Valab NOS Dac VS. Cambridge Azur DacMagic

The DacMagic will smooth out when broken in. Have you played with it's various filters yet? You may prefer the steep filter.

Face,

I'm the second owner of my Dacmagic. The previous owner had it for 6 months, so it's got some time on it. My Valab is also second hand, with less time on it, and for me, it's easier to listen to, whereas the Dacmagic makes me want to start trying out different cables or transports. Also keep in mind the rest if my system and room are far from stellar, so even if I had the best cdp ever made, I'd still be struggling with the rest of my reproductive chain.... uh.... for music, that is.

I'm simply trying to get a point where I can just sit down, at any given time, and listen to my stuff without getting annoyed by it, and always wanting to tinker with it. Tough to do on a beer budget.

Oh, and yes. I kinda do like the steep filter.

If you are on a beer budget but not afraid to "tinker" check out this thread on the Valab. I've listened to the Valab stock (my own unit) and with the many modifications posted by contributor 'Bill Allen' whose own personal unit is incredibly better than stock. He is going to mod mine in the near future. I rarely use the term "giant-killer" but in this case it is absolutely correct.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f7/valab-nos-dac-subjective-listening-modifications-413540/

Rooski, just got my DAC MAGIC ( used)for almost a week now.In my all tube system and connected this to my Jolida JD-100 as transport ..it sounded bright and a little fatiguing but disconnected and sounded the way i like it ( warmer).
Now i connected DAC MAGIC this all s/s system and cheap marantz 5 cd carousel as transport and sounded very fatiguing then i adjusted my tone control on my preamp minusing treble and little plus on the bass and the result was very satisfactory..now no more fatiguing and enjoying music.Though i never heard Valab so i cannot compare it to DAC MAGIC.
Btw if your preamp have tone control then u-can adjust it with your dac magic.pescolar

I've had a DACMagic in my system and I was pretty impressed with its performance, especially at the price point. Always seemed very "clean" sounding with very good details. I've replaced it recently with an MHDT Labs Paradisea+ NOS DAC, and I have to say, I much prefer the NOS DAC sound, at least in my system. I've heard of the VaLab stuff and know that it utilizes some of the same technology as MHDT. I think there are a lot of dependancies with systems and what your listening habits are, but it seems that the NOS DAC's are geared to the "musical" camp and the OS DAC's (like the Cambridge) swing toward the "accuracy" camp. If the VaLab isn't quite tripping your trigger but you're looking for the NOS "sound", you might investigate the MHDT stuff.