Blue sound node 2i

Have the chance to pick up one these up at a bargain price. New to streaming and wanted to get up and running without spending a fortune as vinyl takes up most of my listening time. Heard great reviews of this product and wondered if anyone had any thoughts to pass on. I’m not too bothered about not having a screen either as long as the sq is there.

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works great. perfect first streamer.

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Second system has one, very good. I have the software on a phone, iPad and PC, all three work well. Once it set up, it should be decent quality trouble free streaming.

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At the moment I am using chrome cast, results are decent using Spotify. Does the blue sound operate in a similar way.? ie casting direct from i pad from Spotify library

Have one on my second system. Very happy with it.

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had two node’s 2i and all had some kind of distortion in SQ, it sounded hellish.

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I have one hooked up to my system. The DAC is nowhere near as good as the one on the Chord Hugo I was using. But that device was only bluetooth, which is the worst, and having the convenience of streaming on the Node makes it a much better stereo component for the price.

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Will definitely give it a go for little over £300. Nothing to lose based on your comments. As long as it beats the chrome cast I’ll be happy for now.

I use Qobuz, I don’t know how other systems get their signal to the amp, but Qobuz works seamlessly for me.

It functions fine as a Spotify end point.

I have three in use on second systems. I ran one on the main system for a while with a Qutest. I don’t think there is anything to better it at the price.

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See that on YouTube. Steve Huff review. He compares it to the Bluesound.

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The node 2i is excellent for the price and the dac isn’t actually that bad. I’d recommend putting it through a mojo or Hugo dac which can be had quite cheaply 2nd hand and are a significant upgrade

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How is the DAC connected to the node please?

The Node has both an optical and a coax out.

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I’m curious to try something like a Mojo/Hugo on my Node as they are relatively inexpensive. But I see they have a battery which is putting me off. Is the battery removable or is it constantly charging when the unit is plugged in?

Edit: I see the Hugo2 can run in desktop or transport mode so hopefully older models are the same

I’m also interested in upgrading the power supply on mine

A quick Google suggests the PD Creative PS is the one to go for?

Both mojo and Hugo1 are powered by internal batteries but both can run plugged in and charging via the mains. I use both in my 2 systems running off battery power and only need to charge them once a week on average. When not in use I switch them off.
A bit of a faff but absolutely worth it for the sound

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I think Chord could at one point change the batteries if/as they deteriorate. The Mojo battery is fairly rare, but I think the twin cells in the Hugo are a lot more standard. Permanently powering the early ones was the cause of some of that battery deterioration. Charging and discharging them (not running them totally flat/charging them fully) probably extends battery life a bit, versus keeping them permanently powered/connected. Lots of info out there about this too.

I run my Hugo as the main streaming source in my system, fed by a Primare NP5, and other than charging every so often it’s pretty straightforward to use.

I would like a Nain streamer, for the convenience, but after listening to the ND5 XS2 against the Hugo, I think a NDX2 would be needed to significantly better it. And the slight inconvenience is more than compensated for by the sounds they make whilst I save up!

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The node is excellent and if it’s just for casual listening the internal DAC is more than adequate. If it was the primary source I’d want something a bit more resolving but the overall experience is great - the software is polished, it works well as a roon endpoint if you need that too. Add a Naim DAC at some stage and you’d keep up with most streaming options out there…

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