CA Magic DAC - How much Value does it Add?

[ilar]

Hi Friends,

I have just added a Cambridge Audio Magic Dac to my philips dvd player. My audio setup consists of Marantz PM 8003, MA RS6 speakers, and nice quality cables which are biwired. I connected the Dac to "digital out" and also connected another set of interconnectors from the conventional output of the dvd player to the amp to switch between the Dac and nonDac and to see if i hear nice difference between the two. But sadly, I do not see much of a difference even when i played mp3 formats. I verified from an expert that the connections were appropriate. Can anyone provide some suggestions please to better the sound quality. Thanks in Advance.

 

[spirovious]

Try CDs OR FLAC files.
You may not get much improvement with MP3.

 

[ilar]

Try CDs OR FLAC files.
You may not get much improvement with MP3.

I also tried the original audio CDs. Not much of a difference. Any suggestions please?

 

[spirovious]

Well you need good transport.Philips DVDp may not be best here.
You can try digital out from PC/Lapy, even usb connection & see results.

 

[RahulH]

I also tried the original audio CDs. Not much of a difference. Any suggestions please?

I too have the same issue, there is no audible difference between using and not using the DAC. I have a Denon DVD player (being used as a CD player), Parasound pre-amp & Amp, Bose 901 speakers. I had purchased the DAC thinking it would be better than buying a new stand alone CD player but am disappointed with the lack of audible difference.

Some sound advice will be really appreciated.

 

[rams1977]

It depends on what system you have, IMO. Marantz and MA are "revealing" if iam right. So what you can get in total is a sound "more bright" vs. "less bright" even when playing MP3s. The result being no difference. This is stricly my thoughts. Experts may answer better.

 

[thevortex]

Your setup is strong as its weakest link in the chain - in most cases. At least that is what these hifi manufacturers tell us so that we can build that ideal, bullet proof systems that are made up of dreams and hundreds of thousands of rupees .

Ilar - If you cannot hear the difference between a normal Philips DVD player and the DacMagic then there is something wrong somewhere. Your amplification and speakers seem to be decent. If at all possible, try and see if you can get a CD player (Marantz or NAD) to try out with your equipment chain and see if you perceive a difference.

If you still dont see a difference, then you are among the lucky ones and you can stop thinking of upgrades .

 

[ilar]

I too have the same issue, there is no audible difference between using and not using the DAC. I have a Denon DVD player (being used as a CD player), Parasound pre-amp & Amp, Bose 901 speakers. I had purchased the DAC thinking it would be better than buying a new stand alone CD player but am disappointed with the lack of audible difference.

Some sound advice will be really appreciated.

Hey Rahul, can I have your contact number as PM?

 

[vinod_david]

But sadly, I do not see much of a difference even when i played mp3 formats.

Ilar:

That's sad indeed. But, don't lose hope, could be due to these...

Guess your Dacmagic is new, please allow it to burn-in.
Avoid mp3 and try to play FLAC or WAV files.

 

[ilar]

Ilar:

That's sad indeed. But, don't lose hope, could be due to these...

Guess your Dacmagic is new, please allow it to burn-in.
Avoid mp3 and try to play FLAC or WAV files.

Hi Vinoth, thanks a lot. Do DACs too need a burn-in time?

 

[vinod_david]

Ilar:

Yes indeed, allow your DAC to burn-in for say 50 hours, then you have a critical listen - you'll be amazed by the difference. Don't worry your chain is very strong.

 

[square_wave]

What music did you test the DAC with ?

What were you looking for when you tested the DAC against the DVD player ?

DAC's increase the resolution and naturalness of the resultant sound. It removes the veils in between you and the sound and takes you closer to the performance. A very clear and natural picture of the entire perfomance emerges. A good transport can take you closer to the ideal. A decent dvd player although not ideal, can give you a glimpse of what a Dac can do.

A good digital cable (ussually costs more than the dvd player) and decent (rest of the cabling) and correct speaker positioning are all nessesary to hear these differences.

A DAC is something to be invested in once the setup is more or less ideal.

If you want to test out your DAC, try it in a high end headphone setup, You will be amazed.

 

[sachin_k5]

I connected the Dac to "digital out" and also connected another set of interconnectors from the conventional output of the dvd player to the amp to switch between the Dac and nonDac and to see if i hear nice difference between the two.

Can you try switching off the conventional output and using only the digital output ? I have never read such a poor review of a DAC before :sad:

Or read the topic below,contact the owner if you wish, he seems to be enjoying his DAC magic.

http://www.hifivision.com/cd-player...2i-vs-marantz-cd63-se-moded-3.html#post118730

 

[marsilians]

To the posters who did not see the diff:whats the model of your players?


The value of a DAC comes into play when you have decent components in the chain. Every dac will have an impact on the signal - they either enhance or degrade certain frequencies. The DacMagic is one of the better VFM components and is known to improve the midrange and smooth the higher frequencies. It uses the same components as the Azur 740 CDP, which in itself is a decent transport.

I suggest you listen to the music with and without the DAC in place once you have connected using decent analogue and digital cables (note: expensive is not necessarily equal to good quality for digital cables) and have broken it in for a week or so.

Make sure to use good CDs that you are familiar with to understand how the signal is being impacted.

You have decent speakers and should be able to get some enhancement in the signal.

 

[thevortex]

Burnt in or not, you should be hearing the difference between your Philips DVD player and the DAC immediately. If not, try changing the interconnects and cables.

 

[venkatcr]

Guess your Dacmagic is new, please allow it to burn-in.

I know this is a controversial topic and one that has been discussed ad nauseam, but the logic somehow eludes me and I just thought of a mischievous corollary.

Most parts of a DAC are integrated circuits. Let us look at the broad parts of a DAC. These are:

• Output buffers
• clocking IC
• one or more DACs
• I/V converters
• power transformer
• I/O sockets

The output buffers, clocking IC, and DACs are all ICs, and should no change their behaviour. The power transformers, hopefully, is well deigned and delivers the correct voltages required by all the parts. Any variation in it's behaviour, in my opinion, can only worsen the sound signature, not improve it. But as I mentioned elsewhere, all parts expect voltages within some tolerances.

The I/V converter is a little suspect. It accepts the analogue signal from the output buffers and converts that to voltage needed for the amplifier. It may also have a filter to weed out unnecessary noise in the signal path. It may also have a few opamps to induce gain in the signal. This whole circuitry could be suspected to change their behaviour after a burn-in. But if you remember my arguments why an amplifier can only decay with usage and not improve, the same argument holds valid here. A well designed I/V converter is meant to deliver the best results within some tolerances. That cannot be improved without changing the basic design itself or parts of the I?V converter.

Now let us move to our corollary. If you say that a circuit that is 90% digital can 'improve' after burn-in, would the say not hold true for laptops and desktops? But we do not expect a computer to deliver 'better' results after burn-in do we?

Cheers

 

[RahulH]

To the posters who did not see the diff:whats the model of your players?

I am using a Denon DVD player (DVD-1920) with a Cambridge audio Optical Digital Interconnect from the dvd player to the DAC and Monster interconnects from the DAC to the Parasound pre-amp.

 

[unleash_me]

I am using a Denon DVD player (DVD-1920) with a Cambridge audio Optical Digital Interconnect from the dvd player to the DAC and Monster interconnects from the DAC to the Parasound pre-amp.

See Rahul, you already got an excellent DVD player which also double as an equally good CDP. I know it because I have one back home. It's a very good player and who knows, may be its even as good as your new DAC itself.

Now let us move to our corollary. If you say that a circuit that is 90% digital can 'improve' after burn-in, would the say not gold true for laptops and desktops? But we do not expect a computer to deliver 'better' results after burn-in do we?
Cheers

That's a good one Venkat. I used to wonder the same; with an extension that - when will these phenomenon really stop? Or will it keep burning-in to infinity?

 

[magma]

im a complete noob in audio and look upto seniors for all my learning but i can wager that many dacs dont exactly enhance your listening experience always

Yes some Dacs do better your listening experience but ive noticed that this mostly happens in listening rooms/controlled environments, and most of the time the dacs are generally at least mid fi.
In a typical indian home setup ive rarely heard a sub 300$ dac that justifies its claims

forgive my noobish opinion that many a times most entry and mid fi dacs do not add as much value as they are advertised to add
Hence i belive in investing in either Good CDP's ( if you are an album listener) or a SC if you like to jump artists tracks etc
if you want a good dac look at something mid fi


P.S venkat i agree completely.im one of those who believe its your ears whove burnt in not the equipment

 

[sachin_k5]

Another post raving about burn-in hyeah:

http://www.hifivision.com/surround-amplifiers-receivers/8576-norge-1000-concerto-gold.html

I don't own hi-fi equipment but a humble Norge. To be honest, sound quality did improve after a few hours (around 50) of listening.