Cambridge DacMagic replacement

[pbi76]

Hi everyone,

I have what I think is the first version of the Dac Magic. It's predates the Dac Magic 100 and the Dac Magic Plus. I need another DAC for another room and I figure it would be a nice time to upgrade and/or try something different. Without the ability to test at home, I will be buying blind. Return policies are also only for defective products. On top of that, not all brands are available where I am at.

While I listen to subjective reviews, I also want something that measures well. I was ready to get the Ares II as it gets good reviews and measures relatively well but I backed out when I read about a weird behavior of one of he filters and that the NOS mode is allegedly not NOS. I understand that audibility is a different story altogether but it does not feel right to buy something that does not work as advertised.

I looked at the Qutest but the price is so high. I considered the Bifrost 2 (mainly because it's a different approach) but I will have to import it and the resulting landed cost will be USD200 more.

I am also considering Topping. I don't get to try a different approach but the measurements and pricing are good. On the subjective end, I like how one reviewer compared the D70s to the Ares II. Are there other models I should look at? MQA is not important to me and I prefer not having to use a wall wart.

Thanks.

 

[gvl]

Topping E50 just popped up. Looks like a winner apart being new and not knowing of issues, if any.

 

[Doodski]

The JDS Labs Atom Dac+ is only $109.00 US and it tested very well here at ASR.

 

[pbi76]

Topping E50 just popped up. Looks like a winner apart being new and not knowing of issues, if any.

Thanks! I must have missed that review while typing my post. It seems to be a good option.

 

[pbi76]

The JDS Labs Atom Dac+ is only $109.00 US and it tested very well here at ASR.

Thanks! I think availability will be the problem for me.

 

[gvl]

Do you need inputs apart from USB or remote or volume control? If not Topping D10s is good and cheap if not minimalistic, I have one, it sounds fantastic.

 

[pbi76]

Do you need inputs apart from USB or remote or volume control? If not Topping D10s is good and cheap if not minimalistic, I have one, it sounds fantastic.

I have been using optical from a Mac Mini since the DacMagic's USB is limited to 48Khz (yes, it's that old, hehehe).

 

[AnalogSteph]

Make a list of what kind of I/O and other features you need and any nice-to-haves. So far we've got:
* Toslink in
* unbalanced out, I guess, given that this is what the DacMagic had
* integrated power supply

What are you planning to feed with it?
Do you need volume control, maybe even with a knob? I imagine you should have some kind of software volume control available on the Mac Mini (and in fact it may prove useful to limit peak levels to a bit below 0 dBFS), but this may not be too convenient to use.

Where are you located, since you say availability may be an issue?

 

[pbi76]

Make a list of what kind of I/O and other features you need and any nice-to-haves. So far we've got:
* Toslink in
* unbalanced out, I guess, given that this is what the DacMagic had
* integrated power supply

What are you planning to feed with it?
Do you need volume control, maybe even with a knob? I imagine you should have some kind of software volume control available on the Mac Mini (and in fact it may prove useful to limit peak levels to a bit below 0 dBFS), but this may not be too convenient to use.

Where are you located, since you say availability may be an issue?

Apologies, I should have done that earlier.

The DAC will be used for a speaker setup. The DAC can be fed with either Toslink or USB by a Mac Mini. My integrated only has RCA inputs and I do not see having one with balanced connections anytime soon. MQA is not important. Effectively, what I need is a very basic DAC. I use Roon with volume set to fixed and I don't want/need volume control and I am in the Philippines.

All things considered, I am contacting the Topping reseller for E30 and E50 availability. I think I should be fine with either one.

 

[AnalogSteph]

All things considered, I am contacting the Topping reseller for E30 and E50 availability. I think I should be fine with either one.

More than just fine, I imagine. The E50 already has less output noise and distortion than quite a number of decent preamps.