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Having upgraded the DacMagic 2 back in the late 1990’s where the upgraded DAC was favourably reviewed by Hi-Fi News & RR, we were keen to hear what extra performance we could wring out of the latest design. The new DacMagic is an altogether different design to the 3 versions that spanned the 1990’s. Gone is the 430mm width chassis in favour of a much smaller one. A single, 4-layer PCB is packed with all the power supplies, digital & analogue circuits. The core analogue circuits of the Dacmagic are derived from the popular 640C CD player, the 2x Wolfson WM8740, dual differential filter and capacitor coupled output. The design uses no fewer than 6 regulated supplies for the digital & analogue circuits with two separate linear power supplies. The 2009 version takes its power supply from a 12VAC-AC plug-in wall-wart adapter. This dispenses with the need for potentially large and costly AC transformers to step down the power supply.

At £200 the new DacMagic is amazing value, and is frankly beyond any criticism at the price. But with pricing of parts, circuit board, etc, down to the last penny the DacMagic is near absent of audio grade passive components such as capacitors, regulators, op-amps. This is where the upgrades kick in; take the basic design and by careful selection replace key parts and this £200 product starts to show abilities you would expect in a DAC upwards of £800.00. Out go the ‘Xunda’ power supply capacitors in favour of the Panasonic FC series, we remove the ‘NCD’ brand electrolytic’s for digital decoupling** and upgrade to Sanyo OSCON & Rubycon ZA types. The noisy 7805 regulator for the DAC power supplies is replaced with a specially selected low noise type to ensure clean power. DAC decoupling is completely revised, out go the Xunda capacitors in favour of Sanyo OS-CON SP, SH & Black Gate C** capacitors. The NE5532 op-amps for analogue filter are upgraded to the superb LME49720. The NCD output signal coupling capacitors are replaced with Elna RFS Silmic II type, the best audio grade electrolytic signal coupling capacitors available today.

We have three levels of upgrades available; both levels markedly improve the sound quality of inputs via the coaxial, optical; and USB when connected to the digital output of your CD player or streaming lossless music from your PC or MAC.

*  Levels 1 & 2 upgrade only.
** Level-3 upgrade only.

DacMagic Level-1 Upgrade

■ 4x Panasonic FC analogue power supply capacitors.
■ 4x Panasonic FC digital power supply capacitors.
■ 1x Specially selected, NOS low noise regulators for analogue supply (DAC).
■ 1x Panasonic FC DAC regulation bypass capacitors.
■ 2x Sanyo OSCON SP for digital regulation bypass (clock).
■ 5x Sanyo OSCON SP for DSP & input receiver decoupling.
■ 3x Sanyo OSCON SP for digital input decoupling.
■ 4x LME49720 for low-pass filter.

DacMagic Level-2 Upgrade

■ 1x Cryogenically treated Silver plated audio grade fuse.
■ 4x Panasonic FC analogue power supply capacitors.
■ 4x Panasonic FC digital power supply capacitors.
■ 1x Specially selected low noise regulator for analogue supply (DAC).
■ 1x Panasonic FC DAC regulation bypass capacitors.
■ 2x Sanyo OS-CON SH for DAC digital power supply decoupling.
■ 2x Sanyo OS-CON SP for DAC analogue power supply decoupling.
■ 1x Sanyo OSCON SP for digital regulation bypass (clock).
■ 1x Rubycon ZA decoupling for logic circuits.
■ 4x LME49720 for low-pass filter.
■ 6x Elna RFS Silmic II for output signal coupling.

DacMagic Level-3 Upgrade

■ 1x Cryogenically treated Silver plated audio grade fuse.
■ 4x Panasonic FC analogue power supply capacitors.
■ 4x Panasonic FC digital power supply capacitors.
■ 1x Specially selected low noise regulator for analogue supply (DAC).
■ 1x Panasonic FC DAC regulation bypass capacitors.
■ 2x Sanyo OS-CON SH for DAC digital power supply decoupling.
■ 2x Sanyo OS-CON SP for DAC analogue power supply decoupling.
■ 4x Black Gate C DAC decoupling capacitors.
■ 1x Sanyo OSCON SP for digital regulation bypass (clock).
■ 5x Sanyo OSCON SP for DSP & input receiver decoupling.
■ 3x Sanyo OSCON SP digital input decoupling
■ ERS Cloth to remove EMI/RFI.
■ 1x Rubycon ZA decoupling for logic circuits.
■ 4x LME49720 for low-pass filter.
■ 6x Elna RFS Silmic II for output signal coupling.

This modification has been discontinued.