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Audio-GD DAC19 DF or Cambridge Audio DACmagic

post #1 of 11
9/21/10 at 8:14am
Thread Starter 

Thread was originally about Audio-GD to 3.5mm cables advice with respect to quality of signal. Didn't get any advice. I then found out that including customs duties and VAT, since I'm in the UK, the Audio-GD would work out as being nearly double the price. Please see second post where I found some useful info. Given my average amp/speakers, I decided the DACmagic would be adequete. Always nice to support local businesses and manufacturers too :)


Edited by ill_i_bus - 9/23/10 at 7:35am
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post #2 of 11
9/21/10 at 11:46am
Thread Starter 

Ok, just in case this ends up being one of those threads which never gets a response (i know it's early but I wanted to post what I've learned), let me share my findings in case anyone else ends up in this predicament:

 

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/430326/cambridge-dacmagic-anyone-thread-ii/285#post_6098055

 

Quote:
If you are just an occasional listener and/or the rest of your setup does not follow SQ wise - DacMagic shoud be (and is) good enough: it is clear, detailed and it has good dynamic range. There are also few cheap and easy tweaks that improve it a notch or two. It greatly benefits when fed through good USB to SPDIF converter (Musiland, M2Tech, VALAB) instead of his own USB input.

Put a good symphony recording through DacMagic and the chances are that you will be pleased with the reproduction.
 
Put the same recording through Ref-1 and the chances are that you will be sitting in front of the orchestra.

With my makos, I think the DACmagic will be good enough for me.

 

Also, before I started this thread, I did read this entire thread (and most other threads around comparing v-dac, the caiman, DACmagic etc):

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/472857/dacmagic-vs-audio-gd-dac19-dsp1

 

It did come out very much in favour of the dac19 (however at nearly double the price, not sure if it's justified given my current finances). However, since on reflection I probably won't be upgrading my speakers for a VERY long time the DACmagic is more than adequete. My experiences with it are in the DM thread, but basically, I'm very happy with my choice, both when listening over speakers and headphones.


Edited by ill_i_bus - 9/23/10 at 7:37am
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post #3 of 11
9/23/10 at 1:12pm

As a former owner of both a Cambridge Audio DACmagic and an Audio-GD DAC19 (with PMD100), I'd say the Audio-GD product is definitely worth twice the price. The DACmagic is very good for the money, but it's not in the same league for ultimate sound quality. However, if the DACmagic is adequate for your ears and wallet, don't let me or anyone else convince you otherwise.

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post #4 of 11
9/23/10 at 1:19pm

Indeed.  I used to think audio gd's just another FOTM.  However I am amazed at its quality, I came from a dac magic as well.

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post #5 of 11
9/23/10 at 1:30pm

I've owned both as well. Never understood the hate for the DacMagic... it is very capable for its modest price. It is not, however, in the same league as the DAC19DF, which for me represents the ideal confluence of value, performance and neutrality.

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post #6 of 11
9/23/10 at 6:40pm

To Bostonears & Olias of Sunhillow who both owned the DAC 19 - What did you swap it for and how do you compare your new acquisition to it?

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post #7 of 11
9/23/10 at 9:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Turn&cough View Post

To Bostonears & Olias of Sunhillow who both owned the DAC 19 - What did you swap it for and how do you compare your new acquisition to it?


Ah. Sorry to be unclear. I still _own_ the DAC19DF and use it every day. Of the DACs I've owned -- including DacMagic, MHDT Paradisea, LD DAC_II, uDac and a few others -- the Audio-GD is clearly my favorite.

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post #8 of 11
9/24/10 at 1:07pm

 

Originally Posted by Turn&cough View Post

To Bostonears & Olias of Sunhillow who both owned the DAC 19 - What did you swap it for and how do you compare your new acquisition to it?


I sold my DAC19 and bought a Red Wine Audio Isabella preamp/DAC/headphone amp (a piece of gear that lists for $6K). In terms of just the DAC, I think the DAC19 was actually a tad better than the DAC in the Isabella, but the preamp and headphone amp sections of the Isabella are better than anything else I've heard.

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post #9 of 11
9/29/10 at 5:16pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks for all the responses. Given my finances, I think I was probably better off at the moment spending the money on the Dacmagic, a headphone amp (Little Dot I+), various interconnects going from XLR to RCA into my sub/amp and RCA interconnects into the headphone amp. Since I probably would have gotten similarly priced interconnects even with the dac19, I've probably still come out with £100 in my pocket. Plus, no worries about customs etc which I've had issues with lately. All the cables were fairly respectable and should last a lifetime so I should be able to use them with future acquisitions.

 

Ideally I will probably upgrade to an audio-gd dac one day, but not for many years since I'd rather try to get the best out of what I have for minimal money (i.e. try learning to upgrade/mod the dacmagic myself once the warranty expires if I happen to find parts for a bargain price, maybe learn to recable my headphones myself rather than shelling out £330 for the next model up from my hfi-780s). Maybe the day that I can afford to upgrade my dac to a new model, my modded DACmagic can be sold for a reasonable price to subsidise the upgrade. Oh yeah, I also want to try modding the Little Dot I+ (tube rolling etc) since I've heard of people getting tubes for next to nothing on ebay. Not sure how much opamps cost but I might enjoy switching those around if it can be a relatively inexpensive upgrade/mod.

 

Thanks again, it's interesting to see how many people have gone from a dacmagic to a dac19 or another audio-gd dac.

 

It also felt good to support a local business by walking into their shop and purchasing a product designed in UK. It's a shame that cambridge audio can't design something in the same league (audio quality-wise) as the dac19 at a similar price. Especially considering that although the dacmagic is designed in the UK, both are manufactured in China so production costs should be similar.

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post #10 of 11
9/29/10 at 7:01pm

There is always the NFB-3 if you want a lower priced Audio-GD DAC.  I have the DAC-19 DSP but when I asked Kingwa he said that there was a small difference between the NFB-3 and the DAC-19 DSP.

 

Heatfan12 has both and should be posting some impressions fairly soon between the two here so that may still be an option if its within the same price range as the DacMagic.

It uses two WM8741 Wolfson chips instead of the lower end WM8740 in the DacMagic, and shares the rest of the DAC-19 DF output circuitry, it just lacks the R-core transformer and doesn't have the same level of power circuitry for the digital section.

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post #11 of 11
10/1/10 at 12:56pm

I had a Dacmagic and never liked it at all. Bland and tedious sounding with a truly dreadful usb input. I prefered my Musiland monitor 02us by a mile (more detail, better image and more musical). I had a cambridge 840c at the time I bought the dacmagic and liked that a lot. To me the Dacmagic is very hyped up but ultimately average.  One of my friends bought my musiland monitor 02us and I really miss it. I was pleased to see the dacmagic go.

 

Macrog

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