DacMagic - will all you connect sound the same?

[Peter Larsen]

I have a DacMagic that I use for my Cambridge 640C V2 with great sound improvement.

I have thought about buying the 540D V2 dvd-player from the same brand. Will I get the exact same sound playing CD's from the dvd-player as from my CD-player if I use the DacMagic to make the sound? The reason is that my stereo components and dvd-player are placed together, so if I could just have the dvd-player do all the work with no sound degredation, I could loose a unit on my already crammed shelf. I have a Denon dvd-player as of now. But does the players transport also have something significant to say for the end sound? Will any player with digital out connected to the DacMagic be completely in the DacMagics hands when it comes to the sound?

Best, Peter 

 

[John Duncan]

I found that the transport does have a say, yes. Obviously any source will have the same general tonality given the same DAC, but I found that lossless files had better timing and coherence than a CD player, which in turn had better back-to-front imaging than a Pioneer DVD player as sources. However, this was an 800 quid CD player versus a DVD player which cost a tenth of that, and the Pioneer still sounded rather good.

Now, I love the 640c v2 (it was my last player before my Primare), but I suspect that the DVD player would come really very close to it with a DACMagic in tow. To me, an ideal compromise would be to add streaming to your system for critical listening (where it really will be high end), and use the 540D plus DACMagic for when you just want to chuck in a disc.........

 

[Anonymous]

Streaming really is a great way to bypass the whole 'transport' question. The key, as most of us know is having a great lossless file to begin with.

 

[Peter Larsen]

It may be a stupid question, since you have listed your equipment, but what do you use to stream with?

Will I be able to use my Airport Express and lossless tracks via iTunes?ÿ

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Peter Larsen:
It may be a stupid question, since you have listed your equipment, but what do you use to stream with?

Will I be able to use my Airport Express and lossless tracks via iTunes?ÿ

Yes.

 

[John Duncan]

That's precisely what I do, yes. Airport Express has an optical out in the headphone socket. And the iPod Touch I'm writing this on works as a remote...

 

[Peter Larsen]

Yep, the iPod Touch remote is rather cool. And is the sound quality okay using lossless?

I have just looked at my Airport Express and I don't see any red light coming out of the mini jack socket. Shouldn't there? ÿOr is it activated when the optical mini jack is attached?

 

[John Duncan]

Peter Larsen:And is the sound quality okay using lossless?

Well it beats my Primare CD player, so yes.

Peter Larsen:I have just looked at my Airport Express and I don't see any red light coming out of the mini jack socket. Shouldn't there? Or is it activated when the optical mini jack is attached?

Yes, I think it must be a slightly different shape that switches it on.

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Sort-of. As long as a 3.5mm socket is pushed in, it works a small switch that lets the AE know it's connected to something.

This works for either analog or optical, and the AE tells iTunes whether it is connected or not - clever! If mine is powered on but nothing in the 3.5mm socket, iTunes tells me that "the airport xxx is not connected to speakers"!

 

[John Duncan]

Dashed clever these, um, Californians.

 

[Peter Larsen]

Superb. Can't wait to try it.

Thanks for all your replies.

Do you know of some sort of chart that will tell the difference in mega bytes between a 128kb AAC ... up to the lossless encode iTunes does? How much different is the file size?ÿ

 

[John Duncan]

It varies, but I've just converted a 22meg lossless file and it came down to 3 meg. The lossless saves about 40% on uncompressed WAV - I work on about 200-400meg per album depending on length.

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Yep, generally lossless is 6/10ths of the WAV size, and 128KBps is 1/10th. But the lossless will vary the bitrate depending on how much "information" is in the file, so this is only a guide...

 

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised you find a difference playing the 640C through the DacMagic, because the 640C V2 uses exactly the same DAC, and has a theoretically better power supply within it.

ÿ

I was toying with the idea of getting a 640C v2 so I could compare CD/Lossless via DAC to see what affect my computer is having on quality. ÿHave you made this comparison, and if so, what are your thoughts?

 

[basshound]

Hugh_:I'm surprised you find a difference playing the 640C through the DacMagic, because the 640C V2 uses exactly the same DAC, and has a theoretically better power supply within it

I thought the DacMagic was equivelent to the 740C?

 

[Anonymous]

basshound:Hugh_:
I'm surprised you find a difference playing the 640C through the DacMagic, because the 640C V2 uses exactly the same DAC, and has a theoretically better power supply within itI thought the DacMagic was equivelent to the 740C?

Oh, you've got me wondering now. ÿI've just looked and the 640C V2 and DacMagic both use the same DAC (2x Wolfson WM8740), which are described as: "Twin WM8740 high quality DACs in dual differential mode for excellent stereo imaging/improved stereo performance [DacMagic/640C V2]".

ÿHowever, there is no mention of the AFT for the 640C V2, which is described for the DacMagic as:

"Adaptive Time Filtering (ATFT) asynchronous upsampling technology converts 16-24 bit audio (at any standard sampling frequency between 32-96kHz) to 24 bit/192kHz"

 

[John Duncan]

Yup, it handles 24/96 I think, and has filtering (which really works). I think the Cambridge CEO placed it somewhere between a 740 and an 840, OTTOMH.

Whichever, I don't see it as a panacea for disk players, but for lossless files (as documented ad nauseam elsewhere).

 

[John Duncan]

Hugh_:
I'm surprised you find a difference playing the 640C through the DacMagic, because the 640C V2 uses exactly the same DAC, and has a theoretically better power supply within it.

ÿ

I was toying with the idea of getting a 640C v2 so I could compare CD/Lossless via DAC to see what affect my computer is having on quality. ÿHave you made this comparison, and if so, what are your thoughts?

I did this at length with my Primare in my 'Air and Magic' thread if it's any help.

 

[Peter Larsen]

Hugh_:
I'm surprised you find a difference playing the 640C through the DacMagic, because the 640C V2 uses exactly the same DAC, and has a theoretically better power supply within it.

I was toying with the idea of getting a 640C v2 so I could compare CD/Lossless via DAC to see what affect my computer is having on quality. ÿHave you made this comparison, and if so, what are your thoughts?

It does improve the sound quality. The 640C V2 does not upsample like the DacMagic does. The DacMagic is much closer to the 740C's sound, but only upsamples to 192khz where the 740C upsamples to 384khz. One of the things I was never that satisfied with the 640C V2 was its overall dark sound. Coupled with the DacMagic the darkness is gone, the bottom goes deeper and is more tight, the overall musicality is more homogenic and the stereo perspective is both wider and more accurate.ÿ

And when I also get to use it with lossless files from iTunes through my Airport Express optical out, the DacMagic is a true bargin. Love it! Tried it last night and the sound coming from the iTunes/DacMagic team is superb!ÿ

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Peter Larsen:Hugh_:
I'm surprised you find a difference playing the 640C through the DacMagic, because the 640C V2 uses exactly the same DAC, and has a theoretically better power supply within it.

I was toying with the idea of getting a 640C v2 so I could compare CD/Lossless via DAC to see what affect my computer is having on quality. ÿHave you made this comparison, and if so, what are your thoughts?

It does improve the sound quality. The 640C V2 does not upsample like the DacMagic does. The DacMagic is much closer to the 740C's sound, but only upsamples to 192khz where the 740C upsamples to 384khz. One of the things I was never that satisfied with the 640C V2 was its overall dark sound. Coupled with the DacMagic the darkness is gone, the bottom goes deeper and is more tight, the overall musicality is more homogenic and the stereo perspective is both wider and more accurate.ÿ

And when I also get to use it with lossless files from iTunes through my Airport Express optical out, the DacMagic is a true bargin. Love it! Tried it last night and the sound coming from the iTunes/DacMagic team is superb!ÿ

This is pretty much what I found. Using my Sony Bluray player as transport, it clearly beats my old cd player (which I liked and thought a great budget player - Denon DCD-700AE). I preferred it to the Rotel RC06, Marantz CD6002 among others. So I would say that for £200, adding it to a transport that you already have like a DVD player and you are getting a half decent cd player (up to £500 say). However, with lossless files, using balanced cables to my 840A, the sound is sublime. So good that I cannot wait to demo something special just to hear the difference.