Any experience using Pulse Mini 2i as Roon Endpoint?

Audio Gear Talk BluOS: NAD & Bluesound
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I have an ELAC Discovery Server that supposedly supports streaming to Roon Endpoints. The Discovery server runs Roon Essentials and I’ve been very happy so far connected to my Stereo system. Now I’d like to get a wireless speaker in the living room and stream from my ELAC using Roon Essentials.

I’ve looked into ELAC Z3 speaker but the reviews are mixed, almost all reviews indicate poor wi-fi connection (my living room is close the my stereo system) . Having poor customer support also does not bode well for ELAC.

I’ve now focused in on the Bluesound Pulse Mini 2i. It’s Roon Endpoint capable, so it should work with the ELAC Discovery Server and Roon Essentials. Anyone here using this combination?

Thanks,

Mark

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Hi Mark -

I haven’t, but I’ve been debating ordering the Pulse Mini 2i for the same purpose. I would have hit the Buy button quite a while ago if it weren’t for all the reported issues getting it to work wirelessly - I’ve been wanting to get to a point where I can tell if my new space will allow for a wired connection if I end up needing to go that route.

The new B&W Wedge looks promising - it’s great to see a high-end manufacturer create a roon-ready wireless speaker. I’ve never been a huge fan of B&W’s sound in their traditional stereo speakers, but that’s just personal taste - they’ve been a great speaker maker for a long time. However, it’s almost a grand with tax, so that’s a big plunge for a wireless speaker like this. Plus, while I don’t imagine moving whatever I end up with all over the place, the Wedge looks particularly bulky whereas the Mini 2i looks quite manageable.

The Pulse Mini 2i looks like the perfect solution on paper, but the reports of issues and poor support keep me on the fence.

-Kirk

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Hi Kirk -

Thanks for your input. I’ve read about some of the Pulse Mini 2i issues and thought they only related to multi-room sync issues. I’m just looking to add one zone in the living room and would never have a need to sync with my office zone (connected to my stereo). Are there other Pulse Mini 2i issues I’m not aware of?

Some of the reasons for leaning towards the Bluesound Pulse 2i were:

  1. Multi band Wi-Fi

  2. Pulse Mini 2i ability to play MCA from Tidal

  3. Bluesound integration with other music services not available from ELAC

  4. ELAC’s terrible customer service. Bluesound can’t be as bad as ELAC support - impossible to achieve.

Mark

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Hi Mark -

I’m in largely the same boat - I’m just looking for a single end-point in a small house that I can take outside to the deck occassionally. My impression from reading the posts is that I will definitely not have an issue if I keep it connected to Ethernet, and likely won’t have issues if I use it wireless in such a simple configuration. Hope so - I can live with that, I’m likely going to pull the trigger and do so, and I don’t think I’ll need customer support :slight_smile:

That’s funny about ELAC. I’m glad to have not needed much support from audio manufacturers, and the two times I did need it got great service. I’m sure there’s an interesting story behind your comment.

-Kirk

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We have a Pulse 2i Mini running on Wifi (along with a Flex and Flex 2i) with a number of additional wired endpoints.
All work just fine with Roon for us. The sync issue was resolved by BlueSound/NAD a little while ago.

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