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In Reply to: Bluesound Node 2i connectivity posted by madisonears on January 10, 2020 at 19:43:56:
Hi Tom
Interesting question. I think you're more hi-fi educated than you make out - maybe you're testing us with your question! However, let's try to answer.
Don't underestimate your likely delight when you get this little box up and running - it will change (for the better) the way you listen to music and vastly increase the variety of music you'll have on tap. And quality will be comparable with your CD player
Sadly your splendid CD player does not have digital inputs, so you'll be using the DAC (digital to analogue converter - you asked for no acronyms!) in the Node 2i, which is no doubt OK, but probably not as good as the one buried and unusable in the Marantz. Also the Node offers only single ended audio out (not balanced) so its link to the preamp isn't quite as good as the link from your CD player - though this will not spoil your listening.
OK - rigging up the Node. No doubt you have a PC (personal computer running Windows) and that you have the use of the Internet at home. Unless you wrote your post from a library of friend's PC, I think we should assume this. OK, this is good news and the fact that you don't have / need / want a smart phone just goes to show you've chosen the right streamer. Most others require the use of an Android or Apple phone or tablet to control them - Bluesound offers an app (application - akin to a mini-program) for your Windows PC - or Mac if that's what you use.
Assuming you can connect your PC with the internet, then somewhere in your home you already have a router. It will likely be connected to a landline phone socket somewhere. This device allows your PC to communicate wirelessly (by wi-fi) with the internet and also with other devices such as printers that you may have. These other devices may be wirelessly connected or with an Ethernet cable. Hopefully you can find your router and that it has spare sockets for connection to such devices. OK, let's assume you have a router. Your Node is just another computer peripheral and you simply need to connect it to the router using an Ethernet cable (buy from electronics or DIY shops or Amazon). Hopefully your router is close enough to your hi-fi that this is practical. If not, you'll have to resort to wi-fi where the connection is less reliably but probably OK. Look at the Node's User Guide for advice with wi-fi connection.
OK, now you have your Node connected to the router and therefore able to take advantage of what the internet has to offer. Next connect with RCA cables the Audio Output of the Node to a spare pair of input sockets in your preamp. Connect to the wall sockets and all your wiring is done.
The next job is to start your PC and go to Bluesound's Download page, where you'll be offered 4 options. Assuming your PC is Windows, pick this option and in a few minutes the app will be loaded onto your PC. Open it up and it'll recognise your Node, although you may have to first enter your router ID code first - usually printed on a label or card on the back of the router.
If all has gone according to plan, your PC screen should show the BluOS app with a small box towards the bottom right showing your streamer's identity (probably "Node 2"), which confirms that you're ready to hear streamed music.
On the left side is a column showing the various sources of music on offer. This will include various free of charge services such as Spotify, Amazon and Deezer as well as TuneIn which offers the world's radio stations. All these free offerings are of MP3 quality but you may soon prefer to buy a subscription to Tidal or Qobuz or the new Amazon HD services that offer CD quality or (for some of their albums) effectively SACD quality. BluOS is not as comfortable with the HD Amazon service as Qobuz or Tidal - it's still a very clunky relationship, though hopefully Bluesound and Amazon will soon get together to improve matters.
Your choice of Bluesound allows you to use what is possibly the most user-friendly control system available. You'll very soon be finding it easy to find and play just about anything you want to listen to. Good luck and come back if you encounter any problems. Peter
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Follow Ups
- RE: Bluesound Node 2i connectivity - cawson@onetel.com 05:43:48 01/11/20 (1)
- RE: Good information. /nm/ - tketcham 17:22:33 01/11/20 (0)
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