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

This has only been a few days into having this hooked up to my system and I am very glad I got it. I was streaming music from tidal and Spotify then using Bluetooth to get the music to my system. I wanted to remove the need for Bluetooth. I was immediately impressed by the huge improvement on sound quality. Let's see if I am still happy in a month or two... I think I will be.

I am very pleased with this purchase! It can be difficult to figure out how to improve sound or resolve issues when your audio equipment is a little old but not so old that it makes sense to just replace it. The Node turned out to be the solution I was looking for. I'll walk thru the steps I took in case it helps someone else in a similar situation.I have wireless Yamaha MusicCast speakers . . . specifically the MusicCast 50 and some older generation wx-030 speakers. You can access several of the major streaming services using the MusicCast software and the speakers alone. However due to some issues with the MusicCast software, I had switched to using MusicCast app on my android phone and transmitting to the speakers via bluetooth for my SiriusXM subscription. The older speakers use a very old version of bluetooth and there were occasional dropouts but I had mostly resolved that problem with some tweaks to my router settings. Also, playing any files already downloaded to my phone to any of the yamaha speakers worked fine with Bluetooth -- it was only streaming that was an issue.Then I subscribed to a streaming service called IDAGIO which is a very good service for classical music only. It provides a large library for on-demand streaming and a high-quality file stream. IDAGIO is far superior to the limited classical offerings on SiriusXM which is not really aimed at classical music listeners. MusicCast software doesn't support IDAGIO but you can run app on an android phone and transmit via bluetooth just as I had done for SiriusXM. Unfortunately the higher-quality stream was generating regular dropouts in the audio from my speakers. I wasn't sure if the problem was my phone or in the version of bluetooth supported by the yamaha speakers but after a brief experiment with connecting my phone to the MusicCast 50 via a cable from the phone's headphone jack, I decided to look for a device that could pull the stream from the internet and connect to the MusicCast 50 via either analog or digital cables. The Bluesound Node was listed on the IDAGIO site so I thought I'd give it a try.The dropouts disappeared when using the Node. The sound quality is very good. Also, the Blueos app supports a very long list of streaming services if I want to experiment with any other services in the future. The cable connection to the MusicCast 50 means that audio never drops out and using wifi (instead of bluetooth) from the 50 to send music to the older wx-030 speakers means no dropouts there either. Also, the stream from the Node to my Bluetooth headphones (Bose Quiet Comfort 35 ii) sounds very good.People like me who use wireless speakers can't really throw around pretentious descriptions of audio quality but this sound just fine to me. I don't need high volume or a thumping base line -- I would just like to hear the quality of the voices and instruments as accurately as possible without trying to run cables all over the house. This product was just what I wanted.

I'm gonna be somewhat brief with the intention of updating this as I spend more time with it. I received the Node from Crutchfield about 2 weeks ago. It shipped quickly and was well packaged. I had it up and running in a few minutes with no real issues with the Blusound Android app. I was already an Amazon HD and Sirius/XM subscriber. I must say there is a definite audible improvement when streaming any content with the Node as opposed to just using my Samsung Note 9. I still use my Note 9 or S7 tablet as a controller. One trade off though is that there is less functionality with Amazon HD and SXM through the Blusound controller app (and I think with other providers as well). For example with SXM you can't skip ahead or back like you can with just using the regular phone app. And with Amazon HD you can only add new music to your collection through the regular app. Not a big deal but it took me some time to figure that out. I just toggle back between the apps to do that. One useful thing I discovered is you can use more than one device as a controller at the same time. If you leave one device in one room, ie. phone, you can use your tablet to control things from another room, just by opening the app.Currently I have my Node sitting in my main a/v home theater rack connected to my Pioneer receiver via rca cables. In this setting it uses the Node's internal dac. This is output to my Klipsch RP-160 l and r mains and a sub. It sounds decent. Using the Node's optical out jack, I have a 50' optical (Bluerigger cl3 rated) running up the wall through the attic to my garage/"mancave" to my "most listened to" setup. It feeds my S.M.S.L. SU-9 dac and DA-9 amp, powering a pair of Dali Spector 2's and an OSD Nero dual 8"sub Yes, the garage setup does sound better because of that dac and amp, I think. I'm also planning to run some rca's a short distance from the garage S.M.S.L dac to the kitchen where I'll use another spare SMSL class d amp to power some more bookshelf speakers. All of this can play simultaneously.So yeah, buying the Node has sparked some add on possibilities. It's also caused me to "waste" more time adding to my Amazon music catalogue because the experience just became a little better sounding (8-10%) and not just something to have in the background. So far, worth the investment. I can see myself buying another node sometime down the road when budget allows.

What I really like:*RCA Outputs*Digital coaxial Output*Dedicated digital coaxial subwoofer Output (missing on the DMP-A8)*Includes virtually every streaming service, including Pandora (missing from DMP-A8), plus ability to stream from all of your local libraries*Integrated streaming + quality pre-amplifierWhat I don't Like*Doesn't have dedicated balanced XLR outputs, which, at this price range, I feel it really should. You may not need dedicated balanced XLR outputs today, but it really limits your ability to upgrade amplifiers in the future. I could add a second pre-amplifier (like Schiit Saga 2 with both RCA and balanced XLR outputs for only $299), but that add costs money, space, and adds complexity to your system. Something to think about.Connectivity: RCA in, RCA out, digital coaxial out, digital coaxial subwoofer out, NO balanced XLR outValue for Money: Okay-to-good. Upgrading options for amplifiers is limited.