Cambridge Audio DacMagic xs hssing issues

foster grant · 22 May 2018 at 18:42

OK so i have one of those USB DacMagic from Cambridge Audio to use with my lappy and Headphones , but all I'm getting is a fuzzy hissing noise , anyone know how to fix it please ?

Thanks

danoliver1 · 23 May 2018 at 10:25

Which model is it exactly?
have you installed the drivers from ca's website?
What program are you using to play your music?

jpaul · 23 May 2018 at 10:48

also (I had one on evaluation from RS) have you used the ASIO drivers ?

foster grant said:
but all I'm getting is a fuzzy hissing noise

perhaps I misunderstood - you have no music JUST fuzzzy hissing ?

foster grant · 23 May 2018 at 13:31

OK It's a DacMagic xs , OK so I did install the Driver from CA's website and now everything seems fine

, should I also install the ASIO Drivers too ?

danoliver1 · 23 May 2018 at 14:42

foster grant said:
OK It's a DacMagic xs , OK so I did install the Driver from CA's website and now everything seems fine , should I also install the ASIO Drivers too ?

No harm in installing asio drivers as well but it will only work if your playback software supports asio output. AFAIK jriver, foobar and winamp have asio or wasapi plugins.

jpaul · 23 May 2018 at 17:12

When I tried the sound with ASIO it was a better sound to my ears,
you avoid using the windows soundmixer, or it's potential re-sampling (eg 44.1 Khz->48Khz) or floating point translation.
(gives lower latency too but not important for music streaming)

(@danoliver1 don't know if you have tried https://www.vb-audio.com/Voicemeeter/banana.htm, but seems this may ensure spotify/other sounds go exclusively to a soundcard ?)

foster grant · 23 May 2018 at 19:08

OK guys thank you for the advice, I just gotta get some new Headphones now for the lappy cos the akg 550s I use are a bit on the trebble side

jpaul · 23 May 2018 at 20:49

you can try a low impact equalizer

jpaul said:
Do you think that equalization algorithms/options in player to compensate for dac/headphones is really viable in a portable player or does it significantly impact sound quality ? (so you cannot really make up for any deficiencies in headphones or dac)

[I had a dacmagic XS in audition with a MEE matrix headphones but resorted to 'Room EQ wizard' to try and improve this 'bright' dac, which I eventually returned]