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Bluesound vs SOtM

I am a vinyl guy but after living with the Chromecast audio for a few years I finally bought a DAC. The DAC is an Ayre Codex currently fed by a MacBook Air 2011, directly connected via USB. It sounds a bit harsh and flat, although with plenty of detail and great body in the lower frequencies.

I have therefore decided to feed the fact with a streamer instead. My question is this: Has anyone substantial experience comparing Bluesound Node 2 with a SOtM SMS 200 (with the SPS 500 power supply) in a revealing system?

Again, my system is very revealing so even subtle differences between the two will be clear.

I currently use only TIDAL and YouTube but I am interested in differences in hardware of the streaming that affect all uses.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience,
Fred
fabsound
nycjlee
286 posts
 
In the long run, I think you will be happier with the added power supply.  All the reviews seem to indicate a bump in the SQ with the added linear  power supply.  
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
Don’t see any mention of support for WiFi in the SOtM SMS200 documentation and for many, including me, the absence of WiFi is a non starter. Something to keep in mind when comparing streamers.
fabsound OP
31 posts
 
I understand. The SOtM can do wifi with the addition of a dongle, however.
fabsound OP
31 posts
 
A barrier for me is that the SOtM is a bit inconvenient to use without Roon, and Roon would increase the overall cost.
nycjlee
286 posts
 
Why do you need Roon?  You don’t necessarily need it to stream Tidal.  You could always get Roon later. One option is buy the Bluesound from Crutchfield and give it an audition.  Their return policy is excellent.  If you don’t like the bluesound return it and try the SOtM. 
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