logical steps up from DacMagic?

A friend of mine went from DacMagic to MF V-Dac. He is very happy. Even though V-DAC is an inexpensive DAC, HiFi Critic rated it much higher than both DacMagic and Benchmark DAC1.

Elberoth2 - You can always find reviewer that likes one DAC more than other. Look what abouthifi.com said about it in very long detailed review of V-DAC

"As for the V-DAC’s status versus Benchmark’s DAC 1, the latter clearly held its advantage in every critical domain, as in definition, pace and dynamic response, giving this comparison an academic character, perfectly justifiable by an 8x price leap."

According to Stereophile Bel Canto DAC3 is even better than Benchmark for much more money. There is, of course, issue of personal taste (some like upsampling, some like NOS) but there is some correlation between price and quality. Audio Note kit DAC comes in few versions where sound quality and price depends on components used.

As for V-DAC being better than DAC Magic or just everything being all the same - according to mentioned review V-DAC and DAC Magic sound completely different (soundstaging)

Read review: http://www.abouthifi.com/review.php?s=t2c

With all due respect, but noone at abouthifi has the experience, expertise and reputation Martin Colloms of HiFi Critic has.

With the same due respect - it is only opinion. I read his opinion on the best class D amps where he gave them score of 1-2 on the scale of 1-10 while other magazines like Stereophile placed them in class A of recommended components. Problem also was that he, judging from his comments, believed that these amps are based on sampled system and therefore have limited resolution. He just simply did not make his homework. He also complained about switching noise while every linear power supply is in reality switching power supply (at 120Hz - difficult to filter) and some well known designers like Jeff Rowland use SMPS supplies in preamps (like Capri) to lower the noise (easy to filter).

DACs have very different architectures and sound different. NOS DACs like Valab or Audio Note will have different sound from oversampling DACs. Oversampling DACs will have different sound from upsampling DACs etc. People see 24bit/192kHz and call DAC upsampling to 24/192 while in reality it would be only the case of oversampling DACs (even ratios) . Upsampling DACs might be able to process 24bit/192kHz but it is unknown what they upsample to and what D/A converter receives. For instance - Benchmark DAC1 upsamples to some frequency (GHz) equivalent to about million times oversampling and then after filtering spits data to output DAC at 110kHz where THD distortions are lowest. All these decisions affect the sound. D/A converter IC used changes the sound and Sigma Delta sounds differently from traditional multi-bit D/A. Even different Sigma Deltas have particular sonic signatures. Voltage output D/A sounds different than current output D/A - especially when combined with transformer instead of I/V converter (Audio Note).

Nothing sounds the same - one Audiogoner, I know, disliked expensive Weiss Minerva a lot while keeping $200 Valab. The other audiogoner likes Audio Note kit DAC more than anything else.

Synergy is also very important. Don't buy Benchmark if you need warm DAC - it was designed purposely not to be warm, but if your system is already warm you might not find DACs as resolving as Benchmark that will also save you money on transport and digital cable (being jitter rejecting). Initially cheap DAC might cost more when you add all these things. It is a little more complex than opinion of one guy, even if it is your guru Martin Colloms.

I simply trust MC opinion more, since I've been following his reviews for the past 20 years.

I owned/heard many components he reviewed and most of the time his assesments reflected my impressions.

I also share his opinions on Class D amps - I have owned or had on extensive loans Tripath/ICEpower/Nuforce designs. I know that you are one of the biggest Class D designs proponents on Agon - I only wish you have a chance to hear in your system a SOTA solid state or tube design, 'cos that would give you a proper perspective.