Bluesound, in one Node streamer or another, has been bringing music to conventional audio systems and home networks for a decade. Now, with the new Bluesound Hub, the company is inviting the rest of your home into the Bluesound world with a network accessory that connects to any wired analog or digital audio source.
The new Hub, available in mid-June at $319, immediately expands your multi-room streaming possibilities controlled by the BluOS app. Older wired technology shouldn’t languish in your wireless home: The Hub even has a moving-magnet phono stage that transforms a turntable into another source of whole-house BluOS-enabled streaming.
The Hub has stereo analog inputs, coaxial and digital optical inputs, and an HDMI port with eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel) if you want connect a TV. When needed, the Hub can support high-resolution music (up to 24 bits, 192kHz). The accessory runs on an ARM Cortex-A53 processor, which might sound familiar to owners of the Raspberry Pi single-board computer favored by DIY streamers.
Each Hub can manage one analog and one digital source simultaneously, transmitting signals to a Bluesound player in your home. (The latest version, the Bluesound Node, costs $599.) Your home network can accommodate up to four Hubs.
Node owners can add a Hub, and new sound sources, to their BluOS network through the setup wizard in the BluOS app.
Bluesound, which is part of the Lenbrook Group (makers of NAD electronics and PSB loudspeakers) in Pickering, Ontario, also outfitted the 5.6 x 6 x 1.8-inch Hub (WxDxH) with four-way keyhole slots for wall mounting.
Author: Kevin Hunt
Kevin, a former consumer electronics columnist for The Chicago Tribune, writes about technology and health from his home on the Connecticut shoreline overlooking an osprey platform. Smart-home confession: He has two nightlights in his home connected to smart plugs.