Cyrus discount offer vs dac magic

[William Boyd]

Would you swap an 8vs2 for one of the new XP variants or would you buy a dac magic?

I recently bought a CD6SE and 8vs2 - both of which I'm happy with (the CD's initial indigestion with CDs seems to have settled down) - before the new XP amp range was announced.

I'm fairly attractd to the idea of having all my audio sources going into the one box (rather than another box, another power supply, another plug on the powerboard, another switch etc) but I'm not super enthused about shelling out another bundle for another few inputs when the dac magic option would cost signigicantly less (but the cyrus offer may be a reasonably cheap way to future proof the system for another couple of years). At this stage the digital sources I'd be looking at sending it are a mac mini and a PS3 (not sure if my KDL32W4000 telly outputs digital but if so that would go into the amp as well).

Thoughts, comments, gesticulations all warmly welcomed.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

William Boyd:Would you swap an 8vs2 for one of the new XP variants or would you buy a dac magic?

I recently bought a CD6SE and 8vs2 - both of which I'm happy with (the CD's initial indigestion with CDs seems to have settled down) - before the new XP amp range was announced.

I'm fairly attractd to the idea of having all my audio sources going into the one box (rather than another box, another power supply, another plug on the powerboard, another switch etc) but I'm not super enthused about shelling out another bundle for another few inputs when the dac magic option would cost signigicantly less (but the cyrus offer may be a reasonably cheap way to future proof the system for another couple of years). At this stage the digital sources I'd be looking at sending it are a mac mini and a PS3 (not sure if my KDL32W4000 telly outputs digital but if so that would go into the amp as well).

Thoughts, comments, gesticulations all warmly welcomed.

Very difficult to answer. The Cyrus spinner is going to sound very different to a DacMagic and lossless files for instance. My preference is obvious but others would prefer the Cyrus. You will have to try yourself. One thing for sure though, I wouldn't buy a DacMagic and keep your Cyrus as transport. You would be better off selling the Cyrus and buying a cheaper spinner for transport duties and try to use the lossless method first and foremost.

 

[JoelSim]

Gerrardasnails:William Boyd:Would you swap an 8vs2 for one of the new XP variants or would you buy a dac magic? I recently bought a CD6SE and 8vs2 - both of which I'm happy with (the CD's initial indigestion with CDs seems to have settled down) - before the new XP amp range was announced. I'm fairly attractd to the idea of having all my audio sources going into the one box (rather than another box, another power supply, another plug on the powerboard, another switch etc) but I'm not super enthused about shelling out another bundle for another few inputs when the dac magic option would cost signigicantly less (but the cyrus offer may be a reasonably cheap way to future proof the system for another couple of years). At this stage the digital sources I'd be looking at sending it are a mac mini and a PS3 (not sure if my KDL32W4000 telly outputs digital but if so that would go into the amp as well). Thoughts, comments, gesticulations all warmly welcomed. Very difficult to answer. The Cyrus spinner is going to sound very different to a DacMagic and lossless files for instance. My preference is obvious but others would prefer the Cyrus. You will have to try yourself. One thing for sure though, I wouldn't buy a DacMagic and keep your Cyrus as transport. You would be better off selling the Cyrus and buying a cheaper spinner for transport duties and try to use the lossless method first and foremost.

Are you sure? The best reviewed CDP, because it has a new transport stage to conventional CDPs/software etc. To get rid of this to buy a DacMagic is utter madness in my opinion. Like getting rid of a Ferrari to buy a Focus GT.

 

[Anonymous]

William Boyd:

I recently bought a CD6SE and 8vs2 - both of which I'm happy with

If you're happy then stick with what you've got.

jules.

 

[William Boyd]

I'll be keeping the CD - I prefer sticking CDs in a player than booting up a pc.

But, in terms of using digital sources from a PC, PS3 or otherwise, I'm wondering if its worth upgrading the 8vs2 to the 8XPd in order to get the extra digital inputs OR whether I should just get the DacMagic for that purpose.

If I'd known Cyrus was upgrading the 8 series amp to include the digital inputs I'd have waited on my purchase. What's the degree of improvement obtained from running a digital signal from a pc into a DAC rather than sending the analogue signal from the PC into the analogue inputs on the 8vs2?

 

[lordmortlock]

Hi William

Why not get the Dacmagic on a home trial and see how you get on? How much will the exchange set you back with Cyrus

 

[William Boyd]

probably the 8XPd Qx at £900 - involves a trade in of the 8vs2 (which I bought for about £600 as part of a bundle) so a (probable) saving of about £300 on the £1800 SRP of the 8XPd Qx. Obviously it's not worth spending the extra £600-700 or so if the dac magic and the DAC in the Cyrus are much of a muchness.

Home trial is a good idea - will see what the local richersounds can do.

Has anyone on the forum listened to the 8XP or Qx amps (and compared them with the dac magic)?

 

[Alec]

William Boyd:I'll be keeping the CD - I prefer sticking CDs in a player than booting up a pc.

Now, i know this is OT, and i dont care what peole use, i really dont. im actually a hdd music user who would agree that it is more of a faff than using a cdp. However, you are aware, are you not, by virtue of being someone who uses a computer, that you do not have too boot up every time you need to listen to a new song/band/playlist/album (how quaint...)...? Just as you dont have to rebbot before every post to the forum...

Forgive my sarcasm, but, well, you wrote the above quoted remark...

 

[lordmortlock]

I'd get the dacmagic home trialled and see how you go. I know my ears wouldn't hear £600 worth of difference!

 

[Anonymous]

CD8X into Dacmagic is better than Lossless into Dacmagic.

That said I prefer the sound of the CD8X through the Dacmagic to the CD8X alone.

 

[matengawhat]

i have a squeezebox into a mf v8 dac at present which i'm moving into another room to connect to my solo movie - i have arriving tomorrow a wadia transport which will be plugging into the same dac as hate having to boot up the computer to listen when can just drop in the ipod - i am keen to hear how the two compare and to the cdp through the same dac

also thinking about the cyrus offer but not sure yet - i like the idea of the dac in the amp one less box for my spare room then might run pc direct into that. i would expect the Cyrus 8 XPd Qx to sound better than the dac magic but would be keen to hear from anyone that has compared them directly

 

[Anonymous]

JoelSim: Are you sure? The best reviewed CDP, because it has a new transport stage to conventional CDPs/software etc. To get rid of this to buy a DacMagic is utter madness in my opinion. Like getting rid of a Ferrari to buy a Focus GT.

Not utter madness in my own experience, as opposed to your opinion, I auditioned my friend's (run in) CD6SE CDP at home against the DACMagic I had already, my ears could not tell them apart so I save my hundreds of £££ and went a different upgrade route. Of course I am speaking from my experience in my room with my ears, OP may hear the difference, so the VIP point is audition and experience it for yourself.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

ddias:
CD8X into Dacmagic is better than Lossless into Dacmagic.

That said I prefer the sound of the CD8X through the Dacmagic to the CD8X alone.

So you are saying that the Cyrus transport is better than no transport (lossless)? Which digital cable do you use between pc to DacMagic?

 

[chebby]

I hope this does not sound daft, but does it have to be "either x or y" ?

Getting a DacMagic to use alongside your CD player would seem to make a lot of sense.

DACs do lots of other things apart from replace CD players! (Yes they do Joel.)

BBC iPlayer, internet radio, Freeview/Cable/Sky radio (and TV) audio connected via optical, iTunes downloads (not to compete with CD but for stuff you cannot otherwise get hold of), youtube, connecting your DVD or Blu-Ray player's digital optical audio output for higher quality 2 channel movie sound etc. etc. and so on.....

You may be suprised at how much fun there is out there - with a DAC - that does not conflict with your CD player.

I am not kicking out my DAC anytime soon and I love my Naim CD5i too. (And a bit of vinyl now and then.)

 

[chebby]

JoelSim:To get rid of this to buy a DacMagic is utter
madness in my opinion. Like getting rid of a Ferrari to buy a Focus GT.

Given your previous - vociferous - opposition to even trying this out for yourself then your statement can safely be discounted as conjecture.

I have extensively compared a DacMagic directly to a Rega Apollo and my Beresford TC-7520 to my Naim CD5i (and against my old Arcam Solo-Mini's CD player of course). I have also compared laptop/itunes/lossless/DAC replay against an Arcam CD17 in a CD17/A18/Focal demo.

My conclusions in each case are from trying the comparisons. They are not relevant here because the OP has a Cyrus set-up. Your statement above is irrelevant on all counts due to your refusal to try it out at all.

 

[lordmortlock]

chebby:
I hope this does not sound daft, but does it have to be "either x or y" ?
Getting a DacMagic to use alongside your CD player would seem to make a lot of sense.

I think what the op was getting at was should he buy a dac to compliment his 8vs2 or chop both that and the £££ for the dac in and upgrade to the XP that can obviously do the job of both.

So the question is is the dac in the XP worth the extra money over buying a dacmagic to add to the current set up?

 

[William Boyd]

Mortlock - precisely. The issue is whether I should spend the extra cash and divest myself of the 8vs2 in exhange for the 8XPd Qx or if I should go the cheaper route and get a dac magic to augment the cyrus system. If the 8XPd Qx is vastly more capable than the dac magic then I'll get it; if it's broadly equivalent in specs and performance to the dac magic then I'll probably get the dac magic.

At this stage I've got no desire to move over to a HDD and lossless setup for most of my music listening - so the DAC element of the equation is mainly for the ps3/bluray and for that part of my music collection that's on the HDD (moved to the UK a while ago and left that part of my cd collection in storage).

 

[JoelSim]

chebby:
JoelSim:To get rid of this to buy a DacMagic is uttermadness in my opinion. Like getting rid of a Ferrari to buy a Focus GT.

Given your previous - vociferous - opposition to even trying this out for yourself then your statement can safely be discounted as conjecture.

I have extensively compared a DacMagic directly to a Rega Apolloÿ and my Beresford TC-7520 to my Naim CD5i (and against my old Arcam Solo-Mini's CD player of course). I have also compared laptop/itunes/lossless/DAC replay against an Arcam CD17 in a CD17/A18/Focal demo.

My conclusions in each case are from trying the comparisons. They are not relevant here because the OP has a Cyrus set-up. Your statement above is irrelevant on all counts due to your refusal to try it out at all.

ÿ

You're very aggressive these days Chebby.

I haven't heard the Cyrus actually, but if the absolute madness rave reviews by WHF staff on this forum are anything to go by, then it's significantly better than the CA.

ÿ

 

[SteveR750]

Problem is how many retailers can demo a conventional CD versus a PC based "lossless" system; though it begs the question where is the digital source of this, and how much data does the *real* source have??? Afetr all when I record my songs into my PC using adobe audition, its still technically not "lossless"

 

[Anonymous]

SteveR750:Problem is how many retailers can demo a conventional CD versus a PC based "lossless" system; though it begs the question where is the digital source of this, and how much data does the *real* source have??? Afetr all when I record my songs into my PC using adobe audition, its still technically not "lossless"

What?

 

[Alec]

MilkyJoe:

SteveR750:Problem is how many retailers can demo a conventional CD versus a PC based "lossless" system; though it begs the question where is the digital source of this, and how much data does the *real* source have??? Afetr all when I record my songs into my PC using adobe audition, its still technically not "lossless"

What?

Indeed.