Cambridge Audio Azur 851N

I recently bought a cambridge cxn v1 for $600,inventory clearance down from $900. Same internals as 851N at Crutchfied for $1600, more xlr, optical, & coax connects on 851N. There is no detailed manual from cambridge, very hard to get detailed info. I suspect the dac in both only works thru usb in, not optical or coax in.Published reviews have been none existent. Cambridge only has email support ion USA so answers are long coming. I use jriver, playing cd files copied to hard drive, optical out to cxn then coax out to Gungnir. Sound out is ok, probably because of gungnir dac. as a noob with Jriver, there is little instruction to clearly and easily get jriver settings correct. So Ive got some learning & reading to do. Cambridge said tidal is coming by software update between april 4 and 18, 2018, but Il believe it when it happens. Both microrendu and sotm 200 are Lan in to usb out renderers, so at least cambridge handles more connections in & out. Hans B gave positive reviews for cxn.

Today my 851N and the Cambridge app updated to Tidal ready. Won't have a chance to listen until the weekend. Looking forward to it. I have high hopes . Should sound better than streaming Tidal through my HEOS Link.

treebeard1 - Would like to know your opinion of the sound quality of Tidal via the 851N.  Also, how is the Cambridge Connect interface with Tidal?  Can you set any options for Tidal using the Connect app?

Thanks!

Hi everyone. I have just bought the CXN v2, the sound quality is good ,but not as impressive as I had expected. I had been comparing it against the very cheap Chromecast Audio and the difference, at least to my ears, was very subtle. Has anyone had/owned/ both the CXN and the 851N and could offer comparison impressions ? I am still able to rerurn the CXN. Any respomse much appreciated!Thanks a lot,

The Cxn should sound better than a Chromecast if it isnt audibile then i would question the resolution of the system.

The Camb 851n is better the Lumin D2 is better then the Cambridge.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ