Bluesound Node 2i -- Am I missing something?

I connect the Node2i via an MF MxDac still not happy. The best way I can describe it is a fogginess, or closed in sound in the mid to upper base frequencies, its very listenable but that closed in feeling just bugs me. Today I connected an old Arcam CD73 direct to the amp (MF2si) and was blown away with the difference, much more open, much bigger soundstage, more clarity and detail. My conclusion, CD's are here to stay for a while yet. Is there a streamer that can rival a decent CDP?
Considering you connected the CD player directly to the amp (so using the CDP's internal DAC) and didn't mention also trying the CDP via the Mx DAC to the amp, your conclusion appears to be premature. How do you know the 'fogginess', etc, isn't actually due to the Mx DAC, rather than the streamer's internal audio file player?
 
Good point, I’m going to test that today. Node2i directly into the amp and CD73 into the DAC. I’d be pleased if the issue turns out to be the DAC rather than the Node
 
@Cebolla You're question turned out to be correct, I've connected the Node direct to the amp using the Nodes DAC and the fogginess has gone away, I was really surprised! Still not quite as good as the CDP but a big improvement. The Musical Fidelity MX DAC is now winging its way to eBay
 
It's always worth going through all the possibilities. Shame that common CD player design practice dictates that the CD73's DAC can't be used externally so that you can use it with the Node for a truer level playing field CDP vs streamer comparison.
 
After reading all the glowing reviews inc the avforums review i was all set to pick up a node 2i in the clearence but after reading trhis im not so sure. I have a CCA, its ok for tidal but cant get my collection via the network and messing with CDs again i cant be bothered with getting a new player and getting them out the loft.

Id be connecting to an arcam SR250 either RCA or optical / coax.
 
My unhappiness was related to the DAC I was using the Node 2i with, it created a boxiness or closed in feeling in the mid-bass frequencies, I’ve removed the DAC and I’m much, much happier. The Node 2i is not quite a good as my CDP (Arcam CD73) but it’s very, very close and the ease of use makes up for it!
 
My unhappiness was related to the DAC I was using the Node 2i with, it created a boxiness or closed in feeling in the mid-bass frequencies, I’ve removed the DAC and I’m much, much happier. The Node 2i is not quite a good as my CDP (Arcam CD73) but it’s very, very close and the ease of use makes up for it!
Sarn, As the OP, I sometimes get a bit confused with the technical side of this discussion. Are you saying that when you experienced 'boxiness' with the sound of the Node 2i you weren't actually using its own internal DAC, but some other external DAC.....or have you swapped using the internal DAC for a better external DAC?
 
I was using an external DAC that I have now removed, I’m now using the Node2i’s internal DAC.
 
After reading all the glowing reviews inc the avforums review i was all set to pick up a node 2i in the clearence but after reading trhis im not so sure. I have a CCA, its ok for tidal but cant get my collection via the network and messing with CDs again i cant be bothered with getting a new player and getting them out the loft.

Id be connecting to an arcam SR250 either RCA or optical / coax.
If you can get a good deal on the Node 2i I think it would make a very sound purchase.

I suppose the reason for me starting this thread is that I felt that the step up from the google Chromecast wasn't quite what I expected. This was compounded by the fact that Richer Sounds wouldn't cut me a deal on it, so I had to pay the full £500.

If you can pick the Node 2i up for around the £350 - £400 mark I would go for it. You can always try it out for a couple of weeks and return it if you aren't happy with it.
 
i picked up a bluesound...but havent opened it yet. I have found the mconnect app lets me stream tidal masters through my yamaha avr 3080 and im wondering do i really need the bluesound anymore? Thats all i would have used it for and a bit of bluetooth to a portable speaker but can also do that from my phone.
 
The mconnect Player series of apps gets the controlled device to stream TIDAL's MQA tracks directly from TIDAL's online server, so they'll arrive at the streamer still undecoded.

Are you able to use/already using a full MQA decoding external DAC with the Yamaha AVR? If not, given that it doesn't support MQA, the Yamaha will be playing TIDAL's MQA tracks without decoding any of their MQA content.

So, whether you need the Bluesound likely depends on whether you can do without the MQA tracks being decoded.
 
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ahh right, no, what i have is the player on phone outputting to musiccast, it does show higher bitrate and Master on the now playing info. My fronts are then on the pre out of the avr to the Arcam SR250 stereo amp.
 
It's always worth going through all the possibilities. Shame that common CD player design practice dictates that the CD73's DAC can't be used externally so that you can use it with the Node for a truer level playing field CDP vs streamer comparison.
I believe the Node digitizes analog input, so using the CD73's DAC would also use the Node's DAC.You almost certainly are better off feeding a digital signal to the Node where possible. Many (most?) AVRs do the same.
 
I was referring to the Node being used as a streamer (for Qobuz, in that particular conversation).

Nobody mentioned anything that would require the Node to handle analogue, or do you actually believe that is the case when the Node streams & plays audio file tracks from online music services such as Qobuz, with the output going to an external DAC?
 

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