Solo streamer

Hopefully the shipping snafu doesn’t enter into the time you have with the unit before you decide if you want to return it.

  Issues like this always negatively impact my evaluation of a component because my emotions get involved.  Of course it shouldn’t matter but it does 

I think that AirPlay on the Cambridge streamer is very good-and Chromecast is excellent-but given the price differential between the Aurender and the CA I would have hoped that they would at least been equivalent in AirPlay

I don’t understand why mconnect only works for AirPlay.  In my system you get a list of devices that you want to stream from, and another that you want to stream to.  I’m Ethernet and I believe you are WiFiso I am wondering if that has something to do with it, but if everything is on the same network I don’t understand how…

I have 2 Cambridge units. OneI use as a transport into my external DAC, a Bryston DAC3. The other sits in a midfi system and I use the internal DAC.

Obviously I ‘m a CA fan, and @oddiofyi suggestion is the way I would go,.  OP has stated in the past that enjoys his CA streamer, so I’m not sure why he has now become dissatisfied , but if he is using the internal DAC I think he should notice an improvement with using a better external DAC

We all hear differently and have different priorities. There is no absolute answer here just an expression of preferences.  Having said that I am in agreement with those that find the source-DAC combination out of whack here.

   I have no doubt that the system will sound excellent.  If it’s the best allocation of resources is a secondary consideration and one that the OP professes not to be a consideration.

  I suspect it won’t be long before the OP is requesting advice about a more upscale DAC to pair with the new streamer

I used powerline adapters for a few years and don’t recommend going that route.  I ultimately bit the bullet and paid someone to Ethernet wire the home ( and simultaneously install an antenna for OTA TV signals, as both of these required going deep in my attic and was beyond my physical abilities to do so).

  Coincidentally I had to interrupt the Ethernet connection for one of my VXN streamers and go WiFi (I was painting where the room where the Ethernet comes out of a wall).  I thought that the WiFi connection was a tick sonically below the wired connection.

  The OP was prepared to spend a chunk on a new streamer, I think in the 8 K range.  For a fraction of that he can pay for a first class Ethernet setup.  I think that it will make his current streamer a bit better, and if he ever decides that he really needs a component that requires hardwire, he is all set to go

@cleeds

  I used a company that networks small offices for Ethernet wiring.  An electrician can do it but there are so many companies that do this for IT and are less expensive.  

Classical Music is a Bridge to far for most app developers.

Has the OP tried mconnect?  If he prefers the CA Stream Magic app, mconnect is similar and it’s easier to make playlists with

I use mConnect on my iPhone.  Update the OS on the ipad

No. With Melco N100 and Cambridge Audio VXN2

My guess, not my guy—I am unable to edit this

My guy is Qobuz is using some compression on a SACD known for its exceptional dynamic range, and that your streamer is revealing enough to show how bad that is.  It would be interesting if you could burn the CD layer to a usb flash drive (assuming the streamer plays flash drives) and then compare it to the Qobuz stream 

I listen to the Honeck/Pittsburgh  recordings on SACD.  I haven’t noticed any shrieking or any issue.  How does the OP access these recordings?  Via a service such as Qobuz? Or has he burned copies to a server and then played back from there?

I have that Bruckner 9 SACD and there are no issues with it in my systems.  Not my favorite performance but it sounds great 

I haven’t heard the OP DAC but had some time with an earlier Benchmark DAC that I thought was fantastically detailed but bright, especially with my B&W 803D speakers.  Perhaps the upgraded streamer is bringing some of that out.

  It might be worth trying DACs from a different manufacturer but perhaps in the same price range as his current DAC