ND5-XS vs Bluesound Node vs Cambridge CXN v2

You could also consider the WiiM Mini streamer. I have bought one recently and have been very pleased with it. I am using the optical output into a Chord DAC and find the sound quality excellent. Good for up to 24/192. Extremely good app, as well.

Peter

I “dipped my toes” earlier this year and bought the latest version of the Node to go in the bedroom system of Nait 5i / CD5i / Tannoy 603’s.
I think it’s great but I’m no expert regarding streaming and didn’t do a comparison so can’t comment on whether it’s better than x or y.
In fact I was so impressed that I bought a second one for the main rig, fully expecting it to be shown up by the NAC 252 / NAP 300DR. Not so, while it isn’t as good as the Xerxes 20plus or the CDS3 it is perfectly listenable and it’s great to have radio again after last year’s storms brought down the Galaxie 23 and the NAT05’s place on the rack was taken by a SCDR for the Superline.
Hope you enjoy the one you plump for.

Just looked again on Bluesounds website and its simply called NODE at £549, its gone up a bit, my Node 2i was about £400 iirc but as I mentioned it has undergone further improvements with the renamed NODE.
If you buy direct from Bluesound they offer a useful 30 day trial, although you might find it a bit cheaper elsewhere if you do a search. Personally I would buy from Bluesound and get the 30 days or find a dealer that will do likewise, mine did.
I’m guessing that a good used Node 2i could be had for about £200 - 250. I just had a look on ebay and ridiculously there are sellers still asking full price of £499 for “new” but obviously now out of date 2i’s which makes the new NODE at full price £549 a no brainer really.

I think the model history is Node, Node 2, Node 2i and now to confuse matters NODE. Each an improvement over its predecesdor, but why couldnt they have just called it Node 3. I guess you could email Bluesound for clarity if you need but really all that matters is that you get a 2i or latest NODE not the earlier versions.

Likewise, initially to trial new music and still mostly for that reason, but I have found that I increasingly enjoy listening to streams via my Node 2i as a source in its own right (usually Qobuz, Tidal or downloads via a connected USB 2tb expansion drive), in some instances I’m just preferring the LP or CD sources simply because I like to own a physical copy of my music not because it sounds better neccesarily.

Similar to @Dreadatthecontrols - I bought an s/h node 2i for £250 really to allow me to listen music that I may then buy on vinyl. It sounds really good- although on an a-b like for like comparison is nowhere near as good as my middling LP12- to my ears of course.
It’s great value and many find that the addition of a chord qutest elevates it to a really competent performer. Possibly my next purchase subject to approval of my business case :roll_eyes:

Hi. I bought an ND5XS2 the day it came out and it was and still does sound fabulous. I use it wirelessly and have no problems streaming from Qobuz at 192/24. The current iteration of the app and firmware support Qobuz natively, and the app developers have done a great job - it is snappy and makes browsing the service a breeze. I can’t comment about its outdated tech - as I said it sounds great.

The blue sound node is one of the best value buys n Hifi at the moment. I got mine after auditioning a nd5xs2 and and others as the differences were negligible versus the massive price variance. I know this is a Naim forum but their streamers entry level are very expensive for what you get. As a transport and roon endpoint the node is excellent and the onboard dac/analogue output stage is more than adequate. Add in a stand-alone quality dac and you have a Digital front end that can hold its own in any system…

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What, the ND5XS2?
Doubt it.

I think your reply comes across a bit wrong, perhaps because you may have missed the unquoted final sentence:

More people seem able to hear differences and improvements from the DAC than from the streamer. I interpreted the “more than adequate” comment to mean that putting a Node stand alone in front of a Naim amp would work okay, but that the DAC is the weak link in this box and that is easily remedied.

Many folks here upgrade to an external DAC on the ND5XS2 and use it as a pure streamer, although by all accounts it’s DAC is also more than adequate (and likely better than the one in the Node).

I wonder what the comparison between these two boxes might be when feeding a the same higher quality external DAC… and where the value for money equation would solve? Sadly, I’ve not done this comparison… but even an iPhone or a Pi into an RME does a credible job going into a Nova, which for me at least raises the question of just how much I’d spend on a pure streamer. Their respective features and compatibility with preferred online services might actually count for more than what may very well be small (negligible?) sonic differences.

I took the post from @KiwiMarra as raising this aspect of making a purchase decision rather than dismissing or badmouthing the ND5SX. Fair enough if you feel that the streamer output from the Naim box is a huge leap ahead of the BlueSound, of course - but then it would be cool to know which DAC you like for them and how different they sound.

As per the other posts above, the first gen Naim streamers will sound excellent with Tidal, iradio, and local ripped or downloaded files, but you’d have to access Qobuz thru an Mconnect? workaround. Some members enjoy Tidal as much as Qobuz, but I personally believe that Qobuz higher res files would usually sound better. I don’t have a real solid opinion on that as Qobuz isn’t available in Canada. (We’re a bit of an outpost, don’t ya know …)

From extensive reading I’ve done, both here and elsewhere, the nDac is an excellent addition to any of the Naim classic series units with an internal Dac, so if moving up to an ND5 XS2 or NDX2 could be in your future, than having an nDac already, would be a good use of funds if you got one to improve a Node or such, in the meantime.
Because I can’t get Qobuz, the best option for me was an NDS which is a discontinued 500 series Naim product and sounds quite fabulous for Tidal, iradio and ripped CDs. It requires a separate power supply tho, and at the moment I’m using some Israeli power supplies to power it while I save for a Naim 555PS, as it doesn’t sound good at all when it’s not powered up. But if you plan on using Qobuz, I don’t recommend it anyway.

The Auralic Aries is also an excellent streamer by all accounts, and the older ND5XS streaming boards and Dac are very good unless again you want Qobuz. I believe you’d find both of these a solid cut above the much less expensive Bluesound products, from the reseach I have done. But it would definitely be best if you were able to arrange a listen to these items to decide for yourself. Sometimes that’s not so easy tho.
Just my opinions, and best of luck with whatever you decide.

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Problem here in my view of course is an exact A-B “like for like” comparison is problematic, vinyl replay is not like digital replay and vice versa, there are different masterings and resolutions and you cant always identify which is which. Often there are multiple versions of a title available on say Tidal or Qobuz and sometimes HiRes files can sound worse than the CD 16bit file.
Assuming you could without doubt identify that you were listening to identical source masters there are then many variables from the different technology, mastering aporoaches, transfers and formats. Which vinyl cutting/mastering are you comparing against which digital mastering, transfer stream etc.

This is why I say that with a good quality sounding stream, on its own merit the Bluesound can at times give my LP12 a run for its money (I didnt say it was better) in terms of musical enjoyment but I’m not making a direct comparison as its always Apples and Pears.

I’ve had a Cambridge Audio CXN v2 for just over 3 years and have been very pleased with it. I have tried its own audio output which is quite respectable but found that the Naim nDAC connected via a Chord digital phono lead does take it up to a different level. I don’t know how this combination would compare to the ND5-XS on its own but am happy with my system. The software has been very reliable and works well with Tidal and Qobuz. Although it does not unpack MQA I have found the Tidal CD quality steam to be very good.

I currently use a nd5 xs and previously used a blusound powernode 2021, i am just comparing the software as the powernode is a amp/streamer but the blusound had a far superior software integration with Tidal with playlists and suggestions so much easier to use i also find it had a vice like grip via wifi but the nd5 xs is a bit flakey and seem to have to reconnect with the naim app every time i want to listen to music but once connected its fine.

I have considered using a Chromecast audio and stream to it from Roon which is supposed to make it bit perfect, if not streamed from Roon and streamed directly it isnt bit perfect which is strange.

Nd5 xs sounds very nice using my supernait/MA gs10

The chromecast audio is a streamer? Plugged into the supernait directly

Thank you for your time replying but i think you may have misinterpreted my goals and my reply to the OP, I am perfectly happy with how the nd5xs sounds but not with the software, i can only assume its the age of the nd5xs that lets it down, having compared the software on the blusound and the CCA while using Tidal its in a different league with playlists and song suggestions etc.

My idea of using the CCA with Roon is that it with handoff a bit perfect signal to a dac maybe my supernait or another higher quality one with the software of the CCA being a much better user experience.

Doesn’t the Nd5xs have optical ports so that you can feed it with an optical cable from the CCA? That way the Nd5xs just acts as an dac.

I’ve been a happy user of the CCA - SN1. The Hicap Dr makes it a much better setup.

I assume it does but keeping the nd5xs just for its DAC when i could use the one in the supernait reducing how many boxes i have in the rack seems over the top, is the nd5xs dac superior to the supernaits dac?

I haven’t compared them one to one but my guess is that the nd5xs is better.

I got great results with a hicapped SN1. Still use it in my study system. Its quite a bargain the SN1 these days.

Oh, what also helps is getting a powersupply / network adapter for the CCA. This reduces the latency strongly.

I’ve just borrowed my sister-in-law’s Bluesound Vault2i and it’s pretty impressive as both streamer and server in terms of functionality and overall SQ.

I used to have a Node 2i before my Nova, and I’ve also owned various Innuos’ too. None are here now for direct comparison but the sound from the Vault is great.

Admittedly, testing it against the Nova’s streaming section is a bit redundant as I’m using the Vault as a transport into the Nova itself. They sound exactly the same to me, though only had a cursory A/B here.

Aesthetically, I prefer streaming with the Nova, because I like having the screen display.

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This is my experience too, I have been using my SuperUniti as an all in one, as a streamer/pre into a NAC and as a streamer into a remote DAC/pre, more recently I have used my Node 2i as a streamer into the same DAC/pre and currently I have an RPi into the same DAC/pre. All of the streamer sections sounded the same to me when fed through the common DAC/pre /amp system.

When it comes to the streamer/network bridge section I would buy based on user interface experience

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