XDA2 vs Cambridge Audio Dac Magic

[paoloitalia]

Hi all,

I'm considering to buy a DAC for my second system and one option is to move the Cambridge Audio to my second system or simply sell it and buy the XDA2.
I cannot find any review to compare the two, does anyone have tested both of them?
Any advice from your side?

Thanks!
Paolo

[garbulky]

If it was me, I would go with the DC-1 or not at all.

[paoloitalia]

Thanks Garbulky, why do you suggest it?

[garbulky]

I buy a purchase to make a difference in the system. The DC-1 has that potential. It's a darn good dac. The XDA-2 maybe more of a sideways move.

[soundmaster]

I agree with Gar.....I owned the XDA-1 and the XDA-2 and there very similar from what I've read, and now own the DC-1 and using it as a preamp, and I would put it up against any high end Preamp DAC combo, it absolutely destroyed my old Aragon preamp and Arcam cd player combo for about a fraction of the price, and I've been pretty critical of Emotiva in the past....Go for the DC-1 you won't be disappointed!

[thorcorps]

I have an XDA-1, a DacMagic, and (2) DC-1's. I thought that the XDA-1 sounded pretty much identical to the DacMagic when the DacMagic was set to the Min filter (which I always thought was a bit softer than the Linear or Steep filters). With both, I was using a separate preamp since the XDA-1 had an obviously lossy volume control. If your setup allows using the DC-1 as your preamp as well, I would definitely recommend it. If you must use something else as a preamp (due to number of sources, etc.), just stick with the Cambridge.

[justhavingfun]

I bought DC-1 about a month ago and it has been wonderful sounding DAC. Although I do not personally own DacMagic DAC but I have listened to its sound from my friend's system for awhile. I didn't compare them side by side but I prefer DC-1 over DacMagic for sure.

[paoloitalia]

Thanks guys,
useful comments I think!
I use an USP-1 as pre with these connections:
- CD (Cambridge Audio 550C)
- Tuner (Marantz 2100)
- turntable (Project Carbon)
- the DAC

Connected to the DAC:
- laptop via USB
- satellite HD decoder via spdif

After a quite good but not too complicated HT, it's my first hifi and I'm learning and experimentig.
Currently I received my first small tube amp (Yaqin) and also a pair of Tellurium Q...
So now I'm trying to compare, improve and understand.
My biggest problem is an irregular and quite small room which I'm trying to enlarge (but needs lots of permits) ^^



Thanks for the good advices: they help me to learn and improve!

[garbulky]

You're going to want to invest in acoustic panels too. I just bought (only one!) panel and put it behind my couch at head level and there was an audible improvement. Significantly clearer soundstage.
Best value for the money improvement! Someday I shall get more.
www.atsacoustics.com/item--ATS-Acoustic-Panel-24-x-48-x-2--1001.html