Cambridge Audio Azur 851N

@markv,
This is what I noticed about streaming Tidal via the 851N vs the HEOS Link.  I found the 851N to be more detailed and open.  A little better imaging, but my room is challenged for imaging anyway.  It seemed a bit brighter, but that's probably just the extra detail I'm hearing.  Overall, I will be leaving the HEOS Link out of the signal path.  Since the 851N has coaxial and optical outs, I can also pipe the music upstairs to my Halo Integrated and have both systems in sync. 

Regarding the app, it's pretty basic.  Hopefully they will work more on making it look and feel a little more current and modern.  It is utilitarian though.  It's hard to compare between two streamers by switching back and forth because I had to keep starting the 851N songs over after switching to another input.

One issue I have had is dropouts.  I have hardwired the cat 6 cable so I should not get dropouts streaming redbook FLAC. I noticed once my phone was updating several apps at the time.  I have 24 mb/sec bandwidth so that should be plenty to do both. 

I also think there may be more breaking in that needs to be done.  I'm sure new circuitry is being used and it may make a subtle difference at first.  Overall, I glad to take my HEOS streamer out of the signal path.

My system page is not updated, so I'll list it here for reference:
851N streamer/DAC
LTA MicroZotl 2
Halo A21,
Tekton DI
CT GE ICs
Duelund DCA16GA speaker wire

Thanks for the update treebeard1.  Keep us updated as the 851N burns in and you become comfortable with feature set.  One thing I would like to know though is the performance of the Internet Radio.  How's it sound?  I'm in the Detroit area - where there really are few classical and jazz stations. I think I would really take advantage of Internet Radio - if the sound was acceptable.

@markv,
I don’t listen to internet radio much. I just tested it out and I see a couple presets from my local area were still present and working. However, it was a mess when I tried to browse for stations. First, there is a list of countries to browse from and the US is not one of them. If I browse by genre I get the usual suspects, classic rock, 70s hits, 60s hits, etc. Some worked and some didn’t.

Overall, I would not base your buying decision on the 851N radio streaming capability. Just install TuneIn Radio on your phone, use the 851N bluetooth (which is quite good), and be done with it. I don’t know why they bother with curating their own stations. It’s already been done much better by others.

FWIW, I did listen to streamed stations at 128 kbps and sounded very good.

Thanks treebeard1.

Has anyone tried to use balanced out instead of rca to preamp? Any sound difference?