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DacMagic – Added the power, what about the glory?

Feb 25th, 2009
by Steve.
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The 225VA transformer has been terminated with a suitable mains lead and power in plug for the Cambridge.  It”s been plugged in and blown a one and a two amp fuse with its switch on surge so it’s running with a 3amp fuse.

This by the way is not the way to do something for long-term use.  This is just as a quick test to see if it’s worth experimenting further and if the results are good the tranny will be mounted in a decent case suitably fused. This is not the type of experiment I suggest for anyone outside of a lab.  The mains is dangerous.

The listening results today are different to those at Malcolm’s last evening.  There it was pretty conclusive that the new supply confused the balance and lost some integration. It wasn’t bad at all, just not quite as well balanced as the original supply.  Shows that Cambridge put some time and effort into the whole package.

Today and in my system the results aren’t quite so clear cut.  There are elements of the same as last night but at the same time the system with the experimental tranny has more drive, is a bit more dramatic on the dynamics front and makes my foot tap more.

It’s really very track dependant: a couple of Paul Simon tracks definitely favoured the larger supply, a Springsteen just showed off the slight forwardness the supply delivered and sounded harsh. Another Springsteen – I’m on Fire – worked.

Would I recommend trying a supply if it were available on some try before buy deal – yes – but only if it were a no strings try before buy deal.  I’m sure that with the, very justified, success of the Cambridge DacMagic there will quite a few companies offering upgrade power supplies.

Finally it might be worth noting that the cost of the transformer delivered was around £35 so it might easily be a £100++ power supply if sold online and all neatly packaged.  Quite a investment for a budget DAC even if it’s a great budget DAC.

Naim launches NaimUniti

Feb 19th, 2009
by Steve.
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On demonstration for the first time at the Bristol Sound and Vision show February 20-22, and on sale from April 2009, the NaimUniti – the more music box – will deliver the customary Naim sound quality and emotional connection to music to a new generation of customers as well as existing ones.
Naim developed the NaimUniti – never to be called Uniti – in recognition of a growing demand for integrated solutions. Sophisticated consumers are becoming used to converging audio sources but can be reluctant to compromise on quality. Now they don’t have to.

NaimUniti

VAT Reduction – Complete waste of time?

Feb 7th, 2009
by Steve.
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I wonder if I’m missing something fundamental. The reduction of VAT to 15% from 17.5% in the UK for a year seems like a really dumb thing to do.

Looking at quite a few products advertised and they still are ‘optically priced’.  They are still priced at, for example, 99.90 often the same price that they were with the higher VAT.

The 2% ish reduction isn’t enough to bring prices down to the next optical price so what has happened?  Some retailers still price in store at the ‘old’ price and take the hit at the till.  Good for them – I guess the loss of sales for not being quite as obviously competitive is cheaper than the cost of the many thousands of new price signs that they would need to print.  Too many retailers have just increased margins to compensate.

My ISP sent me new invoices and credit notes for pretty much every domain name and I owned last year changing the ongoing rate to 15% VAT.  It’s far too complicated: it’ll cost me far more in time to sort it out that the 2% difference that doesn’t affect me anyway as my business is VAT registered.

Overall personally it’s not going to save me enough money to outweigh the extra hassle and time I am wasting for my business.  Even if I wasn’t involved in my own business, would I really notice a reduction in my cost of living? I doubt it.

It is supposed to help stimulate demand, but how can a 2% reduction make a significant difference?

Finally if you don’t believe me have a look around the CD or DVD prices on Amazon UK and see if you can spot a lower price.  I reckon the real winners in this have been retailers – now making a couple of points more margin now.

This will probably be the only time I say this but on this but on the subject of UK VAT, I agree with Nicolas Sarkosy.

FT coverage

Cambridge Audio Dacmagic

Jan 18th, 2009
by Steve.
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I’ve had a the new Cambridge Audio Dacmagic for maybe a couple of months now and its not disappointed.  For two hundred pounds it’s fabulous value.

I started off running it in and using it connected via a Chord Prodac Prodigital coax cable from my Squeezebox 3.  It’s a great match for the SB3, delivering increased clarity and drive over the SB3′s line out. Sort of seems in the right price range for an upgrade to the SB3 as well.

Next was connecting it via USB to my HP Note 2133 to play internet radio.  Using Radio Paradise’s 128AAC stream as the primary source – a great souce of quality music with great sound – it sounded flat and boring.  What was surprising was just how easily it connected and Win XP recognised it straight away.  Really plug and play.

Adding a M-Audio Transit sound card connected via USB and then feeding the output from the Transit via a Chord Optichord optical cable into the Cambridge changed the sound quality completely: dynamics returned, life and energy returned and music was fun to listen to again. Internet radio can sound surprisingly good.

I do have an even better internet radio player but I’m not free to talk about that yet.

Two or more things to try with the Dacmagic yet: a larger power transformer and changing to ASIO drivers as these are supported by the Transit. Might even try the three filters sometime.  I reckon that there is loads more to get out of it if only I had enough time to experiment.

More on these another day.

Is it Sad?

Jan 13th, 2009
by Steve.
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I was one of the couple of million who downloaded a beta of Windows 7 at the weekend.  Is it sad that I felt so compelled to try it out so long before it will be commercially available?
Suppose it shows I am more interested in computers than I thought I was.  I thought that computers had stopped being interesting and fun and had become boring.  I find all three major operating systems to be as bad as each other.  OS X Leopard somehow isn’t as good as Tiger. Windows XP is fine but it just looks and feels old.  Vista is great in parts but a dog in others.

So I’m hoping Windows 7 will be as stable and quick as XP but look good, feel good and not lock up as Vista does.

I have a HP 2133 Netbook on order on which to install Win 7.  More when DABS deliver.

The Neats have been moved and moved

Jan 1st, 2009
by Steve.
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Now that the MF9s have run in and stabilised it was time to spend some time moving them a few centimeters at a time to find a more ideal position.

As they ran in they had become a bit bloated in the mid-bass, reducing clarity and general intelligibility as well as reducing the speed that they are normally so good at.

My room has a tendency to thickness rather than leanness so careful positioning is always needed, but the Neats have required more effort than most. They are a true full-range loudspeaker so are capable of exciting most room modes and resonances.

The effort has been rewarded with a far better insight into music, the recordings and, most importantly, the performances.

I think there is still more to come with even more fine tuning but that will come with time and patience.

Interestingly, as the perfornce has improved from CD, Hard Disc and Vinyl, it has exposed the shortcomings on internet radio.  It’s not going to stop me listening to Radio Paradise as their choice of music is so good, but if only they had a 320k AAC feed…

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