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B.S. Node 2i brick (yet another one)

Mine died after 3 years, like so many others, ordered and replaced the caps (they looked fine) and still doesn't turn on. My problem is a bit different - no red light at all on the top, although I may have disabled led's in the setup, and I'm not sure if that setting carries over to bootup.. Anyway, its dead, does nothing, no lights, no network lights at the cable when I plug it into ethernet.

 

This POS BS company will discount me a whopping $75 on a REFURBISHED unit. This is pathetic service for a $600 piece of equipment. I'll never buy another piece of hardware from Bluesound. Audiophile gear priced like that should last 20 years imo. 

What would you guys do? Try and find a full power supply, or do the aftermarket upgrade? My worry is that my power board is fine and its the main board that's bad. I'm not sure how to test this. I did some high level probing on the power board with an electrical engineer, and it looked ok.. Is there a way to hard reset it via usb or something? Does the service button at the back provide any function?

128x128doug1234
malibu457
66 posts
 

i sent 3 IFI Zen Streams back, no problems with the Node.

marco1's avatar
marco1
496 posts
 

Hate to see anyone have problems but never read such a long thread for 600 bucks.  Hopefully you get it sorted out.

doug1234's avatar
doug1234 OP
23 posts
 

@2psyop You are amazing! I cant wait to see if its my power supply or the main board that is at fault. Thank you SO MUCH!!

@mofimadness FWIW, I cant do the factory reset because I never get the red light at the top - its that dead!

@larry5729 I coincidentally ended up near them yesterday and went in.. they said the same thing any salesman of BS products will say - "wow we’ve been using their units for 10 years and not a single failure... contact the manufacturer.."

@vint_age I’ve heard this a lot, even from my dealer. There have been a lot of problems with the app, but I think, in general, most of the bugs are sorted. Mine from a software perspective has actually been ok, but I am not using all of the features really. I rely on tidal for most of the UI stuff and only really use the bluos app for volume. With all of that said, I did have to occasionally pull the plug and reset the node because it locks up, maybe 1-2x a month.

@marco1 $600 is a lot for some, and not a lot for others. :) Plus, its good to share this info for others downstream.

@riccitone I have another thread going in search of a replacement streamer for the node (In the event 2psyop's replacement PS doesn't help). I have some particular requirements for said device..The zen has no optical input.  https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/looking-for-2-1-digital-preamp-recommendation

marco1's avatar
marco1
496 posts
 

@doug1234 - hope everyone knows I was just being facetious.   Should have used a 😀

moonwatcher
337 posts
 

Just wanted to echo that the Zen Stream might not be the "answer" to the Node issues.  Many have mentioned that it has terrible Wi-Fi connectivity that is often flaky (even with a very strong signal) or even if hardwired to ethernet. 

Another issue for Tidal users is that some say it stutters on the first song you start every single time.  I can't have that.  I'm not THAT patient. 

Hoping iFi will either correct those issues or will soon come out with a "MK. II" version that does.  As I'm interested in using a better external DAC anyway, I don't see the utility in buying a Node with an built-in one I'll never use. 

Good luck in getting your problem resolved. Yeah, some might not consider $600 much of an investment, but I do. Items should last at least 2X the freaking warranty period at a minimum at most price points. 

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