doomigee2 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Hi all looking for alternative options to the Bluesound Node 2i. I have had the node 2 and the 2i and they are a great unit, but I want to see what else is out there. Im looking for something that is a streamer/dac in a single box and preferably had a headphone amp as well. Roon ready is a must. Budget wise would like to be around $1k-$1.5k and preference is second hand or ex demo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Auralic Altair G1? A grand over the budget though and yeah would be hard to find one second hand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardiiiii Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Cambridge Audio CXN V2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
08Boss302 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Cambridge Audio i reckon is your best next shot as mentioned above by @Cardiiiii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juzbear Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 Cambridge audio CXN is great (I use one, including for Roon), but it is Roon tested, not room ready, which means you have to stream via airplay or chromecast, which limits you to 16/44 or 24/48, respectively, and the DAC is not MQA able, which you may care about if you use tidal. If it was truly Roon ready, it would be able to stream higher bit rates/higher res via the Roon RAAT protocol. When I am having an episode of of audiophilia nervosa, this bothers me, at all other times, I really enjoy how well it works with Roon and really enjoy the sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renzo Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 Hi juzbear , the cxn has an USB entrante for external HDD? Im looking also an alternative To node2i wich can support my 2tb hdd, and also can control with an app on my phone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy8 Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 Note that BluOS is one of the better Apps to use. The CA App feels clunky by comparison. If you have the space, why not add an external DAC to your Node 2i? With your budget, a Gieseler Klein will give a good improvement in SQ. An excellent streamer DAC is the NAD C658 which, new, will exceed your budget. It has BluOS as well as Dirac Live. Not many have turned up in the Classifieds though... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cafe67 Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 17 minutes ago, Snoopy8 said: Note that BluOS is one of the better Apps to use. The CA App feels clunky by comparison. If you have the space, why not add an external DAC to your Node 2i? With your budget, a Gieseler Klein will give a good improvement in SQ. An excellent streamer DAC is the NAD C658 which, new, will exceed your budget. It has BluOS as well as Dirac Live. Not many have turned up in the Classifieds though... My thoughts the node 2i is pretty good and without spending serious money , you may just been moving sidewise ? $1500 would get a nice dac either new or s/h 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowallet Posted June 3, 2020 Share Posted June 3, 2020 I'm curious whether anyone here as compared the Yamaha WXAD-10 to the Bluesound Node 2i when upgrading their own setup? I'm itching for an upgrade from my WXAD-10 but am very curious about how much focus I should give this upgrade (i.e. how noticeable is the improvement in SQ?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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