That Cambridge omitted this ‘crucial intel’ from their Tidal Connect press release struck me as an odd move, especially when we consider how the UK company’s DacMagic 200M announcement was very MQA-focussed. Whatever the reason, the red carding of MQA for Tidal Connect running on Cambridge Audio hardware is crucial intel for anyone subscribing to Tidal explicitly for its Masters catalogue. The company’s upsampling (and therefore bit-imperfect) digital filter might have something to do with it. Thats alongside native support for 32-bit/768kHz PCM and DSD512 files too. This effectively pushes MQA Masters listeners back to the unit’s USB input, a PC/Mac and a third-party app to execute the first unfold.Ĭambridge’s explanation as to why can be found here. Successor to the previous generation DacMagic Plus, the DacMagic 200M is the first product from the company to natively support MQA technology, meaning it can decode and play downloaded MQA files, in addition to Tidal Masters (which are based on the tech). The stream is immediately forced back to ‘Hifi’ / CD quality. I have confirmed as much by updating the ( excellent) CXN (V2) to its latest firmware, pulling up the Tidal app, pushing play on the MQA Masters version of the new Lana Del Rey album ( Chemtrails Over The Country Club) and selecting the Cambridge streamer as the Tidal Connect output device. The CXR120 and CXR200 AV receivers will reportedly receive a Tidal Connect firmware update in April.īut the devil lies in the details: Tidal Connect running on Cambridge Audio steaming hardware does not support (MQA) Masters. Your Cambridge Audio 851N Network Player. The signal path in Roon seems to be wrong here, showing that the up-sampling is taking place before the “Output” through “Analog/Digital Outputs”.The (German) press release reports that “the update process can be started either via the StreamMagic app or directly on the respective network streamer”. audio device and then simply slide the passthrough MQA button for the final unfold. TIDAL Connect will be available on older products such as the CXN (V1), StreamMagic. A signaling of the output in use is not happening (and maybe impossible). Can handle all type of music file including DSD format, MQA. Where possible, Cambridge Audio has tried to support older network players long after they have been superseded. So while the up-sampling seems to be true for the analog outputs (prior to the D/A conversion) it seems to be not true for the use of the digital outputs. The update is already available for the Edge NQ, CXN (V2), 851N, CXN (V1) and StreamMagic 6 (V2), and will arrive for the CXR120 and CXR200 from 7th April. I guess that the 851N does not signal the output in use (it most-likely doesn’t know that himself) as the outputs often work in parallel and the user is free to uses which ever output he wants. Cambridge Audio has announced a firmware update to bring Tidal Connect support to its music streamer line-up. Below is the web page for putting in a request. Will see what they have to say - probably next week. I just put in a request for a service manual as couldnt earlier as they wanted a serial number to even put in the request. ![]() There is usually no conversion done (unless for compatibility reasons?) much as Roon handles it on default settings. Hello Vortex, Received my 851N streamer two days ago. It looks like the digital input signal gets just passed trough to the digital outputs of the 851N. Its features include 24-bit/384kHz upsampling from all sources, native 24-bit/192kHz playback, USB, digital audio inputs and streaming over wi-fi including UPnP and NAS drives, Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify Connect, Apple AirPlay, and DSD. 851N to Classé CA 2300 via XLR sounds awful, compressed, electrically bright, ear fatigue. Offering award-winning digital and streaming performance the 851N is an outstanding network player. L’851N supporta molti CODEC, incluso file FLAC/Apple Lossless/WAV/AIFF a 24 bit/192kHz di qualità ‘migliore del CD’, oltre a formati MP3, AAC, HE AAC, AAC+ e Ogg Vorbis. Add in its DSD ability, preamp function and promise of future software. Cambridge doesn’t do MQA so you won’t get anything higher than 16/44 from Tidal with the app/native streamer. ![]() If you have high-res files the Cambridge can play them directly off a USB or network drive and output 24/96k or 192k PCM without downsampling. Its uncoloured and inherently impartial through whatever input you decide to work with, meaning it really never seems anything less than refined and surefooted. Official Cambridge CXN & AZUR 851N Thread. How good it sounds I have had Olive 4HD and Sonos in my HT setup and looking for a better sound. As you don’t use the DAC it seems not to be relevant for your use case. My hope is to use the 851N as streaming and pre amp for my Classé CA 2300. In terms of great value, versatility and sound quality for the money, the 851N is tough to overcome.
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