Dac magic plus

I'm bumping this thread since I just ordered one for my office system. I'm planning on hooking up my MacBook -> DacMagic+ -> Rotel power amp -> Meadlowlark Kestrel HotRods. Will also use my Sennheiser HD600s. I'm going to get rid of my preamp.

Looking for opinions about whether to hook it up via USB or optical, and which is the best cable bang for the buck.

@Dmgoodman - well, the Burson is an $800 stand-alone headphone amp, so I'm not really surprised. I got my Dacmagic Plus delivered yesterday. However, I'm still waiting for my Pangea USB cable and a replacement cable for my Sennheisers (my 7 year old somehow damaged the old one). In the meantime, I hooked it up briefly to with the cheapo USB cable that came with the DM+ into my Rotel amp. It sounded pretty good, but not that smooth. However, I'll reserve judgment until it's broken in and I'm using a proper cable.

Update - After a week with the DM+, I am sending it back today. I'm not even sure if I let it burn in long enough, but I just got the sense that I wasn't going to be 100% happy with it. I thought it was a bit bright at the top and I noticed too much sibilance (sp?) for my liking. Perhaps this would go away with further use, and perhaps it's my system, but I just ordered a Wadia 121, so we'll soon find out!

[By the way, it was hooked up in the following arrangement:
MacBook running Audirvana -> Pangea Pure Silver USB Cable -> Dacmagic+ -> Kimber Kable Hero XLR cables -> Rotel RB-991 power amp -> Hovland Ninelines speaker cables -> Meadowlark Kestrel Hotrods] Also tried it with my Sennheiser HD-600s plugged directly into the headphone jack.

Maybe I'm expecting too much, but I didn't think it sounded noticeably better than my tiny portable Dacport plugged into a preamp with a mini-RCA adapter.

Ssglx - I already ordered the Wadia 121.

I tried it through my pre-amp and didn't think it sounded any better. There seems to be a split of opinion about digital preamps. Some people think they are bad for the reasons you state, and many others think that taking a separate preamp out of the chain improves the sound. I think it probably depends a lot on the digital attenuation technology that is used. My understanding is that the Wadia 121 has excellent preamp technology (don't ask me to explain it). Anyway, it's coming tomorrow, so I'll see how it sounds.

Your comment about the power line is probably true, since my office is in a really old building. However, when I had my Oppo CD player in the office in the same system, it sounded great.