DACs

[admin_exported]

I am considering buying a Cambridge Audio DAC Magic, as recommended in the March 2009 "Ultimate Guide to Hi-Fi". The main reason would be to make computer stored music sound good, but it occurs to me that I could offset some of the cost by selling my existing CD player (Cambridge Audio 640C V2), and using my Blue Ray player (Panasonic DMP-BD55) to spin CDs.

Does anybody have any views on the pos and cons of this ideas? I would be grateful for any input.

Phil Wedgwood

 

[chebby]

You would be better off ripping the CDs losslessly to your PC (or Mac) and playing them like that.

They would sound OK from the BD player via a DAC but so much better to use something like iTunes and Apple Lossless. More convenient too.

 

[Anonymous]

Chebby, I am interested to know since you last mentioned comparing the beresford to the dacmagic, what was your final verdict?

 

[chebby]

Err, I have to be careful about mentioning my new Beresford here.

Sorry.

 

[mikeinbrum]

how come?

 

[Clare Newsome]

It was getting rather too salesy

 

[chebby]

Thanks Clare.

Yes. I have been requested not to 'promote' it.

A DacMagic would be a cracking DAC for what you need.

 

[Anonymous]

chebby:Thanks Clare.

Yes. I have been requested not to 'promote' it.

A DacMagic would be a cracking DAC for what you need.

Surely when anything is given a glowing report or recommendation then it's promoting it and in turn drives sales. When What Hi Fi gave the Marantz such a glowing recommendation they helped to no doubt massively drive the sales. However that was just the opinions of those who reviewed it, I fail to see how a passionate endorsement of a product is any more "salesy" than anything I read in magazines.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Phil Wedgwood:
I am considering buying a Cambridge Audio DAC Magic, as recommended in the March 2009 "Ultimate Guide to Hi-Fi". The main reason would be to make computer stored music sound good, but it occurs to me that I could offset some of the cost by selling my existing CD player (Cambridge Audio 640C V2), and using my Blue Ray player (Panasonic DMP-BD55) to spin CDs.

Does anybody have any views on the pos and cons of this ideas? I would be grateful for any input.

Phil Wedgwood

I did the same but going from a better cd player than your 640 and using a Sony BD player instead of a Pana. The result is cd playback is excellent and lossless files played back just out of this world. What amp and speakers do you have as I believe this makes a big difference?

 

[Anonymous]

hi fi newbie:
chebby:Thanks Clare.

Yes. I have been requested not to 'promote' it.

A DacMagic would be a cracking DAC for what you need.

Surely when anything is given a glowing report or recommendation then it's promoting it and in turn drives sales. When What Hi Fi gave the Marantz such a glowing recommendation they helped to no doubt massively drive the sales. However that was just the opinions of those who reviewed it, I fail to see how a passionate endorsement of a product is any more "salesy" than anything I read in magazines.

We should think ourselves lucky there are no heavy-handed moderators only the friendly staff deciding what goes and I would let it rest with their decision to be honest.

Back to topic - why not test a few DACs if possible?

 

[Clare Newsome]

hi fi newbie:
chebby:Thanks Clare.

Yes. I have been requested not to 'promote' it.

A DacMagic would be a cracking DAC for what you need.

Surely when anything is given a glowing report or recommendation then it's promoting it and in turn drives sales. When What Hi Fi gave the Marantz such a glowing recommendation they helped to no doubt massively drive the sales. However that was just the opinions of those who reviewed it, I fail to see how a passionate endorsement of a product is any more "salesy" than anything I read in magazines.

To clarify, we have no problem with anyone extolling the virtues of the kit they love, as long as it isn't out of context, overkill or with a hidden agenda (ie people with an affiliation to a particular company not declaring their interest).

Chebby went on rather an off-topic Beresford overdrive on a particular thread and we had a gentle word, that's it - as this is a DAC thread, I don't see why discussing it should be a problem (hence my 'wink' in my comment earlier in this thread).

We're looking forward to testing the new Beresford ourselves!

 

[Anonymous]

Fair enough claire, thanks for clarifying

 

[chebby]

I can assure you I have no paid or voluntary affiliation to any hifi manufacturer, retailer or distributor nor any hifi industry 'entity' whatsoever.

My only contact with Beresford was the exchange of emails when I was purchasing it the same as any other online customer.

I will refrain from further comment on the performance of the TC-7520 except to say I like it.

 

[the record spot]

No overkill?? That means I have to shuttup about used Marantz kit and my amp though! Waaagh!!!

 

[the record spot]

chebby:I can assure you I have no paid or voluntary affiliation to any hifi manufacturer, retailer or distributor nor any hifi industry 'entity' whatsoever.

My only contact with Beresford was the exchange of emails when I was purchasing it the same as any other online customer.

I will refrain from further comment on the performance of the TC-7520 except to say I like it.

Factual stuff wouldn't hurt though chebby? Build quality, features, connectivity options, etc..? That's all handy to know for some folk as well as the sound quality (which is subjective anyway!).

 

[John Duncan]

chebby:A DacMagic would be a cracking DAC for what you need.

As would a Beresford

 

[Clare Newsome]

chebby:I can assure you I have no paid or voluntary affiliation to any hifi manufacturer, retailer or distributor nor any hifi industry 'entity' whatsoever.

My only contact with Beresford was the exchange of emails when I was purchasing it the same as any other online customer.

I will refrain from further comment on the performance of the TC-7520 except to say I like it.

Honestly, it's fine - go ahead!

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:It was getting rather too salesy

That was post 6666 from you Clare - spooky or an 'omen'

 

[Clare Newsome]

Graham_Thomas:Clare Newsome:It was getting rather too salesy

That was post 6666 from you Clare - spooky or an 'omen'

All together now:

 

[Alec]

Clare Newsome:

Graham_Thomas:Clare Newsome:It was getting rather too salesy

That was post 6666 from you Clare - spooky or an 'omen'

All together now:

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha...ooooohhhhhh...hahahaha!

Ahem. Like a drain, as they say. Soon as i "got" it lol!

J.D. - yes indeed

 

[Clare Newsome]

JohnDuncan:chebby:A DacMagic would be a cracking DAC for what you need.

As would a Beresford

As you'd expect for a five-star product!

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:
Graham_Thomas:Clare Newsome:It was getting rather too salesy

That was post 6666 from you Clare - spooky or an 'omen'

All together now:

I kept thinking 'Wired for Sound' in my tiny mind for a second!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Gerrardasnails for the info, I have a Cambridge Audio 640R AV Receiver, Spendor S5e main Speakers, with a 5.1 Realistic (a US Company) speaker set to make the 7.1 surround sound. On their web site Cambridge say that running the 640C through the DAC would improve things, so it seems that electronicaly I would be better off. I simply do not know whether any of the mechanical bits have a bearing on the ultimate performance.

Thanks again,

Phil Wedgwood

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Phil Wedgwood:
Thanks Gerrardasnails for the info, I have a Cambridge Audio 640R AV Receiver, Spendor S5e main Speakers, with a 5.1 Realistic (a US Company) speaker set to make the 7.1 surround sound. On their web site Cambridge say that running the 640C through the DAC would improve things, so it seems that electronicaly I would be better off. I simply do not know whether any of the mechanical bits have a bearing on the ultimate performance.

Thanks again,

Phil Wedgwood

This is where I see a problem. I've said this on here before so please don't think I'm knocking your equipment. The 640R is probably a very good receiver and possibly better with stereo than most in it's price range. However, it's probably the equivalent of a £200 stereo amp. I would say that the DacMagic with lossless files is the equivalent of a £1k cd player. I therefore feel that you need decent amplification to get the best out of it. I would say that you would be wasting your money unless you specifically wanted to have the convenience of lossless files and/or you might buy a seperate stereo amp in the future.

 

[Anonymous]

Gerrardasnails: This is where I see a problem. I've said this on here before so please don't think I'm knocking your equipment. The 640R is probably a very good receiver and possibly better with stereo than most in it's price range. However, it's probably the equivalent of a £200 stereo amp. I would say that the DacMagic with lossless files is the equivalent of a £1k cd player. I therefore feel that you need decent amplification to get the best out of it. I would say that you would be wasting your money unless you specifically wanted to have the convenience of lossless files and/or you might buy a seperate stereo amp in the future.

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone else can add to / expand on this point, as to be honest it's the opposite of what I've been lead to believe. I'm doing a bit of research at the moment as I'm planning on purchasing my first 'proper' hi-fi in the near future. I have a moderate sized CD collection, but currently listen to everything through my PC via foobar, a Trends external DAC and AE's Aego M active speakers. I enjoy the convenience of having my music collection stored on a HDD, but am looking to upgrade this setup to something a little more 'hi-fi' - mainly involving proper amplification and speakers. My budget will fall somewhere between £1000 (preferable) - £2000 (very top end!), depending on what I can get for my money.

In theory I see no reason why this kind of setup cannot be at least the equivalent of CD in terms of sound quality, and was therefore seriously considering not bothering with a CD player in my setup (giving me more money to spend elsewhere). However I was told that CD still beats HDD music (lossless obviously) in terms of the sound quality you get for your money. Gerrardasnails' quote above suggests that you actually get more for your money using a computer-based setup through a DAC than you would by going the more 'traditional' route.

What are others' opinions on this?