CA DacMagic with Virgin V+ / Topfield / DVD Player

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

Need some advice please before i shell out on a dacmagic.

I am currently using an Arcam Alpha 9 with B&W 601 s3 for tv and music duties as i don't have the space or financial resources for a good proper 5.1 setup.

I listen to fair bit of 'on demand music' on Virgin V+ and some MP3's played on a Topfield 5800 freeview PVR as well as classic FM for background. Hopefully CD player duties can be done by DVD player/dacmagic as current CD player is an aging marantz CD52 mk2. Arcam/B&W's for all other tv/DVD duties.

Q1. Is it possible to connect the dacmagic to the optical output of the Virgin V+ to feed to the arcam for tv and music duties or is the optical out only for dolby digital and the like?

Q2. Same question for the optical out of the Topfield freeview for tv and music?

Q3. I understand that the dacmagic can be used for CD's in the DVD player but can it also be used to enhance DVD sound when only using arcam 2 channel amp?

Q4. Will any of this make any difference to sound quality? (currently everything is connected to the amp via van damme phono interconnets and B&W's bi-wired with van damme 6mm speaker cable).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Anonymous]

Answer is yes to all questions, it's a good idea too. The CD 52 is fine as a CD transport too, compare it to your DVD player and see if you can notice any difference in sound. The only thing holding you back would be the number inputs. I believe the dacmagic has 3 inputs + usb but could be wrong.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks superjimbo,

Had done a fair bit of trawling and could not find the answer to this one.

Yea i had thought that the number of inputs would be a problem and also no remote but might just have to get off my but and switch it over!

Remote control optical switch on the market? or is that a bit hopeful?

 

[Anonymous]

Also one more question,

I find the Arcam/B&W combo a bit too smooth, dry and maybe a bit warm (hope these terms mean something to somebody, my best stab at it!) but i love the power and presence that the arcam gives. Would the dacmagic help rectify this trait or should i be thinking about a nad, one of the newer arcams (a85?) or something else entirely as a more suitable match for the B&W's?

Would i be in error to say that the arcam alpha sound is a bit outdated? and newer alternatives are more suited to a more varied range of sources/technologies?

Appreciate any help.

 

[Anonymous]

Update: Finally got a DAC for the V+/Topfield/DVD/CD player. Went for the Beresford TC-7510 which i managed to get for below £100 all in.

After hooking it up to the V+ I was not overly impressed, there was definitely more detail than just the V+ but it was not the significant step that i thought it would be. And i was not that fond of the way it sounded with my system, although it sounded smooth I thought it sounded a tad artificial, unmusical, quite dull, a bit lifeless. It also seemed to have a glare/ brightness in the top end that had a slight grainy (metalic?) quality to it.

I tried it with the Topfield 5810 and it sounded very similar, i liked the extra detail but i did not like the slightly artificial and bright sound.

I then hooked it up to the DVD player and CD player and although i had never heard so much detail there was still something not quite right about the sound.

I tried it with the Maplin power supply and it helped clean the sound up a bit at 12v, tried it on 13.5v with gave a fairly substantial jump in detail but at the expense of more grain, artificalness, glare and now a forced quality which although was good for tv and films was unpleasant for music.

So then i decided that i would give the upgrades a go (mod 21 and mod 21 pt2) and if that did not improve things then i would sell it on.

I decided to go for 4x ELNA Silmic ll Audio grade capacitors as opposed to the rubycon za's as the elna's seem to be thought of as higher quality. http://www.hificollective.co.uk/components/elna_capacitors.html

a lm4562ma op-amp from audioupgrades and some wima 220pf capacitors from maplin.

I found the the upgrade was not too difficult (i had not done surface mount soldering before) as long as you did a bit of research on smt soldering techniques on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NN7UGWYmBY, followed closely stan's advice, get yourself a flux pen, copper wick (cleaning solder from the board) and a solder sucker (for removing the caps) and were careful about too much heat transfer to the board tracks and pads. So glad i got a flux pen having struggled without it on many an occasion, it makes life soo much easier!

Upgrade took about an hour, hardest part was getting the op-amp off. Stans advice about using a stanley knife with brand new blade and cutting the legs, pushing straight down right beside the body of the op-amp was invaluable.

Also want to thank PJPro http://community.whathifi.com/forums/t/241913.aspx for his thread which i found really helpful!

 

[Anonymous]

So hooked it up to V+ and....

AMAZING!!!! it's like a totally different animal, I had no idea an upgrade could make this much difference!

Gone is the artificial / metallic sound - replaced by a lovely musical sound, which makes you forget about the DAC, its like the DAC has disappeared and you are just drawn into the music.

Gone is the bright glare - replaced by no annoying bright glare, not dark sounding either, just sounds 'right'

Gone is the grainy quality - replaced by a sound that is both smooth/pleasant and very musical with real punch and drive.

Gone is the dull lifeless quality with dodgy timing - replaced by great timing, which really sucks you in and involves you in the music as well as much more detail on offer.

Then hooked it up to Topfield and the same vastly improved sound.

Yet to try the CD and DVD but am expecting the same.

DAC has only been running for about 12 hours so it has not even burned in properly yet, hopefully it will only get better!

So to sum up....IMHO if you are not going to upgrade the TC-7510 i think it may be a much better idea to go for the TC-7520 which i hear is much better than a stock TC-7510 .

What the difference is between a Mod21 pt1&2 TC-7510 and a TC-7520 with op-amp change would be something i would be very interested to hear about!

And can the DACmagic compete with the upgraded beresfords?

And there was me thinking i needed a new amp and/or speakers! All i needed was to replace the speaker wire to QED silver anniversary XT bi-wire (much more suited to B&W's i found), replace the interconnects with VDH D102 Mk3 and chord silver siren's and give the system a much better source (upgraded tc-7510) and now i am in audio heaven (for a while at least anyway!)