Dac Magic upgrade on Ebay!! Is it any good.

[admin_exported]

On ebay there is an advert that offers a Level 2 upgrade for a Cambridge Audio Dac Magic for £180. This is the spec they offer.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cambridge-Audio-DacMagic-DAC-Level-2-Audio-Upgrade_W0QQitemZ250395767991QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_CDPlayerSeparates?hash=item250395767991&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1300%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

We have two levels of upgrades available; both levels markedly improve the sound quality of inputs via the coaxial, optical; and USB when connected to the digital output of your CD player or streaming lossless music from your PC or MAC.

*Level-2 Upgrade only.

DacMagic Level-2 Upgrade

¦ Panasonic FC analogue power supply capacitors.
¦ Sanyo OSCON SP analogue regulation bypass capacitors.
¦ Super-regulator 3 for analogue supply (DAC).
¦ Panasonic FC DAC regulation bypass capacitors.
¦ Sanyo OSCON SP for digital regulation bypass (clock).
¦ 2x Panasonic FC digital power supply capacitors.
¦ 2x Panasonic FC digital regulation bypass capacitors.
¦ Sanyo OSCON SP for DSP decoupling.
¦ Sanyo OSCON SP digital input decoupling.
¦ Rubycon ZA decoupling for logic circuits.
¦ 4x LME49720 for low-pass filter.

I have just bought a Cambridge Audio Dac Magic. I have M/S Mezzo 6 speakers. Is it worth me getting an upgrade, or a decent CD player with a Dac built in?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cambridge-Aud...14&_trkparms=72:1300|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

 

[SHAXOS]

Dont you void your warranty? Surly you would be better selling then raising money for a new dac/player?

 

[drummerman]

No idea but as most folks DM's are probably less than a year old I'd wait til after that as the mods will void any warranty.

 

[Anonymous]

This thread's already been done but I wish there were more answers as I'd consider it. Its not always the case that if your going to pay for mods you may as well save for a better DAC. Maybe the mods are what better models would use but expect you to pay more for? I don't know because I don't know about these things. I just know that when I was looking into buying a vintage tuner a lot of people on specialist forums bought 70s tuners, modded them and claimed they were better than present day tuners costing far more money.

 

[drummerman]

Catcher:This thread's already been done but I wish there were more answers as I'd consider it. Its not always the case that if your going to pay for mods you may as well save for a better DAC. Maybe the mods are what better models would use but expect you to pay more for? I don't know because I don't know about these things. I just know that when I was looking into buying a vintage tuner a lot of people on specialist forums bought 70s tuners, modded them and claimed they were better than present day tuners costing far more money.

Try it and you'll know ...

... but I can't see a Dacmagic in your hifi and I'd hardly call it vintage. What is your point?

 

[Anonymous]

drummerman:
Catcher:This thread's already been done but I wish there were more answers as I'd consider it. Its not always the case that if your going to pay for mods you may as well save for a better DAC. Maybe the mods are what better models would use but expect you to pay more for? I don't know because I don't know about these things. I just know that when I was looking into buying a vintage tuner a lot of people on specialist forums bought 70s tuners, modded them and claimed they were better than present day tuners costing far more money.

Try it and you'll know ...

... but I can't see a Dacmagic in your hifi and I'd hardly call it vintage. What is your point?

I'm going to buy a dacmagic to use with a squeezebox. I dont know what's with the attitude. Its hardly a difficult point to grasp. Maybe some equipment with mods is better than a more expensive piece of equipment in some cases?

As far as "try it and you'll know" I would have thought one of the points of hifi forums is to canvas opinions on modifications or pieces of equipment its difficult to audition.

 

[Anonymous]

Catcher:

As far as "try it and you'll know" I would have thought one of the points of hifi forums is to canvas opinions on modifications or pieces of equipment its difficult to audition.

It is, but as you can see very few people have had the chance to try this mod yet so no opinions really. I am also curious but most likely won't be one of the first to try...

 

[RCduck7]

I read they did modifications on previous DAC models from Cambridge audio.

There should be with these modified DAC's out there.

I'm also very curious about it.

Funny how most people post when they want to buy something but not so to share their experiences with it.

 

[RCduck7]

The sewage man:

On ebay there is an advert that offers a Level 2 upgrade for a Cambridge Audio Dac Magic for £180. This is the spec they offer.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cambridge-Audio-DacMagic-DAC-Level-2-Audio-Upgrade_W0QQitemZ250395767991QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_CDPlayerSeparates?hash=item250395767991&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1300%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

We have two levels of upgrades available; both levels markedly improve the sound quality of inputs via the coaxial, optical; and USB when connected to the digital output of your CD player or streaming lossless music from your PC or MAC.

*Level-2 Upgrade only.

DacMagic Level-2 Upgrade

þ Panasonic FC analogue power supply capacitors.
þ Sanyo OSCON SP analogue regulation bypass capacitors.
þ Super-regulator 3 for analogue supply (DAC).
þ Panasonic FC DAC regulation bypass capacitors.
þ Sanyo OSCON SP for digital regulation bypass (clock).
þ 2x Panasonic FC digital power supply capacitors.
þ 2x Panasonic FC digital regulation bypass capacitors.
þ Sanyo OSCON SP for DSP decoupling.
þ Sanyo OSCON SP digital input decoupling.
þ Rubycon ZA decoupling for logic circuits.
þ 4x LME49720 for low-pass filter.

I have just bought a Cambridge Audio Dac Magic. I have M/S Mezzo 6 speakers. Is it worth me getting an upgrade, or a decent CD player with a Dac built in?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cambridge-Aud...14&_trkparms=72:1300|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

I had a question about the modification for the seller on Ebay and emailed him.

I asked him if the mod would include a better or modified external power supply like the one Russ Andrews is selling for example, which i guessed is not the case.

http://www.russandrews.com/product.asp?lookup=1&region=UK&currency=GBP&pf_id=1882&customer_id=PAA2419048409077IIQWVVIMQBYWMKPF

This is what he wrote...

Hi Dany, the power supply for the DacMagic is an AC-AC converter, 240V to 12V (approx). When we modify the DacMagic we improve the internal power supplies, we do not replace the AC-AC converter. I do not know how much better the Russ Andrews supply will be compared to the original. The best solution would be to buy a high-grade linear supply like those from CI Audio. What I can tell you is that the modified DacMagic even with the original AC-AC supply is streets ahead in sound quality! Kind Regards, Mark Bartlett

 

[RCduck7]

In the meantime i have been looking on the website of CI Audio for the power supply, the VAC-1 (159$) and is 120/240V input and 14v output.

That's 2v over the stock dacmagic power supply but that's gonna do no harm.

http://www.ciaudio.com/

There's many promising reviews on it to and it defenitly looks more solid then the Russ Andrews.

But i'm getting ahead of myself, there's still no feedback of the Andrews yet...