Cambridge Audio CXUHD Ultra HD Blu-ray Player Review & Comments

Rather embarrassing for Cambridge Audio - they should have caught that one. Not receiving any negative feedback from other reviewers isn't exactly a shocking surprise. Congratulations to AVForums for being thorough, honest and technically competent with its video technology reviews.
 
I believe it made in the same factory as the Oppo I only been reading up on this in the last few days.
combridge-oppo.gif
 
I can't see this selling very well considering it costs more than the oppo.
 
Yes, Steve explains this in detail in the review. It is not a secret.
I've not read it yet only modding at the moment but thought I quickly add my 2 penny worth. I only found out yesterday after being recommended it as it was mentioned on another thread Oppo won't let then discount their machine, but got recommended a dearer machine:confused:
 
I am so disappointed. In about December last year I wrote to Cambridge Audio about their forthcoming 4K Blu-ray player and I did say that I hoped that it would have analogue outputs. There was a review of this new CA 4K player in the December 2017 issue of Home Cinema Choice, I received my subscription copy on 28th October. HCC said that it was very good, but that there was no subjective difference in a direct comparison with an Oppo 203, but did bemoan the lack of analogue outputs, especially not even a stereo pair. I have an Oppo 95 in the kitchen, and I had so hoped that my last Blu-ray player purchase would be a 4K Cambridge Audio.

I can just about understand the lack of 7.1 analogue outputs, especially since things like Atmos soundtracks are carried over HDMI connections, but I cannot overlook no stereo analogue outputs in a universal disc player - how could I connect to my stereo amplifier when playing ordinary CDs? I wouldn't have minded that it costs £50 more than the Oppo 203, because I do like the look of the CA 4K player, but while no 7.1 analogue outputs is bad, no stereo outputs is, for me, a deal breaker. Cambridge Audio won't have made the decision to drop all analogue outputs lightly, but they have still made a serious mistake. And this review nd the HCC review show no difference in performance between the CA and the Oppo, so the fact that the CA has dropped all DACs has not improved either the audio or video performance over the Oppo, contrary to Cambridge Audio's claims. In 2018 I will be buying my first and last 4K Blu-ray player, which I had so wanted to be a Cambridge Audio machine. But instead, the lack of analogue outputs, not even a stereo pair, mean that I'll be getting the Oppo 203. What a shame.
 
Isn't 8 a high score for an overpriced copy of a 203? I am disappointed as I like CA products and had one of their blu ray players a few years back that was excellent.

The 7 for value for money is especially off the mark in my opinion.
 
So the problem has been corrected with the firmware update, good to hear Cambridge Audio act quickly when required to do so.

I have this player and have had no issue with any discs so far, apart from one occasion when Despicable Me 3 wasn't displaying correctly in Dolby Vision, so I restarted the player and it displayed correctly again. I have tested around 30 discs, including the recent Transformers set where all films are Dolby Vision too.

I bought it over the Oppo as it looks sleeker without the buttons on the right hand side, and it has a better remote. I have no complaints and am very happy with it.
 
I have had a few Oppo players in my time,but never an Cambridge Audio one,at the moment i cant see me getting an DV player,as my TV Panasonic 902 wont do DV.
And i am very happy with my 902/900 combination,and touch wood never had any real problems.

But does seem a big hole in the mid market DV players ? around the £400/£500 market.

:)
 
I have had a few Oppo players in my time,but never an Cambridge Audio one,at the moment i cant see me getting an DV player,as my TV Panasonic 902 wont do DV.
And i am very happy with my 902/900 combination,and touch wood never had any real problems.

But does seem a big hole in the mid market DV players ? around the £400/£500 market.

:)

There will probably be some mid-market players announced for next year.

I find the review odd in that, while it rightly mentions the colour issues in the Cambridge that required a firmware update, it goes on to mention that the LG UP970 is a Dolby Vision player, despite the long overdue firmware being pulled and not updated. As it stand the LG UP970 is not a Dolby Vision player.

So the Cambridge is marked down for something that has been fixed, yet the UP970 has not been fixed, shows no signs of being fixed, yet is still mentioned for this very feature of the player.

The LG UP970 is the most falsely advertised AV product I can remember in recent years, yet somehow it gets a free pass.
 
There will probably be some mid-market players announced for next year.

I find the review odd in that, while it rightly mentions the colour issues in the Cambridge that required a firmware update, it goes on to mention that the LG UP970 is a Dolby Vision player, despite the long overdue firmware being pulled and not updated. As it stand the LG UP970 is not a Dolby Vision player.

So the Cambridge is marked down for something that has been fixed, yet the UP970 has not been fixed, shows no signs of being fixed, yet is still mentioned for this very feature of the player.

The LG UP970 is the most falsely advertised AV product I can remember in recent years, yet somehow it gets a free pass.

Some places are selling it as DV,the UP970 :confused:
 
Some places are selling it as DV,the UP970 :confused:
It's only Dolby Vision if you include the withdrawn firmware update from August. LG has not issued revised firmware since. The promise of Dolby Vision support is the only reason to buy one, it is the worst 4k player available otherwise.
 
If you've read any disc player reviews on AVForums you will know that we have always maintained that, as long as a player isn't doing anything it shouldn't, then the output from one model will be identical to the output from any other over HDMI. This should seem logical because it's a digital disc which is encoded using ones and zeroes, so as long as the player is correctly outputting those ones and zeroes to the display exactly as they are on the disc, then one player must be identical to another regardless of price.
To be pedantic: there are slight differences as they don't simply output output what's on the disc. It's not subjective - attach an HDMI analyser and the numbers will be different. (And it's not possible for a 1080p player to directly output the data on the disc due to its HDMI 1.x port.)

Different brands utilise differing methods to upsample chroma. Thus a Panasonic 4k player gives slightly more colour detail than an Oppo, at the expense of slightly more ringing. Whether anyone notices when watching a movie unless they're split-screening on a monitor is rather doubtful; and the reviews in certain mags claiming markedly richer colour, better motion etc are plainly nonsense; but they're not identical.
 
Why you would buy this one over the Oppo 203?

Well, an obvious reason would be if you found one on sale for cheaper than the Oppo and have no need for analogue outputs.

Also, I suppose another reason would be if you believe the Cambridge Audio team will provide better support over time (firmware stability, timely bug fixes, new feature support, returns policy, etc).
 
Why you would buy this one over the Oppo 203?
Well to be honest I had an Oppo 203 and it was nothing but trouble with most 4K discs either locking up and freezing or audio dropouts.
I tried to be patient and waited at least 4 months before finally giving up the Oppo 203.
Think I might try a CXUHD to go along side my multi X800 for Dolby Vision.
 
Actually the Oppo 205 wasn't going to come with all analogue outputs,the first beta model didnt have them :)
Surely the comparison of the CA player is with the Oppo 203, not with the 205??
 
Don't you think that Cambridge possibly deliberately tweaked the video signal to distinguish from the competition and justify the "professionally calibrated" motto but that after the email from Avforums they were scared of a potential bad buzz, thus changed their mind and fixed it in the new firmware?
Otherwise, why did (and still do on their website) they claim "It has been professionally calibrated to optimise the dynamic range between blacks and whites along with delivering natural colours and filmic fluidity" ?
 
Well to be honest I had an Oppo 203 and it was nothing but trouble with most 4K discs either locking up and freezing or audio dropouts.
I tried to be patient and waited at least 4 months before finally giving up the Oppo 203.
Think I might try a CXUHD to go along side my multi X800 for Dolby Vision.

on the oppo 203 front I must have been really lucky as I had one of the first batch and never had any real trouble and certainly none at all for the last 6 months.

CA might have a good chance if they can add the streaming apps that oppo show no intention of doing.....or if it gets £100 + cheaper?
 
Also, I suppose another reason would be if you believe the Cambridge Audio team will provide better support over time (firmware stability, timely bug fixes, new feature support, returns policy, etc).
Don't count on better support and firmware updates for this player. Cambridge Audio haven't bothered issuing any updates or new features to the CXU Blu Ray player since Dec 2015 which was shortly after it was released. I bought one at the beginning of 2016 and assumed that the lack of apps such as Netflix on the CXU would be quickly corrected but it never has been. The company sent out free Chromecast streaming sticks instead of adding apps to the player which I feel is poor compensation for this failing. I won't be buying anything else from this company.
 
Isn't 8 a high score for an overpriced copy of a 203? I am disappointed as I like CA products and had one of their blu ray players a few years back that was excellent.

The 7 for value for money is especially off the mark in my opinion.

Ignore the scores, they're really only of any importance to the reviewer and the manufacturer. The important part for everyone else is the actual review.

That's not a criticism of AVF, it's the same in every industry/market and has been for years, decades.
 

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