CAMBRIDGE CXN, User Manual

9

CXN

Basic connections

Network connections

Before you can use your CXN for Radio/Streaming you must have the 

following:
•  A  broadband  internet  connection  (such  as  ADSL)  to  a  suitable  internet 

service provider (ISP).

•  A  network  connection  either  wirelessly  via  802.11b/g  or  n  Wi-Fi  or  wired 

Ethernet connection (10 or 100 M bits/sec via an RJ45 connection).

Note: 

For  playback  of  high  sample  rate  files  (24-bits/176.4kHz  & 

24-bits/192kHz)  streamed from your home network, we recommend using 

an Ethernet connection to avoid unwanted disruption as the high data rate of 

these files is beyond most Wi-Fi networks capability. 
In many cases the broadband modem, router and wireless access point will be 

a single combined unit supplied by your Internet Service Provider or bought 

from a computer store.
If your wireless network is configured to use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) 

or Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) data encryption then you will need to know 

your WEP or WPA key so you can get the CXN to communicate with the 

network.

IMPORTANT:
Before you continue, make sure that your wireless access point or router 

is powered up and working with your broadband internet service (use your 

computer to verify this). To get this part of the system working you must 

read the instructions supplied with the wireless access point or router.

The CXN can be configured to connect to a Wired or Wireless network or has 

an (default) Auto setting. In Auto the CXN looks for a each connection type 

and selects whichever is present. You can also force the unit to one or the 

other connection type, see later Settings section.

Connecting to a wired network

Plug one end of a network cable (Category 5/5E straight through Ethernet 

cable) into the LAN port on the back of the unit.

Note:

 Only connect the LAN port of the player to an Ethernet port that 

supports 10BASE-T or 100BASE-TX. Connecting to any other ports or jacks, 

such as a phone jack, can damage the unit
The CXN should automatically connect to your network as below via DHCP; 

this means it will be given an IP address by your router automatically.

The CXN is able to receive and play back media from several distinct types of 

source. Here we have attempted to give an overview of the various types of 

service available and the terminology you may encounter.

Internet Radio

These are ‘radio’ stations broadcast over the internet. Currently the 

StreamMagic range can access about 20,000 internet radio stations all sorted 

by us into Location, Language and Genre. The list of available stations is 

constantly maintained and automatically updated to your unit via the internet. 

If you register on the StreamMagic website (www.stream-magic.com) you will 

also be able to browse the stations and set presets on your units from your 

PC.
You can also add stations to your units that are currently not in the Stream 

Magic's  Radio database, suggest new stations to us and more. There are also 

links and help for setting up third-party Streaming Services from a wide variety 

of other suppliers. Other Stream Magic features will be launched in the future, 

check the website from time to time to see the latest developments.

Streaming Services

Streaming Services are similar to Internet Radio but come from other suppliers 

and often have an element of interaction with the user. Because Streaming 

Services generally allow the user some choice over the content they listen to, 

they are also licensed differently to iRadio by the music companies and often 

each service only has arrangements in certain countries and may also charge 

a subscription for membership.
Examples of such services are Aupeo!, Pandora, Rhapsody, SIRIUS/XM, 

Live365 and others. All allow some control of the content from 'play me 

something that sounds like U2' to the ability to select and play whole albums 

of your choice. Some also offer the ability to download content for use off-line 

as well. 
The CXN supports many of these services, navigate to Streaming Services on 

the unit for a list or even better check out our website at www.stream-magic.

com for more details of which services are available in your area, what they 

do and how to sign up. These services come from third parties and although 

we support connections to them they do not come from us and we are not 

responsible for their service in any way. Your account will be with the service, 

we are merely acting as a website to make the connection simpler and more 

convenient plus we support the correct software on our unit to allow playback 

and browsing of their content.

Network Media

The CXN supports a wide range of compressed formats; MP3, AAC, WMA 

and Ogg Vorbis CODEC types are all supported,  plus for true audiophile use 

it also supports either uncompressed PCM (in a WAV container) or losslessly 

compressed FLAC, both can contain from 16-bits/44.1kHz from CDs right up 

to 24-bit/192kHz for better than CD quality from suitable download sites.

Note:

 For this to work your server will also need to support the CODEC you 

wish to play as some have limitations and may not serve FLAC for instance. 

Always check that the server you wish to use also supports your favoured 

CODECs.
Also for lossless/uncompressed formats both the server and network 

connection will need to sustain the high bitrate necessary. 

Note:

 It is not recommended to use Wi-Fi connections for content above 

24bits, 96kHz if lossless/uncompressed.

USB Media

The CXN also supports USB Media from USB Flash-disks or USB hard-drives 

and has 3 USB 2.0 ports for this purpose. Here the CXN simply browses 

the folders present on the media attached and displays them. Only content 

that the CXN can play will be shown. This feature is provided for convenient 

access to temporary storage devices.
It is however highly recommended that UPnP is used for continued use of 

stored media as the UPnP system is able to support album art, sophisticated 

content  browsing  and  filtering  and  other  features  not  possible  with  simple 

folder browsing. 

Note:

 Supports NTFS and FAT32 file system.

Podcasts

Podcasts are archived audio recordings downloadable over the internet. Often 

podcasts are recordings of previous live broadcasts or episodic content.
The CXN supports various third party podcast services, navigate to Podcasts 

on the unit for the list available in your area. In addition the CXN supports your 

own personal choice of podcasts where you know its URL (weblink) via the 

Stream Magic website, see later section.

Overview

Getting connected

Ethernet 

cable

Internet

Broadband Router/Modem

CXN/CXA