Cambridge CXN (V2) next acquisition
afterburnt
Posts: 5,601
Does anyone have one, thoughts? I got a Marantz streamer but did not like it for various reasons and sent it back. It sounded great but it was lacking compared to my Aries Mini.
afterburnt
Posts: 5,601
Comments
I like it
For various reasons and it blew away the Node in my A/B test at the dealer. It should I guess for close to dbl the $$
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The DAC in it sounds as good as my PS Audio Stellar Pre. I use it with Tidal, a local usb thumb drive with all kinds of hi-res files on it (DSD, WAV, FLAC etc), Internet radio (320k and up), Chromecast (SoundCloud from the phone) and also as a Sonos connection. It’s very versatile and has a plethora of inputs.
I have a universal remote (Harmony) so I have not used the remote much but it’s heavy and sturdy. The unit looks sleek in a rack but unfortunately I have to stack in my current setup.
XLR’s connect it to the PS Audio pre. And I swapped the power cable for a Zu Audio one.
The app is pretty good. Only crashes every now and then. Has the ability to control most all of the unit sans internal settings. Tidal’s interface is simple but effective. You can also search for internet radio through the app, and of course search for drives in your network or connected locally.
Pics.
Let me google that for you: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Google-fu
that's meta, man....
At home I've only been using Spotify Connect so far. I'll doing a Tidal trial soon, but I want to make sure I have plenty of time at home with it before I dive into that.
The biggest surprise to me was how easy the set up was. I don't know why I thought it would be difficult, but it really was a breeze and took minutes. I spent much longer rearranging wires and getting it into the rack than I spent on getting it up and running.
Digital: Sony CDP-CE375 / Streaming > Cambridge CXN v2
MastersounD Dueventi > JBL Studio 580 or Arcam rHead > Hifiman HE4XX
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Nice this might be my next purchase while I am at Apoxana this spring I will be looking at all the vendors offering streamers. Enjoy your new Cambridge.
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App crashes and no Tidal Masters support are my only gripes. And they are very small gripes compared to the pluses.
XLR our seemed to be a step above the RCA’s in my particular setup
As far as MQA goes, that's the last thing I look for in a DAC. I want hardware that sounds good, not gear that chases a file type.
Opening it back up after playing something and then say answering a phone call or switching apps. When coming back to the CA app it will crash.
It also crashes when opening up for the first time rarely.
As far as MQA goes, there is built in support for Tidal on this unit, it’s advertised as such. It would make sense to me that a company would offer the services of its built in partner in their entirety, not just hifi streaming. Bluesound and some others do, not sure what CA does not. Regardless of how you feel about the format, and what tech is needed to “unfold” it’s just how I feel about the matter.
The more companies that drop MQA or never choose to pay in to it's licensing fees, the better. Hopefully it'll eventually go away completely and we'll never have to talk about it again.
What router are you using? I've had zero issues so far multitasking on my phone.
Maybe it’s mine but give it time as you have only had it a day or so. You may or may not have those issues but I have read on other sites people had some crashes too.
Not a big deal as I have said before. Just not flawless.
The issue with most app failures and crashes is network driven, not app driven. This is true with AURALiC, Lumin, and I highly suspect with Cambridge as well.
To elaborate, these apps are very sensitive to your network - more sensitive than your streaming devices or computers. I had similar issues frequently but have had none since upgrading my network router. This is a common issue and the hardest thing to convince clients of.
When this issue arises it is usually universal across all devices.