Advice Needed: Bluesound Node vs Vault

I can only speak about the Node 2 from my experience. If you have many ITunes rips or files, Bluesound may not like the file folders and you may not have artwork for albums. I had to add many, many jpg files to my files for albums so that Bluesound software would enable me to see album covers. I think with the Vault, the ripping software is probably better and it will include artwork. That and I think the Vault can see an external library (HDD or NAS) of music besides the ones you rip. Perhaps Vault users will chime in.

I think the OP has it right.  The Vault2 charges more for the convenience of adding storage and a ripper.  Whether that premium is worth it is in the eye and wallet of the beholder 

Hello! I have the Bluesound Vault 2 and have been extremely happy...but, more impressed...by it ever since I bought it this past April. The happy part is in that it does everything my dealer and Bluesound said it would do. The impressive part is that it sounds much better than I ever expected.

As others have said, there is really no difference between the Vault or Node performance-wise, BUT, I have to echo what 2psyop has said above: The ease-of-use of the Vault as a ripping and storage solution cannot be overlooked. I, too, had most of my CD’s ripped to my main PC as well as backed up to a NAS. But managing the tagging info, album art, etc. became such a time-suck for me that I ultimately went with the Vault because of the promise for a more convenient solution for keeping all my music properly tagged, with the right album art and managed with a very easy to use app.

Now, while I could have just imported my music files to the Vault, I decided to take the extra time to rip ALL of my CD’s to the Vault natively. Both my dealer and Bluesound recommended this route as a way to insure a perfect, bit-for-bit rip as well as for maximum accuracy for the metadata and album art. While I can’t say that the Vault made a better lossless FLAC file than my PC, I do know that of the 638 CD’s I ripped, I only had to manually adjust/enter tagging info or album art on 31 CD’s...a very, very good "hit" rate by the Vault! Of the other digital-only albums I had to drag over into the Vault, the hit rate was a incredible 89 for 103. The Bluesound app and Vault are the closest thing I’ve found to Roon in terms of keeping a music library managed automatically, as well as integrating Tidal and internet radio.

While there is a big price delta between the Vault and Node, I look at the amount of time that I now don’t waste in keeping an ever-growing music library managed as money well spent. I have a NAS drive hooked up to the Vault that backs-up its library automatically, so there’s that additional peace of mind as well.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that, rather than looking at the Vault as an over-priced 2TB hard drive and CD-ROM, look at it as a way to save you effort and time. Only you can say how much that would be worth to you. Either way, Bluesound makes a terrific product!

Enjoy the music...

Arvin

Audio Research D240 MKII s/s amp, LS-7 tube pre & PH-3 tube phono; Denon VL12 turntable w/Ortofon 2M Bronze ; Thiel CS3.5 speakers; Bluesound Vault 2; Audioquest and MIT interconnects and cables

Thanks everyone for the detailed responses! Since Roon was brought up, let me add that to the question. I had thought about album art potentially being an issue but if I used Roon in conjunction with the Node, wouldn't that automatically show all the album art and other meta data for my ripped CD's? A lifetime Roon subscription is $500, so still cheaper than the Vault premium over the Node.

I don't want to have to rip all my CDs again and could not see any reason to purchase the Vault over the Node 2.

I've already ripped hundreds of CDs to an external hard drive that is visible on my network. They are neatly organized by artist/album and I could care less if I see album art or not.

One of the things I like about the Node 2 is that I don't have to have my TV on to listen to music.  I upgraded my Oppo BDP-103 to a UDP-103 and bought the Node 2 so I could continue to enjoy Tidal in my main system.  Before getting the Node 2 I used the Oppo to stream Tidal.

I'm very happy with the Node 2.  I am using my Auralic Vega instead of the Node 2's internal DAC and am very happy with the ease of use and sound quality.  I picked one up for $200.  One of the best bang for the buck "audiophile" purchases I've ever made!