Cocktail Audio's New and latest X50pro Audiophile Music Streamer/server...Any Love?

Hi Tom6897 SAID:

" ..., I find that I can tweak most equipment by opening the case and adding earthed shielding around power supplies (critical) and other boards. Shielded dummy plugs can also be worth considering as they can stop external interference having a direct path to boards (sometimes only minor), but still worth considering if you are hoping to extract the best from your equipment."

And I'd bet that replacing the '2-cent' SATA cables used from SSD/HDD (seen on too many "premium" Streamers/Servers/Transports) with a premium cable would iresult in significant SQ gains. 
Knowing (full well) the impact cable has on performance, it strikes me unusual (ly) cheap that so many companies (Aurender, Melco) choose to use the cheapest cables extant ! (?). The price of these things (glorified computers/NAS's) demands the finest parts/cabling available and yet is not offered. Laughable. And unfortunate. To those that have invested so heavily in the big talk/name only to discover the cheapest generic cabling lurking inside its fancy chassis.

pj
  

I recently pulled the trigger on X50Pro, almost two years after I purchased my first Coctail Audio X50D model. So you must be thinking already that I must really love it. Yes, I do. That's because it has all I need and only what I need. That means no unnecessary parts for me like DAC. For external DACs I use Marantz SA10 with my X50D and Accuphase DP570 with X50Pro in 2nd system. In addition one of my Accuphase amps has DAC50 card installed but I found players DAC to be handling USB Audio better without occasional glitches which I observed with DAC50 hooked via USB Audio.

Both X50 models are virtually identical with functions, the double the price comes from what I can't really asses except reading about product from manufacturer website which are some mechanical design properties of Pro model over D. Both streamers however are built solid, thick aluminum case, great display with undetermined selector and volume knobs which I can't figure out to be plastic or aliminum made. They feel light though same way on both models. 

Now, the main selling point for X50 was and still is ability to stream to external DSC HiRes DSD up to 11.2Mbps (DSD256) and PCM up to 384k/32b. The only interface that currently supports that function is USB Audio. Both Toslink and coaxial outputs are limited to PCM 96k/24b and 192k/24b respectively and won't even stream low bitrate DSD. That's due to physical limitations of these two interfaces but also proprietary nature of DSD licensing.  

Before deciding on my 1st X50D, I did extensive research on products available on the market capable of the above. Besides super expensive Eaoteric high end model and one more from brand I can't remember, there were only Coctail Audio streamers capable of streaming high bitrate hires dsd and pcm. In addition X50D oferred storage option with raid mode which was really cherry on the top for me. 

So currently I enjoy two X50 streamers, both connected to the same LAN, which makes one of them not even needing hard disk storage at all as it can connect to the other one and stream any file I want from it. 
Over the years I have accumulated vast library of HiRes albums, procured mostly from paid sources like HDTracks and nativeDSD. This was well spent money because I enjoy every song from this collection and it's unprecedented quality and superior sound over the standard CD and even SACD quality is worth listening every minute. You have to hear to believe it. I am sure X50D owners utilizing hires music know that already. 

It’s a nice feature that one of your units is being used both as a player and a NAS for the whole system, but it does make the purchase of the second unit, which apparently you are using just as a player, a bit of a head scratcher.  One of the advantages of a unit such as Cocktail is the all in one deal:  ripper/player/hard disc storage all in one.  Until I read your post I didn’t realize that it could also be a server for other players on the network (I’m assuming it is DLNA compliant).  At any rate, the second unit, which costs twice as much as the first, comes with redundant disc ripping and storage.
I would have sunk the money into a dedicated player for the second system.  Otoh, I am glad that what you have done works for you, that you are happy with the outcome, and hope that my comments don’t put a dent in your enjoyment.  Just food for thought

Thanks for comment. Not al all. The main reason I got 2nd X50Pro was availability in gold finish which is rare among hires but required to complete my 2nd stereo setup. I know this sound cheesy but my eyes are as good as my ears and it all simply have to look good. There is literally zero alternatives capable of what X50 have to offer also in terms of dac interfaces variety and decoding capabilities (I like to experiment with these).
In time I will most likely install storage in the Pro. Also because one if systems uses wifi which occasionally may cause data throttling which immediately cause unnacceptable playback stutter. Or maybe I just patch it another cat cable and call it a day. Money is not object when I know gear is worth the expense. And both X50s definetely are. 

Couple new functions discovered and possibly a software bug.

Last night signed up my X50Pro to Amz Music (have HD service), had to use Music X Neo app for it but works like a charm. Was browsing extensively trying to find in song with higher than 44.1k sampling frequency, no luck so far. But all music is in 32bit resolution, that's double comparing to CD. And yes, most of it sounds stunning, super clear, detailed, similar to my hires files I listen offline. Whether Celine Dion or well know A-Ha, I could not resist turning around to check unit display "what is that makes sound so good".
I also tried Group Play. It is new function that allows employing multiple X50s to play same song in sync in multiroom. Indeed it does exactly that and in perfect sync. No delay or lag noticed. One problem is for some reason my other X50D stops playing via USB Audio when group mode is enabled, I have to switch to coax output to get the sound. My X50Pro does not have this issue, plays via USB no problem whether in group play mode or not. Must be X50D software glitch which I reported to Novatron tech support.
Btw, the latest firmware available at Novatron website I used (r1688) to flash my old X50D to enable Group play, messed up the UPnP service. I am unable to access X50D library from X50Pro by Genre, Album, Artist. Only selection by song Title works, but that takes forever to display results (over 10,000 songs in my storage) so it's unusable. This did not make me happy either about new firmware, so beware to use it.

Hoping Novatron tech support will repond soon or I have to roll my unit firmware back to factory giving up Group Play function between both X50s.

That's all for now. Cheers.