new to streaming- help!

NO. Figure out what is wrong with your Wi-Fi. If possible use a Ethernet cable to the node. Try to give more details on the connection if the Ethernet cable doesn’t work. Good luck and welcome to streaming. 

What problem(s) are you encountering? Are you having trouble connecting the Node to your wi-fi network? Is it dropping connection? A more detailed explanation would be helpful in troubleshooting.

Also - have you tried finding your issue in Bluesound's troubleshooting section on the website or contacting them for support?

Do whatever you need to get the computer outta the system.  It’ll be worth the effort.  Best of luck in getting that sorted, and if you provide more detailed info of what the problem is as mentioned above you may well find your solution right here.

Hi all-

Thanks for much.  I'll keep trying to sort out the Node x.  The issue is that neither my iPhone nor my MacBook recognize the player.  I do seem to be able to hook the Node X by ethernet and I can play music over bluetooth.  But as neither device recognizes the player, I haven't been able to set up Bluos or play music on Wi Fi.  I spoke to Blue Sound and they are also confused.  (I have unplugged, reset, deleted app and started again to no avail).  It may be a defective device or something wonky with the Wi Fi.  This is in a college dorm rather than private home.  If anyone has any ideas, please do let me know.  I may end up returning and trying another device.  

Thanks again, Margot

Thanks so much, I meant!

It has been a long time since I graduated from the bluesound node to a standalone streamer and DAC.  

I remember there were a few things that tripped me up.  

First don't try to do it wireless.  Plug it into the internet.  then you know you have internet.  If you want to go wireless, you can do that aferyou get it working (but wired is better sound).

Second, use the RCA outputs to your pre-in on your amp or to an input on your preamp.  

If you have a seperate DAC, you will want to use the optical output.  Unfortunately, the USB port on the back is not an output but an input for firmware changes, IIRC.

Good luck. Streaming is the way to go.  I just upgraded to my 3rd post Bluesound streamer with a pricetag an order of magnitude higher.  and your DAC will become the heart of your system and you'll want the best one you can afford.

Jerry

Bluetooth is a direct connection to the player, so we know at least the player functions correctly.

Are you trying to connect the Node to the campus wi-fi / local network? If so, the university IT staff may be blocking certain networking ports for security reasons. This may be what’s keeping your iPhone / MacBook from communicating with the Node.

Definitely don’t go back to a PC.

There is a place to show your system. Would help us better assess where you are at and taylor recommendations.

I have brought my digital end from terrible, step by step to having sound quality equal to my excellent vinyl system over the last 20 years.. So by the streamer quality and DAC quality you chose the sound quality that the rest of the system can provide. If you want it can sound as good or better than your vinyl rig.

Punt Tidal and go with Qobuz.

Try unplugging your Node,let it reboot,then try to link to Wi-Fi.   Sometimes these get a little wonky. I hope this helps.

Setting up the Node N130 was a piece of cake.  The only thing that I had a problem with was connecting to my NAS and the problem was all me! As far as using wireless, I have 500 meg down from Spectrum that’s pretty solid and have tried Wi-Fi.  It works just fine, but seeing as I started out with a direct connection I stayed with it.

I  must say that the Node has been solid for over a year now.  When the power went out, I was concerned about it reconnecting and when the power came back on all was good in less than a minute.

All the best.

Many, many thanks, all.  Such great advice.  Right now I am exploring Yage's hypothesis that my problem has to do with IT security settings.  More soon, I hope!

Margot

The issue is that neither my iPhone nor my MacBook recognize the player.

Dumb question. Are you trying to connect to the Node with the BlueOS app or some other way? Does BlueOS see the Node?

Tidal Connect can be finicky. Can you stream Radio Paradise from the Node?

Are you trying to use Tidal Connect?

Keep trying- it will be worth the effort 

the node will be far superior to your computer and is generally a very reliable device. 

I have a question for SOIX and Carlsbad2 as I also want to widen my music experience by streaming:  My main music system is in my living room.  My modem/router in in my home office delivering WI-FI service to my two computers there and my TV in the living room.  So how could I ditch a  PC which I would locate near my music system and receive the music o replace a streamer there (and feed into a DAC) but not connect by Wi-Fi?   I am admittedly ignorant of the whole streaming setup. A little basic help would be welcome.  Thanks.

Some streamers have built in dacs which either can be connected with Ethernet or Wi-Fi. Also when I bought my Auralic, they recommend even a certain router for streaming, so you won’t lose on the high speed data.

But also I second ghdprentice, get the laptop outta there, been that route, and you will have much better sound with a separate streamer/dac.

Node 2i had the same idiotic issues for me too. And the sound quality isn’t much to write home about. Get a Lindemann Limetree Bridge II or Wiim Pro. Both in a similar price range, and far better sound quality. No dropping and wifi issues. Also if you later upgrade a bit with a Linear Power Supply (like the one from MCRU) that’s an immediately audible upgrade. 

An external day of Quality is key , for 1 get rid of the wallwart power supplies to the router ,most are modem- router combos ,war wart power supplies Horribke noise makers buy a linear power supply, then a Ethernet  bridge LHY-SW8  sell very good LPS also loook on the wall wart most are 12 v and you need 4 amps or more in your LPS.

and SW8 Ethernet switch which gives alot for the money and your Ethernet cables 

pin a budget $200 each the Wireworld starlight ,usb cable too same brand  these are essential items , the $1k Denafrips Aries 12-1 dac excellent value 

and always use respectable power cords it does make a difference , Pangea awg14, Sig MK-2. Use Cardas best #1 Copper and all gold plated Copper connectors  

I've had issues with a non-BlueSound product running updated 64 bit programming where my streamer version, iPhone and iPad are all operating on 32 bit devices. Hence, "i" devices are not recognizing the streamer. No one has brought that up, but it might be worth vetting if your iPhone or iPad are older.

It’s your wifi

Keep at it, the bluesound NODE is an excellent piece of equipment and the bluos app is as reliable as it gets. When I started with bluesound streaming I had plenty of difficulties to wrap my head around but with patience I got rewarded.

I agree with above post to dump Tidal and get Qobuz. Also, if possible just avoid Wi-Fi completely and go hardwired, and in addition to working better it’ll sound better as well. If it’s inconvenient to run a cable from the router to your Node you can get a Wi-Fi extender from TP Link, etc. (buy local or from Amazon so you can return it you still have issues) and run an Ethernet cable from that to your Node. That’s what I’d do if you can’t or prefer not to run direct from the router. Hope this helps somewhat.

@styleman I’d also highly recommend you get a dedicated streamer and buy either a Wi-Fi extender or a Mesh system so you can easily run an Ethernet cable from that to the streamer. Both work very well and provide much better performance than going over Wi-Fi with no cable. Some prefer Mesh as they think it sounds better and may work better if your system is a good distance from your router with the downside being it’s a little more expensive, but not all that much by audio standards. Again, hope this helps, and best of luck.

I know most of the people posting here indicate that streaming from a PC is bad for audio quality. Mostly due to space constraints, I am using a PC as a streaming source. It was clearly a sub-par source until I bought a Jitter filter. Made a huge difference in sound. I also have everything running via cables, ethernet to PC, USB to external DAC with a USB input. Bluetooth and WIFI are great when there are no hard wired options.

I know most of the people posting here indicate that streaming from a PC is bad for audio quality. Mostly due to space constraints

@motown-l No, it has almost nothing to do with space constraints and everything to do with sound quality.  Computers are multi-use devices that, unlike streamers, are not optimized at all for playing music and are very noisy.  Noise is the mortal enemy when it comes to streaming, which is a major reason why computers suck as a streaming source.  Treating jitter helps, but you’re still left with the noise.  Get a streamer, even a cheaper one like Wii, Node, etc., and you’ll realize this immediately as the difference is not subtle if you have an otherwise decent system.

Margot, I would start by taking Wi-Fi out of the equation. If you plug both the Node and your MacBook into Ethernet, can you see the Node when you run the Bluesound app on your MacBook?

soix - I have space constraints where adding another device will be challenging in my AV rack. I'm sure a dedicated streamer would sound better than my outdated PC. I just have nowhere to put an additional piece of audio equipment. Not sure what part of my post you are calling into question. Sometimes I make audio decisions not solely based on sound but based also on constraints in my listening space and budget. 

@motown-l My deepest apologies — I misread your post.  The WiiM Pro gets decent reviews for sound and is pretty small (5.5” square x 1.6”h).  FWIW.

As you can see from this thread the standard opinion is that PCs are not good for streaming. My experience has been different. I have an ASUS gaming laptop hooked up to my DAC with a USB cable (I'm using Qobuz). I have compared several CDs to their streamed counterparts through the same DAC and found that there is no detectable difference in their sound. It turns out that most people have not tried this themselves - they just repeat the conventional wisdom that you have to have a streamer to get good sound. Never mind that this "wisdom" is perpetrated by an industry that wants to sell you streamers.

If the streamed content through a computer sounds just as good as the CD then my position is that is as good as it gets. It's unreasonable to assume that you will get better sound from streaming after the WAV file is broken into packets, sent over thousands miles of wire and dozens of routers, reassembled into a streamed file, and run through another piece of digital gear as opposed to the simplicity of spinning a CD - a mature technology that the industry has had decades to perfect..

Before you do back flips and spend tons of money on a streamer I strongly suggest that you compare streaming from your iMac to a few CDs and see if you can hear the difference. If the computer sounds inferior then by all means get a dedicated streamer. But I think there's a pretty good chance that it will sound the same as the CD and you can be comfortable that your simple solution is just fine.

BTW, I do think that whatever you use for streaming, you should hook it up to the router with an ethernet cable instead of using wifi. I have 100 gig fiber and the wifi occasionally had dropouts so now I use an ethernet cable.

OP,

Keep at it, for the average person even an entry level dedicated streamer will best a computer based system.....though some techie types have figured out how to do it well. The BlueSound OS is excellent, and the Node X is a talented streamer. Yes if you can, go directly into the Node with an ethernet connection.....others can help if an extender or mesh system is helpful.

I have an ASUS gaming laptop hooked up to my DAC with a USB cable (I’m using Qobuz). I have compared several CDs to their streamed counterparts through the same DAC and found that there is no detectable difference in their sound. It turns out that most people have not tried this themselves

@8th-note I did, and I’m sure many others here have as well — we audiophiles just can’t help ourselves. I started streaming from my computer (also with Qobuz) and was pretty happy with the sound, but one day I got curious and did a direct A/B comparison with CDs using my transport into the same DAC and was pretty depressed when I found CDs to consistently sound significantly better across the board — not even close. The noise floor dropped, imaging popped, soundstage expanded, and dynamics improved. It was like moving from MP3 to CD resolution if I were to make an apt analogy. This was a bad day as an audiophile. When I brought this up here several people said I needed to get a dedicated streamer, so still a little skeptical I heeded that advice and bought a used iFi Zen Stream, which is decent but by no means is a high-end streamer, and BAM! Right away it was clear the streaming now significantly bettered CDs. The difference was not subtle, and needless to say I was very happy and greatly relieved (and very appreciative of the sage advice and encouragement I got here!). Likewise I’d encourage anyone using a computer source who thinks it sounds good to at least try a dedicated streamer — you might be surprised, as I was, about how much performance you may be leaving on the (computer) table.

@soix +1

This was my experience as well, though I just upgraded my streamer from a Sonos Connect rather than a PC. Night and day difference.

@yage nailed it... 

The OP said: "This is in a college dorm rather than private home."

Which @yage diagnosed: "Are you trying to connect the Node to the campus wi-fi / local network? If so, the university IT staff may be blocking certain networking ports for security reasons. This may be what’s keeping your iPhone / MacBook from communicating with the Node.

@mcanaday CAN connect via BT which is a direct connection to the Node. Via wi-fi however, his control devices (iPhone, etc.) have to locate the node on the network. There's every likelihood that will be impossible on the university's wi-fi without their assistance. As it's rather doubtful he has physical access to the network, so suggesting that he "run a cable from the router" is no help in this case.

There is one other thing you might try. I take it you can connect your iPhone to the university's wifi? If so, make note of the SSD (aka "name") of the network it's connected to. My guess is there are several available to try and spread out network traffic. Then via a BT connection to the Node, go to the BlueOS setup to see if it's connecting to the same SSD. If not, it's likely that's your problem. I have two SSDs at home and sometimes if my phone is connected to the one my Node2i is not connected to I have to swap networks. Good luck!

Happy listening.

Shoot an email to the university IT department about what you're trying to do. They might have some answers. If you can stream Tidal on your Mac you should be able to get it to work on your Node X, which is an excellent choice, btw. The BluOS app is great. (I use a Node in the living room.)

In the meantime, using bluetooth to connect to the X works. If it's a dorm room, I'm betting you don't have Focal Utopias, and maybe bluetooth will be fine for now. Or before you buy anything else, you could use the X as an external dac if you want to try that.
Good luck! Enjoy the music. And thanks again, Margot!

(I really don't think switching to Qobuz will solve anything.)

I really don't think switching to Qobuz will solve anything.

She doesn’t have to deal with Tidal anymore, so it at least solves that.

Hi all!  I have now communicated with University IT.  I do not have a live ethernet connection and there likely is an issue with WI FI.  I can resolve it, I think.  I need to register for a different WI FI --with the Mac ID that is on the bottom of the Node X.  Hopefully when I do that, I can get my phone (or mac) to recognize the player so I can go ahead and install Bluos and be on my way.

I'm on Fall Break and away now so won't know for a week if I am operational, but will report back.

One other question for those who do like Tidal--If I am not connecting the Node X into external DAC, will I notice a difference between cd quality level and the premium (hi res) membership?  I went with the less expensive for now, but wonder what others think?  Would this only be worth it with external DAC?

Many thanks to all of you!

Margot

If I am not connecting the Node X into external DAC, will I notice a difference between cd quality level and the premium (hi res) membership?

Good question, and it has a lot to do with the quality of the rest of your system and if it’s resolving enough to reveal the differences.  That said, the DAC in the Node is not exactly helping a lot, and that alone would point me to CD quality that doesn’t exactly suck.  If you’ve got a very good system and are able to position your speakers appropriately in the room hi res might be worth it, but I have my doubts.  My guess is you could maybe start with a Premium subscription and downgrade it if you don’t hear meaningful differences but don’t know if Tidal allows this so worth checking into.  In any event, here’s hoping you finally get the IT monkey off your back so you can get up and running! 🤞🤞🤞.

Don’t go back to PC.  USE Ethernet cable.  Reboot.  And u should be good to go 

Give Roon a try.