Just got a DacMagic...

[spikeyfaz]

...and I'm a bit underwhelmed with it. I thought it might bring a bit more 'soul' to my current CD player; a Wharfedale M3 DVD player . It certainly warms up the sound but it now sounds like there's a veil over the speakers. Ok, maybe not quite that bad but I still prefer the Wharfedale without the DacMagic: It's clearer.

I know that there are plenty of mods for this Dac, but surely it should sound half-decent in stock form. I haven't tried the optical link yet. Maybe that will help clean the sound up. I'm currently running a phono lead from the coax out of the DVD player to the CD in on the Dac.

Would a dedicated transport make much difference?

[Ianm2]

your not alone, I had a marantz cd7....cdm1 pro metal transport, serious non resonant build, solid copper feet, cerafine and silmic caps everywhere, separate circuit boards, multiple transformers, copper shielding cans everywhere, and gold crown tda1541 dacs, £3500 worth, guess what.

my £25 sony dvd player with tin case and no feet, and teapo caps completely walked all over it.

that's partly why I am sceptical of audiofoolery.

as it happens I used to like the dacmagic, I found it a bit bright tho'.

a transport would not make the slightest difference, neither would mods imo, just look how hot rodded that marantz was and it was still ****. I have found this on multiple occasions, highly tweaked things sounding worse than budget, and its really made me think hard, and come to these conclusions. Parts are minor, implementation and design is the factor, focus on the big things.

As it happens, i have a sneaking feeling the caps in the dacmagic are japanese, nippon chemicon, and as such are exceptionally fine quality, as is.

[spikeyfaz]

Originally Posted by Ianm2

as it happens I used to like the dacmagic, I found it a bit bright tho'.

Mine sounds anything but bright, which is why I still think there may be a mis-match somewhere.

I have heard that the optical link might provide a 'brighter' sound. If I can find a cheap-ish optical lead, I'll give this a try. I certainly have no intention of messing round with the innards. I'm fine with buliding Lenco plinths but soldering in replacement op-amps is a no-no for me .

[Greg.]

Hi Ian,

You've often posted in the past that the topolgy of the design is key and I'm inclined to agree. Where do we go from there? We can have good design topology using basic components which apparently creates better sound than poor topology with the implimentation of boutique components. If I already have a good topology, how can I assess what boutique component changes might make a positive difference to the sound? We also know that boutique upgrading can spoil a basic sound. For me I believe it remains 'suck it and see' and if you play around with component upgrading, you soon start to identify components that actually do make a positive difference to your sound and also those components that seem to work well together. Taking that you are sold on proper circuit topology, what do you suggest is the upgrade way forward thereafter?

Best wishes,

Greg

[Cobblers]

Originally Posted by spikeyfaz

...and I'm a bit underwhelmed with it. I thought it might bring a bit more 'soul' to my current CD player; a Wharfedale M3 DVD player . It certainly warms up the sound but it now sounds like there's a veil over the speakers. Ok, maybe not quite that bad but I still prefer the Wharfedale without the DacMagic: It's clearer.

I know that there are plenty of mods for this Dac, but surely it should sound half-decent in stock form. I haven't tried the optical link yet. Maybe that will help clean the sound up. I'm currently running a phono lead from the coax out of the DVD player to the CD in on the Dac.

Would a dedicated transport make much difference?

I had a Dacmagic 2 and was similarily underwhelmed by this too. A bit hard and flat sounding despite looking the business design wise.

The old saying of not being able to make a silk purse applies here. A half decent dedicated cd player should blow it out of the water. You could get an old s/hand Arcam CD player from £70+

[spikeyfaz]

It seems that, just like in the world of analogue, interconnects do make a difference to digital equipment .

I'd originally used a longish lead I'd made up a while back with a phono plug on each end going into the BNC sockets. I've now shortened the lead and wow, what a difference! Much, much clearer . I was going to buy a proper lead but the £50 I was quoted is more than I paid for the DAC .

All I need now is a user's manual for the DAC. Anyone got one I can buy or borrow?

[johnm]

Try having a search using the www.diyaudio.com forums. I know the designer of the DacMagic posts there sometimes, and I believe he has mentioned some mods to the DacMagic in the past. Many there consider it a serious bit of kit! I'm sure the manual has been posted there at some point. Anyway worth a look.

This link might be of use: http://www.gbaudio.co.uk/data/dac2.htm

Cheers,

- John

[Ianm2]

hi Greg, I know some of my posts fly against the grain, but they are the conclusions I have come to from listening to lots and lots of stuff, and analsying circuits, its not very good, because like I said, I have had things with all the right bits that sound dreadful.

So I don't mean to be a killjoy, even if that's how it comes across, and I suppose either I am in the wrong place, or just shouldn't air those views quite as strongly as I did. I suppose partly I have experimented so much that one gets a bit apathetic, and just wants to concentrate on the music, at times I have been more preoccupied with experimenting, at the expense of music, and sometimes you do get a bit...'what's the point' its just to listen to music, not to be preoccupied with bits...paralysis by analysis.

I know everyone are true enthusiasts, which I am, I think!!, to the extent I get titillated and dive in and do so much that I end up wondering what I am so wrapped up, and then go to apathy mode for a while to 'relax' away from it, so perhaps not a true enthusiast? so that's a sort of bipolar affective disorder of hifi!!! one way then t'other.

...and its not nice to have someone dissing it, and you genuinely believe the things do make a difference.

fwiw, I think the ideal is very close to what you state, topology is vital, and tune with your favourite bits to taste.

one thing makes it go around, tho', indivdual taste, as it wouldn't be fun if we all had the same thing and no variety, that's true in anything

Which is fine, so don't take what I have said in the past too seriously, but the only conculsion I have come to is its all a big accident, and unpredictable.

Perhaps my posts have been in the wrong vein and for that I apologise, its probably more a reflection on me/my hifi journey than you.

So I don't really know for sure, I suppose that does give it a bit of magic.

But yes it did make me rather cynical to have a £3500 cd player with all the right bits and sounding worse than a bog std. dvd, to an astounding degree.

So that's partly where I have come from, you need to know the full story, and the internet doesn't come across to do that, along with my rather blunt posting style.

There are a few designers of cambridge audio stuff, fwiw, I don't think the dacmagic designer is there, I know an amp designer is,

and doug self has done a few amps recently.

mike creek did some of the tuners...

john westlake of pink triangle did the disc and dac magic, I liked them both myself, sadly the discmagic uses a sanyo transport and the access is terrible..its takes ages which is a real shame.

And what was also interesting, was that noel liked the PT dac, but didn't the cambridge, I wonder if he knew it was very similar/same designer, and would that have influenced his opinion?

[RetroRadio]

Hi,was supprised to hear of dissapointment using the Dacmagic units.I've used several of these with great success over the years.They seem to work very well with the Pioneer stable platter range of CD players with coaxial outputs like the PD-5703 etc.Marantz units seem to work well too.Optical connection seems to work less well, sounding vieled to a degree.Using a self made solid core cable via the coaxial conection is a big improvment over the 75 Ohm coax cables your supposed to use.I tend to use valve gear so this may be a better match.I upgraded to a Docet Lector cdp0.05 CD player some time ago but I still use the Pioneer Dacmagic combo in the back room and it still sounds good.I've purchased combos like these of ebay for under £100 for the pair for use in friends systems and they work really well.
Regards Andy.

[spikeyfaz]

I picked up a couple of proper cables off eBay (digital and optical) for a few quid. Much better. As my DVD player is some way from the Dacmagic, I'm using the optical link.To be honest I cannot tell the difference between the two kinds of link.

It's made a heck of a difference to the sound of my DVD player. Still not up there with my tt, but not bad for £40.00. If I can get a bit more air to the sound I'll be well happy .