Upgrading power supply to Cambridge Audio DACMagic

I had to return my Pangea P-100 after it developed a hum after about 5 hours of use. Didn't really notice any diffrerence sound wise between it and the stock wall wart.

I'm not sure there is much to gain in upgrading the power supply of a DAC.  Again not sure.  I have the DACMagic and would be curious to...

I think you're likely to notice much more of an improvement by upgrading to the new Dac Magic Plus, rather than a $100 power supply. A well designed linear power supply can make a significant improvement over an AC adapter (they've been known to completely transform the SB3, for example) but you need to spend more than $100 - more like $350. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveBSC 

I think you're likely to notice much more of an improvement by upgrading to the new Dac Magic Plus, rather than a $100 power supply. A well designed linear power supply can make a significant improvement over an AC adapter (they've been known to completely transform the SB3, for example) but you need to spend more than $100 - more like $350. 

In fact, I highly recommend purchasing the 100$ power supply but paying 350$ for it, so as to get the full effect of the upgrade.

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Originally Posted by anetode 

In fact, I highly recommend purchasing the 100$ power supply but paying 350$ for it, so as to get the full effect of the upgrade.

Nice clean regulated power is good, but you do have to spend money to get high quality parts. Computer power supplies work exactly the same way, the $50 "discount specials" have terrible voltage regulation and ripple, and often can't even make their rated output. The high-end $150 power supplies have voltage regulation that's tight as a drum, and DC ripple that's ruler flat. You get what you pay for. If you want something that's any good, buy a Hynes or a Bolder Cable PS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveBSC 

 

 

Nice clean regulated power is good, but you do have to spend money to get high quality parts.

 

Quality parts cost a dollar or two at Mouser, you're thinking of having to spend money in acquiescence to an inflated market regardless of the practical worth of the results.

Anyway, unfortunately I have no impressions to offer on the Audio Adviser power supply. If there's something wrong with the sound of the DACMagic then there's a chance that a better power supply may fix it, otherwise I doubt that there exists an audible difference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anetode 

Quality parts cost a dollar or two at Mouser, you're thinking of having to spend money in acquiescence to an inflated market regardless of the practical worth of the results.

 

Anyway, unfortunately I have no impressions to offer on the Audio Adviser power supply. If there's something wrong with the sound of the DACMagic then there's a chance that a better power supply may fix it, otherwise I doubt that there exists an audible difference.

Nobody is stopping you from building your own. I don't think it will come as a shock to anyone that audio products carry a markup vs. what they cost to make. Indeed, its entirely possible to build your own cables, power conditioners, power supplies, DACs, amplifiers, and speakers. You can build an entire system with parts at cost and not pay a dime more than you need to. That's not exactly reasonable or practical for everyone, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveBSC 

Nobody is stopping you from building your own. I don't think it will come as a shock to anyone that audio products carry a markup vs. what they cost to make. Indeed, its entirely possible to build your own cables, power conditioners, power supplies, DACs, amplifiers, and speakers. You can build an entire system with parts at cost and not pay a dime more than you need to. That's not exactly reasonable or practical for everyone, though.

 

Not quite what I was getting at. When referring to the commercial market you mentioned that one has to "spend money to get high quality parts". Specifically 3.5 times more money than the 100$ product mentioned. Aside from a fancy for expensive oversized toroidal transformers, there are quality switching power supplies out there which can produce very good looking graphs and/or feature quality parts at more reasonable prices/markups, so I think that your statement was incorrect.

All of this is beside the point as the DAC itself was built to a performance spec which took the base power supply into account. In my opinion paying 25% (much less 80%) of the price of an audio product for a replacement component which is unlikely to offer any audible benefit is unreasonable and impractical. Opinions may differ, YMMV, etc.

Wait a sec, the original DACMagic (not the new DACMagic Plus though) has a rather unconventional power supply. The wallwart is an AC-AC adaptor: all the rectification and clean-up goes on inside the box itself. You can't just replace the power supply with a linear DC one (for obvious reasons.)

I wouldn't recommend upgrading it - you're going to end up paying an awful lot for a transformer in a shiny box.

Audio Advisor has a 30 day return policy.  You could always try it.

I actually feel the sound depth is reduced with the new power supply. I have been switching it in and out for a week now. Believe me I wanted to hear an improvement. Its going back

Originally Posted by auee 

Since no one believes that the after market power supply will improve the sound of the DACMagic, I will leave not bother to "upgrade". Thanks all.

Beefier AC/AC transformer (35-40 VA) with appropriate filtering (depending on the quality of used power line) does improve DacMagic - it makes it more dynamic and sligtly more "cleaner".

OTOH, the influence of better transformer is not as pronounced as the swapping of internal PSU caps and regulators... but is much more easy to try.