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Cambridge DACMagic, anyone? (THREAD II) - Page 22

post #316 of 621
10/24/09 at 3:49pm
DacMagic between Sonos ZonePlayer and Arcam Solo = spectacular improvement. Everything opens up and breathes.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Cambridge - Dac Magic - Digital to Analog Converter
post #317 of 621
10/24/09 at 7:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Menisk View Post
Lovin' the careful storage of your HD600s right there.
No headphone was harmed during making of that reply.
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post #318 of 621
11/6/09 at 11:30am
Just wondering if anyone else has experienced the DacMagic sounding better when its been on a while. Usually I notice better sound signature when mines been on for say an hour or two. Could be in my head though. Even one else sense something similar?
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post #319 of 621
11/6/09 at 2:47pm
Mines never off
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post #320 of 621
11/6/09 at 6:19pm
I used to power up roughly an hour before. However due to a very finicky power switch and my resistance to send it back for warranty repair I leave it on now. Consistently good sound this way.
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post #321 of 621
11/6/09 at 6:23pm
Forgot to say hello head-fiers. Thanks to the great site and community!
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post #322 of 621
11/6/09 at 9:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by music joe View Post
I used to power up roughly an hour before. However due to a very finicky power switch and my resistance to send it back for warranty repair I leave it on now. Consistently good sound this way.
You could put it on a power strip and use that to turn it on and off if needed.
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post #323 of 621
11/7/09 at 2:21am
Yes that'd work too. Right now it's on dedicated lines with a breaker box just a few feet away.
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post #324 of 621
11/13/09 at 7:29pm
I think some of you may know this already about the DacMagic, but there is a big difference between the quality of the balanced out and single-ended(RCA) connection on this unit. I can hear quite a bit of sub-bass distortion thru the RCAs. It's not present using the balanced connection via phantom balanced-to-rca-connectors to my amp. You can check this out for yourself by grabbing a lossless/320kbps version of John Legend's "Greenlight" and listening to the bass drops from 15secs to 25secs. Cheers.
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post #325 of 621
11/13/09 at 8:23pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tylernm View Post
I think some of you may know this already about the DacMagic, but there is a big difference between the quality of the balanced out and single-ended(RCA) connection on this unit. I can hear quite a bit of sub-bass distortion thru the RCAs. It's not present using the balanced connection via phantom balanced-to-rca-connectors to my amp. You can check this out for yourself by grabbing a lossless/320kbps version of John Legend's "Greenlight" and listening to the bass drops from 15secs to 25secs. Cheers.
I purchased some Neutrik XLR to RCA adapters and tried this.
I must say I only spent about 1 hour comparing between standard
RCA>RCA and XLR>RCA but I came away feeling that the XLR>RCA
signal provided a louder signal which seemed overly bright (hot?).

I'll try this again when I get a chance. Thanks for your impressions!
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post #326 of 621
11/13/09 at 8:33pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by FauDrei View Post
I certainly see your point. I was also VERY pleased with DacMagic/Solo combination.

It is just that that God damned Roc headamp was too tempting... price in Solo range, built like WW2 panzer (and sized as one as well), with enough power to drive your hairdryer and, above all, - four class A channels for balanced wannabes...

Needless to say, once I got it (and properly burned-in the s*itload of it's caps) it acted like open window directly to my sources... I was simply served with unambiguous presentation of the machine limits of my DACs... Bastard.



And that was it.

We all implicitly know that there are better setups than the ones we have. But when the explicit proof of that slaps you - you loose a substantial layer of satisfaction that your gear provide. I just knew I'd be, sooner or later, connecting something better to those current signal transferring sockets that Roc has. I've just decided to make it sooner (...and regained bigger fatter layer of satisfaction ).

Ignorance is bliss - in some cases it really IS better not to know... So enjoy your setup and don't let anything or anyone peel your audio satisfaction...

I have to ask, how does the Roc compare with the Solo?

Nice setup!
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post #327 of 621
11/13/09 at 10:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by thathertz View Post
I purchased some Neutrik XLR to RCA adapters and tried this.
I must say I only spent about 1 hour comparing between standard
RCA>RCA and XLR>RCA but I came away feeling that the XLR>RCA
signal provided a louder signal which seemed overly bright (hot?).

I'll try this again when I get a chance. Thanks for your impressions!
I narrowed the problem down a bit. It seems when you have cables plugged into both XLR and RCA jacks you get the distorted bass on the RCA, even if the other end of the XLR isnt plugged into an amp. I think there is some sort of jack sensing that engages the XLRs circuit path. I took out the XLR cables and used just the RCA, and the RCA's bass sounded fine.

Long story short, don't use both types of connections simultaneously.
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post #328 of 621
11/14/09 at 10:30pm
That's too bad. I'll look at it regardless, since I want to use the RCAs for my speakers.
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post #329 of 621
11/15/09 at 12:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tylernm View Post
I narrowed the problem down a bit. It seems when you have cables plugged into both XLR and RCA jacks you get the distorted bass on the RCA, even if the other end of the XLR isnt plugged into an amp. I think there is some sort of jack sensing that engages the XLRs circuit path. I took out the XLR cables and used just the RCA, and the RCA's bass sounded fine.

Long story short, don't use both types of connections simultaneously.
Weird problem, I have the same setup right now, with XLR to RCA to the Millet, and RCA outs to speakers, no distortion problems here.
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post #330 of 621
11/15/09 at 3:22am
yup i have the same problem. weird bass distortion on rca's if i have the xlr's connected
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Cambridge - Dac Magic - Digital to Analog Converter
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