Отзывы о Сетевой аудиоплеер Cambridge Audio Edge NQ

Аппарат...

Arrived within a reasonable time.
Solid well made unit.
Smooth laid back British sound
Four stars for the slightly high jitter

I bought the CXC to replace my 2004 Cambridge Audio Azur 640C CD player, which cost $500 back then. Since my integrated amp has a pretty great DAC built in, I’ve been using the CD player merely as a transport. It was the weak link in an otherwise (for me) great stereo: Cambridge CXA80 integrated amp, KEF LS50s, a decent turntable with a good cartridge and GREAT tube preamp. In fact, since getting the other components over the past year, I’ve mainly shunned my 2000 or so CDs in favor of vinyl and FLACs.

I was skeptical that the CXC could sound better than my old Cambridge CD player: it’s just reading 0s and 1s from the CD and sending them to the DAC. But professional and user reviews of the CXC were very positive, and I was impressed by Cambridge’s explanation of the tech that goes into making their newer CD players and transports.

I bought the CXC a month ago, hoping it would get me back into CDs.

I was really impressed with the CXC’s sound. It sounded great out of the box and great after 50 hours of break-in. I thought I could hear great detail in my CDs, especially the particularly well-recorded ones. I thought I could hear more space between the instruments. I was super happy with my purchase decision.

But then I did A/B comparisons between the CXC and my older Cambridge CD player: both used as a transport, both with the same coax cable connection to the integrated amp, listening to the same tracks on both machines.

Guess what? The 2004 Cambridge CD player sounded great, too! I hadn’t really listened to it very closely since acquiring the turntable and the ability to feed FLACs directly to the amp’s excellent DAC.

After lots of A/B comparisons, I think the CXC might sound slightly better on some tracks, but I’m straining to hear the difference.

I’m keeping the CXC and I’m listening to CDs more than before. The CXC mates well with the CXA integrated, being from the same product line and company.

But I caution prospective buyers to beware of the possible bias in reviews (both professional reviews and reviews written by me and my fellow Amazon customers). People who say the CXC sounds incredible maybe have better, more sensitive hearing than me. But another possibility is that they are not comparing the CXC to other options that sound just as good. Or maybe there’s some placebo effect from the fact that Cambridge Audio makes great stuff and the CX line packs a lot of impressive technology and is getting very strong reviews. Or some placebo effect from getting a new component that we’re predisposed to believe is really great.

So, enough about the psychology. Here are some concrete details, they are minor, but you should know about them before making your purchase decision.

A few other reviews say the tray is a bit flimsy. I have a different perspective. The tray in the CXC is exactly the same as the one in my 2004 Cambridge Audio Azur 640C. After 12 years of fairly heavy use, the tray in the 640C continues to work perfectly. So I am not worried about the tray in the CXC at all.

There are some annoyances about the remote included with the CXC.

First, it’s the same remote that’s included with the other components in the CX line, and it has buttons to control them, too. Cambridge is thinking this will be a great convenience to people who buy 2 or 3 CX components. But it makes the remote larger and heavier. And if you buy only the CXC, all these extra buttons are a waste of space and weight.

Second, there are fewer CD playback controls on the CXC remote than on many other CD player remotes. For example, there is no way to jump more than 1 track at a time. On other CD players, the remote has a number pad. If you’re listening to track 2 and you want to jump to track 9, press 9 on the remote. But the CXC remote only has next-track and previous-track buttons. Some classical CDs have more than 2 dozen tracks. That’s a lot of presses to get to the next symphony. Also, the CXC remote has no “remain” button, so you can’t see how much time is remaining in the current track or the disc.

Conclusions:

The CXC CD transport is very well-made and sounds very good, to be sure. If you have another component in the Cambridge CX line, the CXC is particularly worth your consideration. The annoyances about the remote shouldn't be a deal-breaker for most people.

But don’t be overoptimistic about how much a transport will improve the sound of your CDs. Whether your CDs sound great or not depends less on the transport and more on the DAC, the amp, and the speakers in your setup.

I was looking for a CD player or transport to make my music shine when paired with an Oppo HA-1 headphone amplifier and Audeze EL-8 (closed) headphones. I currently own an NAD C546bee for my 2 channel set up and think it's a very good CD player. I debated between using the NAD, buying an Emotiva ERC-3, Marantz CD6005 or a Yamaha CD-S1000. I spoke with several salesmen at the usual stores and they all recommended getting the CXC as a source paired with the SABRE32 Reference DAC in the HA-1. I read the What HiFi? review (5/5 stars) as well as individual reviews on Crutchfield, Audio Advisor etc and they were universally positive. My only reservation came from reading the only current review on Amazon from Health Nut who gave the CXC a middling 3/5 stars. I took the review pretty seriously since he/she compared the CXC with the same NAD C546bee player I already own.

In any case, I went ahead and pulled the trigger and I could not be happier with the choice. Before the purchase, I had listened to the same music through multiple sources (ALAC files on MacBook Pro via Bluetooth, USB and optical Toslink, CD played on Oppo BDP-103 via optical input). They all sounded very good. Perhaps the weakest sounding was the CD via Oppo player, which worried me a little: was I was wasting my time buying a CD transport if the ALAC files sounded better?

The sound is pretty spectacular. The audio is pure, balanced, and energetic without being overly bright. Separation is significantly better than any other source I have tried. Bass is full and not muddy in any way. Detail is remarkable. I'm hearing things I had no idea were on discs I've owned for years. I can hear Mitsuko Uchida's breathing in between Beethoven piano sonatas and mumblings between band members on several Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers tracks. I'm listening to a wide variety of music including Beethoven, Steely Dan, Diana Krall, Supertramp, Pink Floyd, Deadmau5 and Miles Davis, and they all sound great. So from a sonic standpoint, I am very happy with this device.

The one downside I see is something that Health Nut mentioned. The CD tray looks / feels flimsy compared to the rest of the body of the transport (which is heavy, well-built and substantial). The display is also rather primitive. These two issues really bothered me the first few days I owned the CXC, but the only really relevant question is how does it sound. The Rega Apollo R looks pretty abominable, but few people dislike it as a CD player. So, for this reason, I still gave this CD transport 5 stars. Hope this review is helpful.

I bought this to go with the CXA60, and overall I prefer the sound of this over the Onkyo 7030 cd player that it replaced. This cd transport has smoother highs, almost like they're rolled off. It seems to have less of the glare and harshness that digital often gets criticized for. I get fatigued very easily listening to music, as it often sounds bright and harsh and shrill and all of that. This doesn't sound like my vinyl setup, but it sounds much more natural and less fatiguing than the 7030 did. The combination of the CXA60 and transport with the Tekton M-lore speakers I use is very easy to listen to.. Someone else here described the CXC as boring, and I can understand that. However, after spending much money and time trying to get an analog front end that sounded "right," that I didn't always catch myself finding fault with in some way, I appreciate a relatively inexpensive setup like this that sounds natural and balanced. Unlike my vinyl rig, I don't feel the need to upgrade from this, which is nice.

Appears well-made and sturdy. Quiet. Sound is a definite improvement over the Denon DVD player I was using as a transport. Knocked off one star because the front panel display cannot be made bright enough to read easily from listening position. Remote is generic and intended for other Cambridge Audio products as well as this one. As such, it has three times the buttons needed for this and is a bit confusing to use. Has both optical and coax out. In my system, perhaps the optical sounds a bit better.

Upgraded from an old Marantz DVD player. Of course the CXC outshines the Marantz by far. Beautiful details I've never heard before on my reference cds. Solidly built and yes, the plastic tray is concern but no problems so far. I dropped one star for quibbley points. Another big darn remote to deal with! -- I wish the labels on the front where easier to read. Why subtle grey? -- I wish the Play and Open/Close buttons would automatically power up the unit. I know this player was designed to match Cambridge's other gear but its big. In these modern times it could be half the size at least.

Just installed and am disappointed to find a spill like deflect on the metallic front panel. Didn't see it initially but in the right light the panel is flawed with a spill mark. Couldn't rub it out with a cloth. Disappointing quality control for supposedly a high quality product. None of my low end Sony equipment over the years every arrived like this.

I really like this transport. It is elegant looking and simple to use. My only complaint is that I have 4 CDs that it will not read, for unknown reasons. All are by the same artist, and are readable on other CD/DVD players.

This is my second Cambridge audio product. Very happy with sound reproduction and quality of the materials. Make sure you have cd pre amp as this is a cd transport only.

This transport far exceeded my expectations. It provides full dynamic range, no distortion and is clean and clear. Hard to believe, but It outperforms the Rega Apollo I used for many years. Paired with a good DAC, speakers and other components, it is on the level with much pricier components. I read the reviews about the tray mechanism. Not a problem at all.

Excellent sound so far. Just hooked it up with the CXA80. Replaced a 20+ year JVC K2 XL-Z1050.

Very nice CD Transport mated to my Parasound 2000 Ultra Analogue DAC. Breathes new life into my vintage DAC.

Decent transport at a good price.

Awesome CD transport. Highly recommended!!!

very nice CD transport ,the sound is more better than my OPPO203 player

Quiet operation and excellent sound quality when connected to a good DAC. Would prefer a remote with larger buttons though.

Excellent cd transporter. Hooked up with my Cambridge Audio CXN. What an amazing sound. My whole CD jazz collection came to live.

Fit and finish on this cd transport is excellent and it is quite lovely to look at. It seems very well made which stumps me as to why the cd tray makes an awful snapping noise and awkward clunk when it opens. If I'm spending $500 on only a cd transport, I do expect a better operating tray that is smoother and quieter than that. Makes me worry about its longevity. I also didn't care for the sound it produced with my very nice Arcam IRDAC. This very well reviewed high end DAC makes almost anything you play through it sound wonderful, which again stumps me why a $500 cd transport doesn't sound like sheer magic. The CXC does produce detailed music with a great soundstage etc through the Arcam IRDAC but to me it just sounded a bit dry and clinical without that warm detailed presence that great British stereo gear is known for. To me there seemed to be a peak in the sound level around the lower treble range that gave the music a scratchy fatiguing quality. If I am going to spend a half a grand on a device that only reads the cd, I expect it to sound smooth yet very detailed especially when running through such a great DAC (that itself costs almost a $1000). To me the CXC sounded identical to using Cambridge Audio's bottom of the line cd player as a cd transport. Seems to me like the transports are identical, you just pay a lot for for the CXC for some reason. I returned this unit and will continue using my NAD 546BEE cd player to feed my IRDAC as it sounds just as detailed but so much smoother and less fatiguing. As always Amazon's service and ease of returns is second to none.

Incredible sound - brings out details that I've never heard before

Pair it up with a good DAC and you will hear the beauty of this device. In the end, it might cost you more than an all-in-one CD player for the same performance, but at least you can use the DAC for other music sources.

The Best CD transporter in the world!!
I am amazed with the purity of CD sound from this impressive device!!

Highly recommended

For those who have a separate high-end DAC for your Hi-Fi system, this is one of,if not, the best sounding CD playback units anywhere close to this price - much more even. But, it has the POOREST controlability, especially by remote of any thing on the market no matter how cheap you go. Plus it's a big unit with controls for two other playback devices I'll never purchase as I don't need them.

Give us a break Cambridge, you've given us a world class CD Transport with dimestore remote functionality...nothing but the very basics. Now release it with worldclass functionality and remote for everyone and you'd have a real winner.

It's the balls.