Cambridge Audio DacMagic

By Matthew Masters

June 2009

Cambridge Audio DacMagic. $799

The DacMagic (click for larger image)

A supplied base allows the DacMagic to be placed on its side

Rear panel of the Cambridge DacMagic (click for larger image)

During the early ‘80s, TV magician Paul Daniels performed his greatest trick ever. An act of illusion so audacious, it stunned a nation. There was misdirection, sleight of hand, a carefully-engineered prop and, of course, a glamorous assistant.

But more than this, there was an eager audience just wanting to believe what we were being shown. And believe we did, when Paul told us he’d found a way to comb his hair over the thinning spot so it looked as luxuriant as ever.

Of course we all knew it was a wig. The slightly unnatural colour, the less than perfect fit. But we wanted it to be real. Until he broke the spell and removed his hairpiece on TV.

Still, to this day I cannot read the word “magic” without the image of a particularly lush fur beret forming in my mind.

So I really couldn’t help but snigger when the Editor told me I would be reviewig – sorry, reviewing – Cambridge Audio’s new(ish) DacMagic external DAC.

A box of tricks

Like most DACs, the DacMagic is a fairly unprepossessing black box. The unit itself is about the size of a hardback book, with blue LEDs and a couple of buttons on the spine and a sprinkling of sockets on the opposite side. The buttons let you choose the input channel (one USB, the other two with both coax and optical input options), and by slight of hand to select one of three phase filters. The whole piece feels fairly solid and is provided with a neat little base so that you can stand it on its side if you’re pressed for space.

While the inputs on the back of the DacMagic aren’t all that remarkable, it’s the outputs that tell a more interesting story. Not only is there the expected line level output through a pair of RCA sockets, but coax and optical digital outputs (for recording, one would imagine, rather than connecting to another DAC, which would be perverse). There’s even a pair of XLR sockets for those who like their output more balanced.

Only the DacMagic’s power supply – a cheap-looking wall-wart – seemed incongruous among all this careful attention to detail. Like an obviously fake bunch of flowers pulled from a voluminous sleeve.

Pick a card (or a source)

Setting-up the Cambridge required no rehearsal or hidden mirrors. I just plugged it into my iMac using the USB port and all was well. Interestingly (well, relatively) my Mac reported that it had a C-Media USB headphone set attached. Usually, it reports the actual DAC chipset in use, occasionally the make and model of the complete piece of equipment, but never before had it seemed so wrong. An illusion or just misdirection? Who knows?

For comparison, I also used the DacMagic with my Rega CD player as a more conventional transport. Unfortunately, the only real observation I can make here is that it was mildly annoying having to switch between the USB and SPDIF inputs manually.

No hidden compartments

For anyone familiar with Cambridge Audio in general and the Azur CD players in particular, the DacMagic will hold few surprises. Internally Cambridge have re-purposed some important parts from the Azur 740 CD player. Certainly the dual Wolfson WM8740 24 bit DACs are there and quite possibly most of the rest of the circuitry as well.

The sound is pretty familiar too, and not in a bad way. More like a familiar old card trick that still impresses even though you worked out how it was done years ago. All the things that make Cambridge CD players exciting and involving to listen to are here. The sense of rhythm and drive, the deftly manipulated top end and most particularly, the overwhelming sense of fun.

Sawing the lady in half (and other classics)

For fun, of course, where else to start than Jupiter (the bringer of jollity, after all). In this case Holst’s Jupiter, as bounced through by Geoffrey Simon and the LSO. This is an early 90s recording that can sound rather thin and messy, but in extracting and separating upper and midrange detail, the Cambridge managed to give the lower midrange and bass some room to be heard. As you might expect, the DacMagic was untroubled by the complexity of Holst’s own ode to merriment, the interplay of rhythms and themes bounced along with the enthusiasm it deserved.

The recording wasn’t exactly a sophisticated sound, but by some sleight of hand, the DACmagic actually rendered it listenable and that is a real achievement.

Also surprisingly listenable was the Dead Kennedy’s Too Drunk to Fuck, although I suspect the fact that I was listening to the Nouvelle Vague cover of this may have helped. Of all the tracks on Nouvelle Vague’s first album, this is the most atmospheric, and through the DacMagic, a real sense of bossa nova lounge comes through. Not just the insistent rhythm, nor even the soft acoustics of a small club, but in the sense of intimacy. Sure, it’s all a studio creation, but with the DacMagic’s filter set to Minimum Phase, a fabulous stereo image opens up, with each instrument placed perfectly and Camille Dalmais’ particularly gorgeous vocal hovering perfectly just inches away from you. It’s illusion, of course, but I’m ready to be deceived.

Where to next? How about Wellingborough (in the UK) and Bela Lugosi’s Dead from proto-Goth rockers Bauhaus. This a sparsely-arranged, bass-driven epic over nine minutes long, filled with a cutting Telecaster rhythm guitar line, psychotic percussion and wailing vocals. It should be a self-indulgent mess, really it should, but somehow the DacMagic brings Bela to life. The bass is disturbingly infectious, the vocals almost celebratory and the guitar; well that’s just a classic blunted New Wave twang (cutting that lady in half, perhaps?). But what the DacMagic really brings to this particular wake isn’t the music, it’s the space that the music occupies. The dark, dark silence that lies between each note and each beat. More black magic than DacMagic, perhaps.

What’s inside the hat?

Like all good acts, the DacMagic is easy to enjoy. It isn’t the last word in sophistication but the DacMagic is remarkably capable and never boring. But to get significantly better you’d have to conjure up a lot more than $799. All in all, the furry thing that’s come out of Cambridge Audio’s hat is definitely more rabbit than wig.