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).
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).