Cambridge CXN V2 - My new audiophile streamer and internet radio - detailed review

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So after a couple of weeks of consideration and assessment that spanned from using Apple TV (that I already possess) to getting an old Airport Express, to a more vanguard streaming solution in Bluesound Node 2i, to a lateral choice of a DAP like Astell & Kern Kann, i finally decided upon the Cambridge CXN V2 streamer to add to my living room stereo system. A slight worrisome situation on stockout (and Cambridge being distributorless in India for a while) almost pushed me into buying an older CXN V1, but for providence and a very friendly and proactive dealer from Bangalore, Audio Note (Mr Palani, the owner) came to the rescue. He had a last piece of CXN V2 from previous lot that he was willing to ship to Mumbai, but figured out the new shipment was arriving in a day and instead got me one shipped directly from the new distributor in Mumbai. I can wholeheartedly recommend Mr Palani to anyone in Bangalore.

It has been one week since I added the CXN V2 to the audio chain and it seems to have burnt in now. But before I share my experience, let me tell what tilted my decision in its favour. First of all, I considered and ruled out the jugaad options like Apple TV and Airport Express as I realised I wanted no compromise in usability or quality of sound. Especially with high res streaming like Tidal I wanted something that didn’t depend on AirPlay, but had native support. That left me with options like Bluesound Node 2i, CXN V2 and Elac Discovery. The last was a bit over my budget as well as I gathered it’s software wasn’t that friendly. Of course Elac comes with Roon essentials. I took a trial of Roon and didn’t like it, so the feature wasn’t of relevance to me. Elac seemingly has best sound of the three, but CXN was close as I gathered from reviews. Bluesound was attractive at its price point, but the average DAC would have meant I’d have had to keep using my Schiit Bifrost DAC. On the other hand with Cambridge CXN V2 I could used the analog output and release my Schiit back to my desktop system (with the Valhalla 2 and Beyerdynamic T1). The price difference over Bluesound (roughly 30k) was thus easily justified. Also, I was getting two features that meant a lot to me. One, the display screen - and I am quite hooked onto it - esp when you play natively. And secondly the wonderful jog dial - it’s just takes the user experience into a different league for me. With the dial and the screen I interact more with the equipment, something I love to do. Another advantage the CXN had over Bluesound was that it played internet radio natively. The Bluesound was dependent upon the Tune In app over iPad/iPhone. I can’t think of operating a radio from a tablet - the CXN allows me to play it just like a radio - through the jog dial or the remote control. I wanted something that could transport me back to the Worldspace days, and how well it has been able to! Of course I had to let go of Tidal MQA as CXN doesn’t have MQA decoder, but based on Tidal trial (have posted my experience in another thread) I didn’t find the improvement over FLAC/CD quality as significant and relevant (most of the music I like is from 60s to 90s and not much of it is available in MQA).

So how has it been using the CXN v2 so far? A delight! in short. Nothing less. Let me first start with the installation. It was breeze getting it connected both wired and wifi (I prefer using wired for stable connection) and setting up the Cambridge Connect app and pointing it to the Tidal and Spotify a/cs (both played natively, the latter via Spotify Connect).

Coming to the sound, while it showed promise on day one, it has completely opened up in a week’s time (about 50 hr of run in) and I can attest that the sound is better than that from my Schiit Bifrost DAC (when connected to the same source - the Cambridge CXC transport). The Schiit’s soundstage is a tad better, but the CXN trumps it in both tonal quality and the frequency range. The Schiit had a higher roll off in comparison as my ears tell me. Some of you with brighter systems might find the brightness accentuated, but it well complemented my otherwise warmer chain of Lyrita DHT pre, Audiolab 8200A (poweramp mode) and the Castle Knight 2 speakers.

As for the streaming, Spotify Connect takes to the CXN like fish to water. I could easily see how Spotify 320 sound run natively was distinctively better than the Apple Music played over AirPlay (there’s no native Apple Music support on any steamer to my knowledge). Tidal of course is native and runs with absolutely no lag, even when you scrub the songs. I am quite happy with their FLAC quality and am glad that I wouldn’t need to buy as many CDs as I used to. That itself should pay off the CXN in a year or two.

What takes the cake though is the Internet Radio. The CXN allows you to scan the tens of thousands of radio stations out there with a good enough navigation over the jogdial and screen, made further easier through the CA Connect app on the iPad. In about 3 days I also discovered and added the 7-8 FLAC radio streams available (most notably Radio Paradise) as well as some high quality compressed streams like Linn and Naim Radio to the 20 presents. Believe me when I say that you wouldn’t be able to make out I am streaming them when you hear them being played on the system unless you did a A/B comparison with the CD. Not just the FLAC streams, but even the 128-320 kbps ones - the CXN’s polynomial upsampling surely removes the edginess of the compressed mp3 and makes it sound much better than otherwise.

I am not looking at it for playing the ripped files, but I could get it easily to play files on a external hard disk connected via the USB port. It has all the possible inputs and outputs you’d need.

As for improvements possible, I feel Cambridge can easily improve the feature of the CA Connect app, let’s see if they do through the firmware upgrades to bridge the gap with Bluesound OS. But even without that this is definitely a far superior streamer. If you are looking for a streamer that doesn’t look geeky and goes well with your hi-fi deck and have budget around 80-90k, the CXN could very well be in your consideration. It has consistently been getting best reviews (both expert and user) since the V1 version and you can’t go much wrong. There good possibility that you’d be delighted with it like I am. Here’s leaving you with some pics.

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Great review - your worldspace analogy brought memories rushing back!
on a side note, Since we have already agreed to disagree on certain elements :), I am not much of a believer in a run-in for a pure solid state device like your CXN and probably more to do with your brain getting used to the new sound.
But to repeat, congratulations on your new acquisition and thanks for a great review!
 
Great little expression of your happiness, congratulations and most importantly glad that you have now found that sweet spot for sound.
The CXN is now the choice of many for streamers and the in-built DAC is no slouch either. I know a couple of people who are extremely satisfied with CXN in their setup. I considered the CXN for my setup but went with NA8005 thinking it would complement my PM8005 and it does. Although it would be very interesting to see how the CXN does, maybe will have the opportunity soon.
 
Congrats on the new addition! and thanks for posting the review. Just curious, you mentioned warmth of Audiolab 8200. Is it only a slight warmth in mids or very prominent?
 
Congrats on the new addition! and thanks for posting the review. Just curious, you mentioned warmth of Audiolab 8200. Is it only a slight warmth in mids or very prominent?


Sandeep I’d say the Audiolab is fairly neutral with a hint of emphasis on the middle register. It does a good job at preserving the warmth produced by the tube pre. It’s the three (Lyrita Pre, Audiolab power and Castle Knight speakers) put together that create a comforting warm sound. The CXN adds a bit of tadka with the highs.
 
Sandeep I’d say the Audiolab is fairly neutral with a hint of emphasis on the middle register. It does a good job at preserving the warmth produced by the tube pre. It’s the three (Lyrita Pre, Audiolab power and Castle Knight speakers) put together that create a comforting warm sound. The CXN adds a bit of tadka with the highs.
Thanks for clarifying. So with Castle knight also having a slight warmth in mid, this must be a great sounding setup :)
 
Hi Sachin, Congratulations , hope you enjoy the experience.
What do you think are the benefits of buying a streamer ?
Why not something like a NUC or even PI loaded with streaming software ( Volumio, Roon, Squeeze and such) . They all can do Spotify, Tidal and radio stations.
 
Congrats @SachinChavan

HiFi Rig: Dilvpoetry Preamp 6J1 + ASI Liveline power cable + Cambridge Audio Cxn + Arcam rlink powered by Dc Power + ASI Liveline Reference IC + Quad 405 MK2 + Piega Classic 3.0 {Marantz NA6005 (For Sale)}
 
Hi Sachin, Congratulations , hope you enjoy the experience.
What do you think are the benefits of buying a streamer ?
Why not something like a NUC or even PI loaded with streaming software ( Volumio, Roon, Squeeze and such) . They all can do Spotify, Tidal and radio stations.

Hi Amit, because I am a consumer and not a prosumer. Because I want out of the box usage, brand and warranty backing, unambiguous specifications, performance as per reviews, no teething problems and surprises, ease of use and reliability, aesthetics, features (hardware as well as software) that add to my experience and utility. Like any other consumer.

I can understand the prosumers too, and why they’d pride and value something they put together form circuits and product shells which does the primary jobs at a fraction of the price. But that’s not my preference.
 
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Hi sachin...that was one very nice write up. Enjoyed reading it thoroughly :)

From your opening post I can understand that you are a Apple user. I've only ever been android all my life. And I have been very interested in the CXN v2 due to Google Chromecast support, as my major source of music is gaana. Was just wondering if you have tried gaana or saavn or any other desi music channel with the CXN v2 . I'd be very happy to hear your thoughts, as I presently use a CCA to stream gaana to my rig. While it sounds good to my deaf ears, Iam not sure if there is some thing out there that delivers better sound quality with gaana. Hence my curiosity. Thanks for your time.


Edit: I actually use CCA as a purely digital streamer going into my external dac's.
 
Hi sachin...that was one very nice write up. Enjoyed reading it thoroughly :)

From your opening post I can understand that you are a Apple user. I've only ever been android all my life. And I have been very interested in the CXN v2 due to Google Chromecast support, as my major source of music is gaana. Was just wondering if you have tried gaana or saavn or any other desi music channel with the CXN v2 . I'd be very happy to hear your thoughts, as I presently use a CCA to stream gaana to my rig. While it sounds good to my deaf ears, Iam not sure if there is some thing out there that delivers better sound quality with gaana. Hence my curiosity. Thanks for your time.


Edit: I actually use CCA as a purely digital streamer going into my external dac's.

I hadn’t, but tried playing Gaana now and it worked fine. Since I am playing through iPhone I don’t know if it was using AirPlay or Chromecast. Is it possible to use Chromecast (CXN has it) through Apple devices? What I can do is try casting from my nephew’s Android phone (over the weekend). Actually Gaana is sounding quite nice (dynamic) through the CXN, I might look at this app seriously.

And thanks for the appreciation!
 
I hadn’t, but tried playing Gaana now and it worked fine. Since I am playing through iPhone I don’t know if it was using AirPlay or Chromecast. Is it possible to use Chromecast (CXN has it) through Apple devices? What I can do is try casting from my nephew’s Android phone (over the weekend). Actually Gaana is sounding quite nice (dynamic) through the CXN, I might look at this app seriously.

And thanks for the appreciation!

Hi again Sachin...Thanks for taking the time to test and reply back. Iam totally dumb at Apple products, so not sure if they support Chromecast or not. But I would expect them not to. As Apple has its own airplay which is actually a competitor to chrome cast.

Will look forward to hearing your impressions over the weekend then. Thanks again :)
 
^^You can use chromecast (audio and the normal dongle) on supporting apps on iPhone. For music, I think the chromecast encodes audio stream to AAC before playing, so the apps playing in native AAC (like GPM/Apple music/Gaana) should sound better than Spotify which uses OGG
 
^^You can use chromecast (audio and the normal dongle) on supporting apps on iPhone. For music, I think the chromecast encodes audio stream to AAC before playing, so the apps playing in native AAC (like GPM/Apple music/Gaana) should sound better than Spotify which uses OGG

Sandeep I can confirm for sure that Spotify (320 Kbps) sounds better than Apple Music on CXN. I have tried enough songs on A/B comparison to confirm that. My conclusion is because while Spotify plays natively through Spotify Connect (with the phone only acting as remote), Apple uses AirPlay.
 
Sandeep I can confirm for sure that Spotify (320 Kbps) sounds better than Apple Music on CXN. I have tried enough songs on A/B comparison to confirm that. My conclusion is because while Spotify plays natively through Spotify Connect (with the phone only acting as remote), Apple uses AirPlay.
OK. I think spotify when played through Chromecast may not sound as good as say GPM/Gaana due to transcoding. Apple natively uses AAC on device, so it’s odd that you’re not getting similar SQ for Apple music through AirPlay.
 
Here’s a very nuanced and balanced review of the Cambridge CXN V2 for those who want to know more about the streamer and evaluate it. This reviewer is not a typical one in that his primary job is different. Also it’s from Malaysia (not the usual US, UK). Do also go through the well-mannered and very specific Q&A at the end of the review as some of your deeper queries may have been answered there.


OK. I think spotify when played through Chromecast may not sound as good as say GPM/Gaana due to transcoding. Apple natively uses AAC on device, so it’s odd that you’re not getting similar SQ for Apple music through AirPlay.

Sandeep, the review in the above comment also confirms that AirPlay does drop the SQ a bit.

Spotify Connect is a native integration and hence requires no casting. Unsurprisingly therefore, the sound quality is quite good (for a 320 Kbps stream). I also find Spotify are way ahead of all other streaming services in how well they are integrated with various hardware and software platforms. For example yesterday I figured out how well Spotify is integrated with last.fm. Sometime ago I had posted a thread (titled Spotify Easter egg) about an Apple TV app that shows pics and details in visually delightful form on your TV for the music you are listening to Spotify on any device at that moment. And so on. These guys are good at the streaming game. Only if they can come up with FLAC streaming!
 
These guys are good at the streaming game. Only if they can come up with FLAC streaming!
Thanks for the link!
Spotify did a brief A/B test with lossless some time back within a small group. Hope they roll it out soon. They anyway have all the source files in WAV from the artist. So keeping fingers crossed !
 
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