DACMagic Plus Impressions - Page 15

Quote:

Originally Posted by visanj 

I'm really confused...I need to buy a new sound card (Asus Xonar STX) but I'm thinking if Dacmagic plus will be better bet when compared to Asus Xonar STX

 

Could anyone please let me know your views on this comparison?

 

I have HD 202 headphones right now but I"m planning to buy HD595 or 650 in another 6 months

 

off the topic, i'm really happy with my Clip+ and Brainwavz M2 combo (in one word MUSICAL)... I'm expecting similar 'MUSICAL' signature from Dacmagic plus, is it possible?

The biggest potential difference between the two would be the headphone amp.  Unfortunately CA doesn't list much in the way of specs for the amp section so I'm not sure how it would compare.

If you're on any sort of budget I'd suggest that a pair of headphones is likely to get you more musical enjoyment per dollar than a DAC or an amp.  If, for example, I had to choose between an HD595 and the DM Plus or the HD650 and the STX I'd take the HD650 and STX in a heartbeat.

Something else to keep in mind is that the STX's amp will work better with high impedance headphones like the HD650 than with lower impedance models so you might need to look for a different DAC/amp combo or a separate amp in addition to the STX if you decide to go with a headphone that has a lower impedance.

Can anyone compare DACMagic plus with FIIO E17 and Asus Xonar Essence One?

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Hi everyone,

Today I found THIS TEST  for the DAC Magic Plus.

There I found one especially interesting comment related to the volume control on the DAC.

Does this mean that with this approach they minimized any losses in reducing / amplifying the level of music, as it is the case with classic digital volume control?

Does is really works on this way, in practice? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xeno7651 

longbowbbs,

can you give a quick comparison on the differences bettween the Denon 4311's internal DAC and the DM+?
 

 

The 4311 uses 2 of the AKM AK4358 DAC's. They are 8 channel DAC's so that each of the 11.2 channels has their own DAC associated with them. (3 apparently go unused) The info on the DAC can be found here:  http://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/akm/en/product/ak4358/ak4358.html

The DMPlus uses the Wolfson 8740 found here: http://www.wolfsonmicro.com/products/dacs/WM8740/

Both are certainly high performance from a specs perspective. Listening to both I actually have not found a profound difference between them. I am running the Mac Mini USB out to the DMPlus and the optical TosLink to the Denon so I can listen to the same files played through either set of DAC's. Speakers are M&K S-150's for stereo L&R with an SVS PB12+ Sub crossed over at 80hz.

I also have done some comparisons using my Sennheiser HD650's and B&W P5's via the DMPlus and the Denon 4311 headphone jacks. So far the DMPlus is brighter the Denon smoother. Both do a very nice job on uncompressed digital files (all ripped AIFF lossless via the Mac Mini's cd-rom drive.) I did occasionally bring the DMPlus on the road with me but now I am using the Nuforce uDac2 since it is really compact and runs off the MacBook Pro's USB port's power.

I can't say that one DAC is blowing away the other one. Different characteristics means different nuances from each. SO far I am enjoying the journey with all three DAC's and isn't that what this hobby is about?

is amazon the best place to buy one?  any deals to be had?

Quote:

Originally Posted by aphinity 

is amazon the best place to buy one?  any deals to be had?

Other than Audiogon.com or e-bay I doubt you will find a price below $599. I bought mine from Amazon.com for $599. I am very pleased with this purchase!

I would also recommend the Musical Fidelity M1 dac to anyone considering the Dac Magic gear.............

Best regards!

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinylrecordust 

I would also recommend the Musical Fidelity M1 dac to anyone considering the Dac Magic gear.............

 

Best regards!

I enjoyed the Musical Fidelity DAC as well. For me the DMPlus was equal, so I went with the lower cost DAC. As usual YMMV. That's the cool thing about this hobby.... Lot's of great toys to play with.

The Wyred 4 Sound DAC 2 would be my first upgrade at this point...

Quote:

Originally Posted by fomoz 


Keep in mind that you're asking for a comparison between a $450 unbalanced DAC and a $600 balanced DAC/headphone amp/pre-amp

Well, I think in headfi, we care more about sound than the price~~~~ sometimes~~~~maybe~

I already got an Benchmark DAC1 which is a bit bright for HD800+ RPX35, so I am waiting for my RS Dark Star now~~~~~

Hope this system can give my empty pocket some break~~~~

There is always the dCs unit....

Does anybody's DMP exhibit the following problem: when turned on, the "Incoming Sample Rate" LED doesn't come on? I have to turn it off and on a few times until the LED comes on. I'm powering the DMP while not connected to the laptop. If I connect DMP to the laptop when the LED hasn't come up, there's no sound.

DMP is in USB2 mode, I'm feeding it from an Apple laptop.

Cheers!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sclee 

 

Bad:

1. No manual switch between analog output and headphone, you plug the headphone will mute back analog output, need plug out for analog output.

2. Very basic driver, just control of latency (compare as most professional sound card driver)

3. No LCD display for volume and display information.

4. No individual setting that maintance of digital volume level for each input (although the unit remain filter/phase set for each input )

Damn, no way to get around this? I keep my headphones plugged into an nfb-12 all the time as well as using the RCA output for my stax amp. Been thinking of picking up a DM+ but needing to unplug my DT880s every time I want to use the stax would be pretty inconvenient.

Some further reading reveals that the outputs can be unmuted when headphones are plugged in by tapping the volume knob in. Anyone with a DM+ wanna confirm this?