Cambridge Audio DACmagic?

[Virtalahde]

Originally Posted by Joe_caithness

My diodes are dying too as of this morning. The Min Phase is flickering and I guess about to go out! I'd rather it went out so I don't see a little blue lighting jumping in and out of the corner of my eye!

Looks like someone calculated the resistors wrong. This should be a fairly trivial task for any engineer - makes me think what else can be wrong with the unit.

[sanddigger1]

Originally Posted by Joe_caithness

My diodes are dying too as of this morning. The Min Phase is flickering and I guess about to go out! I'd rather it went out so I don't see a little blue lighting jumping in and out of the corner of my eye!

There's definitely something wrong with the design and/or the components.
The S/Pdif2in diode which seemed dead works again (but dimmed) when I'm using this input and dies again on the course of one or two days after getting back to the usb in, which I'm using the most.
I don't understand the relationship between a diode which merely shows which input is selected and the fact that there's actually something connected to this input or not.
The diodes that are lit most of the time are perfectly normal, it's the rarely used that have problems.

Audio is still ok and I'm happy with it, but as Virtalahde says : " makes me think what else can be wrong with the unit. ".

[doulos30]

you people are funny it's hazy grainy its a tad brighter then this dac etc. This Dac measures across the entire frequency band 20hz -20khz to + -0.2 db your getting to be as dumb as the audiophile fools

the only way you could hear any difference is in the headphone amp section do to impedance loading of your actual headphones. The benchmark does next to nothing to the nominal load of the headphone drivers where the dac magic is slightly were talking like .7db slightly colored depending upon the impedance load.

Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus Review

[kgdrum_nyc]

What your saying is actually funny.
The specs are only a small part of the equation.
I've owned 5 DACs from 3 different companies over the last 8 or 9 years.
One of these companies whose a major manufacturer of high end HiFi oriented DACS,I actually consulted with on product development and design.
If you think you can evaluate the quality of a DAC from the specs your actually wrong, the budget companies have decent convertors with great specs but they save the cost on cheap analog output devices & filters.
Try a budget DAC like the Cambridge Audio which I previously owned & is good for the price.
Next try a really high end DAC like the DCS Vivaldi they probably both have similar if not identical specs but if you don't hear a difference I'd recommend you get your hearing checked! lol

It's all about HOW DOES IT SOUND?

[Joe_caithness]

Little update, narrowed down another problem in my chain to this device..

If I move the unit, or even stand up too fast, the thing glitches...

Dodgy SDPIF sockets too!?

[sanddigger1]

Originally Posted by Joe_caithness

Little update, narrowed down another problem in my chain to this device..

If I move the unit, or even stand up too fast, the thing glitches...

Dodgy SDPIF sockets too!?

This might be the answer to the " makes me think what else can be wrong with the unit. " question...

"..., the budget companies have decent convertors with great specs but they save the cost on cheap analog output devices & filters."
There's probably better analog output stages (maybe not in this price range) and the filters sound ok to me, but they seem to have saved the cost on assembly quality and maybe some components...
Diodes problems were annoying, but hearing about those glitches is very disturbing. I don't care so much about the lightshow but problems with the audio are not acceptable.

[sanddigger1]

The volume pot is becoming loose...

[toby1]

Originally Posted by sanddigger1

The volume pot is becoming loose...

Oh boy.. I need a "mastering capable" DAC like yesterday and was just about to buy one of these based on a few spectacular reviews here and elsewhere (claiming it competes with units way above the price bracket)... but after reading this thread, two of you guys are experiencing the same issues? This and the volume knob (lack of level indication) are pushing me towards plan B...

It's been a couple of months, maybe to help me and others make a final decision on this unit, any updated opinions on the DACMagic Plus that you guys can offer?

[sanddigger1]

Joe and I did encounter similar problems, but not exactly the same ones, which is even more disturbing...
The problems didnt worsen for some time and the unity now seems 'stable'. It still sounds ok and, unlike Joe, I didnt have any problems with audio.
Would I buy it again ? Maybe if it was under €150 with a 3 years (at least) total warranty. At an around €500 price, NO I wouldnt.
It makes me paranoid while working, which weights on my workflow and cuts a lot of the cost-effectiveness of the device.

[toby1]

Originally Posted by sanddigger1

Joe and I did encounter similar problems, but not exactly the same ones, which is even more disturbing...
The problems didnt worsen for some time and the unity now seems 'stable'. It still sounds ok and, unlike Joe, I didnt have any problems with audio.
Would I buy it again ? Maybe if it was under €150 with a 3 years (at least) total warranty. At an around €500 price, NO I wouldnt.
It makes me paranoid while working, which weights on my workflow and cuts a lot of the cost-effectiveness of the device.

Right on. So this wasn't covered under your warranty? Crazy if this started after just a few months of use... I started a new thread asking about the unit so hopefully some more owners will chime in. Anyway, thanks for the info., my search continues.

[sanddigger1]

It was probably covered by the warranty, but I needed my DAC and so I continued using it as the audio was OK. In the past, I've had diodes problems on other gear and it took 2 months to repair, so I was wary about sending it to service. In fact, even one week would have been too much as I had no other acceptable DAC to use and needed to work.
It started less than 2 months after purchase and problems did expand during the next 4 months before 'stabilizing'. According to this thread, Joe_Caithness' unit lasted a little longer before going weird, but he had additional problems with s/pdif sockets...

[Arksun]

Gotta say I don't get the buzz around Cambridge Audio stuff. I bought a phono pre amp of theirs couple years back, soundstage was narrow and the build quality was pretty poor, didnt last long, right out the box the solder to one of the analog outs was iffy.

[Joe_caithness]

Originally Posted by Arksun

Gotta say I don't get the buzz around Cambridge Audio stuff. I bought a phono pre amp of theirs couple years back, soundstage was narrow and the build quality was pretty poor, didnt last long, right out the box the solder to one of the analog outs was iffy.

To be fair to them, they do an extremely wide range of stuff, I just wish they had kept the build quality in line with the sound quality of this unit.

If I had a cute little digital music listening rig I would be keeping this mind. Does sound way more expensive than it is.

[Joe_caithness]

Originally Posted by sanddigger1

According to this thread, Joe_Caithness' unit lasted a little longer before going weird, but he had additional problems with s/pdif sockets...

In retrospect I have been able to nail that the SPDIF problem was actually via the M-Audio PCI card which distributes the signal. Still, the diode dying and print rubbing off is a bummer..