[opalfroot]

I disagree. The USB option is convenient and for a lot of folks indeed represents an upgrade but it falls far short in terms of delivering for the audio enthusiast. This product I believe is aimed at a different market from the original and indeed many DAC's - this is aimed at people with an investment in modern digital audio (digital libraries, some nice headphone a shiny macbook etc), not as previous generations have been - aimed squarely at the hifi market. So for many people happy with a small improvement in sound (ie the majority of casual listeners) USB does the trick though its not really for serious hifi use and I think CA know this (it says as much in the configuration section of the manual and online). 
 
I think they could have done a lot better here and it is disappointing that even after this long they failed to produce something decent over USB. Your right the Chinese can pump out better for considerably less so why couldnt CA ?.
 
My concern here is that ok the poor input was covered to death...what about optical and coaxial properly setup and configured - this would surely be a game changer through the HS? When I had the original DM (Azur) it sounded horrible through USB and that all changed when I swapped over to Optical - my thinking is give it a go in either coax or optical and then give an opinion on sonic capabilities.
 
Finally for my money I wouldnt use USB on any DAC - its simply pants. When you need to buy USB to SPDIF converters you know something's not right.

 

[opalfroot]

Im in the UK as stated...facts checked.
 
Quote:

 
 Audiophilleo 2 sells for $599 here
 Cambridge DacMagic+ sells for $699.
 
 Pays to check one's facts before posting
 
 

 

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

Finally for my money I wouldnt use USB on any DAC - its simply pants. When you need to buy USB to SPDIF converters you know something's not right.

That's fine - that's your opinion and its based on your experience - but I still think your average new user is going to want to plug this thing straight into his laptop. I think most Macbooks have optical out from the HO socket, but the rest are a mixed bag - my cheapo Asus netbook did but my more expensive Tosh laptop does not. Ultimately, a shielded soundcard in a fanless desktop might be the best option, but that doesn't help all those folks out there with a basic laptop and a burning desire to improve their listening experience.
 

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

Im in the UK as stated...facts checked.
 


 

 The reality remains though, USB use is rife for most people, any DAC manufacturer releasing a unit today that
 requires a manual driver to be downloaded, that the unit runs in USB 1.0 mode out of the box.
 
 It's just unforgivable, up there with the spin through volume dial with no marker on the unit ~ wonder which
 bright spark thought that up at CA.
 
 As I stated in my review, if you can get it for next to nix then sure, everything has a price / performance ratio
 however I always state my reviews from an Australian market perspective.
 
 At $699 the DacMagic+ is just silly, for an extra $150 here you can get a Rega DAC. It's game over
 at that point.
 

 

[googleli]

USB input can be better than other digital inputs if it is asynchronous USB input. Can be, not always though.

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

USB input can be better than other digital inputs if it is asynchronous USB input. Can be, not always though.

Sigh. If I had a dollar for every post I've waded through, here and at Computer Audiophile, where the merits of each interface and implementation are endlessly debated, I'm sure I could afford the entire dCS stack.
 
Asynch USB is great, but some very big names built their reputation on their ability to make adaptive USB *work* - simple as that. People like Weiss did big things with Firewire, and others are sticking with optical - its about implementation. 
 

 

[thinker]

-

 

[Timmyw]

Quote:

 It's just unforgivable, up there with the spin through volume dial with no marker on the unit ~ wonder which
 bright spark thought that up at CA.
 

I was seriously considering purchasing this DAC till I found out about this. Seriously scares the hell out of me, one of my nephews comes in and starts playing with the volume without me noticing then I turn the thing on there goes my hearing. Admittedly, this would be a freakish event, but I see this kind of thing happening all too easily. I too wish to know what clownshoes at CA thought this was a great idea?
 
 

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

I was seriously considering purchasing this DAC till I found out about this. Seriously scares the hell out of me, one of my nephews comes in and starts playing with the volume without me noticing then I turn the thing on there goes my hearing. Admittedly, this would be a freakish event, but I see this kind of thing happening all too easily. I too wish to know what clownshoes at CA thought this was a great idea?
 
 

 It was a pain Timmy ~ you had to literally hold each headphone at a distance in between auditions, especially if you forgot where the volume was
 previously. It did catch me out a few times. Such a simple slip up by CA and yet just not tenable by most people's standards really.

 

[our martin]

what do you think of the cambridge audio 840 i have got mine with performance 6 to me it sounds like a miny martin logan sound system i use grado ps1000 headphones i think you get a lot for the money i know performance 6 are not cheap but the 840a and 840 c are quite good value my friends got his with mezzo 6 and a centre speaker he puts his tv through his and he wouldn't part with it!

 

[our martin]

have you thought about getting the audio lab mdac it got a good review in what hifi?

 

[LFC_SL]

Just putting a marker down would like a comparison with the NuForce Icon HDP

, aside from the obvious of comparing it to first gen DM
 
Currently am feeding both a PS3 Slim and iMac via optical into a DacMagic. The single optical input of the NuForce Icon HDP counts against it in that respect. But then before that need to decide whether to upgrade dac or IEM first

 

[our martin]

it's plug in and play and that's what the average persons wants so they can listen to some tunes while they are on facebook or browsing the web!

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

have you thought about getting the audio lab mdac it got a good review in what hifi?

 Dead keen to get my hands on this one ~ should be impressive (hopefully), given all it's rave reviews - might just
 be the one to knock my Rega off it's perch

 
 Quite different though in expectation, one being a Dual Wolfson and the other being a Sabre ESS 9018, the analog
 output stages should be interesting in their implemention.

 

[our martin]

krell use sabre 32 chips and they are supposed to be the best dac chips you can get!