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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...
headshrinker2
auronthas
79 posts
 
Just received June 2009 Stereophile yesterday, there is a follow-up review by John Atkinson on DacMagic. Check it out
ladavid
79 posts
 
I have the DacMagic hooked up my pc and listen to itunes downloads, to streaming jazz, to Mariner baseball games. Its a great little dac. Fits nice on my desktop. I have it running side by side to a $6,000+ combo transport (Accustic Arts) and Dac (Audio Note). The difference is maybe 10% and some tunes there just is not much difference. I have an upgraded usb cable coming so imagine it might take another step forward. Amazing value from my point of view.
soundbit
62 posts
 
I have DacMagic and it improves imaging, soundstage and definition to my CD player. I am thinking about swapping out the DacMagic's IC op amps in favor of Burson discreets. Anyone tried this or other mods?
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drubin
3,274 posts
 
Has anyone compared the DacMagic with the Azur 840c digital inputs? You would think they would be close or nearly identical, but things often don't work that way.
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dogmcd
115 posts
 
I have had a DACMagic in my sytem for a while and have been very impressed by its performance. I run the digital out from my Squeezebox into one input and the digital out from my Sony player to another input for listening to RBCD. I also run USB directly from my music server from time to time, like when I'm previewing something over the web from eMusic or the like. Nice to have all of that flexibility!

Before the DACMagic, I was using a Musical Fidelity XDACv3 with both the XPSU external supply and the X10 tube buffer. I wanted to get something with switchable inputs, so the DACMagic seemed a good choice at a reasonable cost. Well, "reasonable cost" became an understatement once I got it hooked up. Much better transparency, air and imaging than the MF stuff (which I still think is very good). I think the DACMagic is a fantastic value and to get better sound, I'd probably have to bump up to something like the new Bryston or Bel Canto DAC3.

As far as setup, use good cables; I'm a big fan of PNF Audio and have both their Coax and Toslink cables on the DAC Magic and their interconnects on the output. Also, as stated previously, vibration control is always a good thing. I have the DACMagic sitting on three #2 Vibrapods and it does make an improvement in clarity and dynamics.

Ejoy the music!
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