Cambridge Audio Minx XI Opinion

[Pedro-Jovi]

Hello my friends!

I just posted a request in the "reviews section" of the Minx XI and now i don't know if it was the right place...

So i'll just post it here and maybe someone could help me! Thank you all

"Hello my friends!

I would very much aprreciate any help from the whathifi team on my situation.

I have my shortlist down to the Cambridge Audio Minx XI, Marantz MCR-610 or the NAD D3020.

It's the one box solution i have been waiting for, despite the NAD that lacks the streamer.

I don´t have this products in stock near me so i would love to have your opinion on a comparison between these three products, regarding sound quality! i Know all the features they have, i know how would i use them but, regarding the sound quality...everything you could tell me would mean the world to me.

For example, you start this review saying "it's more than good enough to give Marantz's MCR-610 a real fright when it comes to sound quality". Do you mean the Cambridge is good but not as good as the Marantz or the other way around?

The only idea of the "Marantz sound" i have was from an audition to a PM 6004 that i totally disliked. It sounded totally unexciting to me...does the MCR-610 sound similar to the PM6004?

And because my request is already too long, i only have one last question...do you think the Minx XI is capable of driving the Rega RS3 speakers or some floorstanders like these?

I look forward to your opinion and i kindly thank you in advance for your time and attention.

Best Regards,

Pedro Almeida"

 

[John Duncan]

Sorry, just seen this. I have a Minx Xi, and it's very good - it was quite happy driving my PMC DB1is and the RS3s have slightly better sensitivity so you should be fine. The nominal impedance of 6Ω might make them slightly harder to drive at volume, so it is worth trying them to be sure.

I can't speak sufficiently for the Marantz or the NAD as I haven't heard the Marantz (though the 603 is terrific), and my positive experience of the ENN AYE DEE was in less than ideal conditions, so I wouldn't want to read too much from that.

Personally, at this level I would be more inclined to look at functionality, build quality and user experience than outright sound quality, differences in which will, in my experience, be quite small for most users.

 

[Pedro-Jovi]

Thank you so much John, for your input!

Regarding funcionality, it's pretty amazing on paper! My biggest doubt was on the soundquality field...it is almost hard to believe that a little box with so many tricks can have a "sound quality" that can rival a separates system!

The true is, i'm not an audiophile. But when i listen to music i like it to be engaging and entertaining, besides it beeing Rock or Pop or Country, etc. I also enjoy the sense of space...it is probabily to much to ask? I really don't know.

That's what i din't feel when i heard the Marantz PM6004...and it kind of desappointd me.

If the Minx Xi can give me that or something very close...that plus the features, that would be my choice clearly!

Thank you once again John!

Best Regards

 

[Andy Clough]

Our technical editor Ketan posted a reply to your question on the review of the Minx Xi:

"If you didn't like the PM6004 sound it's likely you won't like the MCR-610. The Minx is a more dynamic and punchy performer. While it won't get the best out of the RS3s it should work fairly well."

Separates will still, ultimately, give you the best sound quality but we fully understand why an all-in-one system is preferable for many people.

 

[Pedro-Jovi]

Thank you Andy, for your time to reply here

I already wrote a reply to your technical editor! He's opinion was very important to me, as is yours and everyone's who took the time to help me.

I am kind of waiting for an all-in-one system with superior sound quality for two or three years now...the only option that seemed to feet the bill was the Naim Unitiqute, but the price...now we have the Minx Xi and the Marantz MCR-610 in the price range i can afford, and they seem to feet the standards for good hi-fi sound quality!

It's a very appealing product to me and, of course, a very practicle one!

Onde again, thank you all for your time and consideration!

Best Regards!

 

[ukrob62]

Did you buy the Minx and if so are you happy with the performance? Thanks.

 

[Homey]

I bought the Minx Xi just before xmas and I thought that I'd share my experiences - may help someone!
I chose the Minx because I wanted some way to play my MP3 / FLAC/ ALAC collection on my hard drive and based on the spec and advertised capabilities, it seemed to be the perfect choice for me. My plan was that I'd simply connect the Minx to my portable HD and play that through my speakers. Nice and simple!
I connected the HD and at first, the Minx wouldn't read the drive. Pulled the cable in and out a couple of times and eventually, it recognised it and I could browse the directories (albeit slowly) and play whatever I wanted to. So far, so good. To play multiple songs on the Minx, you need to add them to a "Queue". Once you've added whatever you want to the queue, you can then go to the Queue menu, select the first item and hit play. The Minx will then play the items in the Queue in the order that you added them.

What if you want to mix it up a little and randomise the queue? Hit the shuffle button and the Minx will play the songs in a random order. At least, thats the theory. What actually happens is that the Minx re-boots and dumps your Queue so you have to start again. Shuffle anything and the Minx will re-boot.

Sooo, I couldn't use a USB drive as my main MO was to just shuffle my entire library and just listen for a couple of hours.
My only other choice was to load all the music on a NAS, use a UPNP program (Serviio) to handle all the files and serve them to the Minx. The Minx found the NAS and played everything beautifully, nicely shuffled. At last I could sit down and just listen. What did I hear? A totally amazing soundstage, beautifully detailed and clear. Rich smooth bass, crisp highs and with amazing precision. I just sat there and my jaw stayed unhinged for a while. Until the Minx crashed and re-booted again.
I was undeterred. I stared again and once again the Minx astounded me with amazing sound that just couldnt be bought for £350. After 30 mins or so, an unexpected Glee track came on (don't ask) so I rapidly reached for the remote and hit the next button. Nothing happened. Hmmm. Hit it again, still nothing. I had to stop the track so I hit the stop key and was rewarded with another crash.

This time couldn't find my wifi network. I had to search for it and add it again.

Before anyone suggests a faulty unit, this is my second Minx. I returned the first one for exactly the same faults. I've spoken to Cambridge Audio (via email only, 4 day reply time.) and they admit that there is a 'shuffle problem' and that they are expecting a new firmware soon for the unit. Honestly, I have no idea what that's worth as they won't commit to a release date or schedule). I'm appaled by their response time but, it is what it is.

So, this is my experience with the Minx. It's a bit like being married to a stunningly beautiful woman who will suddenly fart loudly and be sick on the furniture for no apparent reason at all. I love the sound of the thing but it's unpredictability drives me crazy. Not giving it back though!

CA need to learn that poorly written software can ruin superb hardware. I just wish that they'd spent a little more time beta testing what really is an astonishingly good product for £350 (now £299!)

Despite all of this, I would still urge you to get one - it really is that good but be prepared for the occaisional re-boot and tantrum..

 

[HDNumpty]

Hi Homey

I thought I would just reply to your post as the OP has probably long since moved on or purchased...I've had a Stream Magic 6 for more than 2 years now and agree with everything you say...wonderful sound but frustrating and frankly rubbish software.

To shuffle your entire library, try and download the orginal Stream Magic app and run it alongside the CA Connect one...choose 'all tracks' from your HD/server and WAIT FOR THEM TO LOAD UP...can take up to 5 mins depending on the size of your library. Then hit 'play' and 'shuffle' at the same time or play one track, choose shuffle then go to 'all tracks' and play...your library should shuffle almost randomly, though the CA stuff does have the habit of playing the same songs over, so watch this.

I have downloaded the new CA Connect app in the last few days and although it loads much faster and looks better, I am having the same problems and have gone to shuffling using the remote and front display, which seems to work. The CA Connect app is the one for playing single artists or albums, but use the remote or the Stream Magic app for shuffling all or playlists etc.

Above all this shouldn't happen, no-one has this problem with Naim software...

 

[Homey]

Thanks HDNumpty!
I've downloaded the old app and have to admit that I gave up the shuffling thing after 3 or 4 mins - I guess I should have let it go a bit longer!
Richer Sounds have been really good about this - they know that there's a problem with these things and I can return it for a refund anytime I want but I honestly can't find an alternative. They've suggested a Sonos Connect + the CA Azur 351 but I'm not sure that I'll get the same sound as the Minx!
Anyway, I'm not 100% sure about getting another CA product as they don't seem to be to bothered about offering decent support to their own customers.

 

[HDNumpty]

You will always get support from Richer Sounds branches but I think it's just that CA don't have the same software resources as Naim or Linn for example. If they just updated the app so that shuffle works we would all be laughing!

I tried this again last night, at first shuffle wouldn't work on the remote at all, then it did after playing one track then stopping it. The first attempt was playing too many tracks heard in the last few days, a second shuffle started throwing up tracks I hadn't heard in years! So keep trying!

 

[ukrob62]

Thanks for your review. I bought it mail order from Richer Sounds in their sale for £299 and received today. A well packaged product. Very well built, easy to connect to internet radio via ethernet. Frustrated that it wouldn't find my hard drive when attached to a USB connection. Having read Homey's review I will try plugging it in a few more times! My 8GB USB drive connected O.K and played FLAC files beautifully. Very pleased with the sound quality from the few files I've listened to so far. Will try and setup a NAS tomorrow.

 

[Bouba]

Hey guys,

That's sad to admit, but I'm almost happy to realize I'm not the only one with the Shuffling issue as I just bought a Minx xi that i returned to my dealer 3 days after trying everything with this shuffling mode driving me totally crazy. I returned my Minx for a change with another one as I could not use it to randomly play all my Music library; stored on a NAS Drive. I initially sent it back to my dealer for a new item as I thought the device was faulty, but unfortunately the new one I get is doing the exact same thing.

Whether played through the CA app or through the remote, the Minx Xi just keep re-booting as described above.

I also sent an email to CA who admits as you mentioned that there is a problem with the shuffle mode they expect to be fixed with a new firmware, without specifying any release date.

That is really a shame !!!!! The Minx Xi is a terrific network player sounding full and with tremendous talents to beautifully played whatever you throw at it. It is just so sad that CA loaded it with such a poor firmware. This is a shame.

And BTW, when reading the user manual, you will see that it clearly says that above 1000 songs, the shuflle mode may play the same songs without taking into account what was played before. Which clearly means that CA did not think that users may have thousands of albums/songs in their music library.

The only way I was able to play into real shuffle mode consisted in turning on my Mac Mini to feed the Minx trhough Bluetooth, and using the random mode of my Itunes player, which is a damned shame since I initially bought my NAS drive precisely for not having to turn on my computer to stream music.

Anybody here did have fresh news from CA regarding this issue? Would be great if they could really fix such an obvious bug !!!!

The Minx Xi is good and I will keep it, but I honestly wish I could afford a Naim Dac V1 or Unitiqute, which I'm sure don't have this shuffle mode issue

 

[HDNumpty]

Hey guys,

That's sad to admit, but I'm almost happy to realize I'm not the only one with the Shuffling issue as I just bought a Minx xi that i returned to my dealer 3 days after trying everything with this shuffling mode driving me totally crazy. I returned my Minx for a change with another one as I could not use it to randomly play all my Music library; stored on a NAS Drive. I initially sent it back to my dealer for a new item as I thought the device was faulty, but unfortunately the new one I get is doing the exact same thing.

Whether played through the CA app or through the remote, the Minx Xi just keep re-booting as described above.

I also sent an email to CA who admits as you mentioned that there is a problem with the shuffle mode they expect to be fixed with a new firmware, without specifying any release date.

That is really a shame !!!!! The Minx Xi is a terrific network player sounding full and with tremendous talents to beautifully played whatever you throw at it. It is just so sad that CA loaded it with such a poor firmware. This is a shame.

Anybody here did have fresh news from CA regarding this issue? Would be great if they could really fix such an obvious bug !!!!

The Minx Xi is good and I will keep it, but I honestly wish I could afford a Naim Dac V1 or Unitiqute, which I'm sure don't have this shuffle mode issue

Any update on this #cambridgeaudio ?

 

[Bouba]

None of my side, I think it'd be taken more serious by CA if more users facing the same issue publish a ticket through their support portal

 

[stezzo]

None of my side, I think it'd be taken more serious by CA if more users facing the same issue publish a ticket through their support portal

Hi, does anyone have any news about the "shuffle problem" and more in general about stability problems?

I am about to buy one unit, but I would like to be sure that the firmware is ok. Actually I read that there has been a firmware update (dated 6th of July 2015). Did it fix all the problems?

Thanks a lot

 

[chinois]

I have had the Minx Xi for 2 months now and I must admit that at the beginning the software and the android app are not that great, meaning not wokring as it supposed to be.

That said, they have been very good on the bug reports and support. They have release a few firmware updates since and it is getting better and better and it now works for me. The app can now see my library on my PC, Spotify connect is now supported, etc.

I am still looking for a new pair of speakers for it. ATM I am connecting Creavtive Sound 2.1 speakers through the headphone jack.

 

[sousto]

For Minx Xi owners:

I bought Minx Xi 3 months ago. Very nice sound paired with Q Acoustics 3020 but terrible firmware (delayed reactions, spontaneous restarts, time to time problems with DLNA connection - needs rebooting). But overall I'm satisfied with it (hope that CA release better and stable firmware in the future) .

Now I have problem with bluetooth AptX connection with my Lumia 820. Exactly after 4 minutes of music playing the sound disappears (but connection of both devices - Minx and 820 - is not interrupted and Lumia 820 shows, that music is still playing). One month ago I used WP8.1 and now upgraded to W10M. The same problem remains - just after 4 minutes of playing the sound disappears. My wife's Lumia 520 do the same. But in my car BT connection is fine and music plays hours without interruption!

Have you registered the same problem? Or how's the AptX BT connection on Android or iOS? Could someone please test that? I would like to know whether it is only WP8.1 (W10M) problem or how to solve that.

Thank you!

 

[CambridgeAudioCare]

Hello Sousto, please can you confirm you have applied the latest software update to your BT100 please- this is on the Cambridge Audio website- I can't link to it due to spam rules but a Google search for 'Cambridge BT100 update' will bring it straight up.

If problems persist, please get in touch via our support site and we will get this solved for you.

Regards

Bart, Cambridge Audio

 

[sousto]

I haven't known about BT100 firmware update at all. After update AptX works flawlessly!

Thank you for support Cambridge Audio!