Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

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antonio66
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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by antonio66 »

You computer experts make me jealous. Well done Slinger.
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slinger (Fri Jun 26, 2020 4:09 pm)

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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by slinger »

Experts? PAH! I just blunder on until something works, using Google as my bible. :lol:
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Fretless (Fri Jun 26, 2020 5:04 pm)
Amps - NVA P50, AP30, A40, Stanislav Palo Tube Headphone Amp BB 85
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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by Fretless »

Me too. :pray:
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slinger (Fri Jun 26, 2020 5:20 pm)

Upstairs:
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NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by slinger »

...I've just taken a punt on this:

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bluesound-Node-N100-HI-RES-Audio-Streamer-/224062013290
Bluesound Node N100. Condition is used but very good cosmetic condition with original packaging (see pics).

Worked flawlessly for years, I was using this until last week and now my phone can’t locate it so I can’t stream through it. Time for an upgrade and I don’t have the patience to fix it.

If your software savvy, Grab yourself a bargain and entry to HI RES Audio that supports Amazon HD, Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer as well as Spotify and others. Supports 24bit/192kHz as well 100’s of internet radio stations. Can play FLAC and WAV files and is controlled by BLUE OS APP on any smart phone or tablet.

Any questions just ask
The answer to the next question is, "because it was there." :lol:

My thinking was that I'm not too bothered if my "phone" can't locate it, as it would hard-wired anyway. Of course, it might be completely buggered, in which case I've just wasted £83.70. I thought it was worth a shot though.

A mate, over at TAS, I've since found out, has sorted a couple of them for a friend of his, and "fixed both with a firmware update," although that's seemingly not as straightforward as it sounds. Nothing ever is, is it? :roll:
Amps - NVA P50, AP30, A40, Stanislav Palo Tube Headphone Amp BB 85
Speakers - Monitor Audio Silver RX2
Cables - NVA LS1+LS3, SSC, Gotham S/PDIF, IBRA Optical
Digital - NAD C516BEE, SONY ST-SDB900 DAB TUNER, TEAC UD-H01 DAC
Analogue - Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB, Graham Slee Gram Amp 2 Phono
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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by Fretless »

Could be interesting. Bluesound was the Hi-res competition for Sonos, doing 24bit and higher sampling rates. Recent Sonos models have upgraded hardware and the older 16bit devices are effectively obsolete.

Looking at the Node troubleshooting info, first thing to try is probably a factory reset of the unit.

Best of luck with this one, Slinger. :grin: :guiness;


Oh, and I have heard them. My local Hifi shop was a stockist and he used them for background music for a while. Very refined sound.

Upstairs:
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NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by slinger »

The Bluesound N100 arrived this afternoon. After a couple of hiccoughs I reset it to the factory state and then ran a firmware upgrade. So far I've played one of the internet radio stations, Radio Paradise, and it's currently playing Queen from Amazon Music.

First impressions are that the sound is a bit "muffled." I'm using the optical out into the same DAC that I use for Volumio. I shall have a proper play with it tomorrow if I get the time.
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Fretless (Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:19 pm)
Amps - NVA P50, AP30, A40, Stanislav Palo Tube Headphone Amp BB 85
Speakers - Monitor Audio Silver RX2
Cables - NVA LS1+LS3, SSC, Gotham S/PDIF, IBRA Optical
Digital - NAD C516BEE, SONY ST-SDB900 DAB TUNER, TEAC UD-H01 DAC
Analogue - Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB, Graham Slee Gram Amp 2 Phono
Cans - Grado SR80, ATH-M50X

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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by slinger »

A bit of an update on the Bluesound Node 100:

Firstly, my thanks to Tim over at TAS for the steer on updating the firmware. It saved me a lot of buggering about looking for the problem myself.

The sound quality. while not brilliant, isn't actively bad. I'm playing Kate Rusby's "Underneath The Stars" album at the moment, and it's much more two-dimensional than it should be; and not as "intimate" as I know it to be. The Bluesound can't disguise what an absolutely gorgeous album it is though.

I'm back to my favourite word for describing this sort of sound; it's "boxy," i.e. it has the some of the characteristics of a speaker inside a cardboard box. It's not desperately bad, but it's still noticeable.

I've given it +4 db treble and +2.5db bass which improves it a tad. Tone controls, eh? Whatever next? :lol: I'm also grateful for my sub, which is another positive influence on the overall sound I think.

I must admit I did have a little chuckle to myself when I remembered that at one time I'd have been incredibly pleased at getting this SQ out of a cheap-looking white plastic hexahedron.

I've ordered an AudioQuest Forest optical lead for it and that's about as much as I want to spend on it.

Overall, it was a bargain, and I'm glad I picked it up. There's a working example on eBay at the moment and the seller wants £475 for it, so I'm not going to moan at eighty quid and a bit of firmware updating.

It probably won't get used for more than the odd Album on Amazon Music, and playing internet radio stations as "background," just because it's simpler to search and launch them from the N100 than it is going via Volunio. It'll still be Volumio when I want a serious listen to Radio Paradise though.

Now I've got to do some serious comparisons between the ATB and the MSI Cubi for Volunio SQ. At the moment I think the Tinker Box is just edging it, in which case the Cubi may eventually become a Kodi (or similar) box.

The fun never ends, does it? :mrgreen:
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Fretless (Sat Jul 04, 2020 4:12 pm)
Amps - NVA P50, AP30, A40, Stanislav Palo Tube Headphone Amp BB 85
Speakers - Monitor Audio Silver RX2
Cables - NVA LS1+LS3, SSC, Gotham S/PDIF, IBRA Optical
Digital - NAD C516BEE, SONY ST-SDB900 DAB TUNER, TEAC UD-H01 DAC
Analogue - Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB, Graham Slee Gram Amp 2 Phono
Cans - Grado SR80, ATH-M50X

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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by slinger »

slinger wrote: Sat Apr 18, 2020 4:54 pm I've just added a new interconnect to my streaming equation. I've replaced the very good AudioQuest Red River interconnects with a pair of Audioquest Diamond cables. I haven't gone completely insane, these are the "old" Diamond analogue cables, not the new, hideously expensive digital models. Mind you, these were expensive enough when they were being produced from what little I've been able to glean from t'internet.

The conductors are made of "Functionally Perfect Silver" (FPS) i.e. high purity and long crystal pure solid silver. The RCA connectors were, apparently, some of the best around at the time, and they're made from "Functionally Perfect Copper" (FPC) which is directly gold plated. As you can see, they're Hyperlitz in construction. They're quite hefty too.

Image

...
I've just matched the AQ Diamonds above with an AQ Diamond 75Ω Coax lead to sit between my CD player and my DAC. It pays to do one's homework; the lead is simply marked as AudioQuest Pro on the cable but a bit of digging turned up that it was their "Diamond" level product at the time. Fifty quid and I was the only one to bid on it, so I think that counts as a bit of a result. The only downside is that it's a 1m lead, and I really wanted 50cm or less. Still, beggars can't be choosers etc.
Amps - NVA P50, AP30, A40, Stanislav Palo Tube Headphone Amp BB 85
Speakers - Monitor Audio Silver RX2
Cables - NVA LS1+LS3, SSC, Gotham S/PDIF, IBRA Optical
Digital - NAD C516BEE, SONY ST-SDB900 DAB TUNER, TEAC UD-H01 DAC
Analogue - Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB, Graham Slee Gram Amp 2 Phono
Cans - Grado SR80, ATH-M50X

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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by Fretless »

Nice result, Slinger.

I just won an Ebay auction on a Joni Mitchell HDCD.
:dance:
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slinger (Sun Jul 12, 2020 7:28 pm)

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro, Monolith & AQ

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Re: Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

Unread post by Fretless »

Irritating.

Thought I would try putting the Metrum Musette back in the main setup last night. It didn't work. Couldn't get the Volumio PC talking to the Musette via USB.

Turns out that the Metrum DAC uses an M2Tech HiFace interface that converts USB into SPDIF for further internal processing. This interface is not supported by Volumio.

So, back to the TeraDak. :dance:

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro, Monolith & AQ

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