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Cambridge Audio DacMagic Owners Thread

Yours runs hot? I wouldn't think there is anything in there that would make it even warm. I sure hope not as mine isn't going to have much clearance when it's sitting in my rack.
 
Duffinator said:
Mine's in Sacramento and should be at my door tomorrow when I get home from work. :banana:
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Oooh, congrats. I have to say, with about 36 hours on mine, it's pretty amazing. It has done an incredible amount for the music coming from the Sonos, much more than I really expected. It's much warmer and more detailed, listening to new music is much more of a pleasure :)
 
Interestingly, the lack of USB functionality and high heat means that I got a defective unit. I'll be picking up a replacement on Saturday. Still, with Coax or Optical, it sounds damned good.
 
My DM arrived this afternoon and after adjusting the shelves in my rack to make it fit its working fine. My initial impressions are very favorable but I'll save my detailed comments for later. I'm not a huge believer in break-in theory but just in case the sound improves....:thmbsp:
 
I now have about 10 hours on the DM and either I'm dreaming or it's sounding better. The soundstage seems to have opened up and the highs are smoother. I'm liking what I hear so far. I'll try and compare my lossless audio through my AppleTV into the DM to my CD-SACD player this weekend to see if I acheived my goal of improved sound quality.
 
Ordered one and it should be here by Friday - just enough time to do a short burn in before my St. Patrick's Day dinner on Sunday.

I like the setup on this unit as you can use both outputs (RCA and XLR) - my current preamp/amp setup (Kenwood L-07C/L-07M monoblocks) has no headphone capability, so I plan to run the XLR to another preamp to use as a headphone amp. The DAC will serve double duty with a optical input from a CD and a USB input for the FLAC file playback from the music server.

I'll report back after some listening and get the input of my wobbly (after Guinness, Bushmills, and corned beef) guests.
 
Got the DAC in yesterday. Setup was a breeze – inputs are USB from the music server and optical from a Sony SCD-CE-595.

On Windows XP the DAC was recognized immediately - installation was exactly as stated in the manual.

Using the RCA outputs to a Kenwood L-07C/L-07M monoblocks setup. There isn’t a headphone jack on the L-07C , so I’m using the XLR outputs with XLR-RCA adapters to feed the preamp section of a Kenwood KA-9100 as a headphone amp.

The music server is all FLAC files. Using Media Monkey with the waveOut plug-in (v2.0.2a) and the DacMagic as the selected output device.

Setup 14 hours of songs in Media Monkey and ran the DAC overnight.

First impressions –
Music Server: a noticeable improvement over the previous setup (which was an Audiotrak Prodigy HD2 soundcard. I used to have both the RCA outputs and the optical output on the soundcard set up; the optical was feeding an Entech 203.2 DAC. The RCA outputs sounded better to me). Much cleaner high end with the DacMagic and a bit more midrange spaciousness; no difference noticed yet on lower frequencies.

CD Player – old setup was the same Sony SCD-CE595 with another Entech 203.2. Initial impressions are the same as the USB input – cleaner high end, etc.

Now it’s time to run the thing for a week or so and play with the various filters before I can come up with more solid impressions.
 
Thx for your impressions calabashak.

I now understand why a dac with usb is so important. I picked up a 16 foot B-A usb cable, hooked it up and I'm not even using my Wadia 170i, I use the iTunes database instead,. Even adjusting the volume from my pc...I can't believe how convenient this is. Because I was initially limited to my 8gb Nano, I was refreshing the iPods inventory sometime twice a day due to the lossless sized files. Now my 436 CDs are at the click of my mouse, it's instantaneous, and still 24/192...
 
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gelmhirst said:
Thx for your impressions calabashak.

I now understand why a dac with usb is so important. I picked up a 16 foot B-A usb cable, hooked it up and I'm not even using my Wadia 170i, I use the iTunes database instead,. Even adjusting the volume from my pc...I can't believe how convenient this is. Because I was initially limited to my 8gb Nano, I was refreshing the iPods inventory sometime twice a day due to the lossless sized files. Now my 385 CDs are at the click of my mouse, it's instantaneous, and still 24/192...
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I'm using an AppleTV and you can read about it here. The ATV takes that concept to an even higher level with it's clean GUI. :yes:

picture.php
 
I've just gotten my replacement DACMagic, and can confirm that USB does work with my Apple computer, looks like the other was just a bad unit. I've got the new one breaking in now. Pics to come.
 
Long term update, puzzling. Yesterday I did a direct back and forth a/b comparision between the DAC and my turntable. Played the same tune from the same album/cd and no contest, DAC won hands down. I'm almost disappointed. My vinyl has always rivaled my digital playback, even my McIntosh mcd201 when I was using that....

I can only see spending more money on turntable upgrades or enhancements to be totally satisfied with the sound now that I have compared it to the dacmagic. I am not planning to do that right now, just interesting is all....

btw, I have tried several albums, across the board, dac won.
 
gelmhirst said:
Long term update, puzzling. Yesterday I did a direct back and forth a/b comparision between the DAC and my turntable. Played the same tune from the same album/cd and no contest, DAC won hands down. I'm almost disappointed. My vinyl has always rivaled my digital playback, even my McIntosh mcd201 when I was using that....

I can only see spending more money on turntable upgrades or enhancements to be totally satisfied with the sound now that I have compared it to the dacmagic. I am not planning to do that right now, just interesting is all....

btw, I have tried several albums, across the board, dac won.
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Well I'm going to take that as good news for us DM owners. :D I'm very pleased with mine and am quite happy with the results. I need to get another optical cable and run my Denon DVD 2900 through the DM as well for CD playback. :thmbsp:
 
I'm getting one of these. :yes:

I'm new to external DACs and I got a Blue Circle Thingee about a month and a half ago (2 professional reviewers loved it, yea I know, professional reviews, but they seemed to make sense), and well, it sucks. It's thin and cold/clinical and even silibant in the highs. And it has a recessed and lifeless midrange. Talk about listener fatigue. It is, however, good/great with everything else (imaging, soundstage, instrument seperation, blackness, clarity, accurateness, detail, etc.), but what it doesn't do well kills it. :no:

Anyway just this Mon I got a azur 640a v2 and it's incredible. :music: So I need a real DAC to go with it. I was looking at the Keces 151 MK II, but it would be about $300 shipped ($45 just for shipping!). So I figured why not spend an extra hundred (free shipping too) and get what everyone's raving about? Especially since it will blend in with my Cambridge amp visually (and sonically I suppose). That's justifies $100 extra right? :D (Eh, what's $100 these days anyway? Not much).

I'll probably order it tomorrow. I hope it's as good as everyone says. I bet it will be. :yes:

Anyone interested in a BC Thingee? :D Well don't be, I wouldn't sell it to any poor soul, at least on here lol. :no:
 
I've been using the DAC function of my 840C for a year now. It has digital input and digital output ability. I pipe my Squeezebox Duet signal through it, up sample it to 24/96 and send that digital signal to a pre/pro. you can select the up sample on the fly so you get to hear the difference. I can also send the output in analog fashion at 24/384. I use the digital up sample mostly because on that system, the room really benefits form the Audyessy EQ and bass management functions of the DSP so keeping it digital matters. The sound is incredible.

I have a 2 channel system anchored by a 840aV2 int. amp and have a DACMagic on order for use with it and another Duet player I use on that system in another part of my house. The up sample to 24/192 will be fine for this one plus I can plug a spare, ancient but still well playing NAD CD player into it. Should be just the ticket. This system is in a sun room addition and also feeds the outside speakers...if the weather ever gets good here, I should have some nice sound out of doors.
 
I'm currently listening to the "Machine Soul" compilation about the history of electronica, with the actual disc in my Panasonic DVD player. I've been doing some A/Bing, comparing the DACMagic output to the DVD player's analog out, and I'm definitely appreciating how the DACMagic takes the digital edge. It's much more listenable for me through the DACMagic.

Definitely a great little piece of kit. :)
 
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