Beosound Core Blimey!

Hej Guys

So after a few weeks getting messed around with a Beosound Core that wasn't I finally got connected yesterday via optical to Beolab 50. 

For what is essentially a cheap plastic box made in china that on the face of it, without a B&O badge I would value at 50 quid i am astounded!

I actually don't get what is happening here? Music "squeezed" on to my Iphone library is heavily compressed which is OK as it will only be heard through a pair of earphones on the bus to work? But no. This is extra-ordinary. Through the Core this is far superior to every other source I have! Forget DVD's, Blue Rays, HD TV. This beats all of it. How can that be? It is just so mellow, so sweet, so detailed. I could listen to this for ever. And we are only talking radio and saved i tunes. I haven't even started with high quality streams yet. 

Really very impressed!

Does anyone else share my thoughts? 

Yes. I have on several occasions here said how the BS Core is one of the best values out there. I have tried a bunch of DACs and the Core outperforms them all! IMHO, the Core and H95 are the best value for money products I own from B&O.

Both outperform products that cost more. I would not say that for any other B&O product I own or have had the pleasure to experience. The A9, comes close but the KEF LS 50 beats it on pure audio quality.

I began a thread called A DAY WITH BLUESOUND NODE 2i and my conclusion in comparing the Core to the Node 2i was that I could not hear a difference between the Core streaming Redbook quality 44/16 over Apple Airplay and the Node 2i streaming MQA 96/24 to my BeoLab 17s.

My ears aren’t particularly poor so to me that says either the difference between these sound qualities isn’t so great OR... the Core is able to punch far above its weight with Redbook quality streams.

Maybe indeed the Core is just a really, really good streamer! I’m glad you enjoy yours and I’m jealous of your BL50s!

I suppose it’s worth noting... the Core is more than 2x the price of the Node 2i ($1000 vs $450). 

I don’t have a Core, but i found the same with the Essence Mk2.

When I no longer had the BS 5 Encore and then plugged the BL3s in to the essence i was astounded of how good it sounded compared to the Encore. So I’m sure they really built on the strengths of the Essence Mk2 with the Core.

Curly:

I suppose it’s worth noting... the Core is more than 2x the price of the Node 2i ($1000 vs $450). 

Yes, but the B&O logo is typically worth a 5x markup, so one should expect a $1,000 B&O streamer to perform like a $200 streamer from any other company.

laseralex:

Yes, but the B&O logo is typically worth a 5x markup, so one should expect a $1,000 B&O streamer to perform like a $200 streamer from any other company.

2x Beosound Moment 4x Beosound Essence Mk II 3x Beolab 8000 1x Beolab 6000 1x Beolab 3 3x Beolab 2 4x BeoPlay M5 1x BeoPlay A6 9x Essence Remote

The best price I could find for a Bluesound Node 2i here in Germany was €535. The RRP for the Core is €731

So max €200 difference.

Aussie Michael:

I don’t have a Core, but i found the same with the Essence Mk2.

When I no longer had the BS 5 Encore and then plugged the BL3s in to the essence i was astounded of how good it sounded compared to the Encore. So I’m sure they really built on the strengths of the Essence Mk2 with the Core.

I have a core too and was also surprised of its sound quality. But as Michael said above, it seems based on the essence. I found that the core web interface in some places mistakenly even calls itself essence.

I’ve been curious about what chips is inside but haven’t found any teardowns or internal photos. I can try take mine apart and take some photos if nobody else already have photos of it.

The FCC ID side has some internal photos from the core but not so fine detailed ...

 

https://fccid.io/TTUBSCORE/Internal-Photos/Internal-Photos-3504566

 

 

I still have a Node 2i (in storage now) and also a Topping D90 DAC which I paid $700 for, so no streaming and just the DAC on the Core was as good as the Topping. The Topping is very highly regarded. The Core costs more, but to get equivalent quality in terms of DAC + Streaming especially when connected to BeoLab speakers will cost you at least as much and it will be much more bulky. 

Michael:

I have a core too and was also surprised of its sound quality. But as Michael said above, it seems based on the essence. I found that the core web interface in some places mistakenly even calls itself essence.

I’ve been curious about what chips is inside but haven’t found any teardowns or internal photos. I can try take mine apart and take some photos if nobody else already have photos of it.

I believe the Essence is based on a Texas Instruments chipset.

Wonder if that is the same for the Beosound Core.

I have a few Essences and one Core. I find the Core is a little bit more stable and responsive, eg. when it comes to Airplay 2, but I am not sure I hear much of a difference between the two units. I, too, feel that they play really well even on better speakers and reproduce music of all genres great.

I really like both units very much.

Hello

I do not have a core, but I'm thinking about to buy one and for me the question is, would the core sound better than my actual playmaker mk1?

The Pm is connected to a pair of beolab 17, what the core would also be connected too...

Can anybody give me an answer, maybe based on his own experience with a similar or the same constellation, or otherwise would this be only nuances that you cannot or nearly not hear with beolab 17?

For me the sound quality would be the crucial reason for change the pm into a core, i know there are some other things that would be nice features of the core, but I'm also happy with the playmaker when there is no improvement in the sound quality compared to the core...

Thanks for your answers! 

I cannot really answer that as I have never even seen a Playmaker. I have heard plenty of bad things about them but I think that mainly is regarding connectivity and not sound quality? How about having a Core of trial from your dealer?