dacmagic or beresford caiman

[admin_exported]

i want a dac for spotify but i also want to match it to my Rotel RCD02 cdp, any ideas?

 

[Anonymous]

The Caiman. Not sure what you mean by "match" though.

 

[True Blue]

Caiman

 

[Anonymous]

Caiman x 2

 

[Anonymous]

Caiman x 3

 

[Anonymous]

blimey, so no one likes the dacmagic then?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

bickers05:blimey, so no one likes the dacmagic then?

I do.

 

[Anonymous]

Me too Gerrardasnails.

 

[PJPro]

It's disappointing that the DAC review in the mag didn't include the Caiman, particularly as most questions on the forum relating to DACs want a comparison between the Caiman and the DM.

 

[John Duncan]

Fubar IV

 

[chebby]

Might be an idea to hold out for the Arcam DAC (£299) expected soon.

Or the Arcam wireless DAC (£399) expected soon + 1 month.

It could a table turner at this end of the market.

 

[manicm]

chebby:

Might be an idea to hold out for the Arcam DAC (£299) expected soon.

Or the Arcam wireless DAC (£399) expected soon + 1 month.

It could a table turner at this end of the market.

Wireless DAC??? Bluetooth?? At 399 I hope it has digital iPod connectivity ala Naim.

On the other hand - if their new Solo Neo can indeed read hard drives usbs, and sort the damn music on its own (the Mini's USB reads in order of copying remember), then I might just trade in my Mini.

 

[Clare Newsome]

PJPro:It's disappointing that the DAC review in the mag didn't include the Caiman, particularly as most questions on the forum relating to DACs want a comparison between the Caiman and the DM.

I know we haven't done a formal Group Test of the two, but we did compare the Caiman with the DAC Magic when we reviewed the latest Beresford (as with all our First Tests, we compare products with the class leaders at that price point).

As you can read in the Caiman review here, we mention "There's perhaps a hint of dynamic reticence when compared to the best
of its price-comparable rivals, but that's easily spun as refinement if
your taste errs that way."

So, we feel the Cambridge Audio has a touch more punch and drive, but the Caiman could be preferred if you like a smoother listen.

Hence the Beresford earning its five stars - and a hearty recommendation that you try it out if you're after a DAC at that price point.

 

[cassper]

I dare to wake the thread up as I am deciding upon the same question: Dacmagic or Caiman. My situation is slightly different though - I live in Slovakia and the price of them is not the same. Caiman can be mine for 280Euro directly from HomeHifi, Dacmagic is sold over here for 350Euro. The rest of my system is Cambridge Audio 650A and B&W685 with Chord Carnival Silverscreen. As a source I will use flac from WD TV Live, optical out. The question is whether it is worth paying 70Euro more for Dacmagic (balanced outs that have no use for me at the moment - but no headphone amp wich can be quite handy). Also soundwise - my system is very slightly on a bright side, forward, I wouldn't mind calming it a tiny bit down. Any help is appreciated.