CD player or.....?

[admin_exported]

I've been trawling the forums again and ive been reading about DacMagic, i have no idea what to do as im really new to all of this hifi malarky.. anyway that said, i dont have many CD's and so i was going to hold off a CDP for now, but can DacMagic take the place of something like a NAD545 and save me money and CD storage space at the same time, sorry if its really basic knowlege but what does DacMagic do and does it go straight into my amp?

Current setup is B&W 685's with NAD326 amp

Thanks Manch

 

[Anonymous]

Have a look at the Cambridge Audio DAC Magic manual http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/assets/documents/DACMagic2_A5.pdf answers to your questions are explained there

 

[link]

manchesto, how do you find the 326 - 685 combo?

thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

it sounds really good, i also tried a rotel r04 and a marantz amp and the NAD was by far the best, it seemed to be the most powerful and clear with the 685's and the bass was good but not out for control like it sounded on the rotel, it all sounded very together on the Nad =]

 

[Anonymous]

This thing seems to be perfect, i play alot of xbox and it says it can clarify the sound on that, and all of my cd collection could be put onto my ipod or itunes and sound like CD quality because of this device?

Can anyone help clarify what i would need to get it sounding as good as a 300quid CD player... i hear alot about 'lossless files' and i dont understand what this really means. If i purchased one of these would i be able to use my xbox as a CDP or plugging my ipod into it could i get results on par with a real CDP? I would say i only have around 40 CD's so far in my collection and so i was debating wether it would be worth buying a CD player as a guy with very few discs and alot of downloads?

Thanks in advance, manch

 

[Anonymous]

-

 

[JoelSim]

To get CD quality sound you would have to rerip all your tunes to 'lossless' level ie a higher resolution than iTunes or whatever would normally rip to. This will create bigger files with more fidelity and less compression. The downside is that your iPod will not be able to store as many tunes.

The DACMagic is a digital to analogue converter that would allow your XBox to be used as a CD transport too. All in all, for someone with few CDs it's a good idea. Problem is that you won;t be making the most of your already downloaded music until you convert them to higher resolution files.

ÿ

 

[John Duncan]

JoelSim:
To get CD quality sound you would have to rerip all your tunes to 'lossless' level ie a higher resolution than iTunes or whatever would normally rip to. This will create bigger files with more fidelity and less compression. The downside is that your iPod will not be able to store as many tunes.

The DACMagic is a digital to analogue converter that would allow your XBox to be used as a CD transport too. All in all, for someone with few CDs it's a good idea. Problem is that you won;t be making the most of your already downloaded music until you convert them to higher resolution files.

ÿ

 

[JoelSim]

JohnDuncan:JoelSim:
To get CD quality sound you would have to rerip all your tunes to 'lossless' level ie a higher resolution than iTunes or whatever would normally rip to. This will create bigger files with more fidelity and less compression. The downside is that your iPod will not be able to store as many tunes.

The DACMagic is a digital to analogue converter that would allow your XBox to be used as a CD transport too. All in all, for someone with few CDs it's a good idea. Problem is that you won;t be making the most of your already downloaded music until you convert them to higher resolution files.

ÿ

I have only ever said that I am more than happy with my CDP, and that the other main reason I don't do downloads etc is the inconvenience.

ÿ

 

[John Duncan]

Firstly, yes a DAC will improve the sound quality of your X-Box as a CD player, but it'll be constrained somewhat by the drive, which is what I've found to be the limiting factor. So it'll be a reasonable Cd player, but maybe not a 300 quid one.

As for the iPod, no you won't be able to plug it into a DAC, unless you get a Wadia iTransport, which is currently the only device which can take a digital out from an iPod, and that costs 350 quid (which kind of defeats your object). It'll be easier to take a digital out direct from your PC (either from the sound card digital out if it has one, USB, or a wireless solution like auirport express).

Re: lossless files, Joel explains it well above - search the forum for "lossless" and you'll get loads of hits.

 

[John Duncan]

JoelSim:JohnDuncan:JoelSim:
To get CD quality sound you would have to rerip all your tunes to 'lossless' level ie a higher resolution than iTunes or whatever would normally rip to. This will create bigger files with more fidelity and less compression. The downside is that your iPod will not be able to store as many tunes.

The DACMagic is a digital to analogue converter that would allow your XBox to be used as a CD transport too. All in all, for someone with few CDs it's a good idea. Problem is that you won;t be making the most of your already downloaded music until you convert them to higher resolution files.

ÿ

I have only ever said that I am more than happy with my CDP, and that the other main reason I don't do downloads etc is the inconvenience.

ÿ

Whereas I do it for the convenience. Weird, eh?

 

[matthewpiano]

Don't use the XBox as a CD player. It has more fan noise than any other device I've used.

In your position I would probably go down the DacMagic route and use lossless files, although it depends on whether the other attractions of physical media (particularly the packaging/booklets etc.) are important to you.

 

[Anonymous]

well this is the thing im stuck on, if i used my ipod staight into my amp with the dacmagic plugged in, would this have an effect on the quality of the music? seeing as you reccomend not using the 360 as a CDP and i agree it isnt the quietist machine ever invented.

So a lossless file is where you change your settings on itunes for the quality when you imort a CD? then if i put these lossless files onto my ipod it would be the same if not better quality using a 200 quid dacmagic over say a 200 quid CDP?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Manchesto:
well this is the thing im stuck on, if i used my ipod staight into my amp with the dacmagic plugged in, would this have an effect on the quality of the music? seeing as you reccomend not using the 360 as a CDP and i agree it isnt the quietist machine ever invented.

So a lossless file is where you change your settings on itunes for the quality when you imort a CD? then if i put these lossless files onto my ipod it would be the same if not better quality using a 200 quid dacmagic over say a 200 quid CDP?

You need something else to be able to send a digital feed from your Ipod to the DacMagic. Connecting your Ipod to the DM with analogue cables will bypass the DM's magic as the signal will already be analogue. Lossless files on your Ipod (Apple Lossless files for example) will be very large compared to mp3 - average song about 25mb. Lossless files sent to a DM I find to be as good as a cd player costing up to £1k. That set up would blow away any budget cd player. However, this is again only appropriate if you have a decent amp and speakers as well.

I'm assuming you have a pc/laptop as you have an Ipod? If so, buy an Airport Express for about £60 and connect it to the DacMagic. Rip your cds in a lossless format or download in a lossless format and hey presto. You then connect your DacMagic to the AE with a digital cable (which you can't with the Ipod) and the digital feed will be converted by the DM to analogue and that's how you get the magic!

 

[Anonymous]

ok... so i'd rip my cd's as lossless files in itunes.. then into AE.... which then gets converted by DM into beautiful music?

AE is 60quid

DM is 200quid

How much will the cables cost for all of this?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Manchesto:
ok... so i'd rip my cd's as lossless files in itunes.. then into AE.... which then gets converted by DM into beautiful music?

AE is 60quid

DM is 200quid

How much will the cables cost for all of this?

A digital cable from AE to DAC (£10 optical would be enough). Stereo RCA cables from DacMagic to amp (use what you have already or spend as much as you can afford).

The DM is £229 at the moment - my valuation for the AE is from what I've read on here.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Gerrardasnails:Manchesto:
ok... so i'd rip my cd's as lossless files in itunes.. then into AE.... which then gets converted by DM into beautiful music?

AE is 60quid

DM is 200quid

How much will the cables cost for all of this?

A digital cable from AE to DAC (£10 optical would be enough). Stereo RCA cables from DacMagic to amp (use what you have already or spend as much as you can afford).

The DM is £229 at the moment - my valuation for the AE is from what I've read on here.

Just seen on Amazon for £75, so for £300 you are getting a brilliant option.

 

[Anonymous]

would you say that this is better than any CD players for 300 pounds? i also have a rather small CD collection, im guessing most audiophiles have 500+ and i only have 30/40, so all the money id save on albums and storage space as well as wasted downloads... good value for money?

 

[Audioholic]

Yes it's better than any new £300 cd player, and probably at least on par with any s/h one

 

[Anonymous]

how fantastic! i think im going to get my pennies together and work out trying to purchace this gizmo! thanks alot for your help everyone, and gerrardasnails! thanks for your time.

Anything i should be aware of before the purchace? is the quality of my PC going to determin the quality of sound i get?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Manchesto:
how fantastic! i think im going to get my pennies together and work out trying to purchace this gizmo! thanks alot for your help everyone, and gerrardasnails! thanks for your time.

Anything i should be aware of before the purchace? is the quality of my PC going to determin the quality of sound i get?

From what I've read, the Airport Express seems to work well with Vista machines. However, there are people on here with Macs and XP machines and have no worries. Your pc will not change the quality of the music though - it's just whether the digital stream gets to your AE or not. Microwaves and charging mobile phones nearby can be a pain.

The sound quality will be much better than any cd player at £300 and most cd players under £1k would be comparable. In fact, your transport and DAC will take future upgrades for speakers and amps too.