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A DSD64 of Stevie Wonder’s Too High sparkles with the amount of detail revealed.Īt the other end of the scale, music transmitted over Bluetooth often equals notably muddier, more confined results compared to a wired source. There’s enough transparency to make the most of the higher-res tracks in which it supports, too. There’s much to appreciate in a hi-fi component that lets you sit back and enjoy your music no matter the genre, whether it’s Beethoven’s Piano Concerto 5 Op73 “Emperor” Adagio (MQA, 24-bit/96kHz) or Drake’s What’s Next (24-bit/88.2kHz) – and the DacMagic 200M is one of those. The Cambridge rides the dynamic ebbs and flows nicely, showing its grace in the quieter moments and its authority in the louder ones.ĭynamic shrewdness is backed by rhythmic coordination and punch, amounting to a musical presentation. That smoothness clings to the violins leading Ólafur Arnalds’ Spiral (Sunrise Session) (24-bit/96kHz) in a way that makes it enjoyable without clouding the textural finesse or dynamic undulation of the strings that communicate the piece’s beautiful fragility. As the instrumentation busies the soundstage, the Cambridge has enough breadth and control to keep things coherent.
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The insightful midrange, also exemplified by the textured acoustic melody, is bookended by a rich, punchy low-end – the introductory bass thump is full and lush – and pleasingly present highs that round off a nicely proportioned, equally talented frequency range. It not only communicates his unmistakable Scottish accent but also the masterful cadence of his delivery.
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We hook the Cambridge up to a Macbook Pro via USB type-B, feed it Arab Strap’s Fable Of The Urban Fox (16-bit/44.1kHz) and are instantly impressed by the articulacy of Aidan Moffat’s trademark poetic storytelling through the 200M. It’s recognisably ‘Cambridge’, characterised by a full, smooth tonality that’s complemented by an open, expressive and authoritative manner. The DacMagic 200M’s performance continues the momentum of the company’s recent hi-fi components, including the CX and Edge ranges. That means one DAC chip handles the right audio channel while the other handles the left, theoretically resulting in better channel separation. The DAC architecture itself uses dual ESS Sabre DACs in a mono configuration.
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Still, it’s smartly presented and gives the DAC a rather tactile element – great if you plan to have it near you on a desktop and manually make adjustments, though not so relevant if it’s placed far away (those text labels are small) or tucked away in a system rack, as the compact aluminium chassis lends itself to. It makes for a busy aesthetic, not least as they’re also joined by LED, buttons and text labels for DAC filters and source selection, as well as the usual power button, volume dial, headphone jack and company logos. Likewise, LEDs for MQA and DSD light up when those types of files or streams are detected. So if you’re playing a CD-quality file, the ‘44.1kHz’ LED will illuminate. Several LEDs each labelled with a sampling rate – ‘44.1kHz’, ‘48kHz’, ‘96kHz’ and ‘192kHz’, for example – light up to signify it. Get around town via gondola.The whole right-hand side of the Cambridge’s facade is dedicated to displaying the sampling rate of the audio signal being fed into it. Here’s what to do in the approachable yet busy capital of the country’s smallest state. In a city where old brick meets new glass, brows can be both high and low at the same wonderful time. Or sip an horchata latte while strolling over one of many stone bridges crisscrossing the lamplit river as gondolas glide beneath. Take a welding class, then try vodka distilled from oysters. Cap off a provocative museum exhibit with a brewery crawl. Glide on skates or crash into other bumper cars on an ice rink. Providence is buzzy, unpretentious, and walkable year round, but even in winter, you’ll find a mixture of fun and artsy shenanigans to get into. While some crowd New England in fall and summer, winter holds its own romance here. This city of artists, activists, and craft beer producers has so dramatically transformed over the past two decades that each time I come back to my home city, I stumble across something new-from Southern comfort food to a makers’ space for industrial arts. Pop quiz: which New England city has more than 30 miles of waterfront, 400-plus restaurants, and a quirky cultural scene with experimental theater and historic walking tours? I could forgive you if you answered Portland or Burlington (and pretend you didn’t say Boston), but the honor belongs to Providence.