Bluesound Node 2i

[heeman]

So I finally broken down and bought the Bluesound Node 2i to replace the Squeezebox Duet in the Home Theater............

Amazon says it will be delivered tomorrow, Monday.

I am excited, because it is a new toy and I have been very frustrated with the Duet connecting to the Logitech Media Server. Sometimes it has taken multiple reboots and up to 20 minutes!

 

[heeman]

24 hours later, the unit has been delivered.........................

 

[AndySTL]

I have a first gen Node. It's a nice player but it's in my basement projector setup and I just don't listen to too much music down there. If it sits unused for a long period of time it drops network connectivity and I have to unplug it and plug it back in to get it to connect. Hopefully you won't have that issue. Are you going to give MQA on Tidal a try?

 

[heeman]

I have a first gen Node. It's a nice player but it's in my basement projector setup and I just don't listen to too much music down there. If it sits unused for a long period of time it drops network connectivity and I have to unplug it and plug it back in to get it to connect. Hopefully you won't have that issue. Are you going to give MQA on Tidal a try?

I may try MQA, however my main focus will be to access my lossless files on the PC. I am looking forward to an up to date interface, not the SB Spinning wheel............

 

[Huey]

I may try MQA, however my main focus will be to access my lossless files on the PC. I am looking forward to an up to date interface, not the SB Spinning wheel............

I'm a little worried that you haven't solved your problem. I have had buffering issues with the squeezebox server, but it was all do to networking errors and not Squeezebox. Did you ever try uninstalling the program and reinstalling on the computer? Either way, good luck Keith, and I hope you get a fix to your troubles.

 

[heeman]

I have not tried the reinstall. I do not have buffering issues at all. Once the SB is connected to the server, it is bullet proof. It always connects to my wireless network with no problems, it just has issues with the server.

I am looking forward not back.....................just the interface improvement of the Node 2i is worth the $500!!

 

[PaulyT]

I also notice a lot of spinning-while-reconnecting with my duet, even if it'd been connected earlier, and I set it down while listening, then pick it back up again which causes it to awake and try to re-connect.

 

[Haywood]

I also took my Squeezeboxes offline a year or two back, largely due to unreliability. The platform was a tweaky from the beginning. I put up with that, because it was the best solution around. Somewhere along the way, I realized that my other streaming devices made it redundant. My NVidia Shield TV can stream FLAC from Plex without transcoding, so it would work even if I still cared about lossless. Plex and Tidal have since partnered up on a tight integration between Tidal and the Plex music library, which I am tempted to check out. I've heard nothing but great things. With the availability of powerful and versatile hardware like the Shield TV, I just don't feel the need for a dedicated streamer anymore.

 

[mcad64]

I've had problems when my NAS drive was taken offline and then put back online (it houses Squeezecenter), but other than that, my 4 squeezeboxes have been performing like champs.
Anywho, congrats on the new toy Heeman!!

 

[heeman]

BluOS loaded easily on my Fire Tablet. Once I connected the Node 2i up to my HT System, the BluOS recognized the unit right away and off we go!!

Figuring out how to recognize my Music on my PC was a little nerve-racking, however I figured it out. I was up and running quickly.

The navigation is pretty intuitive, however I only fooled around with it for about 30 mins before I had other responsibilities. I am looking forward to playing with this new toy and learning some of the hidden features.

So far, I am pleased with it's performance.

There is a Tech feature that shows Tech Details, here is a screenshot.

 

[team_tsp]

Cool, let us know your long term impression of the Bluesound as you get more familiar with it.

Just a side note for anyone else who may be having intermittent issues with Squeezeboxes -

Back when my Squeezebox Duet was working, it was always pretty good about connecting to my Logitech Media Server (LMS) (hosted on a Windows computer). After the Duet started having issues, I started using Squeezelite, a software version of a Squeezebox player. Squeezelite would occasionally have trouble connecting to LMS. After some research, I found that if I opened certain ports in the Windows firewall settings on my LMS machine, connection to LMS has been perfect since: https://support.logitech.com/en_us/article/16656

However, I'm still not sure why the Duet was able to connect reliably to LMS even without opening the firewall ports, vs. Squeezelite.

Though my example was specific to Windows, the same concept might apply to other OSes in general.

 

[mcad64]

BUMP
Heeman, are you still satisfied with the Node? I am seriously considering one of these on the used market.

 

[heeman]

BUMP
Heeman, are you still satisfied with the Node? I am seriously considering one of these on the used market.

Yes! No issues at all. Interface is fine.

I do have it wired to the network.

I use this primarily to stream music that I have ripped to my hard drive.

This is in the home theater where I listen to music many times per week.

Highly recommended.