CA MXN10 new install sounds crazy harsh and unlistenable

[whf4]

Hi, All,

new to this. Bought an MXN10 after seeing the discussions here and elsewhere to dip my toe into streaming. PB is quad 34/405 though B&W speeks. Ie the rest of the system should not be limiting. I use spotify on my android and in my car, and I pay for premium so i should have ok data.

The MXN10 sounded very compressed and harsh. Upper midrange vocals were unlistenable. Eilen Jewell, Carly Simon, other female vocalists hopeless. Male performers didnt suffer as badly, but any guitar in the mids sounded like mud.

As a sanity check in case i was somehow bandwidth limited on the interwebs I connected my macbook air via a stupid 8mm to RCA connector. I assure you I have never loved macbook D2A - I even bought a lil firefly - and it sounded much much better than the MXN10.

I'm really disappointed and I hope I either received a defective unit or there is some setting I didnt set.

thanks in advance for any assistance.

Bill

 

[kemmler3D]

Hi Bill, welcome to ASR.

You're describing a really extreme difference I think, in this situation I would look for a sample rate mismatch or possibly a bad connection somewhere. Could be defective. In general streamers shouldn't sound like anything in particular, definitely not dramatically bad compared to a laptop. Honestly in this situation, if you are 100% sure there's a difference, something is busted or not working right.

Any chance you could try a factory reset or firmware update on the MXN?

 

[Blumlein 88]

Does the Cambridge have fixed line level output and is that what you are feeding into the Quad 34? If so, you might be overloading the input of the 34. I think the 34 only required 100 millivolt input on line level to reach max output. The Cambridge has a max output of 2 volts. You need at least -26 db coming out of the Cambridge for that to work. It also explains why the output of the Macbook works okay as it will be lower in voltage level I think.

 

[whf4]

Hi,

thanks for the quick replies!

I thought about the levels and substited an older denon receiver and then a hafler preamp for the 34. All same.

I have the updated firmware but can try cycling the factory reset stuff again. BTW, anyone else think the app is kinda crufty? When I tap the icon to change source, youd think it would light up or change appearance, but mine doesnt.

thanks!

 

[Gringoaudio1]

Does the Cambridge have fixed line level output and is that what you are feeding into the Quad 34? If so, you might be overloading the input of the 34. I think the 34 only required 100 millivolt input on line level to reach max output. The Cambridge has a max output of 2 volts. You need at least -26 db coming out of the Cambridge for that to work. It also explains why the output of the Macbook works okay as it will be lower in voltage level I think.

Had a similar problem with an Arcam receiver years ago. Oppo player output too high. Fortunately the Oppo had a volume control. Rare for a player.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Hi,

thanks for the quick replies!

I thought about the levels and substited an older denon receiver and then a hafler preamp for the 34. All same.

I have the updated firmware but can try cycling the factory reset stuff again. BTW, anyone else think the app is kinda crufty? When I tap the icon to change source, youd think it would light up or change appearance, but mine doesnt.

thanks!

Substituting old kit won't help. Everything pre-digital assumed max line level voltage was 1V (tuners, cassette players etc.). Everything these days has line level at 2V. If all you have is older gear, you will need to attenuate the streamer.

 

[LTig]

Try a low level classical recording. If this sounds ok at lower levels you're clipping the preamp. A cheap 20 dB attenuator at the input of the preamp should then fix your problem.

 

[Joffy1780]

If you can I would send it back and get a Wiim Ultra or Pro Plus.
Would save you a little and both have the option to limit/change line out voltage.
Also the app is nice - not sure about CA app as I haven't used it.

 

[whf4]

Factory reset seems to have saved the day! I thought I had done so, but, now its better. I also followed a little on Blumlein88 and set the maximum volume to 25% of maximum.

Thank you for the help!