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Mel Martin
The Basics:
The item in question is the Bluesound Node Icon reference music streamer. It’s similar to the competition with a lovely 5” color screen to display album art, and it’s set up with the big streamers like Spotify, Tidal, and many others. It works with Roon, and it has a nice set of inputs and outputs. More unique is that it uses two mono DACS from ESS, reducing crosstalk and many digital artifacts.
The Rundown:
The Node Icon retails for $1199.00, putting it between the low-cost streamers and the high-end components that can go for many thousands of dollars.
Type:
Streamer/DAC/Preamplifier
Native Sampling Rates:
up to 192 kHz
Signal-to-Noise Ratio:
-129dB (XLR), -121dB (RCA)
Bit Depth:
16 – 24 Bit
Distortion:
THD+N, 0.0004%
DSD Support:
Up to DSD256
DAC Chipset:
ESS ES9039Q2M x2
Product Dimensions:
220 x 84 x 193 mm (W x H x D) 8.7 x 3.3 x 7.6 in (W x H x D)
Weight:
2.23 kg/4.92 lbs.
Retail price:
$1199.00
Website:
Company:
The Follow-up:
This is going to be a product for someone who wants a compact box that can stream anything, even their own content with very high quality, state-of-the-art sound. It can be plugged right into a set of powered speakers and make a pretty complete home audio system, or it can be treated like a component and used with an existing audio setup.
I put the Node Icon through its paces, playing a variety of music, and comparing it to other streamers that are popular and well-thought-of.
How’d the Bluesound do? I thought the sound was exemplary and I found it was a great match for my Roon software, integrating the Node Icon into my existing whole-house audio system. For the nitty-gritty details, you’ll have to catch my review, upcoming soon at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity.