some advice please, witch dac musical fidelity m1 sdac vs cambridge audio stream magic 6 ?

[anis93]

hi guys, i need some advise please , i m about to get a dac , but i don t now witch one i need to go for and i can t demo them in the same place , witch one in your opinion have a better dac and best musicality . thank s in advance for your help.

I LISTEN SOME FUNK , DISCO , JAZZ , CLASSIC , HIP HOP AND ROCK , I LIKE DEEP AND FAST PUNCHY BASS, NICE TREEBLE , I LIKE TO HEAR THE DRUM AND BASS ETC... AND REALLY CLEAR MIDRANGE

 

[steve_1979]

Measurements of the Cambridge Audio DACmagic shows that its distortion levels are so low that it is effectively audibly transparent. This means that it will sound identical to the best DAC's available at any price (as they will also have very low distortion and sound audibly transparent too). Clicky

I would guess that the same could probably be said about the CA StreamMagic.

It is possible that the Music Fidelity may well sound either identical or different to the CA but if it does sound different then that will only be because it has higher distortion levels. That's not necessarily a bad thing though as that different sound may sound more 'musical' and pleasant to your ears.

 

[tino]

What will you be connecting to? For example the Stream Magic has balanced XLR outputs, but the S-DAC does not. The S-DAC on the other hand has Bluetooth, but it's an option on the Stream Magic. The S-DAC has analogue inputs and can act as a pre-amp for those inputs. It also has an extra coaxial digital input. Can't comment on the sound because I haven't heard either, but I'm guessing both are quite decent.

 

[anis93]

thank for your reply , i demo the musical fidelity m1 sdac with my macbook pro , the sound was to lay back, more open , more clear, but de dynamique was bad we swap and try with audirvana plus without the musical fidelity m1 sdac , macbook pro to from the jack to the amp , and the sound was more dynamique ,clear , punchy , no lay back at all..... what the deal !!!! audirvana plus software sound bettrer than the musical fidelity. i could say that i don t like the sound of this dac ... tomorrow i will tried the cambridege audio stream magic see how it s sound like....hopefuly i will get a better experience.

tino will connect my macbook pro with an usb cable to the dac and phono to the amp .

 

[iQ Speakers]

The Stream Magic 6 is a streamer primarily yes it can be used as a DAC and as such has more functions but if you dont need the streamer bit a very expensive option, CA audio's DAC is the DacMagic.

 

[davedotco]

thank for your reply , i demo the musical fidelity m1 sdac with my macbook pro , the sound was to lay back, more open , more clear, but de dynamique was bad we swap and try with audirvana plus without the musical fidelity m1 sdac , macbook pro to from the jack to the amp , and the sound was more dynamique ,clear , punchy , no lay back at all..... what the deal !!!! audirvana plus software sound bettrer than the musical fidelity. i could say that i don t like the sound of this dac ... tomorrow i will tried the cambridege audio stream magic see how it s sound like....hopefuly i will get a better experience.

tino will connect my macbook pro with an usb cable to the dac and phono to the amp .

If you are using a Macbook as a source, then a usb dac is the best bet. As Steve pointed out, 'audibly transparent' dacs are not expensive, the Odac costs around £100 and is excellent, as are several price competitive alternatives.

If you pay more than that you are mostly getting additional functionality and 'designer' voicing.

Most of the differences you describe hearing are level related, there really is not that much difference between modern dacs, and the extra expense of 'better' dacs is probably better utilised by buying a better amp or speakers.