Caporegime
- Joined
- 20 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 78,826
- Location
- Wish i was in a Ramen Shop Counter
I have a Musical Fidelity X-DAC powered by the X-PSU at home and I can't say its better than my Marantz KI Sig...
Spec me a DAC
- Thread starter Jamous
- Start date
With the non Wolfson 7520 i personally liked a 4032 in the line out and a 4562 in the headphone, for my setup (speakers) the 4562 was too bass shy and doesn't have anywhere near the resolution of the 4032. I can see the 4032 being too bright on some systems however.
Stan does recommend 4562's with the Wolfson i think but i will still experiment....every setup is different
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Oct 2008
- Posts
- 3,833
- Location
- London
Without the MCL5/6 mod, the 4032 is the way to go.
With it, the 4562 is far superior, without any of the random noises you get with the 4032
I'm not too worried, it's a sub-£200 unit which punches well above it's weight.
With it, the 4562 is far superior, without any of the random noises you get with the 4032
I'm not too worried, it's a sub-£200 unit which punches well above it's weight.
It shows up my Arcam AV9 so yeh i think i would have to agree with that, although i am sure some of that is down to able to feed it an analogue signal and turn off all digital processing in the amp.
I've seen one user on AoS compare it favourably to one of Linn DS devices so that is pretty decent praise right there too.
The Caiman reads quite good, was thinking about a headphone amp to hook up to a laptop when I am away from home..... as decent phones need driving, and not hooking up direct to the laptop etc...... This looks the toy for the job 
Yep the guy compared to the Majik DS....which is not actually a DAC, you can't be use like one as it has no digital input other than LAN !!.... As it is "Digital Stream Player"... But is a lot more expensive...
Yep the guy compared to the Majik DS....which is not actually a DAC, you can't be use like one as it has no digital input other than LAN !!.... As it is "Digital Stream Player"
... But is a lot more expensive...
HDMI on a DAC?
DACs usually come with coax or optical inputs, with usb now being a popular addition as well.
Thanks to this thread I've ordered some new opamps
I couldn't find a stockist of the WM8716 just loads of datasheets . 
Looking forward to testing the new op amps out, do you have to 'burn' them in like headphones/amps?
I am no expert and admit to owning one and thinking very highly of it myself so bare in mind I am completely bias.
An awful lot of people seem to disagree with you about the DACMagic. Did you allow it to burn in?
http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Cambridge-Audio-DacMagic/ - 5/5* rating
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/au...c-digital-to-analogue-converter-465736/review - 5/5* rating
http://www.homecinemachoice.com/node/8887 - Overall Product of the Year 2008
http://www.avforums.com/forums/hi-fi-systems-separates/823353-cambridge-dacmagic-3.html - 30 pages of opinions on it here.
The DACMagic isn't poor it is just that there is better availabe for the same price, magazines will pimp out whoever is paying their bills...you will get much more valuable information (most of time) from like minded users who don't have set agendas
From first hand experience the Beresford 7520 Caiman absolutely smokes the DACMagic hands down.
From first hand experience the Beresford 7520 Caiman absolutely smokes the DACMagic hands down.
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Oct 2008
- Posts
- 3,833
- Location
- London
7520 and Caiman are two different products.
The WM8716 is available from Farnell. I checked and they're not a competitor. (Feel free to edit if otherwise).
The WM8716 is available from Farnell. I checked and they're not a competitor. (Feel free to edit if otherwise).
I never said they weren't
The Caiman is the special edition 7520 ....hence why i called it a 7520 Caiman.
I owned both the DACMagic (now about £230) and ZeroDAC (upgrade version, cost me £113) and with both having been burn't in I compared them over a period of time, the build quality of the DACmagic was better than the Zero, but that did not concern me much. The ZeroDAC was clealy better to my ears, so I sold the DACMagic and used the ZeroDAC for about 7 months.
Basically, "marscay" sums it up well.
If you are happy with the DACMagic (which you seem to be), that really is all that matters (to you)!
The DACMagic isn't poor it is just that there is better availabe for the same price, magazines will pimp out whoever is paying their bills...you will get much more valuable information (most of time) from like minded users who don't have set agendas
From first hand experience the Beresford 7520 Caiman absolutely smokes the DACMagic hands down.
Which is why I posted the 30 page thread over at AVforums on it, including many accounts of it beating some £1000 + high end CD players.
I will admit to not trying the DACMagic against anything else, the convenience of being able to walk into a shop and purchasing it against ordering something that looks like it was made in someone's garage made up my mind once I had heard the reviews and user opinions. Got it home for a 10 day trial, decided straight away I would be keeping it it sounded so good. I would be interested in hearing the others DACs but am not willing to mail order and faf around with it all.
If you read through that 30 page thread you would have found my comments that I made re the ZeroDac and DACMagic, i.e, Here Here and Here
The conclusion I came to was that you can get a good increase in sound quality with not a great deal of expense, i.e., ZeroDAC etc...
I completely understand this viewpoint...
Yep this is where the DACMagic has an upper hand.
a) It is available to buy in store
b) Nice looking piece of equipment as opposed to it's competition
c) Balanced outputs is a plus but i doubt most ppl buying one will use them anyway
For some of us sound is far more important than looks, i tolerated the ugly looks from an Onkyo receiver ok for almost a year because it's HT performance was very decent for the money.
Same goes for the Beresford DAC's ...they aint no piece of art, very plain looking but it has the goods underneath at a nice price which is what matters afaiac.
The difference being audiophiles wouldn't care if it came in a baked bean tin can if it sounds the ********.
As long as you're happy what does it matter, as i said the DM is a good unit but there is always something better just around the corner ...that just the way it is.
Damm you OcUK, my stuff came today, I played a couple of songs, fitted the new electronics and listened to them again.
Wider soundstage, warmer sound, better controlled highs and lows and clearer instruments.
HD595's sound the best they've been so far as does my nad 302 & WD 9.1's but the difference is far less obvious with my speakers. Time for an upgrade methinks.
Wider soundstage, warmer sound, better controlled highs and lows and clearer instruments.
HD595's sound the best they've been so far as does my nad 302 & WD 9.1's but the difference is far less obvious with my speakers. Time for an upgrade methinks.