Bluesound 10th Anniversary Node X Premium Streamer – First Look

All Image Credit: Bluesound

To celebrate their 10 year anniversary Bluesound of Canada have announced their flagship NODE X streamer, a limited Anniversary Edition product marking the company’s 10-year milestone. This upgraded silver finish NODE X now includes the 32bit/384KHz ESS 9028Q2M SABRE DAC that offers excellent musicality, near-zero levels of clock jitter, ultra-low noise and a wide dynamic range. The NODE X also includes a high-end headphone amplifier powered by state-of-the-art THX AAA (Achromatic Audio Amplifier) technology that uses patented feed-forward error correction that is said to deliver low levels of noise and distortion and has low power consumption. Front panel headphone connectivity is available via the ¼-inch headphone jack.

The NODE X has enhanced dual-band Wi-Fi and wired Gigabit Ethernet connectivity that provides access to over 23 built-in music services and many internet radio stations, to include: Spotify, Deezer, TIDAL, Qobuz, HDTRacks and Amazon Music HD, supporting internet radio stations from TuneIn Radio, iHeart Radio, Calm Radio, and SiriusXM. It has the ability to either stream directly or play from a digital music library stored on a computer, from an external drive or via the user-friendly BluOS app which is available for; iOS, Android, Mac or PC computers.

The built-in two-way aptX HD Bluetooth provides high-quality sound with compatible devices. You can stream audio to the NODE X via Bluetooth from your smartphone or tablet and stream music from the NODE X to compatible wireless Bluetooth high-performance headphones. The built-in Apple AirPlay 2 technology supports streaming directly from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac computer through your Bluesound system, including soundtracks from YouTube videos and Netflix movies.

With Bluesound’s seamless multi-room ability, controlling the NODE X and your Bluesound multi-room system is simple using the front panel controls, included RC1 IR remote and the free BluOS app that you can download from from the Apple App Store or Google Play. The NODE X is also compatible for those with voice assistants like Apple’s Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant. It will also show up in your player list if you’re using Roon.

Features At A Glance:

• ESS 9028Q2M SABRE DAC
• Plays; MP3, AAC, WMA, WMA-L, OGG, ALAC, OPUS and Hi Res; FLAC, MQA, WAV, AIFF, MPEG-4 SLS
  • native 24bit/192kHz resolution
• Main: THD + Noise: 0.0003%
• THX AAA headphone amplifier: THD+N 0.002%
• 1/4” headphone output
• Wireless Bluetooth headphone and subwoofer (PULSE SUB+) output
• Quad-core 1.8GHz ARM CORTEX A53 processor
• Dual-band Wi-Fi 5 and Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port for a wired connection to a home network
• Two-way aptX HD Bluetooth 5
• HDMI eARC input – for connection to your TV/audio system
• RCA Stereo and mono subwoofer analog output
• Combo Mini TOSLINK and 3.5mm Analog Line In
• RCA Coaxial and TOSLINK digital out
• USB Type A – (Fat32 Formatted)
• BluOS wireless multi-room music capability
• AirPlay 2 integration
• Works with Apple’s Siri, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant
• IR Sensor Built In: front panel with IR Remote Learning
• 3.5mm IR trigger output
• Touch controls with presets
• Silver finish
• RC1 remote control

Finally the NODE X, like all Bluesound and Blu-OS-compatible products, can integrate into a smart home with full-feature drivers for Crestron, Control4, URC, RTI, ELAN, and other popular home control systems.

MSRP: