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Cambridge DACMagic, anyone? (THREAD II) - Page 12

post #166 of 625
8/18/09 at 6:29pm
Yeah same here, mine are lukewarm. But I only got mine recently.
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post #167 of 625
8/18/09 at 7:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rayk View Post
Yeah same here, mine are lukewarm. But I only got mine recently.

My PSU stays cool, however my DM is very hot, to the point i am worried about it's life expectancy.
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post #168 of 625
8/18/09 at 7:48pm
STUPID question:

How do I hook this up coax?

I've had it hooked up USB since I got it since I was so impressed with its sound I've been satisfied, but I got to wondering if I should try coax to see if that would further improve its fantastic sound.

So I bought a coax from blue jeans cable and hooked it into the back of my DAC and computer and I get no sound. I'm running Windoze Vista and can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I've tried the digital input and output jacks on the DAC and on my computers digital audio out and in. Is a single coax or connection to one of these on each end not enough?

Any help? TIA!
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post #169 of 625
8/18/09 at 8:16pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1 View Post
STUPID question:

How do I hook this up coax?

I've had it hooked up USB since I got it since I was so impressed with its sound I've been satisfied, but I got to wondering if I should try coax to see if that would further improve its fantastic sound.

So I bought a coax from blue jeans cable and hooked it into the back of my DAC and computer and I get no sound. I'm running Windoze Vista and can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I've tried the digital input and output jacks on the DAC and on my computers digital audio out and in. Is a single coax or connection to one of these on each end not enough?

Any help? TIA!
My silly question: did you remember to change the Input source on the
DAC using the source selector button on the front?
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post #170 of 625
8/18/09 at 9:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by vlach View Post
My PSU stays cool, however my DM is very hot, to the point i am worried about it's life expectancy.
Mine is just the opposite. The DacMagic unit basically stays at room temperature, while the PSU is a bit warm, though definitely not overly hot. Could it be the operation mode or a sensitivity to input voltage?
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post #171 of 625
8/19/09 at 1:36am
Has anyone tried to contact Cambridge Audio about these heat issues? I don't have one yet of course, but I'd hate to get one & then find out that it has...*sigh*...problems.
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post #172 of 625
8/19/09 at 2:37am
I don't think I would be too concerned about heat issues, unless you're practically burning your fingers in a second if you teach it.
Granted, a DAC doesn't have to do quite the amount of raw calculations as eg. a PC or a game console, but on the other hand the DACMagic doesn't have a fan or several to keep it cool either, so I would actually expect it to get well above room tempature during extended use.

Mine does. Or perhaps I should say mine did - I haven't checked how hot the new replacement I just got yesterday gets, and since I needed a replacement, perhaps I shouldn't entirely rule out that the first DACMagic I had actually did die of heat stroke .
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post #173 of 625
8/19/09 at 4:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by thathertz View Post
My silly question: did you remember to change the Input source on the
DAC using the source selector button on the front?
Of course!

I don't know what's wrong.

Is is even worth worrying about? Is coax even better than USB?
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post #174 of 625
8/22/09 at 4:15am
Just ordered this today. Hope it lives up to the expectations I have.
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post #175 of 625
8/22/09 at 5:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1 View Post
Of course!

I don't know what's wrong.

Is is even worth worrying about? Is coax even better than USB?


mixed opinions ... tried the control panel?
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post #176 of 625
8/22/09 at 11:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1 View Post
Of course!

I don't know what's wrong.

Is is even worth worrying about? Is coax even better than USB?
I didn't test USB, however i compared the coax & optical inputs of my DacMagic. It turns out the coax input sounds noticeably better than optical. I had both connected from the same source (Squeezebox Duet) and i could swap back & forth between the two inputs during playback. With coax, the bass is deeper & tighter and the soundstage is slightly wider. Overall the sound is richer through coax.

However, I have a feeling the Squeezebox's output voltage on coax might be slightly higher than the optical output, giving the coax has an unfair advantage because of the "perceived" improvement due to a volume mis-match.

Anybody else compared the coax & optical inputs?
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post #177 of 625
8/23/09 at 1:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pariah1 View Post
Of course!

I don't know what's wrong.

Is is even worth worrying about? Is coax even better than USB?
Is the coax cable bad? Have you tried hooking
a different device that has coax out into your
DACMagic that you know for sure is generating
sound?
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post #178 of 625
8/23/09 at 6:27pm

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post #179 of 625
8/23/09 at 11:21pm
Thread Starter 
Sorry to take the thread in a different direction again but an earlier post
mentioned a problem with the PSU casing - it fell apart when removing
the PSU from the socket.

Tonight I checked the temperature of my DM PSU casing and found that
it was loose. Actually, it was more than loose, it fell away from the main
unit leaving the insides exposed. This is without a doubt caused by the
excessive heat produced by a psu struggling to keep up with demands
placed on it.

I've heard many others are buying Maplin PSU's as replacements.
Hang on...why should we bear the cost?

I'm contacting CA first thing Monday morning and I suggest alll owners
reading this thread check their PSU (after a few hour's use) and do
the same.

CA need to sort this.
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post #180 of 625
8/24/09 at 2:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by thathertz View Post
Tonight I checked the temperature of my DM PSU casing and found that it was loose. Actually, it was more than loose, it fell away from the main unit leaving the insides exposed. This is without a doubt caused by the excessive heat produced by a psu struggling to keep up with demands placed on it.

I've heard many others are buying Maplin PSU's as replacements.
Hang on...why should we bear the cost?

I'm contacting CA first thing Monday morning and I suggest alll owners
reading this thread check their PSU (after a few hour's use) and do
the same.

CA need to sort this. I've only ever praised the Dacmagic since I got it. I cannot recommend this unit at the present time.
PSU issues are no something that every DM owner needs to address with CA. This unit us sold around the world, with PSU's being sourced locally by CA or their suppliers in each country they'll be used in. THe issue is with whatever PSU CA has used for the UK, which will be different to mine in Aus, which is fine, and anyone else's.

Perhaps CA were supplied with a bad batch, and by all means make them aware of it. But that doesn't make the DM a compromised product the world over.
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