Stan's New Dac - any reviews yet?

[JakeBlade]

The one feature from the Dacmagic I would like to see is the inclusion of a stand so I can have it standing vertically alongside my monitor.

Tyrone

Hi Tyrone,

The DacMagic has the option of vertical or horizontal mounting. Horizontal is from stick on pads that stick to the underside of the box to lift the front plate clear of whatever you sit it on. Vertical mounting is from a sturdy black rubber 'boot'. You get both in the box as standard. (Or did you mean you'd want to see a vertical mount for the 7520...?)

James

[tizer2000uk]

Hi Tyrone,

The DacMagic has the option of vertical or horizontal mounting. Horizontal is from stick on pads that stick to the underside of the box to lift the front plate clear of whatever you sit it on. Vertical mounting is from a sturdy black rubber 'boot'. You get both in the box as standard. (Or did you mean you'd want to see a vertical mount for the 7520...?)

James

I wanted to see this on the 7520

[trailer]

The DACMagic is now £230 I believe.

[JakeBlade]

Exchange rates apparently. That €50 note that's been sitting around on my bedside table for the past 6-months has turned out to be a nice little earner.

[Clive]

Here’s my report on the 7520. I can’t compare it to a 7510 as I’ve never heard one. First of all some context - my system:

Meridian 588 CDP into TX-102 TVC into WE91 300B SE power amps feeding Bastanis Atlas open baffles and 18-inch dipole bass/sub-bass powered by XTZ Sub Amp 1 DSP (bass is +/- 3db in room due to DSP compensation).

As way of a reference I also have a Garrard 301, twin-tier Slatedeck plinth, Terminator linear-tracking arm, ZYX R100 cartridge, valve phono stage.

The 7520 has 60 hours of burn-in with music running.

The 7520 coupled to the Meridian 588 via coax or optical showed improvements in bass and a better fleshed out soundstage between the speakers. A useful but not huge improvement. Bear in mind this is well regarded £2k CDP from not so many years ago so maybe a huge improvement should not be expected.

However…..the 7520 was a participant in a truly massive improvement in sound. My first foray into PC-Audio was to hook up the 7520 via USB to my laptop running XP, Foobar with ASIO, I was playing CD’s EAC ripped as single WAVs and I believe I’m avoiding kmixer.

Tight, powerful and fast bass. Fast mid-range, with superb separation of instruments, the soundstage between the speakers now has a place for every instrument, it’s not left, right & centre any more. Vocals are very believable with no nasty digital sibilance. The top-end is light and airy, clean and well balanced. The rhythms are pacey and infectiously get you moving to the music. The overall effect bears little resemblance to what I hear from CD players – even the very best and most expensive. Vs PC-Audio the 588 sounds out of focus and diffuse. PC-Audio with 7520 sounds much closer to LP than I expected it would.

For someone like me who is a committed vinylista this was quite revelation. I can now play my 500 or so CDs with a similar enthusiasm that I have when playing records. I’ve just got to rip around 450 more of my CD’s, the 7520 has ensured I’ll be kept busy for some time.

I can’t say to what extent what I’m hearing is due to:
- the quality of the 7520 DAC
- the quality of the USB input on the 7520
- the inherent quality of PC-Audio vs CDP

Probably what I’m hearing is due to all of the above, for sure the 7520 is not holding the sound back whereas it does seem that the Meridian 588 transport is. I suspect this would be the case for any CDP transport relative to PC-Audio.

[Spectral Morn]

Sure - if someone can tell me how!

Hi Photochromatic

Two ways you can do this. First ask one of the admin team or Mods to do it for you. If you want to part do it yourself go to your review and hit quote at the bottom of the page. Then use your mouse to highlight the review click ctrl and c that copies it. Then go to the new thread in the section you want and hit ctrl and v that pastes it into the new post...you will have to remove the quote icons at the top and bottom of the piece or quote lines and tags will appear on the saved page. The original would have to stay as if it was removed it would ruin the flow of the original thread.

Regards D S D L----Neil

[ReachtheSky]

Clive, thanks for a great review on the 7520 and in particular the PC-Audio/USB application.

What amazing results with the PC-Audio/USB - at 16/44 - outperforming the coax - at 24/96 - from a good digital transport source (the Meridian 588 CDP.)

Can anybody reason or explain how and why?
Apart from more Stan wizardry, it dosen't make sense to me.

[roscoeiii]

There was mention by Stan in this thread of an upgraded power supply for the 7520. When is this going to be available? And will it add any cost to the 7520? Upgradable for those who have already purchased 7520? If so, how much would it cost?

[Steve Toy]

I heard Stan's new DAC yesterday at the Scalford Hall Show. It was superb in conjunction with Rob's (Filterlab) computer audio setup.

We did find though that it responds positively to being moved from sitting on a cardboard box to one of our proper acrylic Music Works/Quadraspire shelves. This simple relocation brought about improved dynamics, more tunefulness and a bigger soundstage.

[ReachtheSky]

Hi Steve
I am interested in more details of Rob's computer audio set-up that you refer to above. I am contemplating setting up the same from scratch and would be most interested in recommendations regarding which path to follow. This is a relatively "new area", yet there appears to be many different options to choose from.
This has probably been addressed before. I would appreciate a lead to a link.
Thank you, Granville