[HPManiac]

The CS300X as recommended by Skylab et al (Thanks guys, no regrets!). Yes, for the price the DM+ is a good combo despite having more functions than I need in its current usage. I had no trouble at all with the CA USB 2.0 drivers so that may have influenced some of the bad reports as well.

 

[longbowbbs]

My thoughts as well. I will publicly admit it.....yes...I read the manual before I hooked it up,,,There, I said it....Don't revoke the MAN card please!

Using the DM+ to do the switching is handy for me since my CSP2+ only has 2 inputs....

 

[longbowbbs]

Here is a review of the DacMagic Plus from Secrets of Home Theater HiFi:
 
 
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/dacs/dacs-reviews/cambridge-audio-dacmagic-plus.html

 

[jakubikpeter]

Hi everyone, I would like to ask for an advice. I have recently bought Beyerdynamics 770 Premium 250Ohm, they will be driven by amplifier Denon AVR 2108 playing mostly CD/burned/Mp3s from Denon CD player 510 and played on stereo bi-amped B&W 685s - and now headphones alternatively. I was looking for multiuse DAC/preamp with USB and Cambridge audio Dacmagic Plus has everything I need. I reallz like it, but opinions in this thread seem to be rather contradictive. I would like to use its USB for playing from notebook/iPhone/Kindle in higher quality. I am heading towards universal home Hi-Fi use in future, connecting all deviced in the most simple and effective way, and with limited budget. I listen pretty all styles except hip-hop and metal, mostly dance,rock, also a lot of classical. Just I dont know how friendly is Dacmagic (the character of music) with Beyer 770s and Denon source. 
For outdoors, I will still use my old Porta Pros, so I am not looking for portable amp, Beyerdynamics are just too big to wear them on the streets...
 
My 2 questions are: considering other choices, would someone reccomend me any other DAC with USB, with similar connectivity like Dacmagic, preferably below 300-350 quids (500 USD)?.
Also I was wondering, would it improve sound quality significantly if I connect Dacmagic between Denon CD player (model 510) and Denon AVR (model 2108)? Listening to original/burned CDs or MP3s?
 
I would appreciate your advice. Many thanks,
Peter

 

[longbowbbs]

Quote:

My 2 questions are: considering other choices, would someone reccomend me any other DAC with USB, with similar connectivity like Dacmagic, preferably below 300-350 quids (500 USD)?.
Also I was wondering, would it improve sound quality significantly if I connect Dacmagic between Denon CD player (model 510) and Denon AVR (model 2108)? Listening to original/burned CDs or MP3s?
 
I would appreciate your advice. Many thanks,
Peter

 
1st question I do not know another DAC with the connectivity that is under$500. There may be one, I just do not know it.
 
2nd question I would not put a Dac in between the Denon devices. I have Denon gear (DVD-5900>AVR-4311) and there are DAC's of good quality already there and they are designed to work together.
 
I use the DM+ for digital file processing (MP3, MP4, FLAC, AIFF, WAV etc.) and I love it for that purpose.

 

[jakubikpeter]

Thank you Longbowbbs for response. Because DM+ is still pretty expensive and I am
Not going to use digital in connector (for connecting Denon CD and AVR as you reccomended, I have decided to pick cheaper choice of DAC/headphone amp connectable with PC.. Probably I will go for iBasso D7, which has digital out and USB in port, which are essential for me. Also, I have read pretty good reviews about D7.
Do you know this DAC? Or would you reccomend other device below 100 quids (150 Usd)?
Thanks for useful advices.

 

[longbowbbs]

I liked the NuForce uDac2 for the price.

 

[gerry123456]

Quote:

Depending on the phones you are using the amp is fine. A dedicated amp would provide more power.

 
Just wanted to add my 2 cents here. I was using my DM+ relatively happily for the last 8 months as a headphone amp for my Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10 and Ultrasone Sig Pro. I say 'relatively happy' as I found it a little thin on the lower frequencies, but EQ'd my way around that as a short-term measure.
 
I recently got a pair of Grado PS1000s. With the Grados I can't live with the DM+ as a headphone amp. It's just too cold-sounding. There seems to be something of a consensus that the Grados partner well with the warmer sound from a tube amp. So, it's role as a headphone amp is over for me. No regrets ... having a dual-use bit of kit is great as a short-term money saver if you plan to upgrade later, or as a longer-term option if you don't.

 

[longbowbbs]

I used the DM+ for quite awhile as my amp with the HD650's. Now it is only a DAC in the chain....good value and I still like it as I am using it now.

 

[Cacophonix]

Quick question ... 
I've recently bought a pair of dynaudio bm5a mk2 powered monitors for use in my small office room, and absolutely love them. I am connecting these to logitech touch with NHT X1 crossover (this has balanced outputs, and dynaudio accepts only balanced inputs). I want to use a good quality DAC in the $600 price range, that can double up as a digital balanced preamp as well. Is the volume control good on this DAC? And has anyone compared this to comparable products from audio-gd?
 
Thanks!

 

[spittis]

Quote:Cacophonix

Is the volume control good on this DAC?

 
 
If you mean the knob itself, it's allright, not as bad as some make it sound in my opinion. But sure it would be nice to have some kind of indicator at what level it is. The knob has a good amount of resistance when you turn it, so it's easy to get precisely the desired volume level when you're listening.
 
----------------------------
 
Unrelated to the quoted text, I want to add something about setting this DAC up. I recently got it myself, and I felt really dumb when I couldn't figure out how to enable the USB 2.0 mode. The manual and several posts on the internet basically quoting the manual says:
 
"To change USB class, press in the Filter/Phase button during power up. One of the digital input source LEDs will illuminate to indicate current USB setting."
 
Maybe it's just my english comprehension that is failing, but I spent about half an hour trying to get it to work, pressing the Filter/Phase button during the power on, which means that I pressed it just after pressing the power button to turn it on, when the LEDs are flashing one by one to show that it is starting up. Well, to actually make it work, you must press and hold in the Filter/Phase button BEFORE you power the device on. I don't know why it took me so long to even try that.
 
So to switch to USB 2.0 mode after connecting the device the first time, you
 
1. Switch it off
2. Press and hold the "Filter/Phase" button
3. Turn the device on, the "Digital 1" LED will light up
4. Using the volume knob, turn it to choose "Digital 2"
5. Press the volume knob to choose it, the device will restart by itself
6. Now you can install the driver required for this mode from Cambridge Audio themselves, here
 
If you try to install the driver before switching USB modes the installer won't find the device and claim it's not connected.
 
I hope I made it so clear that it can help someone else in the future

 

[longbowbbs]

Considering how most peoples computers are (USB 2.0) it is too bad that is not the default from the factory.

 

[fomoz]

Hi guys,

Does anyone know if the Ext. Device USB port can be used for anything else than the BT100 Bluetooth receiver? Can it be used with other Bluetooth receivers? Could there technically be a way for me to connect my phone (Galaxy S2) directly to it and push music from the phone to the DacMagic Plus with the phone acting as a Bluetooth receiver?

Or maybe it would be simpler to just use the USB DAC feature, I just need the right wire for it.

Thanks!

 

[longbowbbs]

According to the manual it only works for the BT100 device. Use a USB A to USB B cable for connecting to a PC/Mac and you should be fine.

 

[Aest]

Hi, I stumbled into this forum searching for a dac/amp for my studio monitors, behringer b3031a. Dacmagic plus seems alright for its price and has the necessary features/outputs i need.
 
One problem though, to run ASIO my netbook requires at least a 1.6Ghz core 2 or amd equivalent cpu. My cpu is a Intel atom 1.6Ghz.. rest of the specs seems to go through, 2gb ram, UCHI, usb 2.0. 
Would my netbook get issues with ASIO? In that case this dac is pretty much useless for me. If someone knows a good alternative dac/amp i'd appreciate the tip. I'm curious about the more expensive musical fidelity m1 dac, seems a whole lot better sound-wise than dacmagic, but not sure about the m1's amp, if it even has one. I want good sound for my headphones as well. so hmm
 
bare in mind i'm very new on this subject, hi-fi/dac and amps and all that. so just any advice would be helpful.
 
peace