Cambridge Audio DacMagic

Cambridge Audio DacMagic
alaScore 89

85 reviews

May, 2013

We have collected and analyzed 15 expert reviews and 70 user reviews from international sources. Experts rate this product 87/100 and users rate it 95/100. The average review date is Sep 20, 2009. We have compared these reviews to 81818 reviews from other Receivers & Amplifiers. The alaScore™ for this product is 89/100 = Very good. Last update: May 23, 2013.

Review analysis

(Based on 85 reviews)

Expert Reviews  

User Reviews  

Showing 1 - 10 of 44 Show Reviews: in English | in other languages (46)

Expert review by:

Review: Cambridge Audio DacMagic

 

At $429, the DacMagic is not a device for everyone, but if you do have good audio equipment, it'll definitely make your music sound much better.

There are a wide range of DAC chips, ranging from very low-cost to very expensive. At the low end, a DAC chip may be used in a cheap PC soundcard or throw-away MP3 player. At the high end, expensive DAC chips are found inside top-of-the-line CD...

Consumer review by:

Better than one of the best consumer PCI Audio Cards

 

Weirdly this is an upgrade for me from the Asus Xonar Essence STX, which technically has the better DAC chip. Despite the claims about how this sound card is one of the best not only because of the "high quality" gold audio capacitors but the EMI...

Consumer review by:

Excellent

 

Just connect it to my sound equipment and musical instruments came to life, listening to music from another perspective. Good construction and great looks. Recommended!

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Consumer review by:

Simply excellent

 

I originally bought a CA Azur 640C CD player which produced excellent CD rendering with the Azur 640A amplifier. After I started ripping my CDs to store on my ZEN player, I started to like the idea of not having to change CDs every time I wanted to...

Consumer review by:

Superb value for the money but possible caveat

 

Consumer review by:

DacMagic vs V-DAC. DacMagic has the value & V-DAC has the magic.

 

Consumer review by:

DacMagic vs V-DAC. DacMagic has the value & V-DAC has the magic.

 

Being a budget stereophile, I was looking forward to improving the sound of my Zone-2 setup, consisting of a pair Mordaunt Short 902i bookshelf speakers on BTech BT-77 stands

Consumer review by:

My first DAC, am impressed

 

Consumer review by:

Value for your money

 

Consumer review by:

Value for your money

 

Value for your money

For those looking for bang for the buck in performance this is a sweet spot. You can do better for MUCH more money, but at this price I see little competition. Many connection options like USB, optical and S/PDIF and outputs too with great sound. ...

Product Specifications

Enjoy digital music like never before... Adapted Time Filtering (ATF) asynchronous upsampling technology might sound complicated but the benefits are instantly audible. Essentially it converts 16-24 bit audio to 24 bit/192kHz so you hear so much more from compressed material. Meanwhile a 32 bit Digital Signal Processor (DSP) eradicates jitter which is especially effective with hard disk playback from PCs or Macintosh computers. Whether your digital music collection is stored on a PC or you use a network music client SqueezeboxTM, SoundBridgeTM, SonosTM etc - the difference in audible quality is incredible! Games just explode into life Gaming isnt just about the moving image. By connecting your games console - PlayStations(PS2 and PS3TM), XboxTM and Xbox 360sTM to your hi-fi via DacMagic, dramatically improved soundtracks and special effects are immediately apparent. DacMagic is an audiophile tour de force! DacMagic sports a range of components youd never dream could be crammed into such a compact case. These include a 32-bit Texas Instruments Digital Signal Processor (DSP), dual Differential Virtual Earth balanced filter topology and twin Wolfson WM8740 high quality DACs in dual differential mode for excellent stereo imaging. Other features include a choice of digital filters - linear phase/minimum phase/steep filter - and an incoming sampling rate indicator which shows the original source quality. You can experiment with different filters for each source connected but DacMagic always remembers the last one assigned to that source. Its flexible and easy to set-up Up to two digital sources - network music devices, games consoles, CD/DVD players etc. can be connected concurrently using S/PDIF or Toslink inputs. Additionally, you can connect DacMagic directly to your PC using a USB connection (no drivers needed) and dramatically improve the quality of your digital music.

Configuration

AirPlay: No
Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB): No
DLNA certified: No
Internet Radio: No
PC Streaming: No
USB Recording: No
Web Content Access: No
WiFi Connectivity: No

Connectivity

HDMI: No
iPod Control: No
Number of Output Channels:Not Applicable
PMP Docking: No
USB Interface: Yes

General Features

1080p Upscaling: No
2D to 3D Conversion: No
3D: No
CD Player / Recorder: No
DVD Player / Recorder: No
Home Theatre System (Digital Dolby and DVD Player): No
Network Music System: No
Sound Projector: No

Loudspeaker

Wireless Speakers: No

Playback

Blu-ray Playback: No
DivX Playback: No
DVD Audio Playback: No
MP3 Playback: No
Super Audio CD Playback: No
Super Video CD / Video CD Playback: No

Recording

Blu-ray Recording: No
DVD-R Recording: No
DVD-RAM Recording: No
DVD-RW Recording: No
DVD+R Recording: No
DVD+RW Recording: No

Sound

Dolby / DTS: No
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