Just in case you didn’t know, Bluesound, Cambridge and Audiolab are all manufactured in China and Hi-Fi Rose in South Korea…just seems to be the norm these days.
Oh, I know. But Bluesound is Canadian, and Cambridge and Audiolab are British.
EDIT:
So I ended up purchasing a Node (2024) to compare side-by-side with the Node Nano, and after around two weeks of side-by-side listenint, I cannot really tell the difference — I think.
Here's the test setup...
Streamers
Software
- Tidal at Max
- Tidal normalize volume disabled
- BlueOS Digital Pass through enabled (Replay gain disabled)
Power
- Stock power cables into APC BGM1500 sinewave UPS
Internet
- Stock ethernet cables
- Passive gigabit ethernet switch
- Wall ethernet port connected to gigabit fiber internet
SPDIF switch
- Inday DA4X-R SPDIF coax/optical switch
- Identicle World's Best Cables Mogami 1-foot RCA cables from the Node Nano and Node(2024) into the switch (ports 3 and 4)
DAC
- RME ADI-2 FS R Black Edition
- 6-foot glass optical fiber cable from switch
- Headphone ouput
- Balanced mode with dual TRS balanced Arctic Cables Define adapter
Headphones
- Mod House Tungsten DS with ZMF Caldera Thick Top Perf earpads
- Arctic Cables Define headphone cable via Define XLR extension cable from the Define adapter
Methodology
With the above setup, I switched between Tidal Connect on a Windows 11 PC and Tidal in BluOS on an Android tablet with the switch's remote. I also tested with BluOS on the PC and Tidal Connect on the tablet.
I manually synced tracks (reasonably close) on the PC and tablet as there was no way to auto-sync playback.
Additionally, switching the coax inputs had a slight gap in playback. There were no pops, click, or other artifacts, but switching was not seamless.
Biases
At first, I wanted the Node (2024) to sound better because I thought if I could spend a couple hundred more for even slightly better sound, then that would be nice. But yesterday, I realized I was a week past my Node Nano return window, so I wanted the Node Nano to sound equal to the Node (2024) so I wouldn't be stuck with it or have to sell it used at a loss.
Observations
Early in my testing, I thought I heard a difference and that the Node (2024) sounded slightly better with slightly — and I mean slightly — better sound stage and layering of instruments in the center channel.
For example, I thought I heard slightly better separation of the lead violin and background instruments in Crystalize by Lindsey Stirling. I also thoguht I head slightly deeper and more separated bass — and maybe more soundstane — in Assembly Line by Mitch Murder. Quicksilver by fourplay presented a little more depth overall and layering in the center image, or so I thought.
Through this early stage, I wanted the Node (2024) to sound better, and I thought the entire time I was hearing what I wanted to head — even though I was consious of my bias.
More recently, after the Node Nano's return window expired, I wanted the two units to sound identicle. Since then, they have. The layering, soundstane, etc. have sounded the same — I think.
Conclusion
Even with the ADI-2 and Tungsten, it is extremely difficult to tell if I heard something different or if the difference is because of a slightly different part of the track or something psychoacoustic. It's that close, and I am just not sure.
The only difference between the two units that might impact streaming sound quality that I can fathom would be the power inputs — the Node Nano uses USB C while the Node (2024) uses a figure 8 cable.
As for my final analysis, I don't think I can tell a difference. To be fair, I don't want there to be a difference since the Node Nano costs less, and I would never use the additional features of the Node (2024) such as the headphone output, HDMI input, optical input, or DIRAC support (probably).
But I don't know. Maybe there is a difference that my ears cannot hear or my brain does not want to hear. I'll do some more test runs in the next few days, but my hunch is I'll keep the Node Nano and return the Node (2024).
