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BluSound Node and Node 2

The purpose of this post is to make everyone aware and think twice before buying BluSound Node / Node 2.

Blusound's customer service is the worst I have ever experienced. As far as sound goes it's decent for the price. Are there better-sounding streaming dacs? Absolutely. I'd spend extra 300 / 400 dollars and get something more reliable vs wasting $549. 

Issue::

Six months after buying my 1st node it failed. It would play songs from the middle and only for 30 seconds and then skip to a random song regardless of what service I used. There are numerous blogs that talk about this same exact problem. It happens if you are streaming locally from your NAS or directly from quboz or deezer. You guys can google this issue. 

 

After several failed attempts with customer service, I sold the device for $75 and bought node 2. I was told by blusound that they have fixed the bugs in node 2 and it sounds way better.

Well there is no difference in sound between node 1 and node 2 and my node 2 failed within 3 months of purchase. After 2 weeks worth of back and forth with blusound tech support and 20 emails from them telling me to reboot / reindex / factory reset my device I was told today that they will take a look at the logs and get back to me. 

Its possible that blusound node owners have owned their devices for years without any problems but it looks like songs skipping and starting from the middle and stopping randomly is a well know issue with the device. 

My suggestion is to look at other brands, spend a little more in order to avoid wasting your $549. 

Im thinking of either getting a used Lumin d2 or the simaudio 280d. 

 

my system:

Simaudio 340i with builtin dac [2019]

Dynaudio C20

2x REL T9is

 

danimaz
jetter
2,953 posts
 

@soix 

 But, if you’re going hard wired I think the Zen Stream is hard to beat although their customer service is even worse than Bluesound if you ever need it.

I just don't understand what could have changed that people are discussing Bluesound as having bad customer service.  I thought they were excellent.  They responded to every question I had and after answering almost immediately any question they would email me back asking if everything worked out OK.  Things must have changed in the last 2 years.

hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,796 posts
 

So I envy the owners that have never had problems but I do think there is a high percentage of failed units here.

What is your factual basis for this? Why are there hundreds of people on Amazon, etc. rating it a 4/5? 4.5/5 indicates that a very high percentage are rating them as reliable. What countervailing data are you citing here? Or are you just speculating because of subjective, negative feeling?

 

lg1
199 posts
 

Every so often, my BluOS app refuses to find my Node 2i for a day or so. Ethernet cable connections from modem to grid “pod” (eero) to Node…..so far, it’s always resolved itself - mysteriously - within 24 hours. Aside from that, I really love the contraption. I hope it lasts me another decade and that, with some future update, the intermittent connectivity glitch will “mysteriously” disappear for good!

gdnrbob
4,411 posts
 

I owned the Node (original one), and it worked well. Customer service can be a bit sketchy, but if you are patient, they will come through-albeit sometimes with a considerable wait time.

Is Bluesound perfect, no.

Is Bluesound a good value for what it offers, yes.

Bob

fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,502 posts
 

You have to often clear the data for the app. If insufficient, reinstall. And reboot the router to renew the handshake.  And/or the modem.

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