I brought my Node 2i back from from my office (my desk had too much head-fi stuff on it
so I’m back to using my Walkman).
Anyway, I tried using this device again with Roon, using an 802.11ac connection with Roon Server running on my new Mac Mini.
The good news is it seem that the Node’s AC Wi-FI connection problems have been solved by BluOS.
The bad news: Wow… the truncation problem at the start of playback is still there. You can really hear it with Tool’s new album, using the title track at the start. The bell/cymbal strike at the start of the track is truncated at the start - very noticeable.
To verify this is a Node 2i problem, I switched my Bryston BDP-1 back into Roon mode (I normally use MDP playback because, well… it sounds better). No truncation with the BDP-1, so it’s not a file corruption problem nor is it a Wi-Fi problem - I also setup the Node 2i through the same wireless bridge with no change.
Finally, I dug out some RCA interconnects and tried the analog output from the Node 2i - same truncation as with the coax digital output.
So, it’s clearly a software problem on the Node 2i.
I can’t believe BluOS isn’t aware of these issues, but it doesn’t surprise me. IMO, their development team needs serious help. I’ve reported a number of issues with the playback app. One example: the macOS controller app highlights the wrong playing track, which others tell me has been a problem for more than a year. Their support people are very polite, but if you look at their support forum, nothing ever gets fixed.
I do wonder, however, how issues like these make it though the Roon certification process. Is there not bit-perfect playback testing?