Blue sound Node 2 vs Lumin D1

These devices are not all the same. I’ve had many: Dell netbook, Apple airport, sotm tx-USBexp with its own psu and others. You should have heard how bad the Dell netbook sounded. It’s garbage in, garbage out. I say, start with clean bits. I now have a Micro Rendu and have an Aries Mini on the way. It really amounts to the vendors USB/Motherboard implementation. These things pick up EMI/RFI and need good jitter performance or you will play the add on game.

My guess is that a Lumen/Aurender/MR/SOtM sMS-200 will beat a Aries Mini or a Blue Sound because of their motherboard/USB implementation. It’s also system dependent and what you might be hearing is colorization.

Streamers do have a very noticible impact on sound quality. Upgrading from the old Pioneer N-30 streamer to Aries Mini with SBooster power supply did make a big difference. Since I can pinpoint instruments much better.

I’ve upgraded again to Sonore microRendu. With iFi powersupply it matches the Aries in SQ. With LPS-1 power supply the microRendu is again a big upgrade in sound quality. (Tested the PSU upgrade by using 6x1,5V rechargeble batteries before making the jump to LPS-1).

With all three of the streamers I’ve used the same dac (not the inbuild dac).

Well, I received my Bluesound Node 2 yesterday.  Listening to it now.  I am very pleased with it.  Listening to MQA and regular digital files.  Can't say that I can tell a difference though I haven't done an AB comparison of the same song in both formats.  In any case, the sound quality is great.  I am sure there are refinements that come with more expensive players but I cannot imagine a better bang for your buck addition to my system than the Bluesound Node 2.

I use Tidal Hi-FI out through my Dell Studio 1747 Laptop (Windows 7) USB 2.0 using the provided download from my Marantz SA8005 (64 Bit) USB Audio Driver (3.26MB). Next I connect using a USB "B" cable directly to the Marantz’s SA8005 internal D/A or DAC. From there I go out via RCA/Phono Cables to a McIntosh MX-110 AUX input out to McIntosh MC225 and onward to speakers/sub . Once I did that I went to the "settings" tab on the Tidal page, located the "Streaming" tab, and clicked the 3 tabs 1-Use Exclusive Mode, 2-Force Volume, and 3-Passthrough MQA. Voila.... MQA on a budget. It is my understanding we only get MQA through the "Tidal Masters" ONLY!? MQA added significantly to the tightness of the lows and more precise imaging of the instruments. I "think" MQA sounds better but as an audio nut I was able to access it for the full use of Tidal MQA streaming and wait out the next development in hardware to upgrade the DAC I am currently using in my Marantz SA8005. Any further thoughts? Thanks Guys.

I have not compared my Node 2 to any other digital player, but I can tell you that CD transfers and especially hi res FLAC downloads from hdtracks.com are excellent. My hi res purchases are so good that I have had to beef up my vinyl play pack system to stay competitive. I think you need a very expensive setup in comparison in order to beat the Node 2. For instance, I have the FLAC download of the legendary Strauss Also Sprach Zarathustra, and I have the reissue on LP. Now that I have a truly excellent LP playback setup - VPI Classic 4, SME 312s, Benz Ruby 3, Hagerman Trumpet, Stevens and Billington TX 103 step up, Walker motor controller, yes its beats the Node 2, but not by much! Realism, dynamics, soundstage depth are a bit better, transparency a little better, but the Node 2 is also quite satisfying if ultimately losing to my analog chain. I'm telling you for $500 and hi res downloads, you are doing very well.