[Bloodoath]

Mines fine so far. It has to be a plastic issue.

 

[IceClass]

Aye, the plastic on the PSU is brittle and frankly, crap.

 

[TheDuke990]

Sorry ... wrong thread.

 

[Ozer]

Do anyone know if and were I can buy a better 12-volt PSU to the Dacmagic ? It should be better than the stock, but should be cheap.... Only want to know if it exist....

 

[ekzile]

gonna go buy my DACMagic soon enough here in Hong Kong, got offered an amazing price of 2800 HKD (you can go convert that into your own currency ). Before I buy it I'm going to do some tests to make sure its alright.

Anything to look out for when purchasing my DACMagic? fakes? faults? etc.

 

[4khris]

Hi all,another Dacmagic owner here

,i have one question,i use now the iMac as source,mostly of my cd rips are 16 bits / 44 Khz,and ALAC, 256-320 AAC,my iMac have optical output,what is the best conection,USB 16-44>Dacmagic or Optical 24-96>Dacmagic.
What is your config?.Thanks

 

[.Sup]

try both and see which one you like more.

 

[SP Wild]

Just a comment on DM's power supply - It should be the first thing to be ditched. My dacmagic is powered by my Musical Fidelity X PSU V3 - This is a power supply that could power up to four musical fidelity devices(X-Dac etc), it is toroidal and rated at 24 Volts center tapped AC. I cut and snipped some wires to tap into the pins for a 12 volt AC source and plugged it into the DM (luckily nothing blew).

I can't speak for other wall warts - but the DM with an audio-grade toroidal transformer is a must. One of the biggest weaknesses in the DM is pratt - especially in the bass department - smeared and indistinct - not with the MF power supply. These improvements were immediately noticed by me:

Instrument separation, especially at the midrange and bass, allowing more air between notes. This extra air lends a bigger soundstage. Transients or "attack" is greatly improved. Bass is more defined and extended - some harshness is removed meaning a smoother, fuller, organic and more dynamic presentation.

My guess is that with a "real" power supply unit, the DM legitimately competes in the $1000 dacs. The only other Dac I have for reference is the Bryston BDA-1 that I own. To compare the Bryston with the standard DM is not possible. With my MF power supply all of the traits that make the Bryston superior are addressed and improved upon - whilst not equal to the Bryston - makes the bryston seem overpriced. The Bryston could be considered a step above the Benchmark dac1 which I auditioned.

Though I never heard the upgrade wall warts - I feel they are still just that - wall warts. The only recommendation I can make is to look into the Pink Floyd PSU's - as they were made as an improvement on Musical Fidelity power supplies and are made to fit the dacmagic.

Has anybody tried the Pink Floyd with DM? I would like to hear if their experience parallels mine.

 

[FauDrei]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SP Wild /img/forum/go_quote.gif Has anybody tried the Pink Floyd with DM? I would like to hear if their experience parallels mine.

I have.

To be honest, I used the stock wallwart just briefly when DM was new. More as a proof: "OK, it works, let's store it away". Little Pinkie, as Mike names his PSU, immediately took it's place and there was no substantially critical comparison between the two. Improved dynamics, especially on the low end, was immediately noticeable improvement brought by Pinkie. I think sound clarity and "background blackness" also improved, but I did not bother to go back and forth between PSU-s to confirm that - Pinkie was clearly better. Pinkie also did not go beyond "just warmish" as opposed to rather hot wallwart.

So, I can just recommend DM's PSU upgrade to Little Pinkie or any other quality 12V AC adapter. With swapping of internal regulators caps and with bypassing of the output caps DM's clarity and focus improve even further... but even then, I think, it is rather risky to say it competes in $1K range. Why? Because while it can compete, it can be only one of "also runs" when compared to something like this. Balanced or not balanced.

 

[.Sup]

I have a PSU from Russ Andrews. Its pretty good, I probably wouldn't enjoy my DM without it as much as I do atm. Though the annoying part is the PSU has buzzing sound. I checked the manual and there it states the PSU might buzz because it converts noise into vibrations instead of in heat. Though the stock PSU was never warm or did it buzz.

 

[SP Wild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FauDrei /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have. To be honest, I used the stock wallwart just briefly when DM was new. More as a proof: "OK, it works, let's store it away". Little Pinkie, as Mike names his PSU, immediately took it's place and there was no substantially critical comparison between the two. Improved dynamics, especially on the low end, was immediately noticeable improvement brought by Pinkie. I think sound clarity and "background blackness" also improved, but I did not bother to go back and forth between PSU-s to confirm that - Pinkie was clearly better. Pinkie also did not go beyond "just warmish" as opposed to rather hot wallwart. So, I can just recommend DM's PSU upgrade to Little Pinkie or any other quality 12V AC adapter. With swapping of internal regulators caps and with bypassing of the output caps DM's clarity and focus improve even further... but even then, I think, it is rather risky to say it competes in $1K range. Why? Because while it can compete, it can be only one of "also runs" when compared to something like this. Balanced or not balanced.

Some of the stuff coming out of China seem to be of phenomenal value - Looking at the GD stuff, wow, I wouldn't have believed this sort of engineering was possible out of China - regardless of price point, at these prices - its quite unbelievable. I wonder how these dacs compare to my Bryston dac that I paid $3200 here in Australia.

 

[lescanard]

Maybe a dumb question because I know others are doing this - but for the purpose of not having to plug/re-plug rcas - I have one regular RCA set of Monsters connected to my Little Dot, and 1 set of XLR to RCA cords connected to my Denon Receiver (RCA inputs). I guess I just want to make sure it is ok to use the balanced outs to unbalanced inputs on the receiver. Everything sounds great and it is much more convenient - I just want to make sure I am not causing damage to the DacMagic in anyway by using the balanced out in an unbalanced set-up? Thanks.

 

[sampson_smith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FauDrei /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have. To be honest, I used the stock wallwart just briefly when DM was new. More as a proof: "OK, it works, let's store it away". Little Pinkie, as Mike names his PSU, immediately took it's place and there was no substantially critical comparison between the two. Improved dynamics, especially on the low end, was immediately noticeable improvement brought by Pinkie. I think sound clarity and "background blackness" also improved, but I did not bother to go back and forth between PSU-s to confirm that - Pinkie was clearly better. Pinkie also did not go beyond "just warmish" as opposed to rather hot wallwart. So, I can just recommend DM's PSU upgrade to Little Pinkie or any other quality 12V AC adapter. With swapping of internal regulators caps and with bypassing of the output caps DM's clarity and focus improve even further... but even then, I think, it is rather risky to say it competes in $1K range. Why? Because while it can compete, it can be only one of "also runs" when compared to something like this. Balanced or not balanced.

Thanks for this, FauDrei! I will have to keep the Little Pinkie in mind when considering upgrading the power supply of the DacMagic I just purchased. Can't wait to hear how it compares to the iBasso D10's DAC. Should look pretty nice sitting next to my silver Gilmore Lite + DPS. Cheers!

 

[HeatFan12]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lescanard /img/forum/go_quote.gif Maybe a dumb question because I know others are doing this - but for the purpose of not having to plug/re-plug rcas - I have one regular RCA set of Monsters connected to my Little Dot, and 1 set of XLR to RCA cords connected to my Denon Receiver (RCA inputs). I guess I just want to make sure it is ok to use the balanced outs to unbalanced inputs on the receiver. Everything sounds great and it is much more convenient - I just want to make sure I am not causing damage to the DacMagic in anyway by using the balanced out in an unbalanced set-up? Thanks.

No problem whatsoever. I have been using mine like this for a good while. I look at it as having 2 outputs (SE) if not using it in balanced mode. I have a tube amp on RCAs and a SS amp on the XLRs (XLR adapter).

 

[lescanard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeatFan12 /img/forum/go_quote.gif No problem whatsoever. I have been using mine like this for a good while. I look at it as having 2 outputs (SE) if not using it in balanced mode. I have a tube amp on RCAs and a SS amp on the XLRs (XLR adapter).

Thanks HeatFan - this works perfectly for me and I just wasn't sure if I would be doing something that might overload or damage the inner electronics. Appreciate the feedback - I love this DAC!