Cambridge Audio DacMagic -- $400, balanced.

[Cankin]

Can someone please build me a balanced Mini^3 ?? :)

[n_maher]

Can someone please build me a balanced Mini^3 ?? :)

Did it once, not going to again.

[Cankin]

[Hopstretch]

It's nice to see DACs in this form factor and price range, but I hope it actually pans out because if its being marketed as a computer DAC and has a stand for a "gamer" config, they might not pay attention to such trivial things as the analog output stage...

I reckon they probably did. Whatever you think about CA in general, they do a good job of picking their spots in the market and I suspect they wouldn't have bothered with balanced output unless they were seriously looking to take some customers away from Benchmark et al.

[Asr]

Dual WM8740s, mmmm I like this DAC already! Now where's Filburt?

[riceboy]

Yeah, but it could be argued that if you wanted the DAC out of the 840c you should just buy the 840c and get a free transport.

http://www.head-case.org/forums/audio-gear-sale/4371-fs-cambridge-840c-plus-usb-option.html

. I'm using the Cambridge 840c as a DAC too which I have for sale now in the FS forum. I actually have two and the 840C with the GS-X balanced and digital to USB sound great. I might be interested in getting the DAC magic at a later time. Thanks for posting up the new gear.

[iceman94]

I reckon they probably did. Whatever you think about CA in general, they do a good job of picking their spots in the market and I suspect they wouldn't have bothered with balanced output unless they were seriously looking to take some customers away from Benchmark et al.

I actually like CA a lot, and I do hope it does well. But, with absolutely so much packed into the digital end of this thing (which conveniently pads the spec sheet), combined with the $400 pricetag, there isn't much room left for the rest of the unit.

[Asr]

I actually like CA a lot, and I do hope it does well. But, with absolutely so much packed into the digital end of this thing (which conveniently pads the spec sheet), combined with the $400 pricetag, there isn't much room left for the rest of the unit.

I predict NE5532s in the analog output stage...

[Hopstretch]

I predict NE5532s in the analog output stage...

The previous version used AD712s, apparently.

[Cankin]

I'd want know the output impedance of the balanced stage before thinking about something like that. Just because you can connect two things doesn't mean it'll be any good.

Cambridge Audio

Output impedance is <50ohms, how good/bad if I connect it directly to HD650??

[Cankin]

If you have time to read, there will be a test on next issue of What Hi-fi?

What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision - How much is the new Cambridge DacMagic?

[philodox]

Looks cool, no use for it myself though. Will be interesting to see how it stacks up the the Cambridge FOTMc.

[Icarium]

I wonder how balanced this thing is...

[deepak]

I wonder how balanced this thing is...

It like has ex el arr outs man.

[Asr]

I wonder how balanced this thing is...

If you're talking about what I think you're talking about: the WM8740 is a stereo DAC (not all DACs are stereo so it's possible to get by with only 2 in its case), CA's specs page shows 2.1V on RCA and 4.2V on XLR, and they mention "2-Pole Dual Differential Bessel Double Virtual Earth Balanced", so it's probably dual-differential.

[Icarium]

Yeah I didn't look at the documentation. That's damned cheap for a fully balanced source.

[Beefy]

Interesting. Might not be up to the level of the 840C at that price...... but you'd have to be nuts to get the lower-end 640C now.

[Jeepster]

Or maybe the Dac out of the 740C without the transport for 400 bucks.

[Jeepster]

I hope the DA100 Signature I just paid 875 for wasnt a waste of money, this thing gives me serious doubt.

[Voltron]

Or maybe the Dac out of the 740C without the transport for 400 bucks.

Not bloody likely.

I hope the DA100 Signature I just paid 875 for wasnt a waste of money, this thing gives me serious doubt.

Quite bloody likely.

[The Pieman]

I like the look of this for the office. I wonder what the damage will be in Australia? Electronics have a nasty habit of doubling in price by the time they get here. Unfortunately the doubling does not extend to the quantity or quality.

[Filburt]

Or maybe the Dac out of the 740C without the transport for 400 bucks.

That's mostly what it appears to be if you look at the feature specifications and overall description of the device. The only difference in the description is the 740c uses a Blackfin while I guess the Dacmagic uses a Freescale. I'm not sure that's really material, though, if they're using the same code with the same ops etc. I'd have to see what specific components it uses in the output stage to tell for sure, but it sounds like structurally it's the same but for the DSP, which means the rest may at least be modifiable to conform with or exceed the performance of the 740c.

I'm not a huge v-out dac fan but the WM8740 is pretty decent; I'd take it over the Asahi-Kasei line and certainly the Crystal Semi and Cirrus Logic dacs.

[The Monkey]

I need a new source.

[Duggeh]

I think this is going to be very popular. Look out for "better sound at half the price of" claims from Beresford.

[n_maher]

I need a new source.

I tried to help and steer you towards Tkam's, did you miss that one?