1.) Power on/off - Switches the unit between on and off.

2.) Source - Press to select between USB, External (Ext.) or Digital Inputs 1 and 2. The corresponding LED will light up to show which source has been selected.

3.) Digital volume control - When headphones are connected, the headphone volume can be adjusted using the volume knob.

4.) Filter/Phase select - Momentarily press to select between three different filter modes: linear phase, minimum phase or steep, see later section for details. The corresponding LED will light up to show which filter has been selected.

5.) Phase - Press and hold the Filter/Phase select button for approximately two seconds to select normal or inverted phase output. When the LED lights up, the phase is inverted by the DacMagic Plus. If you suspect that your source material or amplifier, etc., is inverting the phase of the musical signal, you can use this function to re-invert the audio and regain absolute positive phase.

6.) Incoming sample rate - In the presence of an incoming digital stream, the relevant LED will light up to indicate the incoming digital sampling frequency (between 44.1kHz and 192kHz LPCM). For 32kHz material, the DacMagic Plus will still operate but no LED will be lit.

7.) Headphone connection - Allows for the connection of headphones with a ¼″ jack plug connector. Headphones with an impedance of between 32 and 600 ohms are recommended.

Rear Panel Features:

1.) Unbalanced audio outputs - Single-ended conventional stereo outputs for connection to the line-level Phono/RCA inputs of an amplifier.

2.) Balanced audio outputs - The DacMagic Plus also features true balanced (XLR) outputs. This is a higher quality output that can reject noise and interference when used with equipment with balanced inputs

3.) Digital Outputs – The digital outputs allow a digital recording device to be connected.These outputs loop or pass-through unprocessed digital audio from the selected digital input. Two types are available ((both the co-axial and the optical are active concurrently and can be used to connect and run equipment at the same time):

• S/P DIF co-axial – to obtain best results, use a high quality 75 ohm digital RCA interconnect cable (not one designed for normal audio use).
• TOSLINK optical – use a high quality TOSLINK fibre-optic interconnect cable designed specifically for audio use. To achieve the best results we always recommend using high quality Cambridge Audio leads, which are guaranteed for life

4.) Digital inputs 1 and 2 - The DacMagic Plus is fitted with two sets of digital inputs which enable the connection of source components. Each input has both S/P DIF and TOSLINK types fitted. Only one of the two types for each input should be connected at any one time. If both the optical and co-axial outputs have connections made to them, neither will work

• S/P DIF co-axial – to obtain best results, use a high quality 75 ohm digital RCA interconnect cable (not one designed for normal audio use).
• TOSLINK optical – use a high quality TOSLINK fibre-optic interconnect cable designed specifically for audio use.

5.) USB in - A USB B type socket is fitted to the DacMagic Plus to enable the playback of audio from a personal computer running either Microsoft Windows or Apple Mac OS X operating systems. Some builds of Linux are also suitable. Note: Always use a certified cable for USB Audio, preferably one that displays an official mark. For USB Audio 2.0 the cable should be the ‘Hi-Speed USB’ certified. USB cable connections longer than 3m may result in inconsistent audio performance.

6.) Ground/Lift switch - When Grounded the Dacmagic Plus is connected to the earth connection of the PC directly. When Lifted the ground connection is made via a network designed to break any hum loops that may be caused by the source equipment. We advise using the Grounded setting unless audible hum is experienced.

7.) Ext. device - Allows connectivity of USB audio enabled Cambridge Audio accessories, such as the BT100 Bluetooth adaptor.

8.) DC 12V 1.5A power adaptor socket - Once you have completed all connections, plug the supplied power adaptor into the DacMagic Plus. Important Note: Use the supplied power supply unit ONLY.

Audio Output Connections:

Use either the unbalanced (RCA/Phono) or balanced (XLR) outputs of the DacMagic Plus. The XLR output is slightly better in quality as it can reject interference and noise in the cable connection and is the preferred option if your amplifier features balanced XLR inputs. It is possible to use the RCA phono connections and the XLR balanced connections at the same time, e.g. for connecting to different amplifiers or multi-room operations.

Digital Audio Input Connections:

Connect your digital source to Digital Input 1 or 2. Either S/P DIF co-axial or TOSLINK optical types can be used, each being of equal quality.

Important Note: Only connect one co-axial OR optical cable to each digital input. The unit will not operate if both connections are made (even if only one is active).

PC-USB Connections: