Praise for DacMagic


Just wanted to give some very positive feedback for the Cambridge Audio DacMagic DAC. It doesn't seem to get much attention around these forums, but I am enjoying it immensely. In my opion, terrific value for the money.

During the past few weeks, I have used it with great success both within a PC music server and 2-channel environments.

Who knows, I may end up switching it out for a better DAC in the future, but for now I am quite pleased.

As a side note, I was not impressed with it at first when used to enhance an NAD C541 CDP. On a whim, I switched out the NAD for a modest Sony DVD player that is around 5-7 years old. Then, everything came into place and the music was rich and detailed. The Sony DVD/DacMagic combination blew the doors off the NAD/DacMagic combination. Go figure...
Ag insider logo xs@2xheadshrinker2
Auronthas, I have the DacMagic mated with the CA 540C v2 and it performs remarkably well.
Edgejazz, thanks for reporting, how's the sound produced by DacMagic compared to CA 540V2? I prefer warmer and musical sound, my music preference towards vocal jazz, classical, new age and easy listening genres.

Thanks again.
Auronthas, the sound is warm and musical, you will be pleased. We kinda listen to similar genres and I can tell you that jazz and vocal jazz are the two that semm to perform best in my set up. When you do get the DacMagic, give it some time to settle down. But even out of the box, from my experience at least, it improved the soundstage, imaging, detail, and tighter low end, but still maintaining the warm character of the system. Hope this helps.
Just received June 2009 Stereophile yesterday, there is a follow-up review by John Atkinson on DacMagic. Check it out