Do I need a separate DAC...?

[Themis]

Very good move Shaun !

I attribute myself the "silence" you are talking about to the Croft pre and power, but certainly the Caiman accentuates the effect with its neutrality. But I won't argue on this, their combined result is what counts most.
I'm glad you are happy with this choice : a lot of listening pleasure to come, you certainly deserve it.

You will also discover that older (quiet) recordings gain a lot from this synergy.

[Haselsh1]

Strat, so far I have only used the Chinese Original CD player as a transport as I wish to get used to the sound before switching over to the Sony. At the moment I am using an optical cable as an interconnect but today I am going to change over to a copper RAC connector. It'll be interesting to see if that makes a difference.

The most striking thing for me about the sound of the Caiman is the total lack of graininess in the upper mid/lower treble. This was the biggest complaint I had with the Chinese Original. The sound was coarse and very blunt in it's presentation. The Caiman is very refined.

I do have to add though that in spite of me saying this is the most analogue I have heard CD sound, it does not equal my vinyl. I'm not saying vinyl is better anymore but it sure is very different.

I am also very pleased with the volume pot on the Caiman. This enables me to match vinyl volume with CD volume. I guess it's better to push a lower voltage into the Croft preamp than bang 2V's or more in. I now have a much more usable system. I am indeed a happy old Hector !

[Haselsh1]

Very good move Shaun !

I attribute myself the "silence" you are talking about to the Croft pre and power, but certainly the Caiman accentuates the effect with its neutrality. But I won't argue on this, their combined result is what counts most.
I'm glad you are happy with this choice : a lot of listening pleasure to come, you certainly deserve it.

You will also discover that older (quiet) recordings gain a lot from this synergy.

Themis, I am sure your views on the Croft pre/power are very accurate. I'm almost certain that my CD problems started with the purchase of the Croft. I personally think that the Croft is so damn transparent that all of a sudden, it completely embarassed the Original CD player and showed it up for what it actually is. My system does indeed now have a synergy that is very welcome. The onset of the Caiman has also made my speakers a lot more musical and easier to listen too. The Original was just too coarse and brash.
Many thanks for you views on this. I am very much looking forward to living with this now.

[Ali Tait]

Shaun,have you tried the fixed output against the variable? I know it means you can gain match,but it's not a good idea to have an extra pot in the signal path IMO.

[Haselsh1]

Shaun,have you tried the fixed output against the variable? I know it means you can gain match,but it's not a good idea to have an extra pot in the signal path IMO.

Ali, I have tried things with and without the pot and to be honest, I can't tell the difference but I fully understand what you are suggesting. With the sheer difficulty of setting volume levels and balance with the Croft, I have set a volume using vinyl as the source and then matched the CD volume to that. At the moment I am getting just what I want but there will be plenty of time for experimentation later. For now, I intend to use an RCA copper connector for the digital connection. Let's see if that makes a difference.

[MartinT]

Shaun, you should find the copper cable a small improvement over optical, although to be honest the Caiman's optical input is pretty damn good (I use optical from my Sky HD box). Keep running the Caiman and you should find it continues to improve up to and beyond 200 hours or so.

I know exactly what you mean about the transparency and clarity in the midrange. It's a bit of a giant killer as far as DACs go. I'm sure you have many happy hours of listening ahead of you.

[Themis]

The Caiman's pot starts slightly making a difference under 50% (under 12 o'clock), can't notice it above 14 o'clock, anyway.

The coax input gives slightly fuller bass than the optical, imho. And I use a glass fiber, I won't comment on plastic fiber, as I don't have any under 5m.

[dave2010]

Shaun

I'm still pleased with mine. I currently have several optical interconnects and a coaxial link. I've ordered another coaxial cable as this has two coax inputs. I switch the optical interconnects using a simple switch - though I have a slight problem remembering which is which.

Re the USB interface, that is quite good too, and I've been amazed at the quality possible via Spotify. Even some tracks on Napster sound good - for example the guitar tracks for Walton's 5 Bagatelles played by Julian Bream. I really like being able to hear the squeaks as Bream moves his fingers around. For some music at reasonable volumes it just sounds as though the musicians have come into the room.

I can't really be sure, but possibly the sound is better from online sources with a feed from the Squeezebox, but having said that some of the sound via the USB from a small computer running Spotify is very good. When it's not - e.g Claudio Arrau playing Beethoven's Waldstein sonata, careful listening usually suggests the problems are in the recording - though that one's pretty bad. A pity as the performance is decent.

How about this for silliness. Rather than turn my tuner on, I'm listening to the online stream of Radio 3 (partly because I'd need to reconfigure things right now to get the tuner input working again) - very clean sound via my Logitech SB3 and Caiman. Maybe that doesn't work for any stations you might want to listen to. As you said, very quiet "silence".

I don't know why this appears to get better as time goes on. Possibly I'm imagining this, or maybe it's just that one's ears adjust to the sound. I agree it does seem to though.

[MartinT]

And I use a glass fiber, I won't comment on plastic fiber, as I don't have any under 5m.

My Kimber optical cable uses 'medical grade fibre', whatever that is. In any case, it's 0.5m long and sounds pretty good to my ears and better than another cheap optical I have lying around.

[Haselsh1]

Now I could well be imagining this but I could swear as this unit has gained a few hours on the clock, the stereo imaging has improved. The spread is now wider than the speakers on occasion whereas straight out of the box it was firmly between the speakers. I would also reinforce what was said about the coax connection, the bass is fuller but I have had fewer errors. This whole experience is pretty good, all I want to do now is play music with a very dark, silent background.