Cultural Xchange 1 is far superior to vol 2. You would have to be crazy not to like cultural xchange 1.

Is the skill level required for CX1 as high as people make it out to be?

I'm starting to get into coin magic, and can do a pretty solid retention vanish, palm, finger palm, flying shuttle pass, muscle pass, etc etc. would this be sufficient for CX1?

It varies. A lot of Shoot's magic can be pretty mind-numbingly knucklebusting stuff, but on CultXChange there's a pretty good range from intermediate stuff to very difficult stuff. They don't cover "moves" very well IMO. The muscle pass is explained, but I don't think it's done very well. I bought it after learning the MP (which in general is a good idea) and when I saw the explaination I didn't think it would have been very helpful to me. However, the routines with the MP are terrific, and all the routines overall are great. It's definatley not for beginners, and it takes a bit of dedication to learn the stuff, but it's way worth it, and far from impossible. I only took away maybe 3 things from that DVD which I actually use for people, but even if I had only taken 1 thing, it would still be worth every penny. It's one of my personal favorite DVD's, but you will need to practice a bit.

So, to answer your question, I think you would be able to do the stuff. You should buy it, you won't be dissapointed.