| Audio File Formats | MP3, AAC, WMA, WMA-L, OGG, ALAC, OPUS |
| High-Quality Audio File Formats | FLAC, MQA, WAV, AIFF, MPEG-4 SLS |
| Native Sampling Rates | Up to 192 kHz |
| Bit Depth | 16-24 |
| DAC | Sabre ESS ES9039Q2M |
| Signal-to-Noise Ratio | -118 dB |
| Distortion | THD +N 0.0007% |
PRICE R8 490.00
SUPPLIED BY Cinema Imports (Pty) Ltd t/a AV Imports 082 571-6568
WEBSITE www.avimports.co.za
The Short of It….
Technology just keeps on getting more and more astounding, adding to our listening pleasure in so many ways. The Bluesound NODE NANO, even though it’s the ‘baby’ of the company’s streaming offerings, is quite simply musical nirvana in a surprisingly compact form. If this is Bluesound’s starting point, then the more advanced NODE models must deliver performance beyond belief.
The Long of It…
If nothing else, I have to be honest here (well, I have no choice because AV Imports saw the original draft reviews). I messed up big time initially. Like really bad. Almost as bad as the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.
Possibly worse.
But in my defence, I’m going to blame Bluesound for putting such an awesome DAC in this streamer. I fell so in love with it that I completely drifted off course and decided that the NODE NANO was an awesome DAC that was also a streamer, when in fact it’s an awesome streamer with an extensive range of features…and an awesome DAC.
Well, of course there’s a somewhat enormous difference between the two viewpoints. Which is the asteroid wiping out the dinosaurs bit…
Because, of course, the NODE NANO is so much more than a DAC that streams. It really is small – 143 x 36 x 143 mm (WxHxD) – but underneath that sleek casing is quite the performer, thanks in part to a host of premium technologies and software, powered by an ARM Cortex-A53, Quad-Core, 1.8 GHz per core processor. The unit has an external power supply to avoid any possible electrical interference as well.
It’s a reduced in price variant to the original NODE, while the next two steps up will be the new NODE (version 5) and the flagship NODE ICON, due in South Africa in December of this year.
After my experience with the NODE NANO, personally I’m hoping that it’s going to be so insanely expensive that I couldn’t possibly even think of buying it.
For my review with the NODE NANO, it was a stereo review – the NODE NANO was connected to my incredibly musical PSB AM5 powered loudspeakers.
But it’s vital you understand that this is a mere fraction of the NODE NANO’s abilities. Because along with the BluOs App, you can create an entire wireless multi-room ecosystem by grouping the NODE NANO with other Bluesound players or speakers like the PULSE FLEX2i (reviewed here: https://avnews.co.za/bluesound-flex-2i-wireless-speaker/), the PULSE SOUNDBAR+ and more – up to 64 of them currently, controlling the music in each room with your choice of Smartphone, tablet, or desktop.
The fact that the NODE NANO can also integrate seamlessly with other multi-room automation brands that include the likes of Crestron, Control4, RTI, ELAN, URC , Rithum and Lutron, makes it all the more appealing in this field, because you don’t have any of the usual software driver conflicts that often plague other such installations. This is guaranteed to make plenty of fans from companies that work with multi-room projects, since the BluOs App also now stands alone as the most extensive and stable control App for a multi-room audio system.
Setting up the NODE NANO is a breeze with the App. You turn it on, the App sees it, it does an automatic update if necessary, and off you go.
What I must make mention of, however, is that if you have more than one network you use, you need to ensure that both the NODE NANO as well as your Smartphone are using the same one. I know this sounds like a “Duh!” comment, but it has caused issues with me previously, before I realized what the issue was (I have three networks out here on the plots, and my Smartphone switches between them according to signal strength. For some really frustrating reason, the stupid thing doesn’t revert to the main network when it’s right next to it). The NODE NANO’s built-in Wi-Fi uses the latest Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), dual-band version.
The BluOs App, as I have mentioned before, is an impressive piece of software that gives you access to in excess of 24 channels of music choice, sorted into local and international radio stations, music genres, and music apps that include Spotify, Deezer and Tidal. Now that Lenbrook (the parent company) has bought the rights to MQA, there is word that a new music platform called HD Tracks is in the works that will offer the best quality music streaming available.
Until the next best thing since sliced bread. Sigh.
Connection-wise, you are pretty well looked after. There’s optical, RCA, USB and coaxial outputs, as well as a LAN connection in case you need it (Ethernet RJ45, Gigabit 1000 Mbps). There isn’t HDMI or a headphone socket, but apparently a future upgrade will bring two-way Bluetooth connectivity, so wireless headphones can be catered for.
Be warned, though – the NODE NANO’s DAC can only be utilised by using the RCA outputs – using optical or coaxial will bypass it. And trust me, you really, really don’t want to miss out on using it. It’s an ESS ES9039Q2M Sabre DAC with carefully designed circuitry that results in audio that’s shielded from jitter and interference.
During research for the review I discovered an article that mentioned Bluesound’s technical team identifying 17…yes, 17 points of change in the audio signal path of a musical recording, from the moment an artist sings into a microphone in the studio, to the point where we get to hear it.
What they wanted to do, then, was to eliminate as many of these issues as possible. And if that culminated in the DAC chosen for this streamer? Well then, I’m going to use it, and so should you!
Since the AM5s are powered loudspeakers, the supplied RCA cables couldn’t be used because on these speakers the RCA inputs are Phono only, so I connected using an RCA to Aux cable. Power on, BluOS sees the NODE NANO and off we went, no issues at all.
Well, not quite. As with all things, there’s a learning curve. My wife and I are both music lovers, and our daughter has luckily followed suit. So after getting Jo logged onto the Bluesound App so that she could also enjoy the music on offer, I had a traumatic experience one morning when she was out and I wanted to listen to my music…and Cocomelon was playing The Wheels On The Bus. Thinking it was some sort of glitch, I pressed ‘skip’ and Let It Go from ‘Frozen’ played.
Somehow, my wife’s selection of kiddie songs for our daughter was the only playlist showing, and I had no idea how to get back to my own playlist.
Fortunately Schalk from AV Imports was able to assist, and a few moments later I had my playlist going. Just press the speaker icon on your Spotify App, and you’re good to go.
Now, the NODE NANO does have touch buttons for two presets, power on/off and volume up/down, but as I mentioned with the PULSE FLEX2i player, once set up, the App is just so incredibly user-friendly that using your Smartphone is a no-brainer. Spotify, TIDAL, local and international radio stations, music genres and more.
It does remind me somewhat disturbingly of the scenes from Wall-E where everyone just sits in an easy chair and orders what they want… But it’s nevertheless pretty darn cool.
But what about the NODE NANO’s actual performance in my stereo environment?
Coaxial great. Optical great. USB not tried as yet. RCA, well…this is going to need some input.
For the first week or two that the player was added to my system, things were chaotic my side. Bad weather, sick child, just normal happy family chaos with school and dancing recitals. Character-building, as they say.
And yet, one afternoon while walking inside to do something, I actually stopped because I was hearing something from a track I knew so well, that I knew I hadn’t heard that element to it before. It wasn’t exactly a John Cena body slam, but it was honestly enough to make me pause in what I was doing, to pay attention to what I was hearing.
Which subsequently led to an impromptu listening session as I went through all the usual tracks I review with – some Pink Floyd, Missy Higgins, Eric Clapton, Martin Page, Sarah McLachlan … and then a whole bunch more because the session was so enjoyable.
I’m not going to insult anyone’s intelligence by claiming that the NANO’s DAC blew me away. Because let’s be honest, if it did, then there would be something horribly wrong with either my music source, or the speakers. Neither Spotify nor TIDAL are lacking as sources, and there certainly is nothing wrong with the AM5s!
And yet there was was this immediate sense, an understanding on several levels, that the music had abruptly opened up more, become more expansive in its depth, its clarity, its presence. You felt that somehow, there was now quite a lot more to what you were hearing, and how it made you feel inside. And I have to say that it made me feel pretty darn good.
The AM5s are speakers that I will heartily recommend time and time again to anyone who asks me for advice. I honestly never thought their performance could be bettered – and yet here is this diminutive NODE NANO making the impossible … possible. Wizardry, I tell you.
This performance by the NODE NANO makes it worth each and every cent of its asking price. And yet there’s so much more to it – add all of this together with DSD playback and two-way aptX Adaptive Bluetooth due soon via a software update, and I really don’t think you can go wrong here. What an awesome little product!
Andrew Rowland
