Arcam rDac vs. DagMagic

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Golden Ears:
lol, My mains are unaffected by grid demand but nice try 😉 I invested in a CVT from advance electronics for the front end and aAdvance electronics mains conditioner supporting 1.5kw. As for cables I make my own and have used them in systems where moon travel seemed an option and switched blindly between home made and Transparent Audio cables costing over 2k only for the owner to say to my father inlaw (his friend) it's best that I don't demo my cables around there again! Good quality cables and a little science offer great rewards and as for systems sounding better the other costing 10 times more I have demostrated many times to the Audio wallet busters that they have used way too much money! I'm happy enough with my system up to just over moderate listening levels as my room really won't let met hear it's loudest potential!

Funny though cables, power grid and isolators really do have a good affect on electronis that are built well. Cheap poorly put together things will just add back the distortion intenrally or add more to interference to the recording as they really are built to function and not reject noise etc. So Poeple who say the hear no difference often need to look at the equiptment! Not always though as there are a good deal of cables out there that are not any better than the ones you use every day, these often have a pretty jacket and some amazing claims! I'd buy cables of high purity metals and use silver where possible as it adds the least noise at point of contact ( see Missing link) they really know their stuff 🙂

A couple of things; you say that you have been "more than happy with your DAC for six years" and that it "beats anything 10 or 20 times the price". Why would you even consider buying the DacMagic??? Or is it just to berate a popular DAC to publicise your own? Oh, sorry, you don't work for them.

Another thing, the DacMagic is truly balanced and not "suedo balanced" as you put it. And you can use balanced cables OR RCA.

As Chebby said, the Tom DAC could be £50 and the best DAC in the world, who wants it in their room. I kind of think it's not the best DAC either...
 
Hi!

Funny how being happy with a product can equate to working for them! I should post a link from hewre to their website who know's! As for why change a DAC you're happy with... Well having tried the Cambridge I ask myself the same question! In all honesty I read so many reviews all pointing to a bargain in Hi FI terms that I thought it a no brainer, Sure the DAC I use might be to everyones taste in the looks department but surely it's sound quality that really counts. Look at those god ugly Audio Research Hi End electreonics and tell me that they look any nicer than the Behringer lol! Looks don't always come with price! Atrue balanced output requires alot of components to function properly I can not imagine that the Cambridge Audio has managed to fit a complete balanced set of components in that tiny case! Thus I really believe it to be suedo balanced. If wrong so be it though I can say that the output was no higher in volume than the single ended and balanced outputs are 3db over single ended outputs. So if they were ture balanced I should of noticed the hike in volume which I didn't. I'm sure there are better DAC's around but hell look at the price, if possible try one like it or hate it. No one has the right advice for everyone I just thought I'd plug a hole where many Hi Fi wanna be's never look! Good luck finding the right DAC for you, I'm staying with the SRC2496 until it gives up the ghost and then I'd probably buy another!
 
Golden Ears:
Hi!

Funny how being happy with a product can equate to working for them! I should post a link from hewre to their website who know's! As for why change a DAC you're happy with... Well having tried the Cambridge I ask myself the same question! In all honesty I read so many reviews all pointing to a bargain in Hi FI terms that I thought it a no brainer, Sure the DAC I use might be to everyones taste in the looks department but surely it's sound quality that really counts. Look at those god ugly Audio Research Hi End electreonics and tell me that they look any nicer than the Behringer lol! Looks don't always come with price! Atrue balanced output requires alot of components to function properly I can not imagine that the Cambridge Audio has managed to fit a complete balanced set of components in that tiny case! Thus I really believe it to be suedo balanced. If wrong so be it though I can say that the output was no higher in volume than the single ended and balanced outputs are 3db over single ended outputs. So if they were ture balanced I should of noticed the hike in volume which I didn't. I'm sure there are better DAC's around but hell look at the price, if possible try one like it or hate it. No one has the right advice for everyone I just thought I'd plug a hole where many Hi Fi wanna be's never look! Good luck finding the right DAC for you, I'm staying with the SRC2496 until it gives up the ghost and then I'd probably buy another!

You are contradicting yourself. You now say that you are sure that there are better DACs around after saying that it's better than DACs 10 or 20 times more expensive.

In no review of the DacMagic has it been mentioned that the DAC beats anything even 5 times the price, so again I wonder why you bought it.

And....

From the DacMagic manual.

"The DacMagic also features true balanced (XLR) outputs. This is a higher quality output that can
reject noise and interference with equipment with balanced inputs.".
 
I can only comment on DAC's I've heard and they do range from cheapo to Mark levinson 3 box CD player solutions! To be arrogant enough to say that the Behringer is the best DAC in the world would be madness, would it not? I can not see anywhere that I have written this. I've read the manual and the product promotion brouchers to! This doesn't explain the lack in db increase when using the balanced out connection? I have also read there are many ways to claim a balanced circuit not all engineers appear to agree. So does it mean it's TRUE compared to a Audio Research's CD5 players balanced circuit I'd bet not...
 
Golden Ears:I can only comment on DAC's I've heard and they do range from cheapo to Mark levinson 3 box CD player solutions! To be arrogant enough to say that the Behringer is the best DAC in the world would be madness, would it not? I can not see anywhere that I have written this. I've read the manual and the product promotion brouchers to! This doesn't explain the lack in db increase when using the balanced out connection? I have also read there are many ways to claim a balanced circuit not all engineers appear to agree. So does it mean it's TRUE compared to a Audio Research's CD5 players balanced circuit I'd bet not...

The volume decreases not increases when using balanced over RCA. I know as I've recently changed amps and my Moon only has RCA.
 
Anyway, taking this thread back a bit, I can confirm that - as is usual - we will re-evaluate the star rating of the DacMagic when it's Group Tested against other newcomers, including the Arcam rDAC.
 
I must say that after hearing the DacMagic round Gerrard's place a while back has certainly made me re-evaluate my bog-standard set-up. In saying that, I'm not sure where I could utilise such an item, given the tv and hi-fi is located in the living room and the computer in the bedroom. If I were to persue the DAC route I would to hear for myself (no disrespect to WHFI) the difference between the Cambridge and Arcam models.

Answers on a postcard...
emotion-4.gif
 
plastic penguin:
I must say that after hearing the DacMagic round Gerrard's place a while back has certainly made me re-evaluate my bog-standard set-up. In saying that, I'm not sure where I could utilise such an item, given the tv and hi-fi is located in the living room and the computer in the bedroom. If I were to persue the DAC route I would to hear for myself (no disrespect to WHFI) the difference between the Cambridge and Arcam models.

Answers on a postcard...
emotion-4.gif


What you heard at my house PP involved no PC. You could follow the same route that PJ Pro and I (there are others but I can't remember their names). The WD Live media player is tiny. You can attach a USB external drive to it. 500gb should be plenty but 1tb drives are only £70 these days. Total outlay circa £150. Then just pick your dac. You can rely on me for set up help.
 
I got a Dacmagic about two months ago and remain seriously impressed. I'm surprised folks on here experience a 'wooly' sound. Mine gives fine clarity, engaging dynamics and a serious bass. Some dubstep basslines are amazing, rattles my entire house while remaining precise and accurate. I may be a philestine but it never fails to put a smile on my face. Guess alot of it is about system balance.

Oh, I made a mistake earlier. Its audioupgrades.co.uk not audioupgrades.com.

Aint tried em, but I is a happy boy so not planning on spending more on a DAC for now.
 
Cidershed:
I got a Dacmagic about two months ago and remain seriously impressed. I'm surprised folks on here experience a 'wooly' sound. Mine gives fine clarity, engaging dynamics and a serious bass. Some dubstep basslines are amazing, rattles my entire house while remaining precise and accurate. I may be a philestine but it never fails to put a smile on my face. Guess alot of it is about system balance.

Oh, I made a mistake earlier. Its audioupgrades.co.uk not audioupgrades.com.

Aint tried em, but I is a happy boy so not planning on spending more on a DAC for now.

What's the rest of your kit Cider!
 
Ca 740A and C, Mezzo 2s and Tannoy DC6s running together through both speaker outputs (hehe), with the Dacmagic fed by a Macbook and Airpot Express from my desktop.

The Dacmagic sounds particularly good through the Airport Express.

If I have one criticism it was a little harsh at the top end to begin with, but a pair of Atlas Hyper RCAs has really helped to calm it down as has running it in for a long time. I do think the bass is particularly strong, not bloated or wooly at all. Fab little DAC, apart from the USB input which sounds a bit weak.
 
Cidershed:
Ca 740A and C, Mezzo 2s and Tannoy DC6s running together through both speaker outputs (hehe), with the Dacmagic fed by a Macbook and Airpot Express from my desktop.

The Dacmagic sounds particularly good through the Airport Express.

If I have one criticism it was a little harsh at the top end to begin with, but a pair of Atlas Hyper RCAs has really helped to calm it down as has running it in for a long time. I do think the bass is particularly strong, not bloated or wooly at all. Fab little DAC, apart from the USB input which sounds a bit weak.

I've never used the USB port. I used to have the 840a - when PP came over that's what he heard. My new amp has taken it to the next level. I love the DM but I will upgrade at some point just to see what my amp can really do (speakers will get changed too).
 
Yea, there's always some piece of kit lurking and trying to tempt you into its lair.

I've been pondering a Chord Peach DAC for a while and will probably demo one at some point, but when I stick some tunes on through my current system I really enjoy it, so gonna stick with it for now and resist the itch for a while.

Good thing about DAC upgrades is you can run all digital sources through em so it lifts the whole system. Get thee back Satan!!
 
Gerrardasnails:plastic penguin:

I must say that after hearing the DacMagic round Gerrard's place a while back has certainly made me re-evaluate my bog-standard set-up. In saying that, I'm not sure where I could utilise such an item, given the tv and hi-fi is located in the living room and the computer in the bedroom. If I were to persue the DAC route I would to hear for myself (no disrespect to WHFI) the difference between the Cambridge and Arcam models.

Answers on a postcard...
emotion-4.gif


What you heard at my house PP involved no PC. You could follow the same route that PJ Pro and I (there are others but I can't remember their names). The WD Live media player is tiny. You can attach a USB external drive to it. 500gb should be plenty but 1tb drives are only £70 these days. Total outlay circa £150. Then just pick your dac. You can rely on me for set up help.

Yup, but my thinking is switching away ever so slightly from CDPs and downloading music. I only have a desktop, so by the time I factor in the cost of a laptop... (BTW, I'm thinking of using the DVD player as transport)

Again, how would that sound with the Leema? food for thought.
 
plastic penguin:Gerrardasnails:plastic penguin:

I must say that after hearing the DacMagic round Gerrard's place a while back has certainly made me re-evaluate my bog-standard set-up. In saying that, I'm not sure where I could utilise such an item, given the tv and hi-fi is located in the living room and the computer in the bedroom. If I were to persue the DAC route I would to hear for myself (no disrespect to WHFI) the difference between the Cambridge and Arcam models.

Answers on a postcard...
emotion-4.gif


What you heard at my house PP involved no PC. You could follow the same route that PJ Pro and I (there are others but I can't remember their names). The WD Live media player is tiny. You can attach a USB external drive to it. 500gb should be plenty but 1tb drives are only £70 these days. Total outlay circa £150. Then just pick your dac. You can rely on me for set up help.

Yup, but my thinking is switching away ever so slightly from CDPs and downloading music. I only have a desktop, so by the time I factor in the cost of a laptop... (BTW, I'm thinking of using the DVD player as transport)

Again, how would that sound with the Leema? food for thought.

No need for a laptop either. One of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Live-Media-Player/dp/B002LZUHMI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1285182939&sr=8-1

and one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/WESTERN-DIGITAL-Elements-Desktop-External/dp/B0041HNL9U/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1285183330&sr=1-7

You can then download music, rip your cds and just plug the hard drive in to your pc via a usb cable, and then drag the files to copy over to the drive. You then just re-connect the hard drive to the Western Digital box which would always be connected to your tv and DAC or amp. Job done. This box also offers you the option of doing this wirelessly but I know you are not a pc person and thought that would complicate things.
 
Gerrardasnails:plastic penguin:Gerrardasnails:plastic penguin:

I must say that after hearing the DacMagic round Gerrard's place a while back has certainly made me re-evaluate my bog-standard set-up. In saying that, I'm not sure where I could utilise such an item, given the tv and hi-fi is located in the living room and the computer in the bedroom. If I were to persue the DAC route I would to hear for myself (no disrespect to WHFI) the difference between the Cambridge and Arcam models.

Answers on a postcard...
emotion-4.gif


What you heard at my house PP involved no PC. You could follow the same route that PJ Pro and I (there are others but I can't remember their names). The WD Live media player is tiny. You can attach a USB external drive to it. 500gb should be plenty but 1tb drives are only £70 these days. Total outlay circa £150. Then just pick your dac. You can rely on me for set up help.

Yup, but my thinking is switching away ever so slightly from CDPs and downloading music. I only have a desktop, so by the time I factor in the cost of a laptop... (BTW, I'm thinking of using the DVD player as transport)

Again, how would that sound with the Leema? food for thought.

No need for a laptop either. One of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Live-Media-Player/dp/B002LZUHMI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1285182939&sr=8-1 and one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/WESTERN-DIGITAL-Elements-Desktop-External/dp/B0041HNL9U/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1285183330&sr=1-7 You can then download music, rip your cds and just plug the hard drive in to your pc via a usb cable, and then drag the files to copy over to the drive. You then just re-connect the hard drive to the Western Digital box which would always be connected to your tv and DAC or amp. Job done. This box also offers you the option of doing this wirelessly but I know you are not a pc person and thought that would complicate things.

Certainly would please the OH - small boxes = less clutter to her.

No, I'm not a PC person but one has to move with the times...

Back the Leema situation: wonder whether that would give high enough quality to make the most of the amp, in comparison with £1,000 CDP for example.
 
plastic penguin:Gerrardasnails:plastic penguin:Gerrardasnails:plastic penguin:

I must say that after hearing the DacMagic round Gerrard's place a while back has certainly made me re-evaluate my bog-standard set-up. In saying that, I'm not sure where I could utilise such an item, given the tv and hi-fi is located in the living room and the computer in the bedroom. If I were to persue the DAC route I would to hear for myself (no disrespect to WHFI) the difference between the Cambridge and Arcam models.

Answers on a postcard...
emotion-4.gif


What you heard at my house PP involved no PC. You could follow the same route that PJ Pro and I (there are others but I can't remember their names). The WD Live media player is tiny. You can attach a USB external drive to it. 500gb should be plenty but 1tb drives are only £70 these days. Total outlay circa £150. Then just pick your dac. You can rely on me for set up help.

Yup, but my thinking is switching away ever so slightly from CDPs and downloading music. I only have a desktop, so by the time I factor in the cost of a laptop... (BTW, I'm thinking of using the DVD player as transport)

Again, how would that sound with the Leema? food for thought.

No need for a laptop either. One of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Live-Media-Player/dp/B002LZUHMI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1285182939&sr=8-1 and one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/WESTERN-DIGITAL-Elements-Desktop-External/dp/B0041HNL9U/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1285183330&sr=1-7 You can then download music, rip your cds and just plug the hard drive in to your pc via a usb cable, and then drag the files to copy over to the drive. You then just re-connect the hard drive to the Western Digital box which would always be connected to your tv and DAC or amp. Job done. This box also offers you the option of doing this wirelessly but I know you are not a pc person and thought that would complicate things.

Certainly would please the OH - small boxes = less clutter to her.

No, I'm not a PC person but one has to move with the times...

Back the Leema situation: wonder whether that would give high enough quality to make the most of the amp, in comparison with £1,000 CDP for example.

Well, I'm sure it will be very close indeed. My system sounds lovely at the moment. I'm just curious to balance the speakers and source with my amp.
 
Given your setup I would be tempted to go for something a bit better than the dacs mentioned here so far. Minimum of Stello DA100 , Benchmark or Lavry would match well with your stuff.
 
Trilobite:Given your setup I would be tempted to go for something a bit better than the dacs mentioned here so far. Minimum of Stello DA100 , Benchmark or Lavry would match well with your stuff.

I'm looking to get the new Moon 300D.
 
Clare Newsome:Anyway, taking this thread back a bit, I can confirm that - as is usual - we will re-evaluate the star rating of the DacMagic when it's Group Tested against other newcomers, including the Arcam rDAC.

Thank you Clare...that should solve a lot of disputes I believe. Can we have a Dac supertest with the Behringer, Arcam,Dac Magic and Beresford Caiman as well...sure will help all those in search for an upgrade!
 
Clare Newsome:Anyway, taking this thread back a bit, I can confirm that - as is usual - we will re-evaluate the star rating of the DacMagic when it's Group Tested against other newcomers, including the Arcam rDAC.

Any ideas when this is likely to happen.
 
We're doing a lot of DAC testing ahead of our Awards. We'll name our favourites on October 15th at several price points. Group Tests to follow that pre-Christmas.
 
shafesk:Clare Newsome:Anyway, taking this thread back a bit, I can confirm that - as is usual - we will re-evaluate the star rating of the DacMagic when it's Group Tested against other newcomers, including the Arcam rDAC.

Thank you Clare...that should solve a lot of disputes I believe.

Yes. A WHF group-test always settles such disputes
emotion-40.gif
 
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