I've used my Node 130 for a handful of years, main usage is listening to music with Roon but I also listen to local news radio. It's convenient to have radio streaming at hand in Bluesound, rather than having to go the Bluetooth way. Recently I'm met with a "welcome to Tunein" and commercials when I try to play radio. Why the change? Did anybody else notice this change? Are there any alternatives to Tunein on Bluesound?
I have 15K high res music files local on my android phone.
Just set up a Bluesound Cinema Mini
How do I stream from the phone to the Bluesound?
In the past, I used Hi Fi Cast to cast to Sonos. However Bluesound does not show up in Hi Fi Cast (which ia a upnp streaming controller).
In the Bluesound app, I do not see my local music library (which is on an SD card in my phone).
To be clear, the point of the exercise (and why I bought the Bluesound to begin with!) is to stream the high def audio files from my phone to the smart speaker. NOT to play back via bluetooth.
Please advise!
TIA!!
Seven months after its introduction, Dirac has released both its Limited ($159 USD) and Full Bandwidth ($249 USD) room correction solutions for the Bluesound Powernode N331. It supports the N331 operating in either its 2.1 or 3.1 configurations, and costs no more than the previously available 2.1 versions for the other compatible Bluesound products.
Now, if you can wait another six months, Dirac will have its annual Black Friday/Cyber Monday 20% off sale.
Enjoy!
I’m at the end of my rope with a Bluesound setup and would love some reality checks and advice.
Setup:
- Pulse soundbar connected to TV via eARC
- Pair of Pulse M speakers as wireless surrounds, about 15–18 ft behind the soundbar
- UniFi network with very strong Wi‑Fi (phone tests around 900 Mbps), Apple TV on the same system
Issues:
- Tidal via BluOS constantly breaks up / buffers, even though Bluesound diagnostics show “Excellent” Wi‑Fi signal and the soundbar has a strong connection to my UniFi SSID.
- Apple Music via AirPlay was more stable for a while, but AirPlay sessions still randomly stop or the player disappears.
- Surround sound from the Pulse Ms feels “wobbly” and unstable even though there are no obvious physical obstructions – they’re just on the floor.
- Bluesound’s own tools only show the main Wi‑Fi link as excellent, but don’t expose the private wireless link between the soundbar and surrounds, which seems to be the weak point.
Things I’ve tried / considered:
- Network restarts, logging Tidal out/in, changing router settings, etc.
- Streaming Apple Music directly from Apple TV → TV → eARC to the soundbar (this is the most reliable path so far).
- Considering running hidden Ethernet to at least one Pulse M, but it sounds like that might not fix the *surround* link, since the bar still talks to the surrounds over its own wireless channel.
- Wondering if the rear speakers are simply too far / too low, and whether moving them closer and higher would make a meaningful difference.
I feel like I’ve spent a lot of money on something that requires way too much networking gymnastics to behave like an everyday appliance. For those with Bluesound home theater setups:
- Did you get stable surrounds, and if so, at what distances/positions?
- Has wiring any pieces actually helped with TV surround reliability, or just with music streaming?
- At what point did you decide to stick it out vs. bail for Sonos or something simpler?
Any concrete, real‑world success (or failure) stories would be appreciated.
I have a powernode 2i (wired to some old Kef speakers) and 2 flex speakers for multi room. I mainly listen to CDs, but for a mix have an SD card with 128GB of music on an old laptop. The laptop is dying. New version I am looking at doesn't have an SD card port.
Does anyone have a set up that sounds similar they could maybe recommend? I am not tech savvy. I don't want to use a streaming service as I don't want to pay for music I already bought.
I noticed my powernode N331 getting very hot on the underside during prolonged usage. I have put a pack of tissues under each side as a makeshift stand, which does help somewhat it seems. It also turned out to be surprisingly stable, I can't tip the node off the packets even with force. If you don't have a better solution, this one seems surprisingly easy and useful.
But I would prefer a less makeshift solution to this. I looked at notebook stands, but these are usually a lot bigger and often tilted. And using a big stand on a small node kinda defeats the purpose of having a small amplifier.
So, has anyone noticed the node running hot and did you do something to solve it?