DACS yet again!!! (sorry about this)

I'm selling my Cambridge DAC as although it offered an a good frill ride I was getting tired of the brightness and realised that although it was detailed it was mainly in the mid range where as my Marantz DAC is much better across the range. Its some how more audiophile (probably because its much smoother).

So does anybody of a good DAC I can buy for £100 that will offer my detail than my Marantz but maintain the smoothness but at the same time be able to cope with rock and dance?

My thoughts are:

The Cambridge DACMagic 3i (is this much better?)
M-AUDIO (not sure on models or where you buy them from)
The Audio Alchermy DDE.

The problem is I have a feeling I probably need more of a mid range dac and stuff like the TAG20 is way out of my reach.

I know Musical Fidelty made some X-CAN style DACs are these any good? You can get them quite cheap and use a cheapo PSU rather than the expensive MF ones.

I am simply getting ideas at this stage. I hope to raise the money buy selling my tuner, my parents old CDP, my existing DAC and some other bits.

 

I wouldnt get a DACMAGIC 3, it just sounds the same as the one you had to me. Pretty bright, and upfront, a bit grainy, and not very detailed. Good fun in the context of a very cheap system, but not what your looking for.

 

Yeah thats exactly how I would decribe the sound of my Magic 1.

My Marantz DAC sounds rather fine as it is, but I just feel more can be had out of it.

I suppose another option is just saving up for when I can afford a mid end DAC but then everything else would need upgrading. Maybe I should spend the money I make from selling my DAC on clubbing or somthing.

 

I like my SuperDAC. Plenty of potential for improvement once you've got it and a little more money to spend. See NOS-A-42's comments in the for sale forum. Mine was £100 on ebay with no psu. Took apart my Rotel RCD-991, and gives me a presentation I prefer over my current Marantz CD16 (model up from the CD17mk I).

MF. :SLEEP:

Since it looks like I might be moving to manchester very soon, you'd be welcome to have a listen...

 

go for the maudio.

the dde 1.1 is good VERY up front, hellish, but great fun, again you may get tired, its a tad grainy, but only in comparison with the best.

 

Isaac, does the stock superDAC sound any good?

 

As stock... yes, it's good but not incredible. Was a bit of a toss-up against my clocked RCD-991. That changed as soon as I put the dac psu (which has always been a higher-spec toroidal one since I never had the original) on the trichord powerblock with a eupen. This made significant improvements, so it likes its power to be clean. However, the internal mods lift it to a whole different level, and can be done pretty cheaply.

 

Another vote for the superdac, it was a pretty massive improvement from the DAC in my stock alpha 8. I have yet to upgrade it in any area but i am nevertheless very satisfied with it. It is also compact, which saves on shelf/rack space. You might have to be patient if you want a second-hand one though. The next plan is to mod it and then switch to a better transport, particularly as mine is a bit tired.

Good luck