Cocktail Audio's New and latest X50pro Audiophile Music Streamer/server...Any Love?


So, I have been searching for the holy grail of music streamers from some time now. I have had several oppo blu-rays being used as streamers, their Senica, the Mytek Manhattan II, Metrum Acoustics Ambre, and the Lyngdorf TDAI-3400. All sounded pretty good for their respected price range, the Ambre sounded best. But, I was never totally happy with the features, etc of all these. Then I came across the newly released Cocktail Audio X50Pro, their new flagship audiophile streamer. It’s so new that there aren’t any reviews out there. It was the 1st streamer to check all my boxes of what I wanted in a streamer (except for one).  This has every digital output including three, yes three I2S outputs, 2 bays for hard drives, 7” screen and an HDMI output to also see on your big screen, CD ripper built in, works with Tidel, Roon, and just about every music streaming service, can be controlled with phone apps, even has digital inputs to rip your vinyl to the internal drives if installed. It uses dual 82 femto seconds Crystek CCHD-575 Ultra-low Phase Oscillators, completely encased in aluminum power supply, It has WIFI and Ethernet, build quality is great, and has great looks to boot. So, I guess my question is there anyone out there have any experience with this music streamer? I received mine about a week ago and so far, so good. The sound quality is excellent, but wonder how it would compare to the Auralic Aries G2, or the Aurender N10 that I have not yet tried? I would love to hear feedback from any other users out there. Oh, and as I mentioned, there is only one thing this did not check off my want list, I would have liked to see a HDMI input for SACD use and support.


ron1264

Showing 1 response by snackeyp

Glad to hear you like your new rig.  I almost ordered one of these.  What put me off was the lack of reviews and overall information available about the Cocktail Audio brand.  I called two dealers who sell their stuff online, and was surprised how little the sales people could tell me about their products.  One of the dealers was Audio Advisor.  I have had very good experiences with them in the past, so I was surprised how little he knew about a product line that is prominently promoted in their catalog and website.  The online community seems to know very little about their products as well.
In the end I bought a Innuous Zenith Mk III.  Despite the fact that the Innuous brand is not reviewed in the audio magazines, they have a fabulous reputation in the online community.  Many people on this forum spoke very highly of this server.  This meant a lot to me, so I pulled the trigger.  The Zenith is a great server and I'm very happy.  Yet, I am still intrigued by the Cocktail Audio product line.  Please continue to post your impressions of your new server.  Thanks