Cambridge Audio CXN (V2) - Separate High Resolution WiFi Network Audio Player, Streamer and Pre Amp with Display Featuring Chromecast Built-In, Internet Radio and Wolfson DAC - Lunar Grey

This is a really good streamer. The sound is full, precise and detailed. Left me feeling that if this is so good what must the Edge be like. Cambridge stuff has always been good value for money but to my mind has felt a bit uninspiring. It did a job and it did that job well and was the first rung in real “Hi Fi”. This unit can more than keep up with some serious Hi Fi and for the price is a real bargain. I plugged the unit into my network and it picked up my NAS, qobuz and loads of internet radio stations without any messing about. It worked with my Macbook, iphone and anything else I tried it with. Fantastic sound quality from the DAC and plenty of inputs and outputs. If I had one niggle it would be that I think that the software “stream Magic” could be a bit better. I would like to see the quality of the streaming source (a bit like their old software app) on screen, but I suppose I can’t have everything. If I were told that this was a loss leader and Cambridge made no money from this unit, I would believe it.

I decided to buy this as I wanted to replace my CD player with a streamer. Having read numerous reviews, I decided to go ahead. I have been so very impressed with the sound quality whilst streaming Tidal and Qobuz. The set-up is straightforward and the Cambridge StreamMagic app makes communication so easy for both my streaming services and literally thousands of radio stations. I cannot offer enough praise for this brilliant piece of equipment.

There is always a place for digital music even in the world of an analog freak like myself. So I wanted to stream TIDAL through my hi-fi because number one it’s handy for listening to albums that I’ve never heard before and am considering buying on vinyl and secondly those rare times when one is happy to cherry pick songs such as when friends or family are around. Because digital is purely secondary to me I wasn’t prepared to go to hi-fi shops for demos so when I saw that Amazon did a Streamer by Cambridge audio then it was a no brainer, the name speaks for itself. My video shows you how easy it is to use, in this case I am using TIDAL running on AppleTV as my user interface but it is just as easy to play from an iPhone for example. I am very pleased with this and wholly recommend this item.

After using the CXN for a week, it seems a pretty well made and useful addition to my audio set-up. My main usage is to keep a large part of my music collection on a 256Gb USB stick, in high quality formats and play the files from the USB. The small screen in will display an image of the album art and info, but it doesn’t pull the image from the music file, but looks for a Folder.Jpg file, like an old style iPod or other music player. A nice feature that is mainly useful for ease it gives in selecting an album in the app. As long as you are using the StreamMagic app, selecting USB music and other inputs works great. I have the app on both my Android phone and iPad and it works well on them. The remote that Cambridge give you has the buttons too tightly packed for my tastes, I suggest the use of a universal remote instead. OTOH, a lot of the functions will require the use of the app for ease of use. I live in an area of poor radio reception, so the internet radio feature is a nice to have feature. The app enables lots of stations to be preset, but the remote control only gives you 8 preset buttons, which I found a bit odd. I’ve only streamed music from Spotify and that seems to basically stream from my iPad and just use the device’s DAC to “up-scale”. It sounds OK, but then I never had any issue doing the same thing with just a Bluetooth receiver plugged into the amplifier. However, I’m not a big Spotify user, so your mileage may vary. Chrome cast and Apple air play are also included, which are handy for listening to podcasts. I’ve found that air play seems to be easier to use, Chromecast gives me a few more issues getting the connection going at times, OTOH it’s supposedly a slightly higher quality stream. A Bluetooth adapter is available from Cambridge, but at an extra £85 I’m not interested. There’s the expected connections available at the back. All in all it’s a nice unit, but I feel it is a bit over priced, hence I knocked a star off. Edit after 6 weeks usage: I'm still pretty happy with the CXN, my only additional observation would be the remote control / system's IR receiver needs to be improved, even from under 2 meters away I have to do multiple button presses at times to get the menu to change, you're going to be using the App for most things. The App isn't bad, but don't expect the remote to be of much use for real control. OTOH, when I plug in an AptX Bluetooth sender into my system I can sit in the garden and listen to my main Hi-Fi on Bluetooth headphones while selecting music from the comfort of my garden chair, so that's the App for the win!

I had been considering getting a CXN for some time, but had been happy with the Mac Mini plus Arcam irDAC I had been using. Running my Mac through the CXN as a DAC sounds better, warmer but also more detailed and expansive. But as a streamer, using Qobuz high Res streams, sounds fantastic and is easy and convenient using my iPad and the StreamMagic app as a controller. Also great for internet radio, though I remain an FM fan; much better than DAB for digital stations. Also very stable using ChromeCast and Airplay. If you're serious about streaming, buy one now!

Cambridge CXN v2. First of all I can't think of anything to dislike about the CXN v2. The sound quality is superb, I was indecisive for a long time deciding whether to buy this or not, I'm glad I did, I already had the Cambridge axr100 stereo receiver and axc35 compact disc player which also sound superb, the cd player also sounds better connected via the digital input of the CXN v2, every instrument you hear is reproduced very convincingly and separately from each other, it's also easy to distinguish between each instrument, I've even started to listen to some cd's again that have been shoved to the back of the shelf, this system really stirs the emotions and gets you're feet tapping. The CXN v2 really is a excellent bit of kit, if you are indecisive like I was I hope this helps you make your mind up, you won't regret it,

I took a lot of time to settle on which streamer to get, I finally settled on the CXN V2. It’s connected to my hifi and performs superbly. Setup was easy, but a bit surprised there was no registration card, not the usual plethora of safety leaflets. The instructions are primarily non language diagrams, it’s not complicated for my current set up, power in, RCA out. The screen is very clean, very crisp, and looks great. Setup using StreamMagic was very easy, but the app is a bit plain, it could use a design refresh. Connecting to Tidal was very simple, it just connects up. I’ve connected mine to the Power Amp part of my integrated Amp,ifier (Technics SU-V560), this bypasses the Bass and Treble circuits, the sound is bright, lively, clear, and engaging, I barely had to move the volume knob on the amp to fill the room with sound. I’m delighted with it. I did break from my black theme of components, the unit colour is called Lunar Grey, it does not look out of place or clash. One consideration is that this unit does not handle MQA, in Tidal that is their Tidal Master quality. But to be honest I can’t tell the difference, but I’m old, my room is not an anechoic chamber, there is furniture, etc. Would I recommend one? Yes. Would I say save up and get the Edge 75/150? No, unless you’ve a special room, have incredible hearing, then the CXN V2 will meet and exceed your needs, and it’s a lot less than the Edge. Compared to the Azur, personal preference and budget.

Easy set up. Great app. Works well with Airplay 2. Integrates well in the CX amplifier and CD player. Nice build quality. Nice remote. Sounds much better than I expected with the streaming! Star product.

J’ai attendu plus de deux mois pour le recevoir. Très bel appareil, fonctionne parfaitement, superbe qualité de son. A recommander. Pour une fois pas fabriqué en Chine mais en Engleterre

He analizado este aparato desde dos perspectivas diferentes: como streamer y como streamer+DAC. Es un excelente streamer y no he notado ninguna diferencia a favor de mi lector de CDs incluso con la compresión ACC de Apple. Este era el objetivo de la compra y estoy muy satisfecho. En unos minutos pasé de tener una colección de 5.000 LPs y CDs a tener millones de opciones. Mi colección es ahora un elemento más de la decoración. Respecto a la función DAC que entre señal analógica a un amplificador, hay más que hablar si alguien se pregunta si es suficientemente buena como para reemplaza un DAC dedicado. No entraré aquí a discutir sobre los convertidores; si deberían haber usado los más modernos del Magic o algún otro tipo. Es difícil evaluar esto para los consumidores porque tras la conversión nos encontramos una sección analógica que adecúa la señal convenientemente. La mayoría de las diferencias entre DACs se deben más a la sección analógica que a los convertidores en sí mismo. Este es un aparato de gama media muy bueno. En mi segundo equipo, lo comparé con un Meridian 606. El Cambridge con un sistema multibit proporciona un mejor grave, una buena imagen sonora, sonido limpio y preciso y voces excelentes. El Meridian suena más aireado y con una mejor escena sonora aunque con menos rango dinámico. Tras esta comparación lo incorporé al equipo principal en una sala preparada de 32 m2. La comparación la hice con mi DAC Oracle DAC1000. Aquí las diferencias fueron notables. El Oracle como cabía esperar proporciona una mayor escena sonora, mejora los planos sonoros y el sonido es más delicado y musical. El la música coral y sinfónica encontramos importantes diferencias que en otro tipo de música pasa más desapercibido. El Oracle presenta una mejor escena sonora, la altura de los coros es la adecuada y las complejidades de esta música son resueltas com más detalle y precisión. Si tiene un equipo medio o usa auriculares con un pequeño amplificador, no necesita un DAC; este aparato da suficiente calidad para conectarlo directamente a un amplificador. Si por el contrario, usted tiene un sistema de alta gama, probablemente ya tendrá un DAC, así que ese es el que va a utilizar, porque no hay milagros en el audio. En este punto la cuestión que surge es, si dado que no vamos a utilizar el DAC, hubiera sido suficiente con otro aparato más sencillo y barato. La respuesta es, depende. Este aparato proporciona una versatilidad pocas veces encontrada a este precio. Viene adaptado para trabajar sin problemas con casi todas las fuentes actuales y es sencillo configurarlo y utilizarlo. Funciona muy bien con la Wi-Fi (siempre que no esté muy alejado) y la pantalla es atractiva. Como añadido ofrece una salida de señal fija y otra variable que permite activar el mando incorporado como regulador de volumen. Esto permitirá usar cajas con amplificación integrada fácilmente. A este precio es difícil encontrar un aparato tan versátil, bien diseñado y construido. A.

Durch ein Artikel in einer englische Hifi Zeitung wegen Award 2022 auf dieses Gerät erneut aufmerksam geworden. Preislich leider pech, 2 Tage nach Kauf 200 Euro billiger (Aktion Cambridge). Lieferung Amazon wie gewohnt. Gerät auspacken, installiert, IOS App StreamMagic geladen. Radio- kaum buffering im Vergleich mit der NAD C460 ultraschnell. Als Verstärker benutze ich ein Rotel (20 Jahre alt) und große Lautsprecherboxen. Höre hauptsächlich Klassik, Jazz, Blues, aber auch Pop. Beim einrichten am besten via App, beim Internetradio die Möglichkeit von 99 Preset Sender. Man sollte vorher überlegen welche Reihenfolge man haben möchte, Änderung im Nachhinein geht nicht durch verschieben, nur löschen und neu. Desweiteren habe ich Qobuz als Bibliothek und als neue Cambridge user 180 Tage Tidal Mitgliedschaft als gratis Probeabo. Display- Wurde schon mal als klein erwähnt und texte nur wenn man vorm Gerät ist. Dies stimmt zwar nur, aber ich sehe das als kein Problem. Bildschirm- kann auf 3 Sichtarten eingestellt werden. 1. Nur Logo (auch CD), 2. Logo und Info, 3. Nur Info ohne Logo. Airplay 2 funktioniert einwandfrei, so dass auch Apple Music, BBC Sounds, ARD Audiothek, Idagio, Spotify u.v.a einwandfrei funktionieren, inkl. CD Cover. Übertragung von mein Synology DS220+ war auch einwandfrei nur da muss ich beim speichern von meine CDs noch eine bessere Lösung finden, aber das ist eine NAS Server problem nicht von der CXNv2. Als Quelle welche ich zur Zeit nicht benutze gibt es Spotify, Chromecast, USB-Audio. Bei alle Verwendungen bis jetzt mindestens so eine gute Klang als vom CD.

Cambridge Audio Lettore di Rete audio con DAC interno per unità digitali CD esterne, con anche il Chromecast incorporato, senza dimenticare la ottima e precisa Applicazione "Streammagic" di Cambridge Audio, che con un Cellulare, ma meglio con un Tablet!!! si può gestire l'Apparecchio stesso in tutte le sue funzioni, restando comodamente seduti e rilassati! A questo versatile apparecchio è stato collegato un vecchio MAC mini 2012 via USB per DAC, visto subito senza bisogno di installare Drive, (impostare CXN V2 su USB DAC livello 2), sulla USB retro per HDD esterno collegato SSD VANSUNY da 1TB, Rete interna WI-FI, Unità CD Cambridge Audio CXC in ingresso Coassiale, per l'uscita analogia ho usato le uscite bilanciate XLR collegate al Premaplificatore Audio EAR 912, con Ampli Finali Wyred 4 Sound X1000 e Diffusori Magnepan MG 3,5 ribbon, Cavi bilanciati Audio Tekne e Kiom per l'alimentazione. Devo subito dire che il cavo di alimentazione fornito è risultato mediocre, ed stato sostituito con cavo Hi END di costo purtroppo superiore all'apparecchio stesso, la differenza di prestazioni è drammatica e scioccante! credo che nemmeno Cambridge abbia provato e soprattutto a sentire!? Quindi grande bontà dell'apparecchio, si lavora con file a flusso digitale 192 khz 24/32bit tranquilli e precisi, purtroppo il tipo DSD si ferma al DSD64, questo è il difetto di limite che ha... In ogni modo si ripaga nella precisione del suono a patto di usare cavi di collegamento HI-End di alto costo, i miei file Audio (vecchie registrazioni dal vivo analogiche masterizzare 192/24-32, e digitali) inseriti nel piccolo SSD esterno vengono lette subito e perfettamente gestite, con l'ausilio di un Tablet Lenovo, è da informare che file audio devono essere inseriti in cartella che deve contenere una foto o schermata tipo jpg o png, questa fa da TAG miniatura visiva nel bel Display completo dell'Apparecchio, ed anche in elenco brani file nell'Applicazione "Streammagic" di Cambridge Audio, sul Tablet Android, vedere foto. Concludo, dicendo di essere molto soddisfatto del prodotto, come versatilità (c'è anche il Chromecast si va su You Tube Music Video si naviga e si suona a 48 Khz), con il Telecomando fornito si comanda sino a tre apparecchi, molto bello, il Suono, la cosa più importante è preciso e vero, anche in virtù di riprodurre le mie registrazioni dal vivo, che un serio vecchio Audiofilo passionista deve tenere come termine di paragone assoluto.

Great machine!