Can anyone recommend a Cambridge Audio DacMagic...

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  • jezbo
    Senior Member
    • Jan 2007
    • 1072

    Can anyone recommend a Cambridge Audio DacMagic...

    ... for enhancing the sound of my SB3? I've had my eyes on one for a couple of years now, but perhaps there's better out now for a similar price.

    Currently my SB3 is fed directly through a decent Marantz amp + Mordaunt-Short speakers or Heed CanAmp + Beyerdynamic headphones. Music source is usually lossless flac files.

    Also, for anyone who has actually got a DacMagic, what are the additional connectors I'll need to purchase?
    muso developer
    6 x SB3, 4 x SBBoom, 1 x SBTouch, rPi-4 based LMS on 2TB SSD (92,000+ tracks)
    Marantz, Denyo, Bantam & FosiAudio amps,
    Harbeth, Mordaunt Short & Monitor Audio speakers
    Heed Canamp + Beyerdynamic DT880 headphones
    Fiio K7 + Hifiman planar headphones
  • HeadBanger
    Senior Member
    • May 2010
    • 511

    #2
    I've owned a DACMagic and the sound hooked upto my Receiver was very good - clear, punchy and neutral sounding too. When comparing it to the Receiver's analogue out it was clearly a big improvement. You can connect via optical or coaxial.

    I bought a Marantz SR7005 to replace my Arcam A85 and when hooking up the Receiver into the Marantz via a digital input I couldn't reliably tell the difference between the Marantz and DACMagic so I sold it in the end.
    1 x Duet, 3 x Yamaha Restio, 3 x Radio, 2 x Touch with iPeng 9 served by Synology DS2419+, Docker and LMS 8.2.0

    Comment

    • Willakan
      Junior Member
      • May 2012
      • 10

      #3
      Cable-wise, you'll need either an optical cable or a coaxial cable, doesn't really matter which.
      I own the now discontinued DACMagic: whether you buy the DACMagic+ or the DACMagic100 will depend entirely on whether you want a headphone amp. Even if you do, there are cheaper and better options than the headphone amp in the Plus.

      Comment

      • jezbo
        Senior Member
        • Jan 2007
        • 1072

        #4
        I'm happy with my Heed CanAmp so will go for the new DacMagic 100 I think - though I can't find the same level of enthusiasm in the reviews as in the previous version.
        muso developer
        6 x SB3, 4 x SBBoom, 1 x SBTouch, rPi-4 based LMS on 2TB SSD (92,000+ tracks)
        Marantz, Denyo, Bantam & FosiAudio amps,
        Harbeth, Mordaunt Short & Monitor Audio speakers
        Heed Canamp + Beyerdynamic DT880 headphones
        Fiio K7 + Hifiman planar headphones

        Comment

        • rich.trish
          Junior Member
          • May 2010
          • 2

          #5
          Why don't you just get a Touch. That's a big improvement on a SB3. I tried a DacMagic with my touch but it didn't provide the lift in performance I was looking for. I would get a touch and install Soundcheck's TT3

          Comment

          • gw43
            Member
            • Apr 2007
            • 46

            #6
            I had a SB3 and the DACMagic definitely improved on that. When I got the Touch I did try the internal DAC briefly, and whilst it was better than the SB3, I felt the DACMagic was the best of the three.

            I will hold my hand up and say I did not test extensively. I had done that before when I tried a Beresford DAC against the SB3, and found little if any improvement. More extensive testing would have driven me to the edge of insanity, as the differences are slight, but in my opinion, noticeable. Which is "better" is a moot point. As I recall the DACMagic has a little more urgency, drive and space between the instruments. Overall, slightly more detail.

            I did buy a 9v PSU from Maplins to run the DACMagic cooler, rather than using the stock PSU.

            In terms of connectivity. I had a cheapo coax cable (£4), and replaced that with an equally cheapo Toslink (also £4). The optical is way cleaner sounding, and would be my way to go pound for pound.

            To further mess with my head I'm looking at an Audiolab M-DAC or 8200DQ as a next upgrade, and use the pre-amp facility, and get myself a big power amp.

            Comment

            • trott3r
              Junior Member
              • Mar 2012
              • 6

              #7
              Can anyone recommend aCambridgeAudio DacMagic...

              Lo,

              At 15:51 04/06/2012, you wrote:

              >I had a SB3 and the DACMagic definitely improved on that. When I got the
              >Touch I did try the internal DAC briefly, and whilst it was better than
              >the SB3, I felt the DACMagic was the best of the three.


              <snip>

              >To further mess with my head I'm looking at an Audiolab M-DAC or 8200DQ
              >as a next upgrade, and use the pre-amp facility, and get myself a big
              >power amp.



              I have seen the audio lab DAC as well but its a bit expensive at £600?
              This is the one with the front ports isn't it?

              I have looked at the DAC magic myself but it doesn't have enough digital
              inputs for me. (3 and isn't the usb less than 96khz?)

              With my equipment i have 6 digital device that i could potentially connect.
              The SBT, 2*MDs, digital radio and 2 cd players.

              It would be nice if i could find a DAC that had 6
              inputs but its rather unlikely
              when 3 is seen as having an above average number of ports.

              The Rega DAC looks interesting though with 5 inputs (2*coax, 2*optical 1 usb)
              It has been out for a little while and some are appearing on ebay which reduces
              the price to more like my range.

              Martin

              Running MorphOS v2.6 (Nov 2010) on Mac Mini,
              Moderator of MiniDisc,amithlonopen,bwfc Yahoogroups


              Comment

              • rgro
                Senior Member
                • Nov 2009
                • 891

                #8
                Originally posted by trott3r
                Lo,

                At 15:51 04/06/2012, you wrote:

                >I had a SB3 and the DACMagic definitely improved on that. When I got the
                >Touch I did try the internal DAC briefly, and whilst it was better than
                >the SB3, I felt the DACMagic was the best of the three.


                <snip>

                >To further mess with my head I'm looking at an Audiolab M-DAC or 8200DQ
                >as a next upgrade, and use the pre-amp facility, and get myself a big
                >power amp.



                I have seen the audio lab DAC as well but its a bit expensive at £600?
                This is the one with the front ports isn't it?

                I have looked at the DAC magic myself but it doesn't have enough digital
                inputs for me. (3 and isn't the usb less than 96khz?)

                With my equipment i have 6 digital device that i could potentially connect.
                The SBT, 2*MDs, digital radio and 2 cd players.

                It would be nice if i could find a DAC that had 6
                inputs but its rather unlikely
                when 3 is seen as having an above average number of ports.

                The Rega DAC looks interesting though with 5 inputs (2*coax, 2*optical 1 usb)
                It has been out for a little while and some are appearing on ebay which reduces
                the price to more like my range.

                Martin

                Running MorphOS v2.6 (Nov 2010) on Mac Mini,
                Moderator of MiniDisc,amithlonopen,bwfc Yahoogroups
                Keep in mind that the Rega DAC's direct USB input implementation only supports 44.1/48 khz rates. If you want to fully use Triode's USB implemenation on the Touch, you'll need a USB/SPDIF converter to allow up to 24/96 via optical or up to 192 via coax into the Rega.
                Rg

                System information
                ------------------------
                Main: RPI4B/PiCorePlayer/LMS> RPI4B/piCoreplayer/Squeezelite > USB>RME ADI-2 DAC > Benchmark AHB2 > Revel Performa F208 speakers, 2X REL R-305 subs.

                Home Theatre: RPI4 B/HifiBerry Dac+ Pro>Pioneer VSX 919 > Energy Take 5 Classic 5.1.

                LMS 8.1.2 - 1612773843 on RPI4B with 1tb Samsung T5 SSD.

                Comment

                • trott3r
                  Junior Member
                  • Mar 2012
                  • 6

                  #9
                  Can anyone recommend aCambridgeAudio DacMagic...

                  Lo,

                  At 16:21 05/06/2012, you wrote:

                  >trott3r wrote:
                  > > Lo,
                  > >
                  > > At 15:51 04/06/2012, you wrote:
                  > >
                  > > >I had a SB3 and the DACMagic definitely improved on that. When I got

                  > > the
                  > > >Touch I did try the internal DAC briefly, and whilst it was better

                  > > than
                  > > >the SB3, I felt the DACMagic was the best of the three.

                  > >
                  > > <snip>
                  > >
                  > > >To further mess with my head I'm looking at an Audiolab M-DAC or

                  > > 8200DQ
                  > > >as a next upgrade, and use the pre-amp facility, and get myself a big
                  > > >power amp.

                  > >
                  > >
                  > > I have seen the audio lab DAC as well but its a bit expensive at £600?


                  snip

                  > > This is the one with the front ports isn't it?
                  > >
                  > > The Rega DAC looks interesting though with 5 inputs (2*coax, 2*optical 1
                  > > usb)
                  > > It has been out for a little while and some are appearing on ebay which
                  > > reduces
                  > > the price to more like my range.





                  >Keep in mind that the Rega DAC's direct USB input implementation only
                  >supports 44.1/48 khz rates. If you want to fully use Triode's USB
                  >implemenation on the Touch, you'll need a USB/SPDIF converter to allow
                  >up to 24/96 via optical or up to 192 via coax into the Rega.



                  Yeah its something to bear in mind.
                  I do however use the SBT locally with a flash drive attached to the usb port.
                  I could use the SD card slot but its more convenient to use the USB.

                  I only have up to 24bit 96khz music ATM so I would use the optical or SPDIF
                  if i got the Rega.

                  Martin N

                  Running MorphOS v2.6 (Nov 2010) on Mac Mini,
                  Moderator of MiniDisc,amithlonopen,bwfc Yahoogroups


                  Comment

                  • campmountainman
                    Junior Member
                    • Jun 2012
                    • 1

                    #10
                    I am have used both Touch and SB3 with DacMagic

                    Originally posted by jezbo
                    ... for enhancing the sound of my SB3? I've had my eyes on one for a couple of years now, but perhaps there's better out now for a similar price.

                    Currently my SB3 is fed directly through a decent Marantz amp + Mordaunt-Short speakers or Heed CanAmp + Beyerdynamic headphones. Music source is usually lossless flac files.

                    Also, for anyone who has actually got a DacMagic, what are the additional connectors I'll need to purchase?
                    I bought the dacmagic to connect to my SB3. Previously I was using a Musical Fidelity X24 dac but the Dacmagic was an improvement over this in terms of detail, soundstage and smoothness. I connected them with a co-axial SPDIF cable which seemed to work best.

                    Later I upgraded to the Logitech Touch. Strangely the sound sound improved significantly over the SB3. I suspect the Touch had less jitter. Anyway, I found a decent optical connector ($30) worked better than a much more expensive co-axial cable I was using previously. Sounded cleaner and smoother with more detail. I suspect noise was been sent via the shield of the cable.

                    I installed soundcheck's Touch Toolbox 3.0 and the sound became better still with more clarity and detail.

                    I did modify the Dacmagic to bypass the output capacitors on the RCA outputs. This did make quite a difference to the sound and improved the bass considerably.

                    I am going to try the balanced outputs on the Dacmagic as they are claimed to provide better performance.
                    I will keep you Posted.
                    Cheers

                    Comment

                    • AlexM
                      Member
                      • Sep 2010
                      • 34

                      #11
                      Dac Magic 100

                      I have used an SBT with a Dac Magic 100 with Triode's EDO plug-in, and I have to say that the SQ was actually very good - clear and refined, with good sound-staging and a refined treble. The Bass wasn't 'thudding' but was clear and with good representation of instrument textures, albeit seeming slightly shelved down. Overall, a surprisingly listenable, detailed, and refined little device. It also supports USB2 asynchronous operation without any need for an intermediate hub.

                      I think it is a bargain, and you can always return it to Richer Sounds if you don't like it within 30 days.

                      Regards,
                      Alex
                      Technics SL1210| Jelco SA-750| Benz Micro ACE SM MC| Squeezebox Touch| Cambridge Audio Azur 851c CD Player/DAC| High Resolution Music Streamer II+ / Linestreamer +| Conrad-Johnson PV-15 Control Amplifier| Conrad-Johnson LP125sa KT120 Power Amplifier| Avalon NP Evo 2.0 Speakers| Cardas Audio Quadlink-5C Speaker Cables and Interconnects| Finite Elemente Pagode Signature E-14 equipment support

                      Comment

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