Both of those DACs are pretty good. The Music Hall is really good for the price. Their amps have issues with low impedance headphones / IEM, but the DAC should be fine. The Music Hall 25.2 that I tested was not quite as musical as the Ultra Desktop amp I have, but it is half the cost. The Music Hall has an tube amp out stage which I am not a huge fan of due to the need for replacing a hard wired tube when it dies.
Here are the two spec sheets for you. The specs for the Music Hall DAC are better than the DacMagic especially for THD ( Distortion ) which is what I first look at. Honestly both are going to do well for you and I would not hesitate with either.
DAC MAGIC Plus
DacMagic Digital to Analogue converter
| D/A Converters: |
Dual Wolfson WM8740 24bit DACs |
| Digital filter: |
Texas Instruments TMS 320VC5501 DSP upsampling to 24bit 192kHz |
| Analogue filter: |
2-Pole Dual Differential Bessel Double Virtual Earth Balanced |
| Frequency Response: |
20Hz to 20kHz (±0.1dB) - steep filter disabled |
| THD @ 1Khz 0dBFs: |
<0,001% (24 bit) |
| THD @ 1kHz -10dBFs: |
<0.001% |
| THD @ 20kHz 0dBFs: |
<0.002% |
| Signal to Noise Ratio: |
-112dBr |
| Total correlated jitter: |
<130pS |
| Crosstalk @ 1kHz: |
< -100dB |
| Crosstalk @ 20kHz: |
< -90dB |
| Output Impedance: |
<50ohms |
| Output level (unbalanced): |
2.1V rms |
| Output level (balanced): |
4.2V rms (2.1V per phase) |
| Digital input word widths supported: |
16-24bit (16 bit for USB) |
| Digital input sampling frequencies supported: |
32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz (44.1kHz, 48kHz for USB) |
| Audio output up-sampling: |
Fixed 24bit 192kHz |
| Dimensions (H x W x D): |
52 x 215 x 191mm
(2.0 x 8.6 x 7.6”) |
| Weight: |
1.2kg/2.6lbs |
Music Hall 25.3
The dac25.3 features the latest Texas Instruments (formerly Burr-Brown) PCM
1796 24bit, 192kHz, advanced segment, stereo audio digital-to-analog converter.
This processor features 123dB dynamic range, an 8 x oversampling digital filter,
and just 0.0005% THD. The dac25.3 upsamples to either 96kHz or 192kHz; user
selectable on the front panel. To achieve the best sound, we use an advanced
asynchronous reclocking and anti-jitter control system upstream of the PCM1796
digital-to-analog converter. For this system, we are using the Philips 74HC574 in
conjunction with the Texas Instruments SRC4192 Asynchronous Sample Rate
Converter, whose master clock is a high precision active crystal oscillator. The
dac25.3 also features a large, high current oversize power supply and a tube
output for warm rich sound. A headphone output is provided for convenient
personal listening.
Edited by NA Blur - 2/7/12 at 12:13pm
