[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsplice /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm interested to hear some more comparisons here. I'm considering ditching my DacMagic for a V-DAC, but I'm not sure it would be a wise decision...

It's a side grade at best. Save up a bit of $$$ and use that time to research what will be a major leap over the the CA and MF offerings and when you have a few hundred saved up sell the DAC Magic and get yourself that DAC.

Don't overlook older used DACs...many of them still outperform the latest crop of so called wonder chips. Try to avoid upsamplers, that is a sonic straight jacket and dead end IMO.

Peete.

 

[oldson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsplice /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm interested to hear some more comparisons here. I'm considering ditching my DacMagic for a V-DAC, but I'm not sure it would be a wise decision...

would you not be better off raising your aim and budget?

 

[jsplice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jilgiljongiljing /img/forum/go_quote.gif If theres a weakness I'd say its the bass, it can definitely have slightly better definition, can tend to be slightly unrefined at times. I compared it to the Benchmark and Stello. The Benchmark had slightly better bass imo, but the overall sound wasnt as smooth as the dacmagic. Besides I saved quite a bit choosing the dacmagic over the other two. I havent heard or even seen the V-dac so cant comment on a comparison.

I'd have to agree with this. I've recently been comparing the DacMagic against an Emotiva ERC-1 cd player that I decided to try for 30 days. The DacMagic seems to have slightly better separation, and is less blurred. But the ERC-1 definitely has deeper, punchier bass impact, and was a tad smoother in the treble. In the end it wasn't enough to make me choose the inconvenience of CDs over a computer-based DAC system. The DacMagic is very nice but I find that it is a bit aggressive in the treble at times, which is mainly what started me on a quest for a replacement dac....

 

[jsplice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldson /img/forum/go_quote.gif would you not be better off raising your aim and budget?

That's always a possibility, so long as the extra investment gives me the sound I want, which is something with a very nice midrange, punchy bass, and smooth highs. I guess that's basically asking for everything

 

[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by timb5881 /img/forum/go_quote.gif With the discussion on each of these dac's going into triple digit posts, has anyone compared them? I have been waiting, trying to decide as to which one to buy. If I had the money, I would buy both and do a side by side comparison. For the last several years I have been using an Adcom GFD 600, and it is my bench mark.

Totally FYI (I didn't know this until someone pointed this out to me):

Begging the question is a logical fallacy in which the proposition to be proved is assumed implicitly or explicitly in the premise.

 

[timb5881]

The December issue of Stereophile has measurements of the V-DAC. What is amazing is the jitter from the USB port.

 

[nautilus1982]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeViTTo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am amazed at the VDac after at least 800hrs or more I use it every day gaming and music feading HD650 I also feed a cyrus 1 amp and Epos speakers when not wearing phones and it blows me away how good it now sounds I am using a better PSU though. +1 for VDac

Very interesting! I also have a cyrus amp (3 instead of 1) and Dali speakers. How much do you think the V-Dac is realizing the potential of your amp-speakers setup? I always wonder which of them will be the bottle neck of the system

 

[aamefford]

I added some thoughts regarding the V-Dac and DacMagic in a different thread. Just in case anyone that ends up here is interested:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f7/los...ml#post6436152

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Keep in mind that the Dacmagic needed considerable burn in for me to sound its best. The detail and resolution seems to improve with time. I'd certainly like to hear the comparison with a properly burnt in Dacmagic.

 

[aamefford]

If you are still at the meet when I get there this afternoon, we can try them out. I'm bringing my well burned in V-Dac along.

 

[gypsykirk]

Hi, my first post here, It'll be quick but in the interest of the first poster...
I compared both dacs, side by side around 5 months ago, the dacmagic was well run in and the vdac fresh out the box.
The vdac sounded instantly better! after a period of listening, i returned the dacmagic to richersounds..
Even more recently i aquired an rdac, async usb etc....and I'm now selling the rdac!!!!!!
I was entertaining the other night listening to the little silver box all night, i mentioned to my friend, "out of interest tell me what you think about this"...i grabbed the vdac, slotted it in and restarted whatever track was playing, within 5 seconds this person said, "the black box" ...now, this person has no idea about what is sitting in front of them, amps speakers, nothing!!!
It made me think of the expression ..."if it sounds better, it is better"
If you consider the rdac is over 2x the price of the vdac, you can easily upgrade power supply and if high res is your thing buy a hiface, coax etc....
I quickly sifted through this post and an excellent point made was that this dac is not fatiguing, nor is it all about analysing stuff, it truly involves you in the music.
IMO a Bargain!!