I purchased a Cambridge DAC Magic Plus and a pair of Red River XLR Balanced Cables. Both items arrived Monday March 27. I now have both the Dac Magic Plus with the XLR balanced output cables and the Peachtree DACiTx with unbalanced cables (no balanced output available on the DACiTx) connected to my Cambridge 851A amplifier. I am in the process of evaluating the sound from both DACs. I have adjusted all available controls in both DACs to eliminate as many "settings variables" as possible. I am using the volume control on the Cambridge 851A amplifier to vary the volume levels. Fortunately, there is very little difference in volume levels between the two DACs, so I am able to use the same volume control setting for both DACs, which should eliminate the "volume difference" effect.

Initial results have been a little bit surprising. When I first began listening to the DAC Magic Plus, I could not hear any significant difference when compared to the DACiTx. However, after about 4 hours of listening time with the DAC Magic Plus, the sound emanating from the DAC Magic Plus suddenly "blossomed out". The sound stage noticeably widened and the entire sound presentation became much brighter and more detailed. I am in email dialogue with Cambridge technical people to inquire about possible "break-in" effects.

Whatever the cause, after the 4-hour period, I could notice differences between the DAC Magic Plus and the DACiTx -- differences which favored the DAC Magic Plus. Perhaps I am experiencing "the placebo effect" of wanting the DAC Magic Plus to sound better, but I don't think so. When I listen to very specific spots in certain recordings, the DACiTx produces a more "confined" sound. The DAC Magic Plus produces a more open and more detailed sound.

I have more evaluations to perform as I listen to specific recordings and specific spots within recordings. With both DACs connected to the 851A amplifier, I can quickly switch between DACs, making comparisons easier (easier to retain "tonal memory" from one DAC to the other). I will update this post after further listening.

If anyone has experience listening to these two DACs, please share your comments.

Happy listening.....

Art

Afternoon evaluation progress update: I mentioned in the first post, that I was using the Cambridge 851A amplifier control to vary and balance the volume. This approach resulted from advice I received on the MusicBee forum, that the best sound from a software player would result from setting the software player's volume control to maximum volume and using some other volume control method.

I extended this advice to include the Windows Speaker volume control as well. Now, I have all software volume controls set to maximum volume in my dedicated music computer and I am using the Cambridge 851A amplifier volume control to change volume levels. The result, I believe, is better sound from both DACs.

I thought this idea was worthy of passing along to other folks who might also be using computer-based music playing systems with external DACs.

Art

After three days of some intensive listening, I have concluded that both the Peachtree DACiTx and the Cambridge Audio Dac Magic Plus are excellent DACs. I have driven both DACs with a wide variety of music and with both CD-resolution files and with high resolution files. I am essentially equally pleased with the performance of both DACs.

Before I implemented the advice I mentioned above about setting the software volume levels to maximum, I did experience a difference between the DACs with regard to how each DAC interfaced with my players and how the software and Windows System volume controls operated. The Peachtree DAC was more flexible than the Cambridge DAC, but since I have set all software volume controls to maximum, this difference becomes a moot point.

The Peachtree DACiTx has only unbalanced analog outputs and the outputs are at fixed volume. The Cambridge Dac Magic Plus offers both unbalanced and balanced audio outputs and offers both fixed-volume and variable volume options. So, with the Cambridge Dac, I am able to implement use of balanced XLR cables. The Peachtree has a simple remote which offers on/off, input selection and mute. The Cambridge Dac has no remote. Since I am now using my Cambridge 851A amplifier to control volume, the presence/absence of a remote is of no concern to me. The Cambridge DAC offers more connectivity flexibility than does the Peachtree DAC.

There are other differences between the two DACs, the principle one being that the Peachtree uses a single Sabre DAC, whereas the Cambridge uses twin Wolfson DACs and isolates the two channels.

Even though I cannot find a strong sonic reason to prefer the Cambridge DAC, nevertheless, I have decided to keep it and to replace the Peachtree with the Cambridge in my system. I will use the Peachtree DAC as a back-up for my system and as a "traveling DAC" to accompany my business laptop, earphones and portable 2.1 speaker system when we are on the go.

Happy listening.

Art

Thanks Bro Art for the great reviews!!! Well done.
Although I am not in the market for any of this stuff, I play the shiny discs still, or files only on the go in my DAP, still yours was an interesting and informative report.
I am nearly sure I would have chosen as you did, because I love to us balanced connections wherever I can. For the somtimes improved sonics (and sometimes increased volume) and for their more solid connectivity.
I enjoyed your "break in" story above. Seems that thing that is "purely imaginary" according to the naysayers happened to you too!!!
Also, it just makes sense to me to run all your input/source stuff at full output volume and then to control volume at your amp.
Good writing, thanks.
God Bless,
Wayne