I have the dacmagic hooked up via USB from a Dell notebook (Vista), running audioquest copperhead to a NAD c372. This is my 2nd system, used in the computer room. In the room I also have 2 universal dvd players that connect directly to the NAD, not via the dacmagic. This is because all the music I listen to is on the hard drive, and I have no reason to play CD via the dacmagic. I do play sacd and dvd-audio straight to the NAD in 2-channel, and those sound very good. I have tried both units via the dacmagic to play CD as a test, and it was an improvement over both units in CD playback, but not as good as listening from the hard drive.
Sometimes I take the notebook and dacmagic and connect to my main system to see how it sounds, and it sounds very good. But again, playing music from the hard drive.
I also have a CA 840C in my main system, and it's built in DAC is better than that of the dacmagic, but no surprise there.
However, even though the 840C is better sounding, if I had never heard the 840C I would have been satisfied using the dacmagic on the main system.
The dacmagic is a good unit, and beats hands down any outboard sound card I have tried with the notebook. I am very happy with the unit. Anyone with a PC with lots of music on it will like the upgrade over a sound card. BTW, all the music on the hard drive is in WAV format, either CD ripped to WAV, and a lot of vinly recorded to the hard drive in WAV. The latter works very well, and sounds much better than my CD's ripped to WAV.
Sometimes I take the notebook and dacmagic and connect to my main system to see how it sounds, and it sounds very good. But again, playing music from the hard drive.
I also have a CA 840C in my main system, and it's built in DAC is better than that of the dacmagic, but no surprise there.
However, even though the 840C is better sounding, if I had never heard the 840C I would have been satisfied using the dacmagic on the main system.
The dacmagic is a good unit, and beats hands down any outboard sound card I have tried with the notebook. I am very happy with the unit. Anyone with a PC with lots of music on it will like the upgrade over a sound card. BTW, all the music on the hard drive is in WAV format, either CD ripped to WAV, and a lot of vinly recorded to the hard drive in WAV. The latter works very well, and sounds much better than my CD's ripped to WAV.