Bluesound Node (2024)

Can the latest Node music streamer keep up with the pack?

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It's a common theme in art and literature, from classical myths to modern novellas - that time waits for no man. No matter how great you might be and how high you may rise, there will always be something, or someone to pull you back down to Earth just as you grow to your tallest, proudest peak. "There's always a bigger fish," to quote Liam Neeson in the decidedly un-literary Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace.

The world of hi-fi is no different. So often we have seen products dominate a corner of the market, only to be sideswiped by younger, better rivals keen for their turn at the metaphorical watering hole. Bluesound's Node was almost synonymous with well-priced music streamers, with its third-generation iteration from 2021 earning multiple What Hi-Fi? Awards for its efforts. It seemed as though the good times would last for ever; until the Cambridge Audio MXN1 strode into the clearing and declared itself as a major new player in the budget network player arena.

TECH SPECS

• Sources AirPlay 2, Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, Amazon Music, Qobuz, Internet Radio, Bluetooth 5.2

• Inputs Mini Toslink/3.5mm Stereo combo, HDMI eARC, USB-A

• Outputs RCA, coaxial, optical, subwoofer, 3.5mm

• Max file resolution 24-bit/192kHz PCM, DSD256

• Dimensions (hwd) 4.6 x 22 x 14.6cm

Bluesound hasn't taken such competition lightly. Roughly three years after the release of the original model, the Canada-based company is back with another Node in a bid to wrestle control back from the young Cambridge pretender.