Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100 Digital to Analog Converter

"The Image It Portrayed Was Wide and Deep"

Hot on the heels of the DacMagic Plus, Cambridge Audio has just added another member to the DacMagic family. The DacMagic 100 is a superb value digital-to-analog converter designed to enhance music played from a whole range of digital audio devices.

"Far from being embarrassed by the considerably larger and costlier DACs in this month's group test, the DacMagic 100 delivered a fine performance in the listening tests," notes England's Hi-fi News for June 2012. "Sounding commendably neutral and self-effacing, via one of its coaxial S/PDIF inputs it delivered an expansive soundstage… the image it portrayed was wide and deep."

Since the original DacMagic launched in 2008, the popularity of computer-based music collections and online streaming services have exploded. DacMagic 100 offers the perfect enhancement by taking music data from PCs or Macs and transforming it into hi-fi quality audio. The end result is a dramatically vibrant, detailed sound and one that’s remarkably free from jitter – a problem which normally degrades music stored on hard drives or sent across networks. And to make the very most of computer-based music, DacMagic 100 is equipped with Cambridge Audio’s latest USB audio input which allows studio master, uncompressed 24-bit, 192 kHz files to be played back from any Windows or Apple computer.

An Additional Three Digital Connections

With an additional three digital connections (1 x optical Toslink connection and 2 x S/PDIF coaxial connections), the DacMagic 100 is also ideal for improving the audio performance from a wide range of products including TVs, media players and Blu-ray players. It also makes the perfect partner for digital iPad and iPhone docks such as Cambridge Audio’s iD100, which shares the same form factor.

DacMagic 100 in Greater Detail...

The DacMagic 100 features Wolfson’s very latest WM8742 24-bit DAC, which delivers genuine hi-fi quality performance from the most popular digital audio devices.

Today’s music lover typically owns multiple digital audio devices which could benefit from significant enhancement and the DacMagic 100 offers a variety of connections for maximum flexibility. These include S/ PDIF, optical (ideal for digital iPod docks, network music devices, TVs, Blu-ray players etc.) and USB (for computers).

Up to 24-bit content is now supported via both the USB Audio and digital inputs as either Audio profile 1.0 or 2.0 in asynchronous mode with full support for up to 24-bit/192 kHz content. With Windows PCs, DacMagic 100 can operate driverlessly at up to 24-bit/96 kHz resolution. A custom-designed Cambridge Audio Windows driver (available free from Cambridge Audio support site) allows up to 24-bit/192 kHz file transfer over USB and supports both kernel streaming and ASIO. (Apple PCs already support up to 24-bit/192kHz USB transfer natively).

Asynchronous transfer means the audio data is not forced into fixed size packets to fit within a standard USB clock scheme, i.e. the data is now asynchronous to the USB stream. Instead DacMagic 100 controls the flow rate and sets this for the actual audio sample rate being played. This dramatically reduces interface jitter across the USB transfer.

• New Wolfson WM8742 24-bit DAC
• New driverless asynchronous USB audio input – for up to 24-bit/192 kHz USB input
• 1 x optical TOSLINK connection
• 2 x S/PDIF coaxial connections
• RCA phono analog outputs for connection to hi-fi or home entertainment system
• Incoming sampling rate indicator 32 / 44.1 / 48 / 88.2 / 96 / 192 kHz
• Full metal chassis and new wraparound casework with thick aluminum front panel
• Available in silver or black

• D/A converter: Wolfson WM8742 24bit DAC
• Frequency response: 20Hz to 20kHz (±0.1dB)
• Digital input word widths supported: 16-24bit
• Digital input sampling frequencies supported on all inputs: 32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 192kHz *
• Output level (unbalanced): 2.3V rms
• Output impedance: <50ohms
• Max power consumption: 5W
• Dimensions: 1.8" high, 4.1" wide, 5.1" deep
• Weight: 1.1lbs

"Far from being embarrassed by the considerably larger and costlier DACs in this month's group test, the DacMagic 100 delivered a fine performance in the listening tests. Sounding commendably neutral and self-effacing, via one of its coaxial S/PDIF inputs it delivered an expansive soundstage… the image it portrayed was wide and deep."

- Hi-fi News, June 2012