[librarian]

As I find myself listening more to music through my pc desktop, I'm considering buying a DAC. My headphone amp is Woo Audios WA2, an OTL tube amp. My headphones are as in my sig.

I can buy DacMagic here in denmark for ca. 380$. Is it a good match?

 

[HeatFan12]

Quote:

Originally Posted by librarian /img/forum/go_quote.gif As I find myself listening more to music through my pc desktop, I'm considering buying a DAC. My headphone amp is Woo Audios WA2, an OTL tube amp. My headphones are as in my sig. I can buy DacMagic here in denmark for ca. 380$. Is it a good match?

Indeed it is. I have the WA2 and DacMagic and the sound is great. I also use the pre-out of the WA2 to my A5s with laptop....

 

[.Sup]

I love my DacMagic

 

[librarian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeatFan12 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Indeed it is. I have the WA2 and DacMagic and the sound is great. I also use the pre-out of the WA2 to my A5s with laptop....

Thanks, that's good to know. Two questions for you:

I can see, that you also have the V-DAC - how does these two compare in your opinion?

And do you use a speaker amp or are the speakers connected directly to the WA2 in some other way?

 

[HeatFan12]

Quote:

Originally Posted by librarian /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks, that's good to know. Two questions for you: I can see, that you also have the V-DAC - how does these two compare in your opinion? And do you use a speaker amp or are the speakers connected directly to the WA2 in some other way?

#1- Funny you should ask- I have been comparing a couple of my dacs lately with my laptop and WA2 (work in progress). I enjoy both very much but have not done a head to head yet. I'll listen to one for several days and then switch.

I have thrown my other dacs in the mix that I have had for a while to see how they compare. The beauty of the WA2 (other than the sound of course) is 4 inputs and 1 pre-out. I have 4 dacs connected and the pre-out is being used with my A5s. All using my laptop, same cables etc.....This way I can compare the sound with headphones or speakers.

They both bring musicality and smoothness to the table. Once I do the head to head, I'll get the details for each and a better feel. If you ask me if I had the choice between the 2 which would I choose? Not an easy task my friend...Both have great sound IMO, but the DacMagic has many more options (balanced, multiple inputs, filters etc.)...

I am about to purchase a different power supply for the v-dac, so it should be interesting.

Another point of interest to you is they both match very well with tube amps. Nice, smooth fluidity.
Since I started my work in progress with dacs, I'm also including the shootout with solid state and hybrids, to get the "total" picture on their performance with different amps.
When it's all finished, I will put my impressions up.

#2- The A5s are powered (active) speakers, no amp needed. I just connect them with a mini to RCA to the preamp out of the WA2 and use the input selector knob to switch between sources.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[librarian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeatFan12 /img/forum/go_quote.gif #1- Funny you should ask- I have been comparing a couple of my dacs lately with my laptop and WA2 (work in progress). I enjoy both very much but have not done a head to head yet. I'll listen to one for several days and then switch. I have thrown my other dacs in the mix that I have had for a while to see how they compare. The beauty of the WA2 (other than the sound of course) is 4 inputs and 1 pre-out. I have 4 dacs connected and the pre-out is being used with my A5s. All using my laptop, same cables etc.....This way I can compare the sound with headphones or speakers. They both bring musicality and smoothness to the table. Once I do the head to head, I'll get the details for each and a better feel. If you ask me if I had the choice between the 2 which would I choose? Not an easy task my friend...Both have great sound IMO, but the DacMagic has many more options (balanced, multiple inputs, filters etc.)... I am about to purchase a different power supply for the v-dac, so it should be interesting. Another point of interest to you is they both match very well with tube amps. Nice, smooth fluidity. Since I started my work in progress with dacs, I'm also including the shootout with solid state and hybrids, to get the "total" picture on their performance with different amps. When it's all finished, I will put my impressions up. #2- The A5s are powered (active) speakers, no amp needed. I just connect them with a mini to RCA to the preamp out of the WA2 and use the input selector knob to switch between sources. Hope this helps a bit.

This helps a lot! Looking forward to read your work! In the meantime, I'll probably go and get the DacMagic... Thanks for the reply