich mir wünschen, den Player separat ausschalten zu können Klar gibt es Netzwerkplayer, die das alles in dieser Qualität auch oder noch eine Nuance besser können. Die Kosten jedoch auch mindestens das doppelte. Habe beispielsweise einen Cambridge CXN V2 gegen den Node verglichen.Der Unterschied war für meine Ohren so gering, das ich nicht bereit war, das doppelte zu investieren. Der WIIM Pro spielte einfach nur Flach, egal welche Klangeinstellung ich gewählt hatte. Dem war der Node haushoch überlegen. Abschließend kann ich nur sagen, mich hat der Node begeistert. Ein zur Zeit Unschlagbares Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis. Korrektur: Den Player kann man ausschalten, indem man die Play-Taste auf dem Touchpad 5 Sekunden gedrückt hält. Für Amazon-Musik Nutzer: Die Bedienung des in Blue-Os integrierten Dienstes ist die reine Katastrophe. Ha,be den Bluesound jetzt mit einem hochwertigen Cinchkabel verbunden. Nochmals eine kleine Klangverbesserung. Bin nach mehreren Wochen Benutzung nach wie vor von dem Bluesound begeistert.