DAC /pre Advise NEEDED urgently


Hi

I have a chance to pick up a dacmagic plus ($450). My current dac is a behringer ultramatch pro src2496..

My setup so far magnepan mmg, two nad 216 power amps, rel quake. No preamp :(

I could either buy a yaqin ms-12b ($250) tube pre amp or buy the dacmagic plus and use the dac and pre from there and sell the behringer dac

any thoughts?
samiul00

Showing 3 responses by wolf_garcia

The DACmagic "Plus", according to reviews, sounds great and works, although no remote is available. I have the old DACmagic ("That Old DACmagic has me in its spell"...) and it sounds amazing although the inexpensive cost loses it some points. I use the Pangea P100 power supply with mine, but I'm not sure they have the cable to use the "plus" with those yet.
What part of "sounds amazing" would you say is disparaging? The previous version DACmagic could (and mine was) be bought for under 300 bucks, and combined with the ($100) upgraded power supply is a GREAT sounding DAC in my system. I've personally compared it directly to DACs costing a LOT more and it holds its own (even being indistinguishable from the ones I compared it to in my informal blind testing), but since it's so inexpensive many in the "snobophile" community (especially those who paid 4 times its cost for something else) ignore it. Its USB thing apparently sucks, but I don't use that feature so I don't mind. Incidentally, a dude at Audio Advisor told me the DACmagic was its best selling item ever. Not sure what that means, but people seem to like the thing. No joke. One more thing...when I was shopping around for a DAC, this was the only reasonably priced one with balanced in and out and switchable multiple source inputs.
Again, I have to wonder when the Pangea P100 will have a cable compatible with the "plus." Again.