Bluos Node 2i. Dreadful

[PhilY]

It’s time to call a spade a spade. The Bluos software for the 2i is dreadful. It is totally unacceptable for an expensive piece of kit to have such rubbish as its interface.

And I say this as as an IT professional with years of experience. My wife has an even stronger IT background, she has designed, developed and installed multi million dollar systems. She is the one that describes the app as “dreadful”.

 

I could rant for ages on the frustrations but will keep it to a minimum:

‘Bluesound is unusable. There is a crackle that gets louder the longer its left on. It’s a known problem that hasn’t been fixed for years. Why?

A point of clarification, you often see advice along the lines of “have you installed the latest software?”  This is tech speak to cover the fact that the software is flakey. And yes, I have installed the latest software. In this case, I would have expected the Bluetooth issue to have been fixed years ago, again, why is it still a problem??

The app interface is hopeless. I seriously doubt it has had any independent user acceptance testing. During the first wifi install there were three of us trying to figure out how to set the thing up. 
 

It is flakey to the max. I was playing some new tracks, my wife liked one so had a look on her phone to see what was playing. That was enough to freeze the app. We had to delete, reinstall and re set up the app. It took over an hour to figure out what was happening and how to resolve. Part of the time issue is that it takes ages to look for new software with no bypass option.  Another time I disconnected the Node and we spent over 30 mins working out how to re connect. Today we had a black out, 2 hours later (and hence why I am writing this) we still haven’t managed to get the Node working as we are caught in a loop of looking for wifi, enter password, looking for latest software, looking for player, player needs setup, looking for wifi, enter password, looking for latest.......

 

‘Dreadful, absolutely dreadful.
 

 

[Snoopy8]

I am really surprised. Having used a number of different systems and Apps, BluOS has been the one I rated the easiest to set up and use.

 

Maybe you have a faulty unit?  Or it looks like it is not for you....

 

P/a having an IT background is not relevant.  And I have one too...

[Guest]

Zero issues here. Love it. 

[Luc]

Concur. I flogged my Bluesound 2i because I just kept having probs with the app.

I booked in three phone calls to their help centre based in NY at the time and the guys were really really helpful and they took control of my PC and looked at things and made comments like; 'That's odd, hmm." That kind of stuff.

But problems just plagued me so I sold the node.

 

*I'm still exploring streaming options. Currently running an Aria Piccolo Plus which aint half bad but not cheap compared to the Bluesound stable.

[Pigpen]

I initially had issues with my NAD658 and the BluOS app, also caught in an endless loop but my Vault 2i had no such problems.

 

In disgust, I left it alone for a week (went away with work), came back and gave it one last try - worked pretty well ever since.

[RePete]

I had the same experience when I first bought it and was on the verge of trying to return it but once I got it connected and the firmware updated Ive had very few problems since

 

From memory I had to do a hard reset and start again

 

Same thing the first day of owning the NAD C388 with BlueOS module but after a painful process of updating all the firmware all was good

 

PS.  I feel your pain

 

 

Edited May 6, 2021 by RePete

[Luc]

3 minutes ago, RePete said:

but after a painful process of updating all the firmware all was good

 

 

Yeah. I think a lot of it comes down to individual setups, what your trying to do, what your driving with it, what your expectations are yada yada.

 

Whatever works for you is the mantra.

[RePete]

1 minute ago, Luc said:

 

Yeah. I think a lot of it comes down to individual setups, what your trying to do, what your driving with it, what your expectations are yada yada.

 

Whatever works for you is the mantra.

The OP does make a valid point in that the manufacturer could and should do better for the price. I know it took the fun out of my purchase for a while and had there been an alternative at the price point I would have tried it.

[Luc]

12 minutes ago, RePete said:

The OP does make a valid point in that the manufacturer could and should do better for the price. I know it took the fun out of my purchase for a while and had there been an alternative at the price point I would have tried it.

I think that's a complaint that can be pointed towards many manufacturers in the Hi Fi game and in particular anything digital that needs an app.  So many people have problems, whether teething ones or worse(I had worse) and there are many factors involved in it. Your home network and administrator rights can be a real bugbear for  someone who brings home a streamer and then DL's the app(for whatever) and goes to their PC and realises they are out of their depth when putting in IP addresses ect.

 

There's no one simple 'fit' in this game for seamless integration I've found.

 

 

Edited. Typo.

Edited May 6, 2021 by Luc

[John0001]

And people say vinyl is a PITA haha 

[Luc]

1 minute ago, John0001 said:

And people say vinyl is a PITA haha 

Lift on, lift off.

[PhilY]

29 minutes ago, Luc said:

 

Yeah. I think a lot of it comes down to individual setups, what your trying to do, what your driving with it, what your expectations are yada yada.

 

Whatever works for you is the mantra.

Node connected to Denon amp to Lenehan speakers, managed via iPhone. It’s an interim set up whilst I set up a media room. It would be near impossible to have a simpler set up. 
At least that’s the setup I have as of this evening, the trouble I had been having was with using an Android tablet. I finally gave up and moved to iPhones. So far it’s working fine - but we haven’t had a blackout etc yet to test it’s stability. Also, bluetooth is still crap.  

[Petew]

I almost bought a Bluesound node 2i a month or so ago but decided against it.

 

Using a Chromecast audio with toslink cable to a Topping e30 DAC. Good results and works flawlessly. I'd suggest trying that set up if you are an Android household. Can even use voice commands through Google home if you have one.

 

It is super annoying when expensive gear acts up.

Edited May 6, 2021 by Petew
Typos.....as usual

[Luc]

@PhilY  I too was running it through the Android ph while I was out and about in my house and surrounds but in my media room it was via the PC and mouse while seated.

Me and Bluos just didn't gell.

 

Have found other apps since and streaming options.

[PhilY]

1 hour ago, Snoopy8 said:

I am really surprised. Having used a number of different systems and Apps, BluOS has been the one I rated the easiest to set up and use.

 

Maybe you have a faulty unit?  Or it looks like it is not for you....

 

P/a having an IT background is not relevant.  And I have one too...

It is possible it’s a faulty unit, though there is enough critical comment on the software on forums to suggest that there is either a real problem with the software, or, there are a lot of faulty units out there. I mentioned the IT background to emphasise the point that we are both very familiar with applications, application interfaces and application bugs. We have enough real world experience to know a poor app when we see one!

[Kaynin]

49 minutes ago, Luc said:

I think that's a complaint that can be pointed towards many manufacturers in the Hi Fi game and in particular anything digital that needs an app.  So many people have problems, whether teething ones or worse(I had worse) and there are many factors involved in it. 

Many manufacturers choose to release products early without extensive testing, thereby having customers do the testing and report the issues.  Must be cheaper for them...

[RankStranger]

At least it’s not PlayFi

[wiredforsound]

Use it via wifi. apart from losing some spotify preferences such as gapless, fading tracks and normalisation, I haven't had any problems.  Galaxy tab, bluos, spotify connect to amp and all good. 

[evil c]

The Bluos interface overall is very good!

I updated to a Lumin, and while a higher caliber unit, not a patch on the user friendliness of Bluos.

 

Wi-Fi l had a few issues , but a simple Ethernet cable from the router certainly fixed that!

Still have a Node 2, for the 2nd system and love it.

[aussievintage]

19 hours ago, PhilY said:

 I mentioned the IT background to emphasise the point that we are both very familiar with applications, application interfaces and application bugs. We have enough real world experience to know a poor app when we see one!

 

I am in the same situation, IT wise, and when I see the quality of what software a lot of manufacturers release with their products I often shudder.    Still you hear from people who are very happy with it.  So maybe the companies are right, and the public will settle for bad software.  Consumerville is far from the professional expectations I am used to.

[PKay]

7 minutes ago, evil c said:

The Bluos interface overall is very good!

I updated to a Lumin, and while a higher caliber unit, not a patch on the user friendliness of Bluos.

 

Wi-Fi l had a few issues , but a simple Ethernet cable from the router certainly fixed that!

Still have a Node 2, for the 2nd system and love it.

Me too.  I have a Node2 and it is simple to use, works with iphone and samsung.  Never had a problem with it and in the main living room everyone can use it easily.

 

interfaces with Qobuz, Tidal and Spotify with no problems.

[PKay]

2 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

 

I am in the same situation, IT wise, and when I see the quality of what software a lot of manufacturers release with their products I often shudder.    Still you hear from people who are very happy with it.  So maybe the companies are right, and the public will settle for bad software.  Consumerville is far from the professional expectations I am used to.

how is the software bad? what are you comparing it to? 

[Hydrology]

I have to say in the early days (version 1) I was keen as mustard to get a BS Node and Vault. I found the software horrendous and buggy with things falling of the network (wired) constantly, not just in my setup but others as well.

 

However, Ive been playing with the software recently (as an end user, not a reseller) and it has certainly improved dramatically over the years, with good reliability, as much it pains me to say!

 

[aussievintage]

32 minutes ago, PKay said:

how is the software bad? what are you comparing it to? 

 

You misunderstand. It was the person I was replying to that said the bluos node 2i was "dreadful".  I was making a general statement that I often see bad software supplied with products that users still report being quite happy with.   I am comparing it to more professional programs for business , science, and manufacturing which I have been involved with in development and rollout.

[Guest dr_carl]

I had some initial issues with wi fi. I was running an NBN router with a good strong signal but not optimised for traffic such as streaming. Bought a mesh system, and zero node issues ever since.

 

Bluesound should probably have made that issue more public than they have, as their product is fine in some implementations and obviously fairly poor in others. 

 

The mesh was purchased to solve a different problem,  but l'm certain it solved all my node  problems too.

 

I also accept that anything involving any kind of IT has a minimum unavoidable quantum of pain that must be endured, but that in the long run its always worth it.