John Darko
UPDATE December 2024: The MXN10 has since been reviewed here.
Cambridge Audio’s MXN10 is a streaming DAC that sells for €400. I was forced to connect it the NAD M66’s TOSLINK input after a BluOS firmware update took the NAD off my Google Home network, (almost) never to return. Neither a switch over to Ethernet nor several reboots could bring the M66 back permanently: it’d show up in the BluOS and Tidal apps for ten minutes only to disappear moments later. I didn’t have the time for network troubleshooting so the move to the MXN10 was solidified.
Audio streams arrive at the MXN10 over Ethernet or wifi whose screw-on aerials ensure a robust connection. I’ve experienced zero drop-outs or drop-offs during three days of solid use. Four front-panel click buttons give me quick access to my favourite playlists and Internet radio stations. Having BBC6 Music a single click away is useful when I don’t know what I want to listen to and I want someone else to decide for me.
Thankfully, the MXN10 supports every streaming protocol served up by the M66 – Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Roon Ready – with the bonus of Google Cast making lighter work of Soundcloud streams. Inside the accompanying StreamMagic app, we find ways to add (and stream from) Qobuz and Deezer — but I don’t use either service. Neither would I ever use the USB-A socket on the back panel that permits streaming from a directly attached storage device. Roon handles my locally stored files over the network.
The Cambridge unit’s analogue outputs are fed by a DAC circuit built around an ESS Sabre ES9033Q chip for PCM handling up to 32bit/768kHz and DSD up to DSD512. Owners of third-party outboard DACs will want to know about the MXN10’s TOSLINK and coaxial outputs.
And that’s all she wrote.
It’s a real joy to use something so simple after spending the last few weeks putting the WiiM Ultra through its paces (review here). The MXN10’s looks and functionality are what we might call understated. However, if we put the MXN10 next to the similarly-priced Ultra, we might see the Cambridge box as functionally bereft. Yikes.
Here’s everything that the Cambridge offers that the WiiM does not:
- Apple AirPlay 2
And here’s everything that the WiiM offers that the Cambridge does not:
- HDMI ARC input
- TOSLINK input
- Coaxial input
- USB DAC output
- Touchscreen (with ‘presets’ access)
- Volume/click wheel
- Pre-amplifier functionality
- Subwoofer output with bass management
- Room correction software via parametric EQ
- Squeezelite
The only thing that can save the MXN10 from WiiM-induced oblivion is its sound quality. So we ask: does the Brit-box sound better or worse than its Chinese rival? Maybe it’s better in some areas but worse in others. The only way to know for sure is to conduct a side-by-side comparison. Coming up! I’ve sorted the NAD’s network connection issues but you can expect a video about the Cambridge MXN10 in a week or so.
Further information: Cambridge Audio
