I have not chosen the MXN10 because it saved me some cash; I’m in a lucky position to be able to buy what I want within reason but what I don’t do is waste my money… I had quite a clear plan for my new system after selling my dream setup
My new system had to be based around a Naim amp as I knew, from owning them in the past, they sound great and I love that it’s made in the UK and I can easily have it serviced/repaired if necessary
I also wanted to stick to UK made speakers; I am always keen to support UK companies just so long as they sound good and the ATC’s totally fit that brief
I originally also purchased a new CD5si so keeping it Naim/UK etc
I was never going to go the streaming route as I have so many cd’s and my partner has his vinyl but thought I’d invest £350 to try it out, hence the MXN10 purchase…..very much to my surprise I’ve become a streaming convert and stopped using the cd player which is now up for sale. I have use of two other pretty reasonable cd players for the odd times I can’t find what I want to listen to via the streamer
I have stuck with the MXN10 because it sounds good, not just for it’s price point, it sounds good regardless. The app is also well designed and it works a treat
No, Ifi Audio. Wireless and software on it flakey.
Also, from memory, if you advanced to next track manually it would drop the lock to the Dac and you would hear clicks. Raised it with them and they said nothing they could do. Other streamers no issue.
Their software feels like an afterthought/ hobby, not a business. I doubt you’ll see much from them in this space going forwards when you compare to the competition.
I had the same issues. I owned a Zen Stream maybe a year after it came out. It constantly needed to be reset and was tremendously flakey. I couldn’t deal with it even though it sounded pretty good. They really dropped the ball on it which has seemingly resulted in it rarely being mentioned in the hobby anymore. It had a lot of online hype when it was first released.
I can only echo this having replaced my NDX2 / XPR dr with one last year and I noticed no reduction of quality. I actually have the AXN10 which is just the full width casework. I’ve just added a tweak this past week which raises it’s performance with the addition of a Laiv 𝞵DAC and initial impressions are that it’s probably actually better. This is my opinion of course.
It is true wireless is flakey, and the software used to be, but there’s been many recent updates solving stability issues. My comments of praise were strictly within the context of roon endpoint functionality, although I have a friend that’s been using his for Tidal Connect for several years without any complaints. It wouldn’t occur to me to use the Zen Stream as a standalone streamer, I agree it cannot stand up to the competition functionality wise.
Really? I don’t think so, the streaming technology in this area I think has been largely stagnant over the last 10 to 15 years.
What is changing is more products are appearing at lower price points using design patterns and tweaked variants… no doubt helped by the fact the tech has matured and is rather stable and static now, and that software orchestration shells are cheaper to write, so gives the consumer the feeling of fresh feel on traditional tech.
When I demoed the Atom the first thing I did was switch the display off so I’m actually pleased my MXN10 doesn’t have one. The Atom display looks pretty I guess but I couldn’t read it from my listening position anyway
You simply don’t need a screen just a good app to control the unit
I posted this on another thread, but, in a nutshell, I set up my Naim gear alongside a tube amp to audition a tube integrated amp last year as a project now that I’m retired. I was shocked how much I preferred the tube amp/AXN10 combo. So much so, I’ve since sold all the Naim classic boxes including the NDX2/XPR. I was expecting it not to stand up to the Naim given the huge price difference, but Stream Magic is really stable and actually sounds great.
My expensive Cocktail Audio streamer has a screen that was useful for setting the beast up. I bought a cheaper Bluesound Nano Node for a secondary system, and the much better software makes the screen pretty redundant. The Nano node costs much less then the full node because the screen and some other things I will never use were stripped out of the Nano.
Screens have become pretty redundant in streamers, with good software. The €300 Nano node is excellent and I cannot really see much if any difference with my main system streamer.
The fun thing about forums like this is that whatever you buy, somebody will tell you that you need to buy something much more expensive.
or as with me you use the screen for a degree of control and feedback with out relying on smart devices all the time - for me that is important - and interestingly has become more and more important for me…
So simply its user choice - but for me a streamer without a display showing the art of the track would be a big backwards step… I ensure I can clearly see my streamer from various listening positions without having to wake up a smart device which may be laying somewhere else in the room or even elsewhere.
Now increasingly album art is becoming animated - it would be great if the Naim streamers could show that - yes probably more a gimmick - but I keep open minds on this and may in time prove pretty attractive.
I think touch control of the screen would be good too - and we dispense with the buttons..
But I readize some may be more wedded to their smart devices… my son for example always has his phone on him hence why it’s good to have a choice.
I control both the Cocktail and the Bluesound with an App on my iPad or IPhone. I see all the artwork, track listing etcetera. The Bluesound App is pretty good for all the settings too.
I think it’s a wonderful basis for streaming as I use Roon plus Tidal and the installed ESS DAC is pretty good and gets you started for practically nothing. Unbelievable value for £350 and Stream Magic, as I’ve discovered, is great way to insert a quality high-end DAC at a later date. The past few years has seen an explosion of DACs from the far east and each year the entry point has dropped in price and it’s become more competitive. I bought a Laiv Harmony 𝛍DAC which is a R2R ladder DAC and I must say it really moves the combination to the next level without breaking the bank. It seems to remove that digital glare whilst adding ‘flesh to the bone’ to voices and expanding the whole soundstage. I wholly recommend an audition.
I think that depends on implementation. My Auralic Vega has a small screen and the album art display is not much bigger than postage stamp size. The screen is needed for some setting up, together with a magnifying glass! Quite the worst screen usage of any of my boxes. My currently resting Atom is much better, but best of all is the Linn Selekt. The screen is the full width of the box, but simply gives clear textual information such as track title and is easily readable across the room, so no need to keep tablet or phone open.
Well that’s not much use with any of Naim’s 2nd gen streamers given that you can’t control any streaming (local or web based) without the app, as you could on the 1st gen models. Going a little further back in time, the HDX had touchscreen controls, so it seems Naim are moving in the opposite direction.
this is with favourites and other digital inputs on my second generation NDX2 where it works well. True you can’t navigate upnp or Tidal without using an external device of some sort… but the display always shows the correct content art when playing including the correct channel ID logo like Roon or Tidal Connect.
Spin up a CD on my transport, I can do it without needing to turn on and unlock iPads or phones etc
Remember we are talking about network players, ie. streaming dacs (as is the case for the MXN10). In recent years we have seen many advancements in this category from various companies and the democratization of these technologies by more affordable devices coming to the market.
Some of these advancements and their implementation in streaming dacs (in general):
-Inclusion of more advanced clocks (eg. TCXO) as opposed to the PLL embedded in an all in one dac chip.
-Newer generation dac chips inside the players with vanishing low Jitter, THD & SNR figures.
-Inclusion of PEQ.
-Some streamers include DSP engines for room correction.
-Others use LEEDH digital volume control.
-i2s connectivity now it is used in an increasing number of affordable players.
And then there are of course the advancements that have nothing to do with sound quality such as the ease of use - UI - of these devices.
So taking into consideration all of the above I wouldn’t characterize it as a stagnant technology, far from it.
OTOH I will not say that the progress in these devices matter to all of us, this is something that someone has to judge by himself.
Honestly, I don’t know how we can compare a 15 year old streaming dac with a current one in any of the above parameters.