Worth Upgrading from DACMagic Azur to irDac ?

[danny86]

Greetings,

I currently run the CA DacMagic to a SimAudio Moon i.5 Amp and onto the RX6 (bi-wiring setup).

I am very happy with the sound although sometimes I find it a tad clinical (especially in "Linear" phase, Minimum is more musical).

RX6 being a tad on the bright side with a huge soundstage (in biwired mode) is also not helping

I read some very good reviews about the new irDAC, would anyone be able to share whether an upgrade makes sense ?

The DacMagic was bought used so wouldnt be such a drama financially wise.

Thank you in advance,

Dan

 

[g777o]

I own the Dacmagic Azure (for my PC system), and like you, I bought mine used at £100, for that money it is very good value.

I believe that DAC's have moved on a lot since the orignal Dacmagic, I used to own an rDAC, which I rate higher than the Azure.

In my opinion, the new irDac is at a whole new level. I now own and M-dac, and believe the irDac to be as good, but I wanted the extra features of the m-dac so purchased that one instead.

 

[danny86]

Thank you very much for your input, I'll give it a try, if I like the sound I will commit to it

Dan

 

[csq2]

I upgraded my Hegel HD2 to the new irDac, and the irDac is worth every penny. I was kind of skeptical at first to purchase an expensive dac (usually my budget is much lower). My Klipsch are also on the bright side and the irDac toned down the vocal sibilance while improving the micro detail on instruments. It will requires hours of burn-in for the the dac to really open up. Sounded dull and lifeless at first and now sounds amazing. However, I found the irDac is really revealing and flaws in recordings that wasn't shown up with my previous dac now show up. So, I advise you to feed it with high quality audio files.

 

[danny86]

Thanks so much, I gave it a listen due to the audio dealer being kind and allowing me to borrow it.

It sounds really really really great, I cannot listen to the DACMagic anymore (2+ weeks for a new irDAC delivery QQ).

SQ is not even comparable, like a veil was lifted from the music, bass turned to life and highs became smoother.

For the price, arguably the best upgrade I ever made after bi-wiring cables.