2. digital
  3. 158424-2975

Streaming Thru the Cambridge Audio Azur 840C DAC

Just bought the above Upsampling Cambridge Audio CD player which has the ability to accept 2 different digital sources (either coax or optical)

I also stream Spotify Premium through an old IPhone or 7th Gen IPad via an RCA to mini plug to my integrated amp.

I’d like to use the DAC in the back of the Azur to upgrade the sound of my Spotify.  (I know Tidal or Roon is better but I’m not interested in that since my Spotify is free).

Can I just buy a digital interconnect with a mini plug on one end and plug it into the coax input on the CD player?  Seems I would need to reconfigure my phone & Ipad to use an external DAC as well?

Thank you for your suggestions, I’m a newbie when it comes to streaming as I still listen to vinyl & cassettes :)
lou_setriodes

Showing 2 responses by sfar

sfar's avatar
sfar
1,768 posts
 
If your iPhone is old enough that the jack on it accepts a stereo mini jack rather than the 'Lightning' plug of new phones the signal coming from it is analog, not digital, so it can't be plugged into a digital input on the Cambridge. Here's some general information.
https://www.musicservertips.com/how-to-articles/iphone-digital-audio-output/#:~:text=With%20the%20advent%20of%20iOS,audio%20converter)%20with%20USB%20input.

One way to go is to transmit Bluetooth from the phone to a Bluetooth receiver that can be plugged into one of the digital inputs. Here's one with optical output.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=38071

The new Audioengine B-Fi would let you use WiFi for the streaming rather than Bluetooth but I can't say whether the additional cost would be worth it considering the resolution of Spotify files.
https://audioengineusa.com/shop/adapters/b-fi-multiroom-music-streamer/


sfar's avatar
sfar
1,768 posts
 
The primary difference between the two approaches, besides the large difference in cost, is that you'd be sending the signal to the Bluesound via Wifi rather than Bluetooth. There is some compression with Bluetooth but whether or not you can hear it, or it's significant to you, only you can decide. If your source is going to be Spotify, which is not a high-resolution source, Bluetooth would likely be all you need. Even if you eventually want to use a higher resolution source like Tidal or Amazon HD the cost of the Monoprice isn't a huge commitment.
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