DAC upgrade

SteveR750

Well-known member
I'm asking myself is it worth the hassle of spending an afternoon in a city centre retailer (with the attendant petrol, hassle of parking this time of year etc etc bah humbug) to see if there is any real value in upgdrading from a DACmagic to either a Rega DAC or maybe the Audiolab - i.e. a £500 DAC? Given how difficult it is to distinguish between the three filter settings on the dacmagic then I am sceptical, but I have an itch that needs scratching...
 

tino

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Sep 29, 2011
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By all means have a listen but don't necessarily commit yourself to buy ... things might get cheaper in the sales just after Christmas (although you might be lucky to get 10% off before ... I bought a £5 cable recently and as a pressie can now get 10% off any susequent purchase e.g. £60 off an MDAC).

Also, you need to be sure that any improvement you hear will translate to the system you will be using the DAC with. What other components are there in your system? Take your DAC along with you so that you can at least make a comparison in whatever equipment the dealer has set up. After the demo, you can get some Christmas shopping in ;)

PS Take the train/bus and avoid the parking hassles! ;)
 

cayorob

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May 4, 2009
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I often get the same itch. I've wondered whether to sell both my CDP and Dacmagic for a better DAC as that's what i use the most.

If i'm honest though i struggle to tell the difference between the DM and CD5i (mk2), so sometimes believe i've just got cheap Hifi ears, which is also wallet friendly :)

If you do go and listen, i'd be interested in you findings.
 

SteveR750

Well-known member
cayorob said:
I often get the same itch. I've wondered whether to sell both my CDP and Dacmagic for a better DAC as that's what i use the most.

If i'm honest though i struggle to tell the difference between the DM and CD5i (mk2), so sometimes believe i've just got cheap Hifi ears, which is also wallet friendly :)

If you do go and listen, i'd be interested in you findings.

I'm afraid apathy is winning the battle at the moment.....

I sold my Cyrus CD6SE a while back for a PC / DAC set up, and to my rubbish ears it sounds better, if nothing else it saved me a few hundred ££s and I can play hi res tracks, some of which are staggeringly better than the CDA version. I doubt a change of DACs that I am considering will have as big an effect, so will probably spend the money on tracks instead!
 

Overdose

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Feb 8, 2008
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Any differences between DACs do not seem to me to be the often reported 'night and day' situations. The best VFM upgrade that I made was in my speakers. I have tried several DACs including a so called giant killer DIY DAC. The results were unimpressive in as much as there were no noticeable differences between it and all of the others.

My DAC choice now is a matter of functionality and my next most likely purchase will be the Matrix Quattro DAC, whose fucntionality is equalled by the Benchmark HDR.
 

SteveR750

Well-known member
Given that I cannot detect much difference betwen the three filter settings on the Dacmagic, then I conclude it's probably not worth the upgrade. I have thought about speakers many times, but the S6es continue to impress me deeply.
 

SteveR750

Well-known member
Overdose said:
Any differences between DACs do not seem to me to be the often reported 'night and day' situations. The best VFM upgrade that I made was in my speakers. I have tried several DACs including a so called giant killer DIY DAC. The results were unimpressive in as much as there were no noticeable differences between it and all of the others.

My DAC choice now is a matter of functionality and my next most likely purchase will be the Matrix Quattro DAC, whose fucntionality is equalled by the Benchmark HDR.

I was with you there until this morning, and got blown away by the expensve Chord DAC. Very impressive indeed.
 

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