Using USB with Bluesound Node/Powernode

Davywhizz

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Sep 30, 2020
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Good morning.

Does anyone have any experience of using an external HDD to play through a Bluesound Node or Powernode via USB? I have a FAT 32 disk with about 320G on it. They are all FLAC files at CD quality, in the format artist/album/track. They are my laptop backup, so exactly as copied from the stock Windows 10 music software. Would they work gaplessly on Bluesound?

I've found some information so far - FAT32 looks good for example, but I don't know if there's a maximum disk capacity, what the indexing format needs to be, how long indexing might take and, more importantly, if it needs to be repeated every time.
 

Gray

Well-known member
Good morning.

Does anyone have any experience of using an external HDD to play through a Bluesound Node or Powernode via USB? I have a FAT 32 disk with about 320G on it. They are all FLAC files at CD quality, in the format artist/album/track. They are my laptop backup, so exactly as copied from the stock Windows 10 music software. Would they work gaplessly on Bluesound?

I've found some information so far - FAT32 looks good for example, but I don't know if there's a maximum disk capacity, what the indexing format needs to be, how long indexing might take and, more importantly, if it needs to be repeated every time.
Why not try it and see?
 

DCarmi

Well-known member
If using a USB HDD then you will almost certainly need a powered hub to...ermm... power the drive (or a powered drive itself). The Node will only give out 0.5amps which won't be enough.

To be honest, I'd test some of your collection with a fairly inexpensive but branded memory stick first. I'd suggest a memory stick would be a better solution to a drive, especially the mechanical disk type.
 

manicm

Well-known member
A portable USB drive should work fine. Alternatively there are high capacity USB sticks too. But there are always disclaimers, so test first. Go to a dealer if you can.

Gapless playback is supported.
 
Last edited:

Davywhizz

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Sep 30, 2020
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Just to update, I bought the Bluesound Node 2i and have been using it with a three month free trial of Amazon Music HD. All very impressive, not least the BlueOS app.

Regarding my original question, I loaded about 20 high resolution albums on a USB stick and found the Node indexed it in a few seconds and presented me with a detailed contents list, including all the album cover art. Everything played back as gaplessly as the Node's streaming, so very well.

The consensus on larger external drives seems to be that it's best to set them up as NAS rather than just plug them in, as the Node indexes anything in the USB slot on every use and it can take some time.
 

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