Bluesound Node Nano Review | Trusted Reviews

Verdict

An engaging and entertaining streamer at a more accessible price than Bluesound has attempted in the past. With the reliable BluOS platform supporting its streaming skills, the Node Nano is a convenient and accessible streamer for those interested in getting into the world of hi-fi.

Introduction

The Node Nano is part of a triple threat of new streamers unleashed by Bluesound, providing choice for whatever hi-fi set-up you want to create.

The Node Nano is aimed at the lower end of the market, a simpler streaming solution for those getting into hi-fi for the first time, or those without the high-level requirements more expensive streamers bring to the market.

Given how popular streaming has become in the home, Bluesound is not alone in offering an entry-level streamer, but given its expertise in all matters regarding streaming, it could be the one that offers the best solution.

Design

• Discreet looks
• Backlit touch panel
• Simple connectivity

Small, discreet, and classy are the words I’d use to describe the Node Nano. Cheaper music streamers often have the feel of function over aesthetic but there’s a sleekness about the Node Nano that makes it feel as if you’ve bought a premium product.

That’s enhanced by the backlit touch screen on the front. Unlike the Node Icon, this isn’t proximity activated when you draw close – it’s always on – and features buttons for volume up and down, playback, as well as playback and the allocation of two programmable presets. Tap and you’ll receive an instant response.

The Node Nano is a simple device to use and offers relatively simple connectivity. You get stereo RCA (for hooking up to an amplifier), coaxial, optical, and Ethernet/LAN, an IR input and trigger output. The USB-C is for power and nothing more.

The size of the streamer means you could easily slot it into your existing hi-fi set-up without issue, but it’s more likely for people living in smaller spaces looking to create a system and need something unobtrusive. If that’s what you’re after, the Node Nano ticks that box.

Features

• BluOS platform support
• Bluetooth streaming
• DSD256 in a future update

The Bluesound Node Nano features the well-regarded ESS ES9039Q2M Sabre DAC, which supports audio up to 24-bit/192kHz. Powering the show is a Quad-core 1.8GHz ARM Cortex A53 processor.

In terms of how you get audio to the Node Nano, the main method is through the BluOS app, but there’s also Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, and Apple AirPlay 2 (for iOS devices). There’s no mention of Google Cast, which feels like a minor omission and judging by the specs, none of Bluesound’s recently announced features support it.

Wi-Fi (obviously) and Bluetooth 5.2 are included, the latter up to aptX Adaptive streams. The Node Nano has the ability to do two-way Bluetooth (both transmit and receive a connection) but that’s coming in a future update.

The BluOS app is available across many devices such as the PSB Alpha IQ, and it is a relatively simple and easy app to use that offers a decent degree of customisation from adjusting the output mode (maybe you prefer mono) to tone controls (bass and treble); setting up IR remote, presets, volumes limits, set alarms, create a list of favourite tracks, as well as creating a multi-room set-up with other BluOS compatible products.

You can of course control music through the app – Tidal, Amazon Music, Deezer, and Qobuz to name but four – and visually it’s striking and easily readable with its white font on a black background. Most importantly, it’s fast and responsive to use. Given Sonos’ troubles with its app in 2024, its given BluOS an open goal to smash the ball into.

There’s Room Ready support for those in that ecosystem, and for smart home control there’s Creston, RTI, ELAN, URC, Lutron and Control4 compatibility to consider. Amazon Alexa and Siri voice integration are covered digital assistants on the BluOS platform.

File support includes MP3, AAC, WMA, WMA-L, OGG, ALAC, and OPUS; while Hi-res formats cover FLAC, MQA, WAV, AIFF, and MPEG-4 SLS. DSD256 will be supported in a future update.

Performance

• Smooth, balanced performance
• Agile sense of dynamism

Partnered with a Cambridge Audio CXA61 amplifier and Q Acoustics 3010i speakers, the Node Nano puts the type of performance you’d expect from a Bluesound streaming product, which is a good sense of balance, clarity and detail.

The levels of detail and clarity, as well as tone, will potentially differ depending on your set-up. I find the combination Cambridge and Q Acoustics skews to a slightly warm profile but regardless, the levels of dynamism in recordings prove to be consistently good listening through the Node Nano. Music rises and falls with a sense of agility, and there’s energy behind the sound as well, giving some forcefulness to the swells of the orchestra in Benjamin Walfisch’s score for Alien: Romulus.

Highs are clear and well-defined, and there’s good depth and punch applied to the low frequencies in a track such as Takuya Kuroda’s Everybody Loves The Sunshine – vocals have good clarity and character to them, though arguably sound a little smooth. The WiiM Pro is an enjoyable little streamer but can sound a little clinical, while the Audio Pro Link2 sounds warm but lacks detail. With the Node Nano there’s a naturalism to the tone of instruments and voices that’s a little above those competing streamers.

Like the WiiM, there is a smoothness to its performance that arguably robs it of some more detail and definition, and an injection of sharpness to its sound would be welcome. However, what’s presented here for the price is enjoyable enough, and ensures that the Node Nano is consistent with whatever you send to it.

Having listened to the middle-of-the-range Node, there’s an uptick in clarity, definition and detail across the frequency range – the stereo image has more of a defined presence, and the resolution the Node offers is a clear step up over the Node Nano.

The Node Nano makes sense for those looking to get into streaming hi-fi at an affordable price, but for more experienced hi-fi owners, the Node is there to provide a more audiophile experience.

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