Except it doesn’t have Dirac. *Available via future software update. They’ve been saying that for a while now. Maybe one day they will, maybe not, but no one knows how long you’ll be waiting for it.
Also bare in mind you’re going to have to pay atleast 300 dollars for Dirac and you will need a mic at about 150 also, word is Dirac will be December time but yeah it’s going to cost you
I typically use Raspberry Pis paired with a USB ESS Sabre DAC for streaming, running Volumio as the software. It’s a very cost-effective setup, though there are, of course, the Volumio license fees to consider. I prefer running my own hardware since it gives me the flexibility to switch operating systems if needed. That said, the Bluesound streamer is really appealing-it’s packed with features! HDMI eARC and room correction are particularly tempting, especially at a price point under £1000.
A couple of questions that I can't seem to find info on: SMPS or LPS? You just mention that its an upgraded power supply. FemtoClock or something like a Accusilicon TCXO? Roon ready? Thank you!
Can you please clarify the Dolby Digital decoding? Is this offering the same functionality as the powernode which can have surrounds added wirelessly? I just saw they added the feature recently on their website for the Icon and standard Node.
It just decodes it to two channel stereo. We reached out to NAD/Lenbrook/Bluesound about the comment surround was added to the Nodes and it was not. But it does work with a POWERNODEv2 or newer, Soundbar Plus, NAD M10V2/V3 or NAD C700v2 as the front end. Rears can be added with Powernode Edge, any version of Powernode, Pulse Flex2i or Pulse M.
Great work hopefully there is more to come on the ICON. eg sound comparisons with more expensive streamers and DACS. It would be great if you guys or someone else cracked the unit open and showed us the internals, ie power supply, isolation, build quality etc. Also can Dirac curves be adjusted, saved and switched on or off with the phone app on the fly (as music is playing) ?
Thank you. We plan to do a shorter video later once we get a real production unit. We could not test Dirac as it was not available on the preproduction unit we had.
@@AudioAdvice A comparison perhaps up against an Auralic G1 streamer/ dac with eq ( twice the price) might put the Icons performance into perspective. What if any sound difference is there ? As a prospective purchaser of the Icon, I hope the differences soundwise are small if any.
No one mentions the Surround mode if paired with another Node. Please test that - I’m using 4.1 Sonos Amp setup in my office/media room with some TV/AppleTV use and surround decoding is nice. Wonder how BlueSound stacks up!?
Do you not think it's a little misleading in the comparison with the Wiim Ultra? for a product that is three times more expensive than the Wiim Ultra it should perform better but you just dont mention the cost difference at all..
"Server Message Block (SMB) up to 200,000 files" - is this related to the "local server mode"? This is a deal breaker for me. I need higher amount of files. With this limitation the Icon can not perform as our home music server. Pity.
We reached out to Lenbrook on this question. That is what they publish, but they said members of their team have far more files than that, they have one member with 700,000 where it works with no artwork. Hope this helps
Got the answer- As long as the drive uses the NTFS or FAT32 file systems, the type of storage medium should not matter, whether it be Solid State, Flash Memory. Hard Disk or CD. However, the drive needs to behave like a independent drive. If it requires any type of drivers from the operating system, it will not work. Hope this helps for you and should you decide to get an Icon you will help support our small business by purchasing from www.audioadvice.com. Thanks!
Umm nice streamer but to expensive if your just going to use it as a streamer and already have an external Dac . WiiM has way cheaper products that do the same thing for way cheaper
Is this supposed to be a review? Sounds like he's just reading a script that BluSound provided. I Was hoping to see some of the interface and user experience, all I saw was increasing the volume?
@@OrazCostanzo having the ability to use Dirac and being able use XLR for lower noise are both pretty substantial, plus high end dual mono dacs are a nice added benefit.
@@AudioAdvice Apparently it doesn't matter, but what did you expect? It seems to really bother people that they already have something else, so they feel the need to knock something new, even though they have obviously never heard it. It's a constant on reviews here.
No RUclips Music (chromecast) support, unreliable software. They aren’t really progressing their product line. They have ignored a massive request thread on their support pages to support it. I own a node and thanks to this, it barely gets used. When it does, via Bluetooth, the Bluetooth connection never works until we reboot it. Has been my worst audio purchase.
We reached out to them and they said they will never have Chromecast or YT as they feel it eats up too much of the system resources (60%) and reduces the SQ.
@@AudioAdvice if their sound quality were actually great, I might agree. Their dac has been mediocre at best. I own the 2021 node. It is inferior to a 120 dollar schiit dac. They are competing with wiim now. And they are losing.
I bet Bluesound havet manage to fix the super annoying user issue when using Qobuz. I is impossible to sort the music (artist,albums,a-z etc) you are stuck with date added. Bluesound are aware(since gen1), but haven't bothered to fix this issue. IMO Bluesound is a Tidal only streamer.
@@AudioAdvice You can't Miss it just try use Qobuz on any bluesound device, it is totaly broken. This is true On Every bluesound device ever sold. Sadly It has always been That Way, and Bluesound blame Qobuz.there is Tons of reports on this (reddit audiogon etc) What's funny though,is that this BIG issue doesn't exist on any other streamer I have tested or heard about.
I stopped watching when i heard "the are going to support..." sorry but the product had one chance to make a first good impression. I don't buy on futur promises.
You must not know much about the history of Lenbrook. They have always delivered on future promise. Just look at the history of their MDC boards that allow you to upgrade many NAD units.
Thanks for the review! I'd love to see the performance of this model measured. I reached out to Bluesound about them supplying a unit to (for example) ASR or SoundStage and no surprise - they didn't ever respond 🙄 Can Audio Advice help facilitate?? The other comment I'd like to make is that after the $300 Dirac subscription, this becomes the same prices as the miniDSP SHD, which has a very similar feature set (streamer, analog and digital in, balanced out, Dirac, etc).
We are sure once they get more units in they will distribute more out for reviews. Yes, the miniDSP SHD has some merit, but its DAC's are a lower end ESS model and not in fully balanced mode with XLR. And there are more streaming sources available in BluOS. Thanks for watching
Bluesound NODE ICON: audioadvice.io/NODEICON
Bluesound NODE: audioadvice.io/NODEN132
Bluesound NODE Nano: audioadvice.io/NODENANO
Without proper power supply
Another average streamer😮
@@CarlVanDoren61 hi. What u mean, sorry iam not expert.
So many great streamers to choose from! The ICON definitely seems like it'll be super popular.
We think so!
Very excited to see the crazy performance for the price! Dirac and balanced XLR outputs at this price point is a big win!!
Agreed! Bluesound has always made great products. The ICON will be a hit for sure.
Except it doesn’t have Dirac. *Available via future software update. They’ve been saying that for a while now. Maybe one day they will, maybe not, but no one knows how long you’ll be waiting for it.
Also bare in mind you’re going to have to pay atleast 300 dollars for Dirac and you will need a mic at about 150 also, word is Dirac will be December time but yeah it’s going to cost you
I’m running a WiiM ultra through an SMSL-su-1 external DAC.. this is winning budget setup
Thanks for sharing
This video didn’t share anything, just an advertisement.
I typically use Raspberry Pis paired with a USB ESS Sabre DAC for streaming, running Volumio as the software. It’s a very cost-effective setup, though there are, of course, the Volumio license fees to consider. I prefer running my own hardware since it gives me the flexibility to switch operating systems if needed. That said, the Bluesound streamer is really appealing-it’s packed with features! HDMI eARC and room correction are particularly tempting, especially at a price point under £1000.
Thanks for sharing! That seems like a great DIY setup. But yes, the ICON is a great option!
I've been using a Node and Vault for about three years. I cringe every time BluOS issues an "upgrade".
A couple of questions that I can't seem to find info on:
SMPS or LPS? You just mention that its an upgraded power supply.
FemtoClock or something like a Accusilicon TCXO?
Roon ready?
Thank you!
I have the same PS question.
@@bizmofunyuns6463 Can they tell me the weight, size and color?
We will have to ask on the supply and clock, yes on Roon.
Got an answer back- Still uses a SMPS supply with better Nichicon caps and better filtering then what is used in the NODE. Hope this helps
Ive been waiting for this one! Wiim fan boys will be triggered by it but it doesn't matter the icon is better made inside and out.
Thanks for watching 😊
I love seeing new products like this!
Us too! Thanks for watching!
The NODE ICON looks like a great upgrade!
It really is, thanks for watching.
Awesome unit. Incredible bang for the buck.
We agree! Thanks for watching.
Can you please clarify the Dolby Digital decoding? Is this offering the same functionality as the powernode which can have surrounds added wirelessly? I just saw they added the feature recently on their website for the Icon and standard Node.
It just decodes it to two channel stereo. We reached out to NAD/Lenbrook/Bluesound about the comment surround was added to the Nodes and it was not. But it does work with a POWERNODEv2 or newer, Soundbar Plus, NAD M10V2/V3 or NAD C700v2 as the front end. Rears can be added with Powernode Edge, any version of Powernode, Pulse Flex2i or Pulse M.
@ ok thx for looking into it!
How would you compare only the streaming sound quality of the node icon against the WiiM ultra ?
We did not have time to compare but probably will in the future. Thanks for watching
Can the Node Icon use eARC input, output audio via optical to a DAC, and allow the TV remote to control the volume at the same time?
The optical out is fixed.
Great work hopefully there is more to come on the ICON. eg sound comparisons with more expensive streamers and DACS.
It would be great if you guys or someone else cracked the unit open and showed us the internals, ie power supply, isolation, build quality etc.
Also can Dirac curves be adjusted, saved and switched on or off with the phone app on the fly (as music is playing) ?
Thank you. We plan to do a shorter video later once we get a real production unit. We could not test Dirac as it was not available on the preproduction unit we had.
@@AudioAdvice please do a comparaison with eversolo dmp a8
@@AudioAdvice
A comparison perhaps up against an Auralic G1 streamer/ dac with eq ( twice the price) might put the Icons performance into perspective. What if any sound difference is there ?
As a prospective purchaser of the Icon, I hope the differences soundwise are small if any.
I really hope it has a digital vu meter on the screen like other streamers...
Unfortunately, it does not.
😢
No one mentions the Surround mode if paired with another Node. Please test that - I’m using 4.1 Sonos Amp setup in my office/media room with some TV/AppleTV use and surround decoding is nice. Wonder how BlueSound stacks up!?
I'm not sure this one has surround sound by pairing with another node or by connecting one of their wireless speakers.
@ oh it might be just PowerNodes
We confirmed with Bluesound that is not an option with any of the Nodes.
@ thank you! PowerNodes only and powered devices
Do you not think it's a little misleading in the comparison with the Wiim Ultra? for a product that is three times more expensive than the Wiim Ultra it should perform better but you just dont mention the cost difference at all..
That's a fair point. We should have mentioned the WiiM pricing.
Nice! But once again the Google cast is missing🙂
Yes, no chromecast unfortunately. Good point.
USB out to DAC, should be OK for all streamers towards a good DAC
Yes, it has USB out
Do you need external mic for room correction calibration ?
For Dirac, yes. We would recommend using a laptop and microphone like the Umik 2 or similar.
The Node Icon looks amazing!
It's a great product!
"Server Message Block (SMB) up to 200,000 files" - is this related to the "local server mode"? This is a deal breaker for me. I need higher amount of files. With this limitation the Icon can not perform as our home music server. Pity.
We reached out to Lenbrook on this question. That is what they publish, but they said members of their team have far more files than that, they have one member with 700,000 where it works with no artwork. Hope this helps
@@AudioAdvice This information seemed to be very positive, till I got to the part "with no artwork"... Thanks for checking anyway.
Real question : Can we connect a cd rom player with the USB IN like eversolo please ?
We are not sure, it does have USB A for external drives. We will ask
@AudioAdvice Can you came back to me after you get the answer please ? Thx for the answer
@@nouvinci8692 We will, yes
Got the answer- As long as the drive uses the NTFS or FAT32 file systems, the type of storage medium should not matter, whether it be Solid State, Flash Memory. Hard Disk or CD. However, the drive needs to behave like a independent drive. If it requires any type of drivers from the operating system, it will not work. Hope this helps for you and should you decide to get an Icon you will help support our small business by purchasing from www.audioadvice.com. Thanks!
Umm nice streamer but to expensive if your just going to use it as a streamer and already have an external Dac . WiiM has way cheaper products that do the same thing for way cheaper
Neither wiim or blue sound are any particular good streamers
What wouldyou recommend in this price bracket@@HaraldBergTechTv
But they don't sound as good or use BluOs. Cheaper is just that...cheaper.
Sceen is snazzy though innit 😂
Yes, if you have another DAC you are paying for tech you would not use
if i Plug a turntable on analog in, will dirac correct the sound of it too ?
just got my answer by watching till the end aha !
Thanks for watching!!
Is this supposed to be a review? Sounds like he's just reading a script that BluSound provided. I Was hoping to see some of the interface and user experience, all I saw was increasing the volume?
Icon is more than 3x the price of the Wiim in Australia and offers nothing substaintial over it
@@OrazCostanzo having the ability to use Dirac and being able use XLR for lower noise are both pretty substantial, plus high end dual mono dacs are a nice added benefit.
@@brisingrxm6022 Dirac is not even included! so that will bring the price of a streamer depending which version of Dirac over 2k!! which is absurd.
If sound is not important to you, yes you are right.
@@AudioAdvice Sound is quite important to me what i want to know is will i hear a Audible difference over the Wiim if so i would happily get the Icon.
Is music 32bit 195 playback
Capable of 32 bit 192khz playback
No built in Apple Music (via Airplay only) or Dolby support, which would have been great with the eArc output. Sabre DAC inside? Almost every DAC...
It will decode Dolby. The DAC is the new ESS 9039Q2M
@@AudioAdvice Awesome. Except you can't do Dolby over Airplay. (for those of us with Apple Music subscriptions)
I run the WiiM Ultra
That's a good choice for the money.
I would hope it beats the Wiim Ultra for 3 times the price.
You’d be mad to take this over the WiiM Ultra unless already in the Bluesound ecosystem
Even if it sounds better?
@ does it though?
@@AudioAdvice Apparently it doesn't matter, but what did you expect? It seems to really bother people that they already have something else, so they feel the need to knock something new, even though they have obviously never heard it. It's a constant on reviews here.
@@cardinalfang7725 Yep, same ole song. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for sharing.
You're welcome!
GM ☕️🍩
$1K US = $1400 Cad (+ tax and import duties) …so $1700 on this side of the border ……you’re getting into HaloMay Red territory.😬
Good point! Thanks for sharing
@ Still in the market for a great steamer ..with usb and i2S outputs to feed my Denafrips DAC 🤔
Blue sound is a Canadian company so no duty in Canada
No RUclips Music (chromecast) support, unreliable software. They aren’t really progressing their product line. They have ignored a massive request thread on their support pages to support it. I own a node and thanks to this, it barely gets used. When it does, via Bluetooth, the Bluetooth connection never works until we reboot it. Has been my worst audio purchase.
Agree Chromecast would be nice, we have asked for an update
We reached out to them and they said they will never have Chromecast or YT as they feel it eats up too much of the system resources (60%) and reduces the SQ.
@@AudioAdvice if their sound quality were actually great, I might agree. Their dac has been mediocre at best. I own the 2021 node. It is inferior to a 120 dollar schiit dac. They are competing with wiim now. And they are losing.
For me perfect product i would to buy, only 1 big negative think, no REMOTE CONTROL??!! YES i know i can use the app, but rest of my famili don't..
Remember you can do a lot from the top panel buttons. Thanks for watching
Impressive!
Thanks for watching!
I bet Bluesound havet manage to fix the super annoying user issue when using Qobuz. I is impossible to sort the music (artist,albums,a-z etc) you are stuck with date added. Bluesound are aware(since gen1), but haven't bothered to fix this issue. IMO Bluesound is a Tidal only streamer.
Thanks for sharing this. We haven't seen that issue but we'll look into it and bring it up with Bluesound.
@@AudioAdvice You can't Miss it just try use Qobuz on any bluesound device, it is totaly broken. This is true On Every bluesound device ever sold. Sadly It has always been That Way, and Bluesound blame Qobuz.there is Tons of reports on this (reddit audiogon etc) What's funny though,is that this BIG issue doesn't exist on any other streamer I have tested or heard about.
I stopped watching when i heard "the are going to support..." sorry but the product had one chance to make a first good impression. I don't buy on futur promises.
You must not know much about the history of Lenbrook. They have always delivered on future promise. Just look at the history of their MDC boards that allow you to upgrade many NAD units.
Thanks for the review! I'd love to see the performance of this model measured. I reached out to Bluesound about them supplying a unit to (for example) ASR or SoundStage and no surprise - they didn't ever respond 🙄 Can Audio Advice help facilitate?? The other comment I'd like to make is that after the $300 Dirac subscription, this becomes the same prices as the miniDSP SHD, which has a very similar feature set (streamer, analog and digital in, balanced out, Dirac, etc).
We are sure once they get more units in they will distribute more out for reviews. Yes, the miniDSP SHD has some merit, but its DAC's are a lower end ESS model and not in fully balanced mode with XLR. And there are more streaming sources available in BluOS. Thanks for watching
It seems you don't know what you're selling
Enjoying all of these videos, nice job guys.
We really appreciate the support!
The Blue OS cannot handle the Apple Music app. I think you are wrong.
I guess he meant Apple Music via Airplay.
Via AirPlay. Sorry, we should have made that more clear. Thanks for pointing that out!
Man....please speaking slowly 🙏🙏🙏
Haha
I'm a Mellencamp fan, It's great to see those screens. 😊
Us too! Thanks for watching!
It’s all Mellencamp all the time.😂
I won't buy any component that poses as high end unless it is in a full size metal chassis with built in isolated power supply.
Fair enough. Thanks for watching