[Bernard23]

I had a DM+ as a dac only in my separates set up (J River, Hegel H160, Arc SC40 mk2) and imo was better than several dacs at the time, some costing a lot more that I tried. I didn't use the headphone amp much, and from memory wasn't blown away by it. It's ironic reading back through this thread the distrust of USB connection, it was this dac that consigned optical sp/dif to the in for me, and of course all dacs today use USB as their data link. I was thinking of buying one again to use as a headphone amp for my pc but I think ifi and schiit offer a better alternative these days.

 

[Redcarmoose]

I had a DM+ as a dac only in my separates set up (J River, Hegel H160, Arc SC40 mk2) and imo was better than several dacs at the time, some costing a lot more that I tried. I didn't use the headphone amp much, and from memory wasn't blown away by it. It's ironic reading back through this thread the distrust of USB connection, it was this dac that consigned optical sp/dif to the in for me, and of course all dacs today use USB as their data link. I was thinking of buying one again to use as a headphone amp for my pc but I think ifi and schiit offer a better alternative these days.

But also if you go back and read the first few pages the release had some hiccups with the original PC driver. Though too.........PC was kind of a new idea to play music, everyone had CD players?

I brought out the DACMagic Plus the other day and upsampling as a modern DAC was fantastic. Really made you wonder what else you would want except DSD. But if you just had 24bit and 16/44.1 most would be pretty happy with it today. The DAC sounds lush and wonderful. Really makes you wonder what has improved today.



The headphone out is not that powerful but hooked up to my old Asgard One was epic! I’m never selling mine.

 

[Bernard23]

I was following one on ebay and let it go. Maybe I should put back on the list. I struggling to find anyone who has been able to compare it to something like the Zen Dac + can.
I stumbled across Ken Rockwell's review of it again recently, he couldn't get over how well it measured

 

[Redcarmoose]

I was following one on ebay and let it go. Maybe I should put back on the list. I struggling to find anyone who has been able to compare it to something like the Zen Dac + can.
I stumbled across Ken Rockwell's review of it again recently, he couldn't get over how well it measured

Yes, but he is also the guy who absolutely loves how the Apple IPod Touch measured too. The Apple Touch and DACMagic Plus sound different.....so?

I’m not exactly sure you could measure what makes the DACMagic special. It’s just the over sampling “air”..... and it’s the same thing I liked when I first heard it. It sounded regular until “Enya” came on with her signature voice and the over sampling added something?

But yes, who knows how it truly compares with modern stuff? But DACs are not expensive like they were in 2011, at least some are not.

Probably get a DACMagic Plus used on EBay for $90? Also it’s a balanced preamp. It does Toslink optical and RCA. I just think it’s cool that it’s 10 years old. It’s from the dark ages of DACs.

I’m not sure if it’s a even a question to how it holds up against anything from 2020? It’s more about it having a fast treble centric yet airy and slightly lush sound that may have good synergy with IEMs or headphones? It’s maybe more about it’s personality being a nice addition at times.

 

[Bernard23]

Typical used prices on eBay are £200, so up against newer devices from the likes of schiit and ifi. I used mine solely as a DAC and in that role it excels. The headphone amp is its weak spot from memory.

Rockwell's review quite a lot of parameters, it's far from impossible to quantify performance, after all its part of the design process. I don't subscribe to the view that the sq is independent of lab measurements, we're just measuring the wrong things. Maybe better to focus on measuring the human receptor rather than the device!

 

[Redcarmoose]

I could never hear any changes from the digital filters?

 

[Bernard23]

I could never hear any changes from the digital filters?

I spent some time flicking between them, and was sure there was a very small bit nonetheless consistent differentiation between them. Over the period of ownership I always went back to the same setting.

 

[Nikori]

Just curious if any previous owners of the dacmagic plus have tried the new dacmagic M200 and how it compares... apparently they improved the amp. I'm still rocking my dacmagic plus from 2014. Only complaint is 2 leds have burnt out but the functions still work.