You are rapidly becoming the Christopher Nolan of HiFi reviewers!. Outstanding! I was struggling to keep up with your commentary as well spellbound with all the effects and transitions (that's a compliment, by the way). Great effort!
Thanks Very much Anton, good to hear from you for a while. I was maybe going a bit quick to my normal pace but quite good like that sometimes maybe . 😀
Thanks very much for lovely comments. I could have extended it but thought I’d do best of 3 with some honourable mentions as it’s so hard to get the order right if you do more. Gonna hopefully do lots of supertests throughout the year, so a similar thing. 😀
Very good video Simon. I did not know what to expect with a best of 2021 from your side as there are so many good products out there. Thanks to your earlier review about the BS Node I bought one for my 2nd set. It’s working great with my tv, Hegel H95 (coax) and Dynadio’s Evoke 10. Looking forward to your next video!
Hello Simon, Great video! I am not able to use the Bluesound node as a Preamp. When feeding directly to power amp, the sound is muddled and noisy. I have to use a separate preamp/or integrated, then sounds great...Am I using wrong settings? thx
Thank you Kirk. I’ve tried mine with the actives in this video and it was fine as pre amp. Could be cables? Tbh though I would use a proprietary pre amp in a really good audiophile set up for obvious reasons.
Very nice video! I def agree with you on the new node. I picked one up over the Christmas holiday and I've been very happy with its usability thus far. Also would love to see how the Emit 20's compared with the slightly pricier Evoke 20's.
Thanks Gaza, they are bloody good. If I had to move all of a sudden or I wanted to downsize they would be top of my list of all the stuff I’ve reviewed, so far.
Ones series 8331/8341/8351/8361 are mutch MUCH better quality than those very very very old 80/- series, but MASTER SERIES 1237/1238/1234/1235/1236 are a life inside the speakers, and more drama and more music passion. But your room where you listen cannot be any echoing toilet space like the living room of the largest mass of hifi/high end people. Nor does it have to be a studio space at all to play great. Genelec is the best on audio market!
I not only have to listen but I have to look at them from time to time. I like to sit in my living room, relax, and look around 'absorbing' the musical vibe so to speak. The Genelec's in my opinion are as fugly as they come. No doubt audio production is excellent. I'll take the KEF LSX design any day. Acceptable compromise for sound as IMO the difference is not statistically significant for use my room and placement. Enjoy your videos of course.
you can get them in black or white not just this finish if that’s the issue. The difference is big enough to warrant possibly considering speakers like these genelec’s as an option, but you should never make your mind up based on extrapolation or what I think, obviously. The acid test is you and best listen yourself as always. 😀
Thanks, My views on MQA is that it’s a good source of lossless music and thus a feature to have purely on that basis. But I also don’t buy conspiracy UA-cam / websites, I’m a suck it and see audiophile (lol) …If you watch my DACs advice video I say (and continually say) formats are incidental to the quality of the output chain (dac,amp and so on) so long as cd quality and beyond, and have always maintained that common sense view. You won’t see format x v format b minutiae on this channel….
Simon, do you use an external DAC for your New Node? I just purchased one for my main room (the 2i is now in my family room connected to a Schitt Modi) and I was curious about your setup. Cheers, James
I mainly use the rme adi 2 (which I have in headphone systems) and swap over to my hifi when not in use there. but in my hifi I have the Qutest and Ares 2 from denafrips as well. Also dac on Hegel is very good too.
Yes they are much better quality and immersion on sound. Use very good dac´s with analog connection to genelec, or use digital connection aes ebu/110 ohm connection cable, and that is very very tight and super accurate resolution for your audio playback. The biggest advantage is also to know that playing strong genelec will not be broken in the evening, and the sound will always like a product bought from a new pack, even if years have passed. They are super products in the audio field.
Thanks for your point M Yu. On the Bluesound website they say you can use Roon but may have drop outs, so I added a typed comment into the video to say ‘roon in beta testing ‘ with the date so people know and if they watch in future they may think that comment is out of date. Hopefully bluesound sort roon compatibility soon 😀
@@13thnotehifireviews7 OK! It is not really playable on ROON but I'm sure they'll sort it out soon. I agree that the new NODE is cool and sound excellent via USB. Thanks for the review!
Thanks too. 😀 just to clarify it is playable but they are saying it *may* cause drop outs using Roon (ie music stuttering now and then), which I found when I tried it (28/1/22). So they mean you may have issues with music stuttering or you might not. One other brands streamer (and node competitor) I reviewed of recent history stuttered all day long, but they didn’t mention it upfront. I like the upfront nature and honesty of Bluesound here.😀
@@13thnotehifireviews7 Mine pops and and makes other artifacts that sound close to a very bad record. Some are loud enough for me to be wary of using it at all. It doesn't drop the stream though. But from the BluOS everything is fine. Like you said, the RP MQA stream sounds excellent so I'm looking forward to the ROON update. :)
New Node no, no! It's really not all that great. Using it's own DAC the sound is detailed but quite annoying in the upper-frequencies with a digital edge on my system. The ifi Zen blue with the iPower switching power supply doesn't have this digital zing and who cares if it's not as detailed when you can relax into its more rounded sound for less than a third of the Node's price!
It is because no streaming product out there has a compendium of features and good sound like it. I may not think it’s the best sounder but that doesn’t mean it’s not best overall. I have to take a wider picture…..😀
You are rapidly becoming the Christopher Nolan of HiFi reviewers!. Outstanding! I was struggling to keep up with your commentary as well spellbound with all the effects and transitions (that's a compliment, by the way). Great effort!
Thanks Very much Anton, good to hear from you for a while. I was maybe going a bit quick to my normal pace but quite good like that sometimes maybe . 😀
Please take a bow. This is really an artistic "best in year" review. It's visually lovely, and I loved the Brut joke. Congrats!
Thanks very much Catherine. 😀💕Amazing how those 80s ads are funnily sexist in modern times . Lol 😂
wowwwwwwwwww, beautiful video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! great job!!!!!!! thank you!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you too
the USB out of the Node is really really good.
Loved this too bro! (Jumping around from video to video!)
Thank you. The one I did the year before is pretty good.
I don’t remember most of the items as I was mesmerized by the presentation!! Smoking great Simon.
Thanks very much Bob
Great video production, impressive visuals and content.
Thank you very much
Amazing quality production. Thank you for making this!
Thank you too. Gladly you enjoyed it. ‘Go pro’ not ‘no pro’ hopefully
outstanding video for this best of hi fi for 2021. give ur seld 5 stars. thank u and a great20222
Thank you very much Gerard 😀
Fantastic videos as usual. I admire and adore 🥰 your down to earth 🌍 reviews. Thanks 🙏🏼 Simon.
Thanks very much Hamid, that’s how they should be I think . Hifi for all.
Great info and video Simon, love the the honesty and quality of your reviews. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Stu.
I saw only three products and was a little disappointed, but you could have a top twenty and I would still want more. Brilliant job as always Simon.
Thanks very much for lovely comments. I could have extended it but thought I’d do best of 3 with some honourable mentions as it’s so hard to get the order right if you do more. Gonna hopefully do lots of supertests throughout the year, so a similar thing. 😀
Great video!
We are happy owners of the Emit 30 floorstanders, among others based on your review of the 20.
thanks you. It is a great speaker range.
Very good video Simon. I did not know what to expect with a best of 2021 from your side as there are so many good products out there. Thanks to your earlier review about the BS Node I bought one for my 2nd set. It’s working great with my tv, Hegel H95 (coax) and Dynadio’s Evoke 10. Looking forward to your next video!
Thanks Klaverro. Trying to get more speakers and a sub at the moment. Watch this space and thanks again for watching.
Nicely done! And informative, too. What more could an audiophile ask for? 🙂
Thank you
Another beautiful video
Thanks Trevor
Hello Simon, Great video! I am not able to use the Bluesound node as a Preamp. When feeding directly to power amp, the sound is muddled and noisy. I have to use a separate preamp/or integrated, then sounds great...Am I using wrong settings? thx
Thank you Kirk. I’ve tried mine with the actives in this video and it was fine as pre amp. Could be cables? Tbh though I would use a proprietary pre amp in a really good audiophile set up for obvious reasons.
Very nice video! I def agree with you on the new node. I picked one up over the Christmas holiday and I've been very happy with its usability thus far. Also would love to see how the Emit 20's compared with the slightly pricier Evoke 20's.
Thank you , maybe I’d get to try Evokes, but I think I’d like to try heritage special or special 40 first 😀
@@13thnotehifireviews7 Hahah I def don't don't blame you there!
Nice video. This channel is going places
Thank you Scott!
Great list, great video and production
Thank you
Beautifully well made - well worth a thumbs up ;¬D {even if one doesn't share your choices for #1, 2 & 3 places} Greetings to you and yours.
Thanks
Well done video Simon.
Thanks very much Jack.
Bloody good video & production simon , i do like those GENELEC 8030A speakers , id love them for a desktop set up with my RME ADI-2 DAC fs and Imac
Thanks Gaza, they are bloody good. If I had to move all of a sudden or I wanted to downsize they would be top of my list of all the stuff I’ve reviewed, so far.
Ones series 8331/8341/8351/8361 are mutch MUCH better quality than those very very very old 80/- series, but MASTER SERIES 1237/1238/1234/1235/1236 are a life inside the speakers, and more drama and more music passion. But your room where you listen cannot be any echoing toilet space like the living room of the largest mass of hifi/high end people. Nor does it have to be a studio space at all to play great. Genelec is the best on audio market!
I not only have to listen but I have to look at them from time to time. I like to sit in my living room, relax, and look around 'absorbing' the musical vibe so to speak. The Genelec's in my opinion are as fugly as they come. No doubt audio production is excellent. I'll take the KEF LSX design any day. Acceptable compromise for sound as IMO the difference is not statistically significant for use my room and placement. Enjoy your videos of course.
you can get them in black or white not just this finish if that’s the issue. The difference is big enough to warrant possibly considering speakers like these genelec’s as an option, but you should never make your mind up based on extrapolation or what I think, obviously. The acid test is you and best listen yourself as always. 😀
if you have extra money then small aluminum genelec speakers can available in different colors.
Great vid…however I’m quite surprised that you buy into the MQA scam.
Thanks, My views on MQA is that it’s a good source of lossless music and thus a feature to have purely on that basis. But I also don’t buy conspiracy UA-cam / websites, I’m a suck it and see audiophile (lol) …If you watch my DACs advice video I say (and continually say) formats are incidental to the quality of the output chain (dac,amp and so on) so long as cd quality and beyond, and have always maintained that common sense view. You won’t see format x v format b minutiae on this channel….
Simon, do you use an external DAC for your New Node? I just purchased one for my main room (the 2i is now in my family room connected to a Schitt Modi) and I was curious about your setup. Cheers, James
I mainly use the rme adi 2 (which I have in headphone systems) and swap over to my hifi when not in use there. but in my hifi I have the Qutest and Ares 2 from denafrips as well. Also dac on Hegel is very good too.
@@13thnotehifireviews7 cheers. I appreciate the rapid response! I'm now a Patreon! By the way, will the Denafrips play MQA files?
No it doesn’t James unfortunately, thanks for subscribing and chat on Patreon.
Kudos Brilliant . . .
thank you 😊
Ive got the GENELEC 8030A Speakers
Are these new ones better in any way?
Please see description footnote.
@@13thnotehifireviews7
Cool story bro
Yes they are much better quality and immersion on sound. Use very good dac´s with analog connection to genelec, or use digital connection aes ebu/110 ohm connection cable, and that is very very tight and super accurate resolution for your audio playback. The biggest advantage is also to know that playing strong genelec will not be broken in the evening, and the sound will always like a product bought from a new pack, even if years have passed. They are super products in the audio field.
Sorry but one can't use the USB output properly with ROON yet. Other sources yes, but not ROON so far.
Thanks for your point M Yu. On the Bluesound website they say you can use Roon but may have drop outs, so I added a typed comment into the video to say ‘roon in beta testing ‘ with the date so people know and if they watch in future they may think that comment is out of date. Hopefully bluesound sort roon compatibility soon 😀
@@13thnotehifireviews7 OK! It is not really playable on ROON but I'm sure they'll sort it out soon. I agree that the new NODE is cool and sound excellent via USB. Thanks for the review!
Thanks too. 😀 just to clarify it is playable but they are saying it *may* cause drop outs using Roon (ie music stuttering now and then), which I found when I tried it (28/1/22). So they mean you may have issues with music stuttering or you might not. One other brands streamer (and node competitor) I reviewed of recent history stuttered all day long, but they didn’t mention it upfront. I like the upfront nature and honesty of Bluesound here.😀
@@13thnotehifireviews7 Mine pops and and makes other artifacts that sound close to a very bad record. Some are loud enough for me to be wary of using it at all. It doesn't drop the stream though. But from the BluOS everything is fine. Like you said, the RP MQA stream sounds excellent so I'm looking forward to the ROON update. :)
👍👍
New Node no, no! It's really not all that great. Using it's own DAC the sound is detailed but quite annoying in the upper-frequencies with a digital edge on my system. The ifi Zen blue with the iPower switching power supply doesn't have this digital zing and who cares if it's not as detailed when you can relax into its more rounded sound for less than a third of the Node's price!
It is because no streaming product out there has a compendium of features and good sound like it. I may not think it’s the best sounder but that doesn’t mean it’s not best overall. I have to take a wider picture…..😀