I have the CXN V2. it's actually a very good streamer and the Wolfson dac sounds great. I'm partial to AKM dac chips and this is very close in sound. The app works good and if you listen to Amazon you can Stream with chromcast. I have had only 1 issue and it was taken care of in a timely manner. One month to repair and back. Also when you want an upgrade send it to Modwright and have the Truth Mod installed. Takes it to another level. The CXN is also recommended by the owner of Decware. With the mod you get an excellent dac and capable streamer for undef 3k. Check out my system and you will see the CXN.
Cambridge CXN V2 or Innuos Pulse Mini?
These two streamers popped up in a few recent threads and got me thinking about upgrading my Bluesound Node, so I would appreciate some advice.
Both are in the $1200 range which is about all I’m willing to spend on digital at this time, so I’m wondering which one I should get and will the difference in SQ be significant, or should I stay where I am for now? (My understanding is the DAC is key to good SQ, but I know zero about DAC brands/specs)
- I stream only, mostly Tidal, then SirusXM, and I am auditioning QoBuz
- I don’t care about MQA
- I don’t need file storage or CD ripping
- I’m reasonably happy with the BluOS app
- Better library / favorites management would be nice
- Input is ethernet cable
- Output is analogue / RCA
Thank you!
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- 46 posts total
I have the Bluesound Node, the Cambridge Audio CXU (a universal disc player with Wolfson DAC chips), and an Ares II. I haven’t done the research to compare the DAC of the CXN and the CXU. The DAC of the Node is comparable in SQ to that of my CXU. I think the Ares II may be a little better, but it’s not a huge upgrade IMO. It does however let me see what the incoming bit rate and sampling rate are of the files I’m streaming, and I like that. It also allows more flexibility in managing the processing, since you can choose between oversampling/non-oversampling modes and two different digital filter choices, and this is worthwhile. After getting the Node and Ares II I upgraded my cables from preamp to power amps and speaker cables, and with the increased transparency I might be able to detect more of a difference between the Node’s DAC and the Ares II. But I don’t plan to spend more time making such comparisons. You might want to consider if your amplification and speakers deserve an upgrade more than the streamer (but I don’t know what you have there), even if $1200 won’t get you much of an upgrade. But perhaps it’s worth saving up more to upgrade them than upgrading your streamer?
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I have no comparison, but am happy with the Cambridge. Being part of several audiophile forums, I read up quite a bit on streamers. Steve Deckart, owner of Decware uses the CXN as his reference and swears by it. Members there use it as well. so I tried it and it sounds great. Started with Apple Music, which requires the StreamLogic app to stream Airplay. I thought it sounded pretty decent. Had some skips due to streaming via Wi-Fi, guessing that was the cause. Now I ran a land line and have Tidal, which the cxn is ready for so no app required. Sounds fantastic. |
@earthbound I agree. Besides, Dan at Modwright wouldn't waste time on modding anything that wasn't a good fit for his expertise. |
I used to have the Bluesound Node and a CA DacMagic. It sounded pretty good. I switched to a small green computer ultraRendu, which sounded much better than the Node and works well with Roon. I then got a Denafrips Pontus II DAC and the combination sounds very good. I would suggest adding an external DAC first, then go from there. It’s a fun journey |
- 46 posts total