Heard a Dac magic today.

chebby

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For too long alas!

Friend with Primare i30/Focal JM Lab 716/iMac 20" Intel/iTunes/Rega Apollo system dashed off to Richer Sounds and scored his Dac Magic earlier today.

It is temporarily connected to the Primare with 0.5metre Chord Cobra phono cable (Crimson XLR balanced connects on order and due Tuesday).

Anyway long story shortened, he likes it and I agreed (to be polite). Truth is that - compared to the Apollo CD player - it sounds (to me) bloated and bass heavy, thick, mushy and overpowering. iTunes is set correctly, with 'enhancements' off, and the 'Audio Midi setup' settings are correct also. He is using lossless files that had 'correction' set on when ripped.

All three filter settings were tried during the day (line, min and steep) making little difference (to my ears).

I have heard a fairly wide range of his music during the day including Radio Paradise (192mbps AAC through iTunes) a mutual favourite station which normally sounds great, albeit a little 'rich' in the mix. Through the Dac Magic 'rich' turned to big hairy globbets of thick, overhung, bassy goo that after too much exposure was making my head feel mushy.

Maybe the balanced XLR connects will do the trick or maybe the Rega Apollo has been flattering the i30 + 716 combination all this time and keeping the bass in check.

I am glad I heard the Dac Magic. It has satisfied my inquisitiveness and I feel happier about my own DAC through my system now. I really expected to hear 'fireworks' today (after the last few months of Dac magic attention on this forum).
 

JoelSim

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I'm a non-believer too (although I have nothing to base that on except for the fact my 4 wolfsons are surely better than a mid range CA DAC and iTunes nonsense).

ÿ
 
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mattjax05:
Controvesial, how come you agreed at the time though, apart from being polite, he is your friend, apparentely?

Huh?
 

chebby

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mattjax05:
Controvesial, how come you agreed at the time though, apart from being polite, he is your friend, apparentely?

Because HE really likes it (which is what matters) and it was £200 (+ cables) of his hard earned cash. I did not want to make him feel uncomfortable about his purchase or his taste in hifi.
 

mattjax05

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JoelSim:

I'm a non-believer too (although I have nothing to base that on except for the fact my 4 wolfsons are surely better than a mid range CA DAC and iTunes nonsense).

Can we agree that external dacs are predominately designed to substitute 'other dacs which are not of major importance' i.e a computer for instance.
 

mattjax05

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Hughes123:mattjax05:

Controvesial, how come you agreed at the time though, apart from being polite, he is your friend, apparentely?

Huh?

Read the post!
 

mattjax05

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chebby:mattjax05:

Controvesial, how come you agreed at the time though, apart from being polite, he is your friend, apparentely?

Because HE really likes it (which is what matters) and it was £200 (+ cables) of his hard earned cash. I did not want to make him feel uncomfortable about his purchase or his taste in hifi.

If he liked it dosen't mean you should agree for sake of argument...... If he jumped off a cliff.........
 

JoelSim

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mattjax05:JoelSim:
I'm a non-believer too (although I have nothing to base that on except for the fact my 4 wolfsons are surely better than a mid range CA DAC and iTunes nonsense).

Can we agree that external dacs are predominately designed to substitute 'other dacs which are not of major importance' i.e a computer for instance.

Of course we can

ÿ
 
T

the record spot

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mattjax05:JoelSim:

I'm a non-believer too (although I have nothing to base that on except for the fact my 4 wolfsons are surely better than a mid range CA DAC and iTunes nonsense).

Can we agree that external dacs are predominately designed to substitute 'other dacs which are not of major importance' i.e a computer for instance.

Nope. Sorry. Look back ten years and you'll see that's not the case. Fast forward to now and the Cyrus and Stello Signature DACs surely bear that out. Professional products like those by Apogee or M-Audio only add to that argument.

EDIT: Intersting take on the DACMagic; haven't heard it, nor plan to. If anybody can compare it against DACs by the aforementioned Apogee, Behringer, or M-Audio, I'd be interested in the outcome.
 

chebby

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mattjax05:chebby:mattjax05:

Controvesial, how come you agreed at the time though, apart from being polite, he is your friend, apparentely?

Because HE really likes it (which is what matters) and it was £200 (+ cables) of his hard earned cash. I did not want to make him feel uncomfortable about his purchase or his taste in hifi.

If he liked it dosen't mean you should agree for sake of argument...... If he jumped off a cliff.........

You must be a wow with friends who have partners you don't personally find attractive, or houses you don't like, or furniture etc etc! Are you that blunt with them too?

(Saner examples than the 'jumping off a cliff' scenario you presented!)
 
A

Anonymous

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mattjax05:JoelSim:
I'm a non-believer too (although I have nothing to base that on except for the fact my 4 wolfsons are surely better than a mid range CA DAC and iTunes nonsense).

Can we agree that external dacs are predominately designed to substitute 'other dacs which are not of major importance' i.e a computer for instance.

The original intent of an external DAC was for studio purposes, that's why proper DACs are as neutral and transparent as possible.ÿ
 
A

Anonymous

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Octopo:mattjax05:JoelSim:
I'm a non-believer too (although I have nothing to base that on except for the fact my 4 wolfsons are surely better than a mid range CA DAC and iTunes nonsense).

Can we agree that external dacs are predominately designed to substitute 'other dacs which are not of major importance' i.e a computer for instance.

The original intent of an external DAC was for studio purposes, that's why proper DACs are as neutral and transparent as possible.ÿ

Bel Canto...Bel Canto....
 

mattjax05

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chebby:mattjax05:chebby:mattjax05:

Controvesial, how come you agreed at the time though, apart from being polite, he is your friend, apparentely?

Because HE really likes it (which is what matters) and it was £200 (+ cables) of his hard earned cash. I did not want to make him feel uncomfortable about his purchase or his taste in hifi.

If he liked it dosen't mean you should agree for sake of argument...... If he jumped off a cliff.........

You must be a wow with friends who have partners you don't personally find attractive, or houses you don't like, or furniture etc etc! Are you that blunt with them too? (Saner examples than the 'jumping off a cliff' scenario you presented!)

Hey come on that's a bit extreme. I know my limits but I don't feel you do.

If a friend of mine was to purchase something that's not worth it or indeed not relevant for his situation.... i'd tell him.

However, if a friend was marrying 'chewbacca' BUT he was in love, i'd say nothing, nothing at all.

It's all about the situation, surely your friend in this situation would like an honest answer, unless he was in love with the DacMagic......
 
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Anonymous

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mattjax05:What I wouldn't do is tell a mate that he should buy something and than slag it off to randoms on a forum! Very disrespectful.

It's not disrespectful, it's called being a friend and being kind- it's Chebby's friend's ears, not Chebby's and I would have done (and I'm sure mostly everyone else) would have done exactly the same.

Anyway, how would you have said it dealt with the soundstage Chebby?
 

matthewpiano

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mattjax05:chebby:mattjax05:chebby:mattjax05:

Controvesial, how come you agreed at the time though, apart from being polite, he is your friend, apparentely?

Because HE really likes it (which is what matters) and it was £200 (+ cables) of his hard earned cash. I did not want to make him feel uncomfortable about his purchase or his taste in hifi.

If he liked it dosen't mean you should agree for sake of argument...... If he jumped off a cliff.........

You must be a wow with friends who have partners you don't personally find attractive, or houses you don't like, or furniture etc etc! Are you that blunt with them too? (Saner examples than the 'jumping off a cliff' scenario you presented!)

Hey come on that's a bit extreme. I know my limits but I don't feel you do.

If a friend of mine was to purchase something that's not worth it or indeed not relevant for his situation.... i'd tell him.

However, if a friend was marrying 'chewbacca' BUT he was in love, i'd say nothing, nothing at all.

It's all about the situation, surely your friend in this situation would like an honest answer, unless he was in love with the DacMagic......

I'm with Chebby. Why, in this context, does Chebby's opinion of the DAC Magic matter ultimately? We've all agreed on here time and time again that hi-fi is a very personal thing. The fact that Chebby isn't struck on the DAC Magic is completely irrelevant to whether the product is 'worth it' or 'relevant for his [friend's] situation'. Sometimes a bit of tact is better than putting a damper on a friend's excitement.
 

chebby

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mattjax05:What I wouldn't do is tell a mate that he should buy something and than slag it off to randoms on a forum! Very disrespectful.

Where did I say I told him to buy it?
 

Charlie Jefferson

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JoelSim:
I'm a non-believer too (although I have nothing to base that on except for the fact my 4 wolfsons are surely better than a mid range CA DAC and iTunes nonsense).

ÿ

Maybe but they surrender in spades to the Chord DAC/Airport Express combo I've been playing for the last month or so. My Arcam CD92 is but a stilled engine of gloom. Time I put it out of it's misery.
 

mattjax05

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chebby:mattjax05:What I wouldn't do is tell a mate that he should buy something and than slag it off to randoms on a forum! Very disrespectful. Where did I say I told him to buy it?

Okay, I will rephrase my sentence

What I wouldn't do is tell a mate that I liked something and than slag it off to randoms on a forum!
 

mattjax05

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matthewpiano:I'm with Chebby. Why, in this context, does Chebby's opinion of the DAC Magic matter ultimately? We've all agreed on here time and time again that hi-fi is a very personal thing. The fact that Chebby isn't struck on the DAC Magic is completely irrelevant to whether the product is 'worth it' or 'relevant for his [friend's] situation'. Sometimes a bit of tact is better than putting a damper on a friend's excitement.

Matthewpiano - you're sounding like a tipical salesman, Chebby's opinion counts because he is acting as a friend, equipment is of personal taste as you said but you shouldn't just agree when ultimately you disagree. From what I've read, this guy spent over 200 large ones just to satisfy Chebby's need for a DacMagic review!
 

mattjax05

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Hughes123:It's not disrespectful, it's called being a friend and being kind- it's Chebby's friend's ears, not Chebby's and I would have done (and I'm sure mostly everyone else) would have done exactly the same.

to the tune of over £200, your HONEST opinion counts and you can't argue with that.
 
A

Anonymous

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Are people not missing the point? What does it matter if Chebby told him he liked it when he didn't. I'm sure if the friend wanted an honest answer about if Chebby liked it he'd have gotten it. People ask all the time "what do you think" when they just want confirmation.

From what i've seen on the forum (not reading every thread every day) this is the first time some one's given an opinion that the DM isn't the best thing since sliced bread, and that a mid priced CD player is still better.
 

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