Bluesound Node X is out


The Node X has been released.

The DAC is said to be greatly improved. They throw in a remote and put a ¼" headphone jack on it.

I see the cpu is unchanged. 

Used Node prices took a big hit. I just picked one up on eBay for $269. There are several listed at a starting price under $200. 

Node X vs Node

mwinkc

the lps mod on node 130’s make the analog section sound better, for sure -- more clarity, micro detail, dynamics, where the stock unit is inoffensive (a good thing) but rather bland sounding

i will pick up a new node x at some point, i suspect it will have the trademark sonic traits of the ess chipset... with greater treble forwardness, prat and finely etched detail with some foreshortening of the soundstage ... definitely a smart move by b-s making the change, as it cures the main sonic ill of the n130 dac performance

i think the other big plus is it is a better unit for headphone listeners... but used as a streamer feeding a separate downstream dac, i don't think new one will do a meaningfully better job

The old ones  Roon ready?  Should make a good Roon endpoint.   I know the old Sonos ZP 90s work good for secondary systems (garage, ht....)

The old ones  Roon ready?

yes -- at least back to the prior node 2i, which i also had

before that, i dunno