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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
everest_audio
285 posts
 
Stevenbell, the DACs in the DacMagic are not the same as in the 840C, they are the same as in the 740C. Even if they were the same, that by no means says that the sound is identical. The type of DACs used are just one aspect of the sound. There's a whole lot more to the overall sound quality than just the type of DAC that is used in the design.
stevenbell's avatar
stevenbell
23 posts
 
Everest audio
The Dac's in the 840 are the same according to Stereophiles Sam Tellig. He even goes on to say the sound would be simalar between the Dacmagic and the 840.Take it up with him I was trying to be helpful.
everest_audio
285 posts
 
Stevenbell, I was just correcting and clarifying. I know you were trying to be helpful, so don't take it personally. Sam Tellig was apparently wrong if that's what he said. The DacMagic uses dual Wolfson DACs (the same ones as the 740C) and the 840 C uses Analog Devices DACs, so I just wanted to correct your information. But I still hold to what I said that you can't say something sounds "identical" because they utilize the same DACs. Don't worry about it.
stevenbell's avatar
stevenbell
23 posts
 
So I can expect to get better sound from a differnt transport? After reading this months Stereophile I gave up hope of getting better sound with a better transport.
everest_audio
285 posts
 
I've had varying experiences with different transports with the DacMagic. On a very old Nak single disc player from a customer, the DacMagic made very little difference when I was expecting substantial difference. A Cambridge Audio 640C V2 was clearly superior to this old Nak player. But when a DacMagic was connected to a Cambridge 640C V2 as a transport, the DacMagic was definitely a notable improvement. So, based on that, a person would think that the DacMagic would blow away the Nak from its analog outs, but for some reason it didn't respond well to the Nak as a transport.

Other people here have had varying levels of improvements depending on the type of transport used. Regardless of what reviewers or others say, I trust my ears first. For me, I have definitely noticed sound quality differences with various transports and the DacMagic.
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