View Full Version : Beresford Bushmaster DAC Reviews
Thanks for coming over guys.
The TQ Black was made for the Rega RS3's...wow!
Big step up from my Mogami...
Like a component upgrade, seriously.
Will post tomorrow on todays schennigans
off to my kipper.
Ali Tait
19-06-2012, 21:43
Aye, there was more of a difference between the cables than all the dacs.
pete_mac
20-06-2012, 00:29
There is a school of thought (and I'm using the word 'thought' in a very special sense here) that claims that a shitty $20 DVD player from Walmart, when used as a digital transport into an outboard DAC, sounds exactly the same as the ultra high-end $20,000 digital transport.
Definitely not in my experience! Although, some high-end DACs do have better on-board technology to deal with jitter et al, so these are potentially less sensitive to transport quality than cheaper DACs which lack this technology. I've found that mating cheaper DACs with quailty transports often elevates them to a similar level as the higher-end DACs.
Sorry for going a bit off-topic in what is the Bushmaster thread after all, but anybody who does believe that all transports sound the same should grab a Metrum Octave DAC which is a superb DAC but includes no filtering or jitter reduction technology. It is brutally revealing of its source. Compare a cheap DVD player and a decent transport via this DAC and the difference is plainly obvious. Not all digital transports are the same.
I'm a big fan of SPDIF reclockers to get the most out of any entry-level transport (DVD player, cheap CD player, SB Touch, Sonos etc). The audio-gd DI is a great bit of kit for the money, and the Empirical Audio Synchro Mesh lifts the bar yet again.
BTW, looking forward to hearing the Bushmaster once it makes its way to Australia! :)
Can we now please reserve this thread for reviews/listening experiences of the Beresford Bushmaster?
All other Bushmaster related discussion should go here: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=14017&page=104
Ali Tait
20-06-2012, 10:27
Hookay, here are my thoughts on yesterday. This will probably ruffle a few feathers, so can I say at the outset that we all agreed on our opinions about what we heard. Plus the fact I will always give an honest opinion and speak as I find regardless.
Firstly, thanks again to Gary for hosting us, the pizza and beer were first class!
I took across the valve dac, my PP EL84 amps, my WD Pre 3, TQ Black cables and some pairs of AG Audio silver foil i/c's.
Gary had on dem the new Rega dac and amp (which were very nice BTW, commercial kit at this price level has certainly moved on in the last few years IMHO) and all listening was done with his self built music file server using JRiver and SSD etc. etc. (very nice indeed). The dacs we listened to were- the Rega dac, the Bushmaster, Gary's fully tricked out Caiman and finally my AK4396 valve dac built by Nick Gorham.
One of the main reasons I went across was to try the valve dac on Gary's server. I have recently fitted some custom O'Netics output transformers to the dac that Nick had specced with Bud Purvine specially for this purpose. O'Netics are one of the top audio transformer makers on the planet, and I had high hopes for these trannies. These hopes were mostly realised but there was occasionally something not quite right about the sound at home that was very difficult to put my finger on, so I wanted to try the dac with something other than the Touch in order to pinpoint the problem (turned out not to be the trannies at all, but that's another story)
I'm not going to write reams about how each dac sounded, cos I can't be bothered and I'm a crap typist, but I'll go though what we did.
We used the Rega amp for all comparisons, running Gary's RS 3's. We started with the Rega dac. We liked the sound this gave, nice and with little if any grain. A smooth listen, easy on the ear but still good detail. Soundstaging was good too.
From this we moved on to the Bushmaster. We found this a touch brighter and/or more detailed in the mid, but inferior to the Rega at the frequency extremes. The soundstage was noticeably smaller than the Rega.
We then moved on to the fully tricked out Caiman. This had a smidge less clarity in the mid compared to the BM, but we found it was superior at the top and bottom. Better soundstaging too. A bit of a surprise to me and not what I was expecting frankly!
If memory serves we then went back to the Rega and swapped in the TQ Blacks in place of Gary's Mogami (?) cables. This was an absolute revelation in Gary's system. I can honestly say I have never heard a cable make such a difference in a hi fi system before, it was a vast improvement, making as much difference as changing the speakers would have. Gary at this point was cursing me cos he's now got to save up for a pair of Blacks!
We then swapped Gary's Mike Grant 2000 i/c for my silver foil jobbie, which again was an easily noticeable improvement, with gains in clarity and better tighter bass. A good result given the relative costs of the cable.
Finally we moved on to the valve dac. I was keen to hear if the same problems were reproduced that I was getting with the Touch at home. Thankfully this was not the case, so it would appear that the dac has now got to a level that is showing the limitations of the Touch, or that it is showing up some other deficiency in my system. In any case, this was the preferred dac of the day, easily outstripping all the others in the SQ stakes. Much bigger soundstage, better clarity but with no edginess, and stonking bass that frankly put the other dacs to shame. Given Nick's design skills, and the relative costs of the dacs, not an unexpected result really.
We then plumbed in the EL84 monoblocks and my Pre 3, giving Gary and Brian their first listen to some valve kit. I noted the fact that this was now a full valve system playing file audio- valve dac, preamp and power amps. This was again a big step up in SQ, much bigger soundstage and better everything really. Nice as the Rega amp was, it was totally outclassed here. On having a listen to Tubular Bells, Brian commented that he had been listening to this album since it came out when he was 16 and he was now hearing things he'd never heard before. I think he was quite taken with what he was hearing, and several comments were made about how good things were sounding. An enjoyable day all round I think.
So, we all agreed, the dacs in order of SQ were-
1. AK4396 valve dac.
2. Rega
3. Caiman
4. Bushmaster
Please don't think we are dissing the Bushmaster, we are not. At it's price it remains excellent value and great sound and in isolation it sounds very good.
So there you have it. If my memory is faulty at all (quite likely) I'm sure Gary or Brian will correct any details.
Thanks again to Gary for hosting, and Brian it was good to meet you. :)
Interesting findings, Ali, as my Bushmaster on battery easily outperforms my fully tricked out Caiman/Gator on Paul Hynes PSUs. Especially noticeable for me are the frequency extremes!
Ali Tait
20-06-2012, 10:49
Aye, I guess just goes to show how system dependant things are.
jandl100
20-06-2012, 10:56
Gosh. That is a surprise, Ali.
As with Martin, my BM easily beats my Caiman (admittedly a standard one).
The BM also saw off a multi-£k well-reviewed DAC/pre unit I plumbed in yesterday.
I remain in awe of what the Bushmaster can do. Very difficult for me to reconcile your group bake-off outcome with the stunning sounds I am now getting from my system with the BM. :scratch: The best sound quality I have heard chez-Jerry, especially the soundstaging, and not by a small amount.
I agree with your take on the Tellurium Black, though!
Thanks for this review Ali, as a bit of Rega fancier myself I found it v interesting.
Think my all Rega system is going to become a reality very soon.
Ali Tait
20-06-2012, 11:02
Gosh. That is a surprise, Ali.
As with Martin, my BM easily beats my Caiman (admittedly a standard one).
The BM also saw off a multi-£k well-reviewed DAC/pre unit I plumbed in yesterday.
I remain in awe of what the Bushmaster can do. Very difficult for me to reconcile your group bake-off outcome with the stunning sounds I am now getting from my system with the BM. :scratch: The best sound quality I have heard chez-Jerry, especially the soundstaging, and not by a small amount.
I agree with your take on the Tellurium Black, though!
Aye, though this is the same dac that is having problems playing from a laptop, so perhaps there is a problem with it?
As for the Black, yes it's quite something. As a user of valves I've not heard cables make much if any difference in the past, but I guess that's not the case with SS!
Spot on write up Ali, agree 100%
Agree with Ali's order of the Dacs.
Not trying to ruffle any feathers but that's how it was fella's.
I'd add though that we put the Bushmaster and Rega back in circuit with the valve amps just to see how it went.
The same relative result, the Rega being better...but Ali's valve amps upped the stakes sound wise for both Dacs.
Just goes to show the old chestnut about using different kit can change the sound.
That's the benefit of getting together and hearing stuff with other kit - highly recommended!
One thing I personally was chuffed about was the RS3 speakers just responded to every kit change sounding better and better.
With the TQ Black...bloody hell!
Seriously we all just looked at each other...wtf!?
Thanks to Ali and Brian for bringing over their kit, its always good to know what direction to head in system wise and for me it HAS to be the Rega kit with the TQ Black.
But in the spirit of throwing in some controversy in this thread.. :)
Honestly I thought the Rega dac (whilst not as good overall) was not a million miles away from the valve Dac. Sorry Ali!
Ali's was was better, yes, but both dacs gave just as enjoyable as listen to my ears.
I felt that some areas were a wee bit preferable, specifically; with the Rega the top end was a wee bit more precise and there wasn't that slight touch of "bloom" to the bass.
The valve dac WAS better though and no doubt with Ali's open baffle speakers it would sound amazing.
Its all about kit synergy. I think Rega's on to something here....
The main thing I took from the day is that you have to hear kit for yourself to really make a valid judgement. We all hear differently and changing one piece of kit (even a cable!) can alter the sound.
Aye, though this is the same dac that is having problems playing from a laptop, so perhaps there is a problem with it?
As for the Black, yes it's quite something. As a user of valves I've not heard cables make much if any difference in the past, but I guess that's not the case with SS!
Good point Ali about the laptop, we never got to the bottom of that one.
Oddly though..
Brians laptop played 24/96 Flacs fine through his Bushmaster, it was only when we played that 16/44 tracks that it broke up.
Also, the Bushmaster played files (16/44 and 24/96) without a problem from my music server and also a mates SB Touch.
So I'm not convinced the Bushmaster itself was at fault to be honest. Stans QC is usually excellent in my experience.
*EDIT*
Have to say the BM sounded good playing music from my server, and its a very good dac for the money as other have attested to.
System tastes, room, other kit all comes into play.
May I suggest that some might find value in the price of each dac being shown.
Perhaps someone could fill in the prices?
1. AK4396 valve dac.
2. Rega
3. Caiman
4. Bushmaster
Guys I would like to point out that any drop out between source and DAC won't be masked by the Bushmaster. It does not use a mute circuit to hide drop outs and blips in the music, which is different to many other DACs.
So these problems might be masked with other DACs at the expense of sound quality?
I guess that's all part of the problem of big name products, the whole review cycle blah blah blah that sound quality is actually put further back down the list of priorities so that good reviews and uncomplicated, smooth running, papering over cracks of other people's under-par transport products etc take precident.
Bit like Clinton-esque election politics - say whatever it takes to get in power and worry about the policies later because if you don't get elected your policies won't be enacted. Worry about ultimate sound quality later but make sure the product sells well.
Thankfully these days people like you Stan can use more modern word of mouth, online social networking if you like to bypass all that and have your product judged by sound quality alone (and value for money).
Ali Tait
20-06-2012, 11:40
Aye it was just a thought mate, as what we heard is not what many are saying.
No need to be sorry mate, I agree the Rega was very good. I just prefer the way valves present things. They were close, but I did prefer the valve dac. Also, it's a work in progress so there is more to come.
Which Rega amp was it Gaz? The Brio?
Ali Tait
20-06-2012, 11:43
May I suggest that some might find value in the price of each dac being shown.
Perhaps someone could fill in the prices?
1. AK4396 valve dac.
2. Rega
3. Caiman
4. Bushmaster
I made that point in my post- the order happens to coincide with cost.
1. Not entirely sure, probably around £700 so far, it's a work in progress.
2. About £500 I think.
3. Not sure how much all the mods have cost, but got to be at least £300 I'd have thought.
4. About £200 isn't it?
To be honest, that is EXACTLY my thought. I do not use a DAC inside any device, I only own external DACs (Stan's, Moodlab Concept), and I do use unspecific sources that all sound the same when configured to output bitferfect:
Dell D830 on docking station with coax and Foobar/Asio
Acer 1810TZ with toslink and Foobar/Asio
Asrock Z77 Pro3 workstation with coax and Foobar/Asio
Squeezebox Touch with Toslink
'Shitty' 18€ DVD-Player with toslink (bitperfect configurable!)
'Expensive' ex-1800€ DVD-Player with coax
Panasonic 42inch plasma with toslink
And IMHO the effects on the source side on SQ are neglectable when compared to a exchange of speakers, DAC, or amp.
You'll probably find that all of these sources use very similar chip-manufacturer datasheet implementations of circuits to handle digital audio.
Afterall, "bits is bits" and once you have THAT mindset you will not be spending any r & d money to see if things can be improved or even identifying potential problems in the first place, so the basic circuit is copied off the data sheet and stuck into every product. Therefore I would expect most consumer orientated digital sources to sound the same..
Even D/A sections are copied out in the same way. Lots of high-end CD players of yore , like TDA1541A ones for example just use the stated Philips circuits around, nothing changed, nothing really tweeked, just copied without much thought. As a caviat, I get this info solely from Lampizators site where he gives many examples using the official circuit layout diagrams.
I made that point in my post- the order happens to coincide with cost.
1. Not entirely sure, probably around £700 so far, it's a work in progress.
2. About £500 I think.
3. Not sure how much all the mods have cost, but got to be at least £300 I'd have thought.
4. About £200 isn't it?
It's interesting that you found the performance go up, along with the cost, but I wonder how much more you get for the increased outlay.
Gaz reckoned the Rega was very close to the valve dac. How close was the Caiman to the Rega?
I made that point in my post- the order happens to coincide with cost.
1. Not entirely sure, probably around £700 so far, it's a work in progress.
2. About £500 I think.
3. Not sure how much all the mods have cost, but got to be at least £300 I'd have thought.
4. About £200 isn't it?
Thanks for that - kinda puts everything in perspective, price-wise.
It would be interesting to repeat the session with a selection of similarly priced units.
Cheers,
Big step up to the Rega imo.
More musical, sounded more "real", bigger soundstage.
more of everything I guess.
Originally Posted by StanleyB View Post
Guys I would like to point out that any drop out between source and DAC won't be masked by the Bushmaster. It does not use a mute circuit to hide drop outs and blips in the music, which is different to many other DACs.
That could account for the playback problems with the laptop certainly.
It was a very old laptop!
Which Rega amp was it Gaz? The Brio?
The Brio-R Lee.
Ali Tait
20-06-2012, 12:02
It's interesting that you found the performance go up, along with the cost, but I wonder how much more you get for the increased outlay.
Gaz reckoned the Rega was very close to the valve dac. How close was the Caiman to the Rega?
I'd say the Rega was easily better than the Caiman, a more "grown up" sound if you like. None of the dacs were poor however.
Gary will be able to give a more detailed answer, he's heard a lot more of both dacs.
Was the ranking in order of how much beer was consumed! :lol: :D :D
whit you sch'trying to shay like (hic)
na..everyone was driving lol
Werner Berghofer
20-06-2012, 12:33
The best sound quality I have heard
Quote:
“Our brains are like leaky sieves when it comes to auditory details. We can’t possibly remember the massive amount of data contained in even one song (roughly equivalent to one million words!). So, here again, our brains out of necessity heavily filter what we remember. […] The science shows our audio memory starts to degrade after just 0.2 seconds. So if switching from Gear A to Gear B requires more than a fraction of a second you’re losing more information. The longer the gap, the more you forget and the more bias distorts what you do remember.”
Source: Northwest audio & video guy: What we hear (http://nwavguy.blogspot.de/2012/04/what-we-hear.html).
Great article Werner, very interesting.
though I forgot 97% of it after reading it :)
I'm now running my Bushmaster on battery power and like MartinT have noticed a worthwhile step up in SQ, compared to the supplied power supply.
The bass has improved in depth and power certainly and the top end seems even smoother.
Compared to my old Dacmagic (azur) the whole presentation is more solid, bassy and analogue sounding. There's never, ever a hint of coarseness.
My system is in the centre of our open plan house, so I have to moderate the use/volume depending upon who's at home. Pre-Bushmaster, my wife would usually ask me to turn it down a bit when she came in. Now, with the Bushmaster, that's stopped and I've noticed her humming along on several occasions. She's not mentioned anything, but I think that it's the lack of digital harshness that's made the difference.
Really enjoying my Bushmaster,
James_Woods
20-06-2012, 13:22
Just one question: You tested the Bushmaster against the RegaDAC - but I did not see which settings you used.
Upsampling? Filters?
I've heard the RegaDAC - one thing that really hurts my eyes is that they use no external PSU. In my opinion the Bushmaster is at the same level of details. - whereas the flavour of the sound is a bit different in my opinion.
To the people with "dropouts" - have you tried turning of your WiFi connection? (On most motherboards the soundcard is using the same "lane" as the WiFi.)
Tobi, habe alles ausgeschaltet, sogar spotlight. Es gibt keine Veränderung!
Tobi, I disabled everything, even spotlight. The problem still remains!
Theres no upsampling with the Rega Dac Tobi, think it was Filter 5 on the Rega but I didn't check.
I've not tried out the different filters on the Rega, maybe others would sound better, I dont know.
From Jriver the music was fed to each Dac as it was - no upsampling - using WinAspi - Event Style, Source bitdepth with memory play enabled.
None of the settings was changed so each dac was fed by the same track, same settings.
magiccarpetride
20-06-2012, 17:31
We then moved on to the fully tricked out Caiman. This had a smidge less clarity in the mid compared to the BM, but we found it was superior at the top and bottom. Better soundstaging too. A bit of a surprise to me and not what I was expecting frankly!
Hey, I got mighty intrigued by your guys's ranking of the Caiman. To my ears, Gatorized Caiman sounds pronouncedly leaner, dryer, and flatter than the Bushmaster. Perhaps you guys prefer lean, dry and flat sound, but even so, wouldn't you agree that the Bushmaster has a much better defined bass? Plus, my Caiman sounds very two dimensional next to the Bushmaster (at least in my system).
I have to say that this goes completely contrary to my findings too.
My Caiman is fully tricked up, caps, regulators, linear supply and either gaitor board or passive mod. The Bushmaster blows it out of the water. Much tighter and lower bass, more defined imagining, and crystal highs.
Very strange.
Val
magiccarpetride
20-06-2012, 17:52
I have to say that this goes completely contrary to my findings too.
My Caiman is fully tricked up, caps, regulators, linear supply and either gaitor board or passive mod. The Bushmaster blows it out of the water. Much tighter and lower bass, more defined imagining, and crystal highs.
Very strange.
Val
Is that with or without the beers?
Ali Tait
20-06-2012, 18:11
Hey, I got mighty intrigued by your guys's ranking of the Caiman. To my ears, Gatorized Caiman sounds pronouncedly leaner, dryer, and flatter than the Bushmaster. Perhaps you guys prefer lean, dry and flat sound, but even so, wouldn't you agree that the Bushmaster has a much better defined bass? Plus, my Caiman sounds very two dimensional next to the Bushmaster (at least in my system).
Nope, that's how I would describe the BM. I don't prefer that kind of sound, I like valves!
We were all open minded and gave our honest opinion.
People hear differently, different systems, different tastes etc.
Not to damn it with faint praise, but the BM is a very good dac for the money, its a crackin buy.
It was only in direct comparison to the others that (to us three) the differences came out.
Remember the other Dacs are more expensive, Ali's Dac being many hundreds of pounds more!!
We were all in agreement about the order of the Dacs.
I personally was surprised how good my Caiman sounded in comparison.
I have spent a lot on it with all the mods, also we were using it with a Mark Grant Linear PSU.
Nope, that's how I would describe the BM. I don't prefer that kind of sound, I like valves!
+1 that's how the BM sounded to me too.
I felt the bass and top end was better on the Caiman.
Not night and day better but put together it made for an easier listen than the BM.
...and valves sound excellent - that amp of yours Ali....:eek:
Ali Tait
20-06-2012, 18:28
Aye, those RS3's seemed to like the glass bottles!
It amazes me that we ever agree on anything ,we all listen in different rooms to different gear,with different wifes and different carpets.Must do us all good to hear someone elses kit from time to time.If i didn't live in englandshire i would love to hear Ali's gear.
My carpet's better than your carpet....
magiccarpetride
20-06-2012, 19:01
My carpet's better than your carpet....
Excuse me, I'm not wearing a rug.:o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1lJFlB-89Q
StanleyB
20-06-2012, 19:56
People hear differently, different systems, different tastes etc.
Absolutely.
Not to damn it with faint praise, but the BM is a very good dac for the money, its a crackin buy.
It was only in direct comparison to the others that (to us three) the differences came out.
Remember the other Dacs are more expensive, Ali's Dac being many hundreds of pounds more!!
I wouldn't use price as a guide to why someone prefers something. But I can see why it could subconsciously be taken into consideration.
The BM is different, but not necessarily better suited for everyone. As Anthony D and others have already pointed out before, manufacturers can flavour their DAC to taste through the use of caps, opamps, etc after the DAC output. Or, as in the case of the Rega etc., through additional use of digital filters. The BM on the other hand offers a completely unmodified signal to the amp or preamp that it is connected to. It has a passive output after all. The BM wasn't designed to be the best sounding DAC. It was designed to sound more neutral and accurate with a more accurate frequency response and signal separation. These might not be attributes that are necessarily to the taste of everyone, but at least there is now the possibility to buy a DAC with that kind of performance.
Absolutely.
I wouldn't use price as a guide to why someone prefers something. But I can see why it could subconsciously be taken into consideration.
The BM is different, but not necessarily better suited for everyone. As Anthony D and others have already pointed out before, manufacturers can flavour their DAC to taste through the use of caps, opamps, etc after the DAC output. Or, as in the case of the Rega etc., through additional use of digital filters. The BM on the other hand offers a completely unmodified signal to the amp or preamp that it is connected to. It has a passive output after all. The BM wasn't designed to be the best sounding DAC. It was designed to sound more neutral and accurate with a more accurate frequency response and signal separation. These might not be attributes that are necessarily to the taste of everyone, but at least there is now the possibility to buy a DAC with that kind of performance.
Hi Stan,
We didn't take cost into account when we were listening.
I mentioned cost just to try to put things into perspective for folk reading. :)
With the Rega I think the filters were present on the Dac chip already, they just put a button on the front to change them if desired.
Can highly recommend getting out and about and hearing other kit, it'll open your eyes (and unfortunately your wallet!)
I find the lean comments about the BM at odds with my listening, I had to double check after Ali's report and put the Caimen and my own AK DAC back into the system. The AK is not as good as the Caimen and the Caimen in turn is not as competent as the BM so I'm puzzled.
I can only think theres system synergy at play, I feed all line level inputs into an active Valve buffer stage which adds voltage and current drive, I'm wondering if the input into whatever the Pre was at the meet needs current drive to work at its best.
StanleyB
20-06-2012, 20:37
Can recommend getting out and about and hearing other kit, it'll open your eyes (well, ears)
I consider that a very condescending statement Gaz. I do listen to other kits, but at the same time I let others listen to products that I am working on and get an added perspective on the looks, feel, and the way it sounds.
Your suggestion implies otherwise, which is not what I expected from you. It demonstrates a preconceived idea on your part which I hope is only limited to this instance and not to people in general who do not see things in the same light. I would be worried if this is a particular character trait that you exhibit in general.
I have offered my comments with regard to the difference between my design and other ones available on the market. I don't generally offer my opinion on reviews and how i feel about the conclusions drawn up afterwards. Nor do I defend the implementation of my design against the way other manufacturers have implemented theirs. It's for the buying public to decide what kind of listening experience they are after. All I can do is to highlight how my design is put together and what solutions customers can expect to find when following my route. I am not trying to copy the signature from anyone, or trying to artificially create a signature in the first place. The BM is not about creating a signature, but about offering an unadulterated reproduction of the analogue output from the D to A processor used in the design.
Keeping the output stage of a dac simple is a good idea imo, the end user can add his/her own flavourings down stream if they think its required .Lots of choices like valve buffers etc can have quite a big influence on the end result.
Ali Tait
20-06-2012, 20:45
I find the lean comments about the BM at odds with my listening, I had to double check after Ali's report and put the Caimen and my own AK DAC back into the system. The AK is not as good as the Caimen and the Caimen in turn is not as competent as the BM so I'm puzzled.
I can only think theres system synergy at play, I feed all line level inputs into an active Valve buffer stage which adds voltage and current drive, I'm wondering if the input into whatever the Pre was at the meet needs current drive to work at its best.
Aye, that crossed my mind too Neal. There was no pre used for the comparisons, just straight into the Rega amp.
Ali Tait
20-06-2012, 20:47
I consider that a very condescending statement Gaz. I do listen to other kits, but at the same time I let others listen to products that I am working on and get an added perspective on the looks, feel, and the way it sounds.
Your suggestion implies otherwise, which is not what I expected from you. It demonstrates a preconceived idea on your part which I hope is only limited to this instance and not to people in general who do not see things in the same light. I would be worried if this is a particular character trait that you exhibit in general.
I have offered my comments with regard to the difference between my design and other ones available on the market. I don't generally offer my opinion on reviews and how i feel about the conclusions drawn up afterwards. Nor do I defend the implementation of my design against the way other manufacturers have implemented theirs. It's for the buying public to decide what kind of listening experience they are after. All I can do is to highlight how my design is put together and what solutions customers can expect to find when following my route. I am not trying to copy the signature from anyone, or trying to artificially create a signature in the first place. The BM is not about creating a signature, but about offering an unadulterated reproduction of the analogue output from the D to A processor used in the design.
I think Gaz meant that as a general statement to folk reading this Stan, it wasn't specifically directed at you.
Aye, that crossed my mind too Neal. There was no pre used for the comparisons, just straight into the Rega amp.
That may account for the apparent lean presentation...
I consider that a very condescending statement Gaz. I do listen to other kits, but at the same time I let others listen to products that I am working on and get an added perspective on the looks, feel, and the way it sounds.
Your suggestion implies otherwise, which is not what I expected from you. It demonstrates a preconceived idea on your part which I hope is only limited to this instance and not to people in general who do not see things in the same light. I would be worried if this is a particular character trait that you exhibit in general.
I have offered my comments with regard to the difference between my design and other ones available on the market. I don't generally offer my opinion on reviews and how i feel about the conclusions drawn up afterwards. Nor do I defend the implementation of my design against the way other manufacturers have implemented theirs. It's for the buying public to decide what kind of listening experience they are after. All I can do is to highlight how my design is put together and what solutions customers can expect to find when following my route. I am not trying to copy the signature from anyone, or trying to artificially create a signature in the first place. The BM is not about creating a signature, but about offering an unadulterated reproduction of the analogue output from the D to A processor used in the design.
Stan you misunderstand.
This wasn't directed at you mate, just a general comment about the benefits of getting together and listening to other kit.
No preconceived ideas or bias here, honest Guv. :)
As I said earlier, we all listened with an open mind.
Aye, that crossed my mind too Neal. There was no pre used for the comparisons, just straight into the Rega amp.
remember though we listened with the valve pre/power amp as well...
Ali Tait
20-06-2012, 21:01
That may account for the apparent lean presentation...
Yes, that's what I was thinking. I may ask Bernie to pop round with his sometime so I can try it here connected to the Pre 3. That'll provide plenty drive.
Ali Tait
20-06-2012, 21:02
remember though we listened with the valve pre/power amp as well...
Did we? Can't remember.. :doh:
yeah..
we thought it might be interesting to plug the BM back in.
Ali Tait
20-06-2012, 21:11
Ah yes, I remember now, and it still sounded brighter in the mid. It's still worth trying Bernie's in my system if he's amenable. That'll prove whether there is something not right with Brian's.
magiccarpetride
20-06-2012, 21:51
Nope - Touch with standard PSU (for the moment - new one coming soon), Bushmaster running from 12V battery. Co-ax connection into Input 3. Running EDO and all unnecessary add-ins disabled. Standard Logitech Media Server with a variety of file formats on a W7 desktop machine. Cabled ethernet connection.
No hardness, just superb detail.
What EDO version are you running? I've heard that the latest version (0.7) brings audible degradation to the SQ. Correct?
brian2957
20-06-2012, 22:07
Sorry I'm late to this thread guys , been working all day .Firstly I would like to thank Gaz for inviting us into his home and provding me with food , copious amounts of coffee , and a very interesting day. And also thanks to Ali for giving us access to his excellent and interesting valve amps and DAC. I have to say that I agree with everything that Gary and Ali have written in their excellent reviews. Alis' valve DAC was indeed excellent through the Rega Brio R and came into its' own when used with the valve amps.
I think the Rega DAC , for a cheaper and commercially available DAC was a pretty close second . In my opinion the fully specced Caiman did sound pretty good in the scheme of things. The Bushmaster did not sound as good , to my ears , on the day. One thing that has been niggling me all day today was the fact that the Bushmaster had been given around 96 hours of use / burn-in. Perhaps Gary will correct me if I'm wrong here as we had to use his system since my laptop simply would not work with the Bushmaster. Was this enough burn-in ?
This may or may not be a relevent point . The bottom line was that we all came to more or less the same conclusions on the day using all four DACs on two different systems , solid state and valve.
Brian.
Sorry I'm late to this thread guys , been working all day .Firstly I would like to thank Gaz for inviting us into his home and provding me with food , copious amounts of coffee , and a very interesting day. And also thanks to Ali for giving us access to his excellent and interesting valve amps and DAC. I have to say that I agree with everything that Gary and Ali have written in their excellent reviews. Alis' valve DAC was indeed excellent through the Rega Brio R and came into its' own when used with the valve amps.
I think the Rega DAC , for a cheaper and commercially available DAC was a pretty close second . In my opinion the fully specced Caiman did sound pretty good in the scheme of things. The Bushmaster did not sound as good , to my ears , on the day. One thing that has been niggling me all day today was the fact that the Bushmaster had been given around 96 hours of use / burn-in. Perhaps Gary will correct me if I'm wrong here as we had to use his system since my laptop simply would not work with the Bushmaster. Was this enough burn-in ?
This may or may not be a relevent point . The bottom line was that we all came to more or less the same conclusions on the day using all four DACs on two different systems , solid state and valve.
Brian.
hi Brian,
I wanted the Dacs to be on as even a keel as possible so had my Tivo box running through the BM 24/7 from Friday round 8pm through to Tuesday late morning when you arrived.
The Rega was still running in as well.
Burn in could be a factor, who knows.
James_Woods
20-06-2012, 22:18
Tobi, habe alles ausgeschaltet, sogar spotlight. Es gibt keine Veränderung!
Tobi, I disabled everything, even spotlight. The problem still remains!
For Windows Users - if youre facing dropouts please check first if youre Latencys are alright:
http://www.heise.de/download/dpc-latency-checker.html
If not, there is some process/device blocking.
Are you using MacOS Lion, Snow Leopard or Leopard Paul?
brian2957
20-06-2012, 22:19
Hi mate , I was thinking more of the Bushmaster versus the Caiman which had many hours of use . This is perhaps a moot point since I was unable to burn the Bushmaster in for any length of time on my system.
Brian.
magiccarpetride
20-06-2012, 22:26
Hi mate , I was thinking more of the Bushmaster versus the Caiman which had many hours of use . This is perhaps a moot point since I was unable to burn the Bushmaster in for any length of time on my system.
Brian.
I don't think it could factor in, because in my case I have my Caiman on burn-in for more than two years and still it sounds bleached, anemic, and two dimensional next to the Bushmaster with only around 48 hours or so of burn-in.
What EDO version are you running? I've heard that the latest version (0.7) brings audible degradation to the SQ. Correct?
I'm using 0.5 and will leave it alone as it works. Can't comment on 0.7.
Lots of opinions of Stans previous stuff benefiting from some burn in.
I found it with my 7510 and my Caiman.
All 4 dacs were good, none were poor on the day.
brian2957
20-06-2012, 22:32
Lots of opinions of Stans previous stuff benefiting from some burn in.
I found it with my 7510 and my Caiman.
All 4 dacs were good, none were poor on the day.
I wholeheartedly agree. Just wondering.
Brian.
I just received my BM yesterday, so its got less than 20 hrs burn-in but I must say that so so far I prefer the sound of my passive modded Caiman. I am using the stock PSU with the BM comparted with a tweaked Maplin linear CB-Radio PSU with the Caiman.
The BM is more analogue sounding and but lacks the soundstage and highs and lows of the PM Caiman. In my system the BM still sounds a little harsh. The BM output is much higher than the passive modded Caiman, which might also be a factor. My poor old Linn Kairn pre-amp could not handle the output of the Gator board but the BM does not seem to be distorting like it did with the Gator.
I am using EDO 0.7 with the SBT before and after.
I am just hoping it gets more rounded with some more burn-in... I might try the Maplin PSU to see if that makes a difference.
Give it time, Alastair. Both burn-in and power supply make a difference.
Ali Tait
20-06-2012, 23:08
I just received my BM yesterday, so its got less than 20 hrs burn-in but I must say that so so far I prefer the sound of my passive modded Caiman. I am using the stock PSU with the BM comparted with a tweaked Maplin linear CB-Radio PSU with the Caiman.
The BM is more analogue sounding and but lacks the soundstage and highs and lows of the PM Caiman. In my system the BM still sounds a little harsh. The BM output is much higher than the passive modded Caiman, which might also be a factor. My poor old Linn Kairn pre-amp could not handle the output of the Gator board but the BM does not seem to be distorting like it did with the Gator.
I am using EDO 0.7 with the SBT before and after.
I am just hoping it gets more rounded with some more burn-in... I might try the Maplin PSU to see if that makes a difference.
That's exactly what we found.
I just received my BM yesterday, so its got less than 20 hrs burn-in but I must say that so so far I prefer the sound of my passive modded Caiman. I am using the stock PSU with the BM comparted with a tweaked Maplin linear CB-Radio PSU with the Caiman.
The BM is more analogue sounding and but lacks the soundstage and highs and lows of the PM Caiman. In my system the BM still sounds a little harsh. The BM output is much higher than the passive modded Caiman, which might also be a factor. My poor old Linn Kairn pre-amp could not handle the output of the Gator board but the BM does not seem to be distorting like it did with the Gator.
I am using EDO 0.7 with the SBT before and after.
I am just hoping it gets more rounded with some more burn-in... I might try the Maplin PSU to see if that makes a difference.
If the active Caimen was overdriving the pre input of the Kairn then the BM will do the same, the outputs are standard line level 2v. If the Kairn can be overdriven by a standard 2v line level input then its not up to much or could be faulty.
wee tee cee
21-06-2012, 16:41
Great wee review chaps. Would have been very interested to have to heard Ali's audio note in the fray-nicest dac I have heard so far.
Ali Tait
21-06-2012, 16:45
Don't have it any more mate, it's been moved on.
Canetoad
21-06-2012, 17:27
To me. :eyebrows:
I'm very happy with it too. :)
Actually, I'd like to compare it with a Rega DAC. :scratch:
To me. :eyebrows:
I'm very happy with it too. :)
Actually, I'd like to compare it with a Rega DAC. :scratch:
Shame you couldn't make it Bernie, had a good session and you could have brought the Dac down!
magiccarpetride
21-06-2012, 17:57
Lots of opinions of Stans previous stuff benefiting from some burn in.
I found it with my 7510 and my Caiman.
All 4 dacs were good, none were poor on the day.
This may be asking too much, but any chance you guys could post the list of songs/tracks you've used during your evaluation of the DACs?
This may be asking too much, but any chance you guys could post the list of songs/tracks you've used during your evaluation of the DACs?
Uhm, ok see if I remember some of them...
Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges - Side By Side: Track = Stompy Jones
Beth Rowley - Little Dreamer: Track = Beautiful Tommorow
Richard Thomson - Rumour and Sigh: Track = Mystery Wind
Eric Bibb - Just LIke Love: Track = Wrapped up in her Arms
Lambchop - Is a Woman: Track = The New Cobweb Summer
there were a few more but these were the main ones.
What are you thinking Alex? :scratch:
wee tee cee
21-06-2012, 19:01
Bernie,
I ordered a battery pack for the BM, you remotely interested in taking it off my hands when it arrives.
Tony
James_Woods
21-06-2012, 19:22
* UPDATE * Oups I just realized you didn't ask everyone for their evaluation tracks of the BM :)
My tracks (all 16bit / 44.1 Khz):
Bass Performance:
LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean
James Blake - Limit To Your Love
Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
Vocal Performance:
Rainald Grebe - Die Fete
Rainald Grebe - Es Ist Gut
Kinderzimmer Productions (Unplugged from the "Over and Out" Album) - Mehr Oder Weniger
Hildegard Knef - Die Herren dieser Welt
Overall Performance:
Iron & Wine - Walking Far From Home
Radiohead - Codex
Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma
Canetoad
21-06-2012, 20:03
Bernie,
I ordered a battery pack for the BM, you remotely interested in taking it off my hands when it arrives.
Tony
I've already ordered one for myself, otherwise I would have. :doh:
magiccarpetride
21-06-2012, 20:20
Uhm, ok see if I remember some of them...
Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges - Side By Side: Track = Stompy Jones
Beth Rowley - Little Dreamer: Track = Beautiful Tommorow
Richard Thomson - Rumour and Sigh: Track = Mystery Wind
Eric Bibb - Just LIke Love: Track = Wrapped up in her Arms
Lambchop - Is a Woman: Track = The New Cobweb Summer
there were a few more but these were the main ones.
What are you thinking Alex? :scratch:
Great, thanks Gaz. I was thinking running the same programme through my Bushmaster and Caiman, to see if I could replicate your impressions. However, as of yesterday, my Bushmaster started morphing into something I once again don't particularly like. This seems to be the result of a constant diet of burn-in I'm feeding it (the bloody thing keeps changing its overall makeup as it burns-in). At this point, I once again prefer the Caiman; I'll wait some more to see if the additional burn-in will get the Bushmaster back to where it was a few days ago (i.e. very assertive, authoritative, with a lot of slam, torque and kick; right now it sounds once again wimpy, mellow, polite to a fault, and almost timid).
If that assertiveness and lack of manners return, I'll try to replicate your side-by-side comparisons, as I was quite intrigued by your findings;)
Ali Tait
21-06-2012, 20:40
We used those tracks, but we also listened to as wide range of other stuff, both 24/96 and16/44.1.
Great, thanks Gaz. I was thinking running the same programme through my Bushmaster and Caiman, to see if I could replicate your impressions. However, as of yesterday, my Bushmaster started morphing into something I once again don't particularly like. This seems to be the result of a constant diet of burn-in I'm feeding it (the bloody thing keeps changing its overall makeup as it burns-in). At this point, I once again prefer the Caiman; I'll wait some more to see if the additional burn-in will get the Bushmaster back to where it was a few days ago (i.e. very assertive, authoritative, with a lot of slam, torque and kick; right now it sounds once again wimpy, mellow, polite to a fault, and almost timid).
If that assertiveness and lack of manners return, I'll try to replicate your side-by-side comparisons, as I was quite intrigued by your findings;)
No bother Alex.
As Ali said we listened to a wide range of stuff, those are the ones I remember!
Not sure if EXACTLY the same songs is needed though?
Maybe best to keep your listening consistent through the next couple of days - whatever you listen to - so you can best compare any changes?
Someone reported great sound after 20 hours or so so not sure about burn in..but you never know.
good luck!
If the active Caiman was overdriving the pre input of the Kairn then the BM will do the same, the outputs are standard line level 2v. If the Kairn can be overdriven by a standard 2v line level input then its not up to much or could be faulty.
Thanks for the comment. This is my third StanDAC. The 7510 was fine and so was the stock Caiman. It was only Gator which overdrove it - Stan kindly accepted a return. I don't think it is the problem with the BM.
I am still pursuing the burn-in trail but after 30+ hours it seems to be going backwards rather than forwards - mushy like you and others have reported on the burn-in thread. I don't think the auto-select is a great success.
Still doesn't make sense, should still be line level output or very close to it....anyhow, mine does not sound mushy, never has...quite the opposite in fact...
Bernie,
I ordered a battery pack for the BM, you remotely interested in taking it off my hands when it arrives.
Tony
Tony,
I think I posted earlier in response to Neil (NRG) that I would like first refusal on his battery and charger if he wanted to move it on. The same applies to yours if you get rid, but I only want one ;) .
Cheers,
Dave.
CAn any 12V battery be used?
Am just wondering what the powering a 'virtual battery PSU' with a real battery is all about, why it should sound better.
Is it about power delivery or is the virtual battery bit not as virtual battery as hoped so is still letting noise in?
I'd imagine that many SLA could deliver more instant current than a lot of switchmode PSUs..
(or could it be a case of people thinking that battery supplies are always best no matter what, ignoring the realities of chemical reaction noise etc etc?)
Batteries are still quieter than PSUs (especially switched mode ones) and offer lower output impedance.
Edit : Hold that thought I may have been a bit too hasty! @DaveK,Yes its yours, but if another comes up go for it, I need to do some more listening......
I don't mean to thread cr@p here, but if you're getting such vast differences in sonics, it could well be your ears changing from day to day (they do you know :)) and possibly humidity and temperature differences in the room affecting the speaker cone surrounds (10 degrees of difference makes a heck of a lot of difference to bass damping) and also humidity affects transmission of the sound itself to a degree. These things in themselves are much larger, you may find, to any change on the DAC..
As I said, sorry to cr@p on the thread, but I feel I should make these comments above before you all disappear into hyperspace on this.. :)
Russell Turner
22-06-2012, 08:22
I don't mean to thread cr@p here, but if you're getting such vast differences in sonics, it could well be your ears changing from day to day (they do you know :)) and possibly humidity and temperature differences in the room affecting the speaker cone surrounds (10 degrees of difference makes a heck of a lot of difference to bass damping) and also humidity affects transmission of the sound itself to a degree. These things in themselves are much larger, you may find, to any change on the DAC..
As I said, sorry to cr@p on the thread, but I feel I should make these comments above before you all disappear into hyperspace on this.. :)
^ This!
I don't mean to thread cr@p here, but if you're getting such vast differences in sonics, it could well be your ears changing from day to day (they do you know :)) and possibly humidity and temperature differences in the room affecting the speaker cone surrounds (10 degrees of difference makes a heck of a lot of difference to bass damping) and also humidity affects transmission of the sound itself to a degree. These things in themselves are much larger, you may find, to any change on the DAC..
As I said, sorry to cr@p on the thread, but I feel I should make these comments above before you all disappear into hyperspace on this.. :)
wot he said.
I don't mean to thread cr@p here, but if you're getting such vast differences in sonics, it could well be your ears changing from day to day (they do you know :)) and possibly humidity and temperature differences in the room affecting the speaker cone surrounds (10 degrees of difference makes a heck of a lot of difference to bass damping) and also humidity affects transmission of the sound itself to a degree. These things in themselves are much larger, you may find, to any change on the DAC..
As I said, sorry to cr@p on the thread, but I feel I should make these comments above before you all disappear into hyperspace on this.. :)
+1 from me - I have a bit of a cold at the mo and everything sounds different. Even the wife sounds less screechy than before :lol:
Sniff... ;)
I don't mean to thread cr@p here, but if you're getting such vast differences in sonics, it could well be your ears changing from day to day (they do you know :)) and possibly humidity and temperature differences in the room affecting the speaker cone surrounds (10 degrees of difference makes a heck of a lot of difference to bass damping) and also humidity affects transmission of the sound itself to a degree. These things in themselves are much larger, you may find, to any change on the DAC..
As I said, sorry to cr@p on the thread, but I feel I should make these comments above before you all disappear into hyperspace on this.. :)
Oh sh1t!! - that means everyone in Scotland is b*ggered before they start :lol: .
Bit damp darn 'ere in God's county ATM as well ;) .
Cheers,
Dave.
Bit overcast but nice n sunny here north of the Wall.. :)
*EDIT*
Thunder and rain now, bugger.
magiccarpetride
22-06-2012, 17:23
I don't mean to thread cr@p here, but if you're getting such vast differences in sonics, it could well be your ears changing from day to day (they do you know :)) and possibly humidity and temperature differences in the room affecting the speaker cone surrounds (10 degrees of difference makes a heck of a lot of difference to bass damping) and also humidity affects transmission of the sound itself to a degree. These things in themselves are much larger, you may find, to any change on the DAC..
As I said, sorry to cr@p on the thread, but I feel I should make these comments above before you all disappear into hyperspace on this.. :)
That's a valid argument, however if it were to hold true, it would also hold true for the Caiman, wouldn't it? So how come with the Bushmaster I keep getting different performances as the DAC keeps burning-in, while when I switch to Caiman, its performance remains steady?
Riddle me that!
magiccarpetride
22-06-2012, 17:38
Someone reported great sound after 20 hours or so so not sure about burn in..but you never know.
good luck!
I did get great sound from the Bushmaster at around the 40+ hours milestone. However, later on it started morphing again, so now it appears to be back to the more mellow persona.
I remember experiencing a very similar roller coaster ride with the Caiman two years ago. It took its sweet time before it settled into its normal persona, and now it's as sturdy as a rock. Very reliable, very predictable.
I'm not jumpy at this point, as I still believe that additional burn-in may help things settle down. I'm just discussing these symptoms with my fellow Bushmasterians, to see if it's something that would be typical (or not).
Is it deemed wrong/unfair to share one's listening impressions here? If yes, why is it unfair?
Well...mine is here.
It sounds outstanding right out of the box.
If there is more to come, then whoop de doo.
Where on earth has all that detail and bass come from?
..oh, and by the way I really like that even the packaging has stepped up a gear. Might help to carry it round as a portable system.
Actually, I may even get another one eventually as part of a new portable system.
Very very nice.
The Vinyl Adventure
22-06-2012, 17:48
How does it compare to your other thingamajiga Steve?
That's a valid argument, however if it were to hold true, it would also hold true for the Caiman, wouldn't it? So how come with the Bushmaster I keep getting different performances as the DAC keeps burning-in, while when I switch to Caiman, its performance remains steady?
Riddle me that!
Apologies, I must have done it again and mis-understood you. Are you saying that the Caiman remains constant throughout all this in direct comparison, yet the Bushmaster changes in comparison by the day?
magiccarpetride
22-06-2012, 21:26
Apologies, I must have done it again and mis-understood you. Are you saying that the Caiman remains constant throughout all this in direct comparison, yet the Bushmaster changes in comparison by the day?
Not by the day, but it does keep changing, while the Caiman remains stable.
How does it compare to your other thingamajiga Steve?
You mean the built in DAC of the Lyngdorf amp? I'll do a bit more comparative listening, but the BM seems a load more dynamic. Had to swap out some Atlas phono cables though for some Linn silvers, which resulted in a much less harsh and more musical presentation.
Just my two pennyworth, reckon issues that I've read about more likely to duff units. It happens.
How can you have variable burn in issues ? Doesn't add up.. sounds like specific issues with those bits of kit.
No way that I could describe my BM as having muted high's.. even from the minute it was powered up.
Ali Tait
22-06-2012, 21:47
Easy to have variable burn in IMHO. I've heard it with coupling caps and also a new valve amp. Sound would get better then worse again, then better again.
That burn-in pattern can happen with cables before they settle down.
Easy to have variable burn in IMHO. I've heard it with coupling caps and also a new valve amp. Sound would get better then worse again, then better again.
But.. to the extent that has been described?
Ok... I'm surprised.
Ali Tait
22-06-2012, 22:18
Well the changes were easily noticeable to me.
Fed-up with lack of progress on the burn-in front with my BM, I resorted to the Maplin XM-20W PSU Stan recommended for the Caiman. I have been using it for a number of years with the Caiman. It kicks-out 15V vs. 12V with the stock BM PSU (the BM is good to 16V according to the instructions). It made quite a difference to the BM: Gone is the mushiness, the highs are back, the bass is deep and tight, the sound stage is much improved - but I still find it tiring to listen too even at quite low listening levels. Perhaps the stock PSU is at the root of the issues some people (including me) have raised.
Not questioning that people have heard changes.. But why doesn't everyone hear the same thing...?
Mine sounds amazing from cold.
Mine too, its as good now as it was out of the box, no coupling caps so no effect. I believe its in the head...shoot me :ner: and as for cables! :stalks: :doh:
jandl100
23-06-2012, 08:51
What a fascinating read. :scratch:
Mine has sounded great from the off. A bit of forwardness for the first few hours, but spot-on ever since. I listen to it for hours every day. Still sounds the same. That is, amazingly stunningly good. :drool:
What is going on here? :scratch:
I've a Stan-recommended battery PSU on its way - that'll be interesting.
I know nothing of the electronics involved but, if a 16v PSU improves the SQ is it possible that, on the 'perceived to be lacking' BMs, a component or sequence of components is not quite up to spec and a more muscular 16v is coping better? Sorry if this don't make sense :mental: .
Dave.
Fed-up with lack of progress on the burn-in front with my BM, I resorted to the Maplin XM-20W PSU Stan recommended for the Caiman. I have been using it for a number of years with the Caiman. It kicks-out 15V vs. 12V with the stock BM PSU (the BM is good to 16V according to the instructions). It made quite a difference to the BM: Gone is the mushiness, the highs are back, the bass is deep and tight, the sound stage is much improved - but I still find it tiring to listen too even at quite low listening levels. Perhaps the stock PSU is at the root of the issues some people (including me) have raised.
Maybe its the power supply instead of the voltage. I will be finished building one of the two box power supplies that I make for the Touch for the BM today, given the low current the BM needs its no problem making one supply that can range from 12v to 16v, so I will see if I hear anything.
If anyone is interested, I am happy to send it out on a round robin trip to anyone who wants to try. Only cost would be postage to the next user.
icehockeyboy
23-06-2012, 09:39
Im with the lucky lot who say it sounded great out of the box, but with a few hours is sounding even better!
A quick query, someone mentioned the dac in a Lyngdorf amp, I have an SDAi 2175i, are we talking the same one here, and could the amp be the reason why I believed the Touch's dac sounded good? (until I got the BM that is!)
Russell Turner
23-06-2012, 09:42
Maybe its the power supply instead of the voltage. I will be finished building one of the two box power supplies that I make for the Touch for the BM today, given the low current the BM needs its no problem making one supply that can range from 12v to 16v, so I will see if I hear anything.
If anyone is interested, I am happy to send it out on a round robin trip to anyone who wants to try. Only cost would be postage to the next user.
I have your Squeezebox Touch PSU Lurcher, which has made vast differences to the SQ of the device, I would be quite happy to trial it out for you and pass on my findings.
I don't have the most uber Hi-fi setup in the World but it is good enough and average enough to make a good judgement on for the market this device would probably be marketable on.
My "new" Grado GS1000 and RA-1 headphone amp arrived the other day. The GS1000's look beautiful and I've had a little time to listen. I must say regardless of which amp they sound wonderful - a huge leap in SQ from the Grado SR60i. Anyway, as you know I rate the SOHA II I was using esp with the 6N1P-VI or Cryo 6922 valves. Well I have to say I can't tell much difference between the SOHA and the BM headamp. The BM perhaps a tad brighter but overall the presentation is the same that's to say very enjoyable. So considering the BM headamp is a " freebie" with the DAC and my SOHA cost about £300 pretty darn good vfm. :cool:
Now, the RA-1 headamp - I love the wood case and it matches my Quad 33/FM3 teak sleeve and JR149 cabs a treat. While I've not listened hugely and only with the SR60i's despite the forum laughter this amp generates :eyebrows: I don't think it's half bad - it'll certainly be ok with the Quads
Steve
Maybe its the power supply instead of the voltage. I will be finished building one of the two box power supplies that I make for the Touch for the BM today, given the low current the BM needs its no problem making one supply that can range from 12v to 16v, so I will see if I hear anything.
If anyone is interested, I am happy to send it out on a round robin trip to anyone who wants to try. Only cost would be postage to the next user.
I'd be up for that Nick....
Im with the lucky lot who say it sounded great out of the box, but with a few hours is sounding even better!
A quick query, someone mentioned the dac in a Lyngdorf amp, I have an SDAi 2175i, are we talking the same one here, and could the amp be the reason why I believed the Touch's dac sounded good? (until I got the BM that is!)
No I have the Lyngdorf 2200, with dac and room perfect modules.
Still very good quality, but the BM is much more dynamic.
For instance on 'Aint going to Goa' by Alabama 3, I now hear SO much more. There is a bass drum that is almost subliminal that I never new was there. In fact I never knew the little Harbeth 3P ESR's could reproduce such deep bass. At the same time there is a full soundstage of a gospel choir which is stunning all the while all manner of other things happening, all presented in a manner that is just so musical, not tiring and does that old thing of making you hunt out other CD's to rediscover them.
That is why I just don't recognise these other issues that are being reported.:scratch:
Today I replaced the connector on the 16V Paul Hynes power supply I had built for the Caiman, in order to work with the Bushmaster. This is based on Paul Hynes' PR3-16 module. Studying the Bushmaster manual suggests that 16V is the maximum allowable input voltage so I left it set as-is, exactly on 16V.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8349/8223558146_176bc4a729_b.jpg
Listening to the Bushmaster now, when compared with the provided 12V Unifive PSU or the 12V battery, I can hear quite an improvement in projection and a deeper soundstage with more precisely placed instruments. Everything sounds a little livelier with easier to hear rhythm. This is not a 'night and day' improvement as indeed Stan has worked hard to separate the effects of power supply on his circuit. However, the high regulation, high current and responsiveness of the PH module, together with 16V operation, has definitely had a positive effect on the sound so I shall now leave this PSU in place.
I also replaced my RG-59/U co-ax cable with a Chord ProDAC silver digital cable and heard a further small but worthwhile improvement when fed from the Touch.
ZincAlloy
23-06-2012, 18:37
Just ordered mine today. Still using the 7510 every day, so can't wait to hear the Bushmaster. The fact that the 7510 is driving an all-Linn setup, and holding its own, leads me to think that the Bushmaster will be a stonker. Will post my thoughts, should be with me on Monday, according to Stan.
Hi Ken
Before you go any further, could you please pop into the Welcome area and introduce yourself to our community, as you were asked to do in the registration email you received - ta!
Hi Ken,
Welcome to AoS :)
Before going any further, please pop into the Welcome area and introduce yourself to our community, as outlined in the email confirmation you received, after registering.
Cheers! :cool:
Marco.
jandl100
24-06-2012, 08:03
My "new" Grado GS1000 ... arrived the other day. The GS1000's look beautiful and I've had a little time to listen. I must say regardless of which amp they sound wonderful
Ooo :drool: you lucky b*gger, Steve! I heard the GS1000 'phones at a Show. :eek: :drool:
Enjoy! :)
Ooo :drool: you lucky b*gger, Steve! I heard the GS1000 'phones at a Show. :eek: :drool:
Enjoy! :)
Yep - even better got them in mint condition with the RA-1 also in mint for a bargain price I reckon :)
Steve
bronzeage
24-06-2012, 10:42
Hey all. Had my Bushmaster for a couple of days. Found some very interesting results.
1) The RCA interconnect you use can have a profound effect (duh), but much more so that on the output of my Harmon Kardon HD990 CD player (which also has it's own DAC input). Using my Van Damme interconnect, the sound is way livelier and detailed, with great soundstaging, but the bass loses its warmth. Out of curiousity, I switched to the cheapo one that came with the CD player. Bass came back, but the soundstage became very flat. A real easy listen though.
2) My Arcam amp allows attenuation of each input, so for a laugh I notched up the setting for the Bushmaster. Wow - transformation ! I could never get a good result via this route with the CD player, but the Bushmaster just loves it - the soundstaging has returned, the treble is silky smooth and the detail better. It's the best sound I have heard from my rig yet.
I ordered an NVA Sound Chord before ordering the Bushmaster, in an attempt to sort out a slightly unruly treble issue I had, so now very curious how that will mix in - anybody got any experience on that front ?
In summary - so far, very pleased.
Cheers
1) The RCA interconnect you use can have a profound effect
Agreed. So far, a Tellurium Q Black interconnect has proven to be the best cable for me, highly detailed, great bass and all-round transparency.
Agreed. So far, a Tellurium Q Black interconnect has proven to be the best cable for me, highly detailed, great bass and all-round transparency.
A £285 interconnect with a <£200 dac :scratch:
Russell Turner
24-06-2012, 13:36
A £285 interconnect with a <£200 dac :scratch:
Agreed, does seem a bit of a skewed balance...
A £285 interconnect with a <£200 dac :scratch:
When did price ever determine quality? I've standardised on TQ throughout my system, so it makes a great deal of sense to me.
jandl100
24-06-2012, 16:41
A £285 interconnect with a <£200 dac :scratch:
Well, it makes sense to me!
The BM DAC may cost <£200, but imho it performs well into the multi-£k price band - and yes, I've done direct comparisons. :)
I'm using mine with £250 (I think) rrp i/c cables. :thumbsup:
maxrob200
25-06-2012, 10:14
Hooray! My Bushmaster arrived today...it only took 5 days to come to Australia!
Straight out of the box, it sounded pretty good. After a couple of hours it definitely got better. Most noticeable was the vocals. Singers had the right size mouths with plenty of air during their vocalizations and plenty of differences in singing intensity from soft pouts to roaring crescendos. analog like mids for sure, not euphonic valve but rich enough for such a short warmup.
IMO, If the speakers are voiced accurately, this attribute is immediately noticeable
Lots of depth and separation between instruments, attribute to the blackness in between these layers of sound
More depth than width at the moment. Height ok too
High Frequencies are smooth and quite shimmery, not metal dome relentless zing like some other DACs or speakers. Will listen more before commenting . I prefer a smoother treble anyway with good impact and extension but not harsh.
Before I forget, good bass too, not the flat bongy type but full rounded bass with a good kick
One of my fave Live CD (flac) is Asleep at the Wheel-Live at Billy Bobs sounded really alive! Warts and all, it gave a realistic playback of the atmosphere of the concert.
I could go on but I would give it a lot more listening hours first.
Great job Stan, top value product!
Before abandoning the inexpensive Van Damme interconnects, try reversing the direction. Sounds daft must may help a tiny bit.
What is it about Tellurium cables that makes it seem like the guy has re-defined the physics of an interconnect eh? We're talking low frequencies in the audio band here, not microwaves FFS... Noone's measured any yet I think, so it must be some jiggling around with capacitance and inductance to get a result, surely?
maxrob200
26-06-2012, 00:08
Further impressions of the BM:
It resolves the ebb and flow of music really well. Like a good turntable LOL. The BM allows the music to flow, giving instruments and voices their own space, in time with the rest of the performance. Like a good Big Band that swings, the BM does that in spades
I played Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, and the breathing when they played their saxophones practically made me breath with them. Cat Stevens Tea for the Tillerman was really good. Bee Gees Alone have plenty of their falsetto swing etc etc etc
Some call it PRaT, but IMO different equipment presents PRaT in their own way. Naim for instance is different in their presentation of PRaT than a good valve amp
I remember my first Linn LP12 and how it made my feet tap to the music. True, it may have sins of omission but certainly preferable to sins of commission. Owning SOTA, Oracle and numerous other turntables since then haven't captured for me that toe tapping feeling. Many digital sources tried have been found lacking in that regard. I dont have high end money to spend nowadays so cannot speak for mega-buck DACs but I've heard plenty.
The BM DAC makes me tap my toes to the music and overtime as it "burns in" (if such a notion exists), I feel the overall presentation would just get better overall...
Once I manage to add a variable output on the BM . . .
I am waiting, Stan.
StanleyB
26-06-2012, 08:04
Still on the drawing board. Too many projects in front of me.
icehockeyboy
26-06-2012, 08:06
Hey all. Had my Bushmaster for a couple of days. Found some very interesting results.
1) The RCA interconnect you use can have a profound effect (duh), but much more so that on the output of my Harmon Kardon HD990 CD player (which also has it's own DAC input). Using my Van Damme interconnect, the sound is way livelier and detailed, with great soundstaging, but the bass loses its warmth. Out of curiousity, I switched to the cheapo one that came with the CD player. Bass came back, but the soundstage became very flat. A real easy listen though.
2) My Arcam amp allows attenuation of each input, so for a laugh I notched up the setting for the Bushmaster. Wow - transformation ! I could never get a good result via this route with the CD player, but the Bushmaster just loves it - the soundstaging has returned, the treble is silky smooth and the detail better. It's the best sound I have heard from my rig yet.
I ordered an NVA Sound Chord before ordering the Bushmaster, in an attempt to sort out a slightly unruly treble issue I had, so now very curious how that will mix in - anybody got any experience on that front ?
In summary - so far, very pleased.
Cheers
Sound Cords are really good ic's, but in my own experience bettered by the Silver High Breed Quintessence. I only recently made this comparison using the BM as I own both.
I am waiting, Stan.
You could always make your own IC buffer/volume stage you know, with modern fast low noise op-amps . Carefully soldered up it would be acoustically transparent to the signal from the BM so all the new benefits would come through...
StanleyB
26-06-2012, 08:40
You could always make your own IC buffer/volume stage you know, with modern fast low noise op-amps . Carefully soldered up it would be acoustically transparent to the signal from the BM so all the new benefits would come through...
You could, but technology won't progress by much if we kept improving expensive old methods instead of introducing more cost effective and cutting edge new ones. The US and the Far East have been taking those risks, and it is time that more British designers did the same. Otherwise we'll never clear that £1trillion debt..
ZincAlloy
26-06-2012, 10:01
Hi David - I don't recall receiving one. Happy to introduce myself - can you please resend or point me in the right direction, thanks.
Ken
Hi Ken, you must have received an activation e-mail to get this far? Please would you go to the welcome area here (http://theartofsound.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=15) and introduce yourself? Thanks!
StanleyB
26-06-2012, 13:00
Maybe its the power supply instead of the voltage. I will be finished building one of the two box power supplies that I make for the Touch for the BM today, given the low current the BM needs its no problem making one supply that can range from 12v to 16v, so I will see if I hear anything. .
I used the variable preset power supply that you so kindly built for me when I was developing the Bushmaster. Is that the prototype that you are going to turn into a finished product? If it is, then I can certainly recommend it. To be honest, I used it on the 16V settings to test that the BM could perform reliably at 16V, and can't ever remember lowering the voltage setting on it.
Yep Stan, thats the same supply design that I am just finishing off now. Should have it ready to go to the first person who wanted a play by the end of today. At the moment I have it at 13.5v, I will do some more comparisons and see if there is a sweet spot.
The Vinyl Adventure
26-06-2012, 18:04
I have me LDA PSU running now ...
My god this thing is good! There has gotta be some sorta voodoo going on here Nick!
Yums the man my man!
It's honestly like a breath of fresh air has just blown through my system ...
This is easily as big a step up in quality as the dac was in the first place...
Stan, Nick... Good work!!!
For a total of just shy of £400 I can't see how this dac/psu could be beatable for a serious amount of money!
I am absolutely blown away...
I rarely get this excited about this sort of thing, but I really wasnt expecting it to get this much better!!
http://i728.photobucket.com/albums/ww282/hamish_gill/e63e134a.jpg
Nick, if you find an optimum voltage will you let me know?!
The Vinyl Adventure
26-06-2012, 18:49
I've had to submit to the eastenders half hour now ...
So yeah ...
This thing basically takes what the bm does normally and literally sound as though it's put a rocket up it's ass ...
Still all of the same attributes but very much emphasised ... It's only downfall is it takes it further away from what I was used to and is goin to mean I'm gonna have to get used to it all over agin ... I don't think for a second that it's a bad thing mind!
Very impressive indeed
You got these on the site yet David?
Shall I do you a slide for the slider?
I've had to submit to the eastenders half hour now ...
So yeah ...
This thing basically takes what the bm does normally and literally sound as though it's put a rocket up it's ass ...
Still all of the same attributes but very much emphasised ... It's only downfall is it takes it further away from what I was used to and is goin to mean I'm gonna have to get used to it all over agin ... I don't think for a second that it's a bad thing mind!
Very impressive indeed
You got these on the site yet David?
Shall I do you a slide for the slider?
Oh go on then!
Glad you like it, is it fair to say that Stan's latest creation and the LDA PSU transforms the DAC into the super league?
I've had to submit to the eastenders half hour now ...
Hamish, be careful what you admit to on here about submitting to SWMBO, it's likely to get you a diatribe of criticism heading your way :lol: .
Dave.
Hamish.. tell you what matey, you plug in headphones into the BM right now and you'll be a tad deaf for a while. !!
RoboCopper
26-06-2012, 19:18
Hamish, did you try battery? How it compares to LDA PS?
Hamish, did you try battery? How it compares to LDA PS?
I did mention on another forum a while ago that this PSU is the nearest thing to using batteries, if you would like to know more about the design there is a paper that Nick has written, exert from it is below for anyone who is interested.
.................................................. .................................................
When thinking of regulation, it’s worth remembering the Roman god Janus. Who was the god of gateways, and was a two faced god looking in both directions. Likewise a good voltage regulator is required to look in both directions at once. From one direction you have the mains supply, with the ever increasing noise, distortion and random variation that exists on our household mains supply. In the other direction you have the device you are supplying power to. The load will be asking constantly varying current, and the job of the regulator will be to ignore the varying load and to supply a rock steady voltage that ignores the changing load.
To ask a single regulator to perform both tasks means that it can not do either as well as it could. We don’t ask our regulators to be two faced, we split the two functions into two separate regulators and put them both where they can do the best job.
The first regulator is close to the mains supply, its job is to take the incoming mains and convert it into a low(ish) noise DC supply, and to isolate the mess that is our household power lines from what follows. In most power supplies on the market, the output of the first stage would be directly connected to the load device, and that would certainly be an improvement over the supplies that most manufactures provide. But we can do better by adding the other face of Janus to the system.
The second regulator is supplied with a clean low noise supply, and its job is to handle the changing demands of the load. To do that, it needs to be as close to the load as possible. So we remove the second regulator from the main box, and place it close to the load, both electrically and physically, that removes it from the noise and interference of the mains supply, and allows it to spend its time looking towards the load. Typical commercial voltage regulator chips are general purpose devices, but are not quiet enough for the task on hand, so the second regulator uses a bespoke regulator based on a low noise multi stage filtered voltage reference, a low noise error amplifier and a high current low resistance mosfet. To allow it to handle the changing load it also needs to supply current on demand, so all the remaining space in the second regulator is filled with low impedance capacitors to act as a local energy source.
Using the two stages of regulator, we achieve a noise floor equal or better than most battery supplies, and a effective source resistance of the order of 0.02 ohm (and the short cable run to the load avoids increasing this valve by adding copper where its not needed, and the use of a discrete regulator design allows that tiny value to be maintained way above frequency any audio device operates at.
The Vinyl Adventure
26-06-2012, 20:00
Oh go on then!
Glad you like it, is it fair to say that Stan's latest creation and the LDA PSU transforms the DAC into the super league?
It's extremely impressive, that's for certain!
I've not tried the battery option ... I'm not sure I'll bother now! ;)
StanleyB
26-06-2012, 20:09
I have me LDA PSU running now ...
My god this thing is good! There has gotta be some sorta voodoo going on here Nick!
Yums the man my man!
It's honestly like a breath of fresh air has just blown through my system ...
This is easily as big a step up in quality as the dac was in the first place...
Stan, Nick... Good work!!!!
Glad to read that you have increased your listening pleasure with Nick's power supply.
But without putting a damper on things, it's not the same power supply that Nick developed specifically for the Bushmaster. Nick built me a special power supply with an extra connection that hooks up between the earth terminal on the BM and his PSU. After I finished my own R&D, Nick has been fine tuning the design based on my feedback of my technical findings. Since then he has taken possession of a production version of the BM and put the finishing touches to his dedicated Bushmaster linear power supply. I mentioned a few post back that he was almost ready to release it.
It's extremely impressive, that's for certain!
I've not tried the battery option ... I'm not sure I'll bother now! ;)
I'm sticking to the supplied PSU for now, although I will try the 15v Caimen supply...the battery hasn't worked out for me...
The Vinyl Adventure
26-06-2012, 20:15
Not dampened at all Stan ... Just added further to my excitement about it all!
Hopefully I can get my non specific oone upgraded then .. Teach me to moan at David to let me try one before it was ready :)
If this is what I get from a non specific psu then god knows what I'll get from one specifically designed for the thing...
Stan, I really can't see how I could be any happier ... But if your saying it could get even better than this ... Well, very happy days!!!
Can I get mine upgraded when the time is right David?
Not dampened at all Stan ... Just added further to my excitement about it all!
Hopefully I can get my non specific oone upgraded then .. Teach me to moan at David to let me try one before it was ready :)
If this is what I get from a non specific psu then god knows what I'll get from one specifically designed for the thing...
Stan, I really can't see how I could be any happier ... But if your saying it could get even better than this ... Well, very happy days!!!
Can I get mine upgraded when the time is right David?
Hamish,
Myself and Nick work as a team on the PSU front and other projects, for instance we are developing a PSU for a Naim UnitiQute at the moment and have done PSU's for 2 Wadia units, most recently the Zodiac Antelope DAC received Nick's charms and the dealer who asked for the PSU is highly delighted.
Any PSU's ordered from me for the Bushmaster will be to the latest spec. so no one need worry.
All power supply's ordered from MCRU are branded LDA (Longdog Audio) which is Nick's own company as he deserves the recognition for his skills and expertise so I branded the product as his not my own. I do all the sales and marketing, packaging, dispatch and after sales, Nick builds them to order. It works for both of us and hopefully for the customers too as we have sold a fair few Squeezebox PSU's after Hi-Fi Choice gave it 5 stars and they will hopefully do the same with the next PSU I have sent to David for evaluation which is for a famous DAC which I won't name as this thread is about Stan's excellent DAC. I will be putting the bushmaster through it's paces when I get my squeezebox back any day now. Hope that clears things up and congratulations to Stan for another excellent product.
The Vinyl Adventure
26-06-2012, 20:32
Can I get supped up then ;)
Can I get supped up then ;)
yes cos while I typed the last message I sold a psu for the cambridge dacmagic plus which is 12V so need yours back pronto...
:):):)
The Vinyl Adventure
26-06-2012, 20:37
Haha ... I'll get it back in the post tomorrow! ;)
Yep, just to clear up any remaining confusion, the supply David sent was a standard 12v two box supply, the one I have been tinkering with with the invaluable help of Stan, is basically the same thing, but the transformer voltage is different to handle the higher voltage that the BM can handle, and a separate earth connection (just like a tonearm earth) that can be optional used with the earth point Stan has designed into the Bushmaster. Its only the Bushmaster supplies that have the additional earth, as its only this DAC than can take advantage of it.
Order placed !
The BM has truly got me back exploring music again. If there is more to come then I'd say an upgraded power supply is well worth a punt.
magiccarpetride
26-06-2012, 22:52
Great job Stan, top value product!
I'm in agreement, and would like to add that I've also managed to test drive the Bushmaster with headphones (finally). Now, I'm not a headphones guy, I positively detest listening to music through headphones, but I must say that this is the first time in my life that I was compelled to keep the headphones on, as the Bushmaster was playing. Holly sh!t, that bass! How's that even possible??? All that power at barely 5% of the volume?
ZincAlloy
27-06-2012, 08:33
Hi Nick - would be keen to try this also. Have SB Touch into Busmaster, and then £13k of Linn electronics - and it sounds great.
Treble still a little harsh, so would love to try your power supply. PM me if you're interested
Thanks, Ken
jandl100
27-06-2012, 09:03
Interesting re: PSUs and battery packs.
My Stan-recommended battery pack arrived today.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180794713563?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
Dead cheap - from China. Took about 2 weeks to arrive. Seems to work AOK. Charging it up fully now ... can't wait to try it later today!
Any experience comparing this sort of thing to the other options that have been mentioned?
No problem. Its going to the first person today. pm me your contact details and i will add you to the list.
Hi Nick - would be keen to try this also. Have SB Touch into Busmaster, and then £13k of Linn electronics - and it sounds great.
Treble still a little harsh, so would love to try your power supply. PM me if you're interested
Thanks, Ken
Hi Ken,
You've been asked twice now to pop into the Welcome area and introduce yourself properly. What's the delay?
I must insist that you do that BEFORE posting anywhere else, or I will have no other option but to remove your account. I'm really getting fed up with people who seemingly can't be bothered doing the simplest of things! :rolleyes:
Simply start a new thread here: http://theartofsound.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=15, outlining the system you use and what music you like.
Nick, please don't send him anything until he complies with my request.
Cheers!
Marco.
Any experience comparing this sort of thing to the other options that have been mentioned?
My Paul Hynes PSU set for 16V sounds better than the 12V battery, which sounds better than the supplied 12V SMPS.
I found the battery was worse! :) Going to fix up an adapter for the 15v Caimen supply and try that...
StanleyB
27-06-2012, 11:05
At least one has a variety of power options :). I use batteries when outdoors, a Caiman PSU from Mark Grant when connected up to my stereo indoors, and a PSU from Nick when at my workbench.
icehockeyboy
27-06-2012, 11:25
So can a battery unit be left connected to the BM and be charging at the same time as it's playing?
So can a battery unit be left connected to the BM and be charging at the same time as it's playing?
Not the ones that have been recommended from eBay Hong Kong. However, connecting a charger while listening would defeat the object of using a battery (no mains-borne noise).
icehockeyboy
27-06-2012, 11:48
Not sure it would be much fun having to faff around keep unplugging and recharging! :scratch:
jandl100
27-06-2012, 19:12
My Paul Hynes PSU set for 16V sounds better than the 12V battery, which sounds better than the supplied 12V SMPS.
I found the battery was worse! :) Going to fix up an adapter for the 15v Caimen supply and try that...
Hokay - all wired up. :)
Nope - cheapo (£14.63) Chinese battery definitely better than the standard 12V SMPS chez-Jerry.
Delicate stuff is more focussed and present. Big Music is slammier and more controlled. All music has better soundstaging.
:thumbsup: for the cheapo battery supply from me. Significant improvement for very little cost.
If you don't fancy spending big dosh on a posh PSU this is defo worth getting! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180794713563?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649&clk_rvr_id=359083394671&afsrc=1
jandl100
27-06-2012, 19:15
Not sure it would be much fun having to faff around keep unplugging and recharging! :scratch:
Stan told me (I think) that the battery should last a month or so between charges.
It's not much of a pain, anyway.
Stan told me (I think) that the battery should last a month or so between charges.
It's not much of a pain, anyway.
I did some testing and the recommended battery pack should give around 50-60 ish hours of playing time between charges (100mA per hour).
I think MartinT was doing a test on his with 6 hours a night usage to see how long it lasts. Not sure how he's getting on with that.
Cheers,
jandl100
27-06-2012, 19:44
I did some testing and the recommended battery pack should give around 50-60 ish hours of playing time between charges (100mA per hour).
I think MartinT was doing a test on his with 6 hours a night usage to see how long it lasts. Not sure how he's getting on with that.
Cheers,
Ah, thanks for that!
So 60 hours is a month at 2 hours a day.
Nonetheless, I suspect that I am (and probably most of us are ;)) sufficiently OCD to keep the thing charged up every couple of days. :lol:
bronzeage
27-06-2012, 20:09
Unfortunately, I am blocked from posting during the day :steam:
Still, here is my update on how I'm getting on with the Bushmaster.
After widdling around with cables (b.t.w., the direction of the Van Damme was correct), I found a spare Fisual interconnect, as sold on Amazon for about £5. The Bushmaster liked that one, bass was more contolled, and a bit smoother.
After reading about power cables on AOS, I noticed that my Arcam amp has a fancy looking shielded power cable, so I switched it over with the CD player.
When I turned everything back on, I could barely believe what I was hearing - like some kind of freaky upgrade. The sound direct from the CD player was distinctly improved, much tighter bass and wider soundstage, less harsh treble.
However, the sound from the Bushmaster was terrible ! Puzzled, I wondered quite this would be so, and reset all the amp attenuation settings. Viola ! The Bushmaster came back to life, with a vengeance, just pipping the CD player.
Now I am super curious about what effect having 'proper' power cables on both amp & cd player is going to have, and items like an SBooster / linear power supply.
Methinks I will have to give those chaps at Mains Cables R Us a bell...
The Vinyl Adventure
27-06-2012, 20:11
Just bought a battery ...
Be interesting to see how £200 of psu compares to less than £15 of battery!
Psu gone back to nick for upgrade today (thank in advance Nick and David)
Waiting game now :)
jandl100
27-06-2012, 20:49
Just bought a battery ...
Be interesting to see how £200 of psu compares to less than £15 of battery!
Psu gone back to nick for upgrade today (thank in advance Nick and David)
Waiting game now :)
I await your conclusions with interest! :popcorn:
My bank balance knows which way I want the result to go! :eyebrows:
... 2 weeks away, is it?
StanleyB
27-06-2012, 20:55
I noticed that when I first bought that battery pack it started to perform better after a couple of charge and discharge cycles. I am no battery expert so hopefully someone else in the know might be able to throw some light on whether that could have been possible or not.
I noticed that when I first bought that battery pack it started to perform better after a couple of charge and discharge cycles. I am no battery expert so hopefully someone else in the know might be able to throw some light on whether that could have been possible or not.
Yes, Lithium cells improve over the first couple of cycles and then it's downhill after that. The capacity reduces with the number of cycles and the amount of abuse they've had.
jandl100
27-06-2012, 21:28
.... The capacity reduces with the number of cycles and the amount of abuse they've had.
Define "abuse".
Not sure how you can abuse a battery .... the mind boggles! :eek::eyebrows:
Define "abuse".
Not sure how you can abuse a battery .... the mind boggles! :eek::eyebrows:
Discharge and recharge in an incorrect fashion could be regarded as abuse. I see and have seen poor performance on handheld radios issued from my workplace, where the user does not carry out the correct discharge and recharge protocol.
God, I just realised how boring that was! Sorry!
Reid Malenfant
27-06-2012, 21:36
Discharge and recharge in an incorrect fashion could be regarded as abuse. I see and have seen poor performance on handheld radios issued from my workplace, where the user does not carry out the correct discharge and recharge protocol.
God, I just realised how boring that was! Sorry!
You are perfectly correct, the problem is that different battery types require different regimes, just to add to the madness :mental:
It's a minefield that only a few people understand, those that read up & follow the correct protocol.
NiCd, NiMh, Lithium Ion, Lead Acid (& then depending on the battery type to), what a nightmare for joe public! :rolleyes:
Discharge and recharge in an incorrect fashion could be regarded as abuse. I see and have seen poor performance on handheld radios issued from my workplace, where the user does not carry out the correct discharge and recharge protocol.
God, I just realised how boring that was! Sorry!
Exactly!
correct, not boring, that is :lol:
The charging and low voltage cut off is taken care of by the pack's built in circuits, so no worries there. Discharging at too high a rate is another killer, however ~ 100 mA is nothing for this type of battery, so no probs there either. :)
Lithium batteries don't have a memory effect, so you don't have to cycle them like the old nicad or nimh types. You can keep them topped up with no Ill effect.
I think MartinT was doing a test on his with 6 hours a night usage to see how long it lasts. Not sure how he's getting on with that.
Hi Martin - deferred, I'm afraid, as the charger failed while I was trying to put a full charge into the battery to start tests. I've made a claim and await a replacement charger.
Reid Malenfant
27-06-2012, 22:29
Hi Martin - deferred, I'm afraid, as the charger failed while I was trying to put a full charge into the battery to start tests. I've made a claim and await a replacement charger.
Sounds like a quality bit of kit :rfl:
First time & it fails, talk about infant mortality :doh:
Thankfully there is that bathtub curve to hopefully enjoy soon :D I hope number two is a little luckier :)
Cheap Chinese charger. What can I say?
Reid Malenfant
27-06-2012, 22:36
Cheap Chinese charger. What can I say?
You have said it Martin ;)
As I say, I hope number two (wasn't that Pinkley, or one of my favourite actors - Donald Sutherland) does the business :)
:eyebrows:
Ah, thanks for that!
So 60 hours is a month at 2 hours a day.
Nonetheless, I suspect that I am (and probably most of us are ;)) sufficiently OCD to keep the thing charged up every couple of days. :lol:
Go green and off-grid:
I noticed these were on offer at Maplins recently Solar Powered 12V Battery Charger (http://www.maplin.co.uk/solar-powered-12v-12w-battery-charger-217850)
Have to check the specs to see if it will charge the Hong Kong thing.
jandl100
28-06-2012, 05:40
God, I just realised how boring that was! Sorry!
:zzz: ... mmmm? .... What?! .... Ah, sorry - I must have drifted off ....
Go green and off-grid:
I noticed these were on offer at Maplins recently Solar Powered 12V Battery Charger (http://www.maplin.co.uk/solar-powered-12v-12w-battery-charger-217850)
Have to check the specs to see if it will charge the Hong Kong thing.
No, you MUST use the supplied charger or another suitable lithium charger. Using a std charger will overcharge them and will cause damage. If its a lipo, this can result in a fire.
Decent lithium chargers charge at a constant current up to 12.6v and then switch to constant voltage until the charge current falls off to a few mA.
Cheers,
Well i have let my bushmaster burn in for over 150 hours with the occasional listen.
My set up comprises of a thin client computer running win XP and Foobar2000. A Teradac usb to spdif converter with independent power supply, a Tripath amp with valve buffer and some open baffle speakers.
My old Dac was a modified AK4396.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Finished-2496-AK4396-CS8416-DAC-With-Transformer-case-/120747012438?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item1c1d153156
Swapping to the Bushmaster straight off was an improvement. I didn't realise what digital glare was until the change.
Hopefully after the burn in period the Dac will not change its qualities too much. I can confirm what others have witnessed. The holographic effect is superb. I have had Stans other Dacs including a gatorised Caiman with Maplin P/S and i have never heard this level of holographic quality. The way it places the vocals in their own space and then adds the instruments around it is a revelation to me.
I received the Mark Grant SBooster today and this has taken the Dac to another level. It has not changed any of the characteristics of the Dac, things just sound clearer. you can hear the the plucking of the stings on a guitar and i can follow the separate instruments with ease. for just under £30 its a great upgrade.
jandl100
28-06-2012, 14:00
I fancy trying the S-Booster thingy - can't find it on the MCRU site - can someone give a linky? :)
camtwister
28-06-2012, 14:22
http://markgrantcables.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=sbooster
*
http://markgrantcables.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=76_77&products_id=411
jandl100
28-06-2012, 14:27
Ta! ... which explains why I couldn't find it on the MCRU site. :doh:
... ordered ... although I couldn't resist going for the full linear PSU instead! :scratch: :)
brian2957
28-06-2012, 15:47
Hi Dave , can you please tell me the RAM of your laptop. Also is this a Teralink X2 USB TO SPDIF converter.If it is how do you rate it .
Thanks
Brian.
Cheap Chinese charger. What can I say?
You don't know how right you are based on my experiences over the years with the orient! :)
barry-potter
28-06-2012, 18:13
The second regulator is supplied with a clean low noise supply, and its job is to handle the changing demands of the load. To do that, it needs to be as close to the load as possible. So we remove the second regulator from the main box, and place it close to the load, both electrically and physically, that removes it from the noise and interference of the mains supply, and allows it to spend its time looking towards the load. Typical commercial voltage regulator chips are general purpose devices, but are not quiet enough for the task on hand, so the second regulator uses a bespoke regulator based on a low noise multi stage filtered voltage reference, a low noise error amplifier and a high current low resistance mosfet. To allow it to handle the changing load it also needs to supply current on demand, so all the remaining space in the second regulator is filled with low impedance capacitors to act as a local energy source.
Using the two stages of regulator, we achieve a noise floor equal or better than most battery supplies, and a effective source resistance of the order of 0.02 ohm (and the short cable run to the load avoids increasing this valve by adding copper where its not needed, and the use of a discrete regulator design allows that tiny value to be maintained way above frequency any audio device operates at.
so could this second regulator box be added to existing linear PSU's and if so would you consider selling them? (and for how much?)
No, its not just a passive in line filter, there are two voltage lines into the second reg. Sorry.
jandl100
29-06-2012, 05:36
.... as the charger failed while I was trying to put a full charge into the battery to start tests.
Fook. My cheapo Chinese battery charger has given up the ghost, too. :doh:
I don't think I'd have used the battery again after seeing the Doomsday Video of what can happen with the things anyway. :mad: :wowzer:
Mucho looking forward to receiving a couple of linear PSUs (12V & 15V) from the estimable Mark Grant today, hopefully. :carrot:
Thanks Mark, it was fab of you to phone & discuss. :thumbsup:
Yes, I wasn't too happy with the HK sellers and suspect they have epidemic failures as they gave me a partial refund for the charger. The battery is not much good on its own and has gone into the parts bin in the garage to consider its future.
StanleyB
29-06-2012, 06:40
Mine still works fine. But I shall do a read up on li-on and li-po charging requirements. If I can incorporate a secure charging process inside the BM firmware code that could be a handy feature to add.
Jerry, that video is typical of the many scare videos on the 'net, it needs some perspective. You cant tar all Lithium batteries with the same brush!
StanleyB
29-06-2012, 08:45
With so many mobile phones and laptops using them I would be a bit cautious. Maybe it is time to get rid of that laptop and phone...
The final version of the MCRU / LDA power supply has now been finished and is ready for ordering, all existing orders will be sent the latest spec. which has been fine tuned by Nick with Stan's input for optimum sound quality. I will be listening myself as soon as I get time to go to Nick's den as he has the Bushmaster (http://www.beresford.me/main/home.html) set up in his own system.
Here is a quick picture of the final design. Any existing users of our power supply's will know there are plenty of additional tweaks that can be performed to improve the performance even more, the up-grades are available at time of ordering on my website (http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/power-supply/461-lda-linear-power-supply-for-bushmaster-dac-.html) or there are simple ones you can do yourself such as fitting a better fuse or mains lead.
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/themainsman/PSU/cc98a97c.jpg
Ali Tait
29-06-2012, 08:55
Bernie has kindly offered to loan me his BM, so I'll be able to have a good listen in my own system over the weekend. Be a chance to see if there was a problem or mismatch at Gary's, as what we heard was not what most folk seem to be hearing.
RoboCopper
29-06-2012, 08:58
Bernie has kindly offered to loan me his BM, so I'll be able to have a good listen in my own system over the weekend. Be a chance to see if there was a problem or mismatch at Gary's, as what we heard was not what most folk seem to be hearing.
Looking forward to your findings...
Bernie has kindly offered to loan me his BM, so I'll be able to have a good listen in my own system over the weekend. Be a chance to see if there was a problem or mismatch at Gary's, as what we heard was not what most folk seem to be hearing.
It could be the quality of Gary' mains supply as an example.
I have been using a Musical Fidelity LPS phono stage until my own comes back from being reviewed and of course it uses a smps wall wart, my Isotek Sigmas has schuko sockets on the back so I had to plug the SMPS into a spare UK wall socket behind my rack, playing some vinyl all was well, when some schuko to UK adapters arrived that my wife ordered for our holiday I pinched one and plugged it into the back of the Sigmas and stuck the smps into that, beyond belief the improvement in the sound!
If you used a proper PSU for the bushmaster when you listened ignore the above! If you used a smps then it may be relevant.
StanleyB
29-06-2012, 09:22
Bernie has kindly offered to loan me his BM, so I'll be able to have a good listen in my own system over the weekend. Be a chance to see if there was a problem or mismatch at Gary's, as what we heard was not what most folk seem to be hearing.
There is no problem with the BM. The Rega Brio appears to have been set up for the Rega DAC. I have heard from several people with a Brio and a different amp who have checked the BM on both amps. They confirmed that BM and Brio don't like each other.
Mark Grant
29-06-2012, 09:35
Mucho looking forward to receiving a couple of linear PSUs (12V & 15V) from the estimable Mark Grant today, hopefully. :carrot:
Thanks Mark, it was fab of you to phone & discuss. :thumbsup:
Thanks for the order Jerry :)
UPS should be delivering today.
Ali Tait
29-06-2012, 09:49
There is no problem with the BM. The Rega Brio appears to have been set up for the Rega DAC. I have heard from several people with a Brio and a different amp who have checked the BM on both amps. They confirmed that BM and Brio don't like each other.
Ok Stan, I'll find out this afternoon.
Ali Tait
29-06-2012, 09:50
It could be the quality of Gary' mains supply as an example.
I have been using a Musical Fidelity LPS phono stage until my own comes back from being reviewed and of course it uses a smps wall wart, my Isotek Sigmas has schuko sockets on the back so I had to plug the SMPS into a spare UK wall socket behind my rack, playing some vinyl all was well, when some schuko to UK adapters arrived that my wife ordered for our holiday I pinched one and plugged it into the back of the Sigmas and stuck the smps into that, beyond belief the improvement in the sound!
If you used a proper PSU for the bushmaster when you listened ignore the above! If you used a smps then it may be relevant.
Not the mains in this case, as other dacs we tried including a Caiman sounded great.
Not the mains in this case, as other dacs we tried including a Caiman sounded great.
Yeah..
was a level playing field for all the Dacs we tried, the BM, the Caiman and the Rega were all plugged into a Belkin PF30, which would have cleaned up the mains if there was any problem.
Ali's valve dac was plugged straight into the wall but that was the best sounding dac of the day!
Go figure. :)
The Brio amp is very transparent and not conspiciously bright tbh.
The rega dac was quite new though and theres been reports of it sounding bright until it burns in.
In our comparison it sounded smooth, rich yet very detailed.
So cant account for the BMs sound when we compared it, its just how it was on the day fella's.
Sorry!
There is no problem with the BM. The Rega Brio appears to have been set up for the Rega DAC. I have heard from several people with a Brio and a different amp who have checked the BM on both amps. They confirmed that BM and Brio don't like each other.
Rega's kit does seem to have that synergy thing going on.
With so many mobile phones and laptops using them I would be a bit cautious. Maybe it is time to get rid of that laptop and phone...
If you check you laptop and phone, it will have a lithium ion battery in it.
I think Stan may have had tongue firmly in cheek ;)
RoboCopper
29-06-2012, 10:58
If you check you laptop and phone, it will have a lithium ion battery in it.
My mobile phone just exploded in my pocket :doh:
And my wristwatch started to smoke :lol:
I think Stan may have had tongue firmly in cheek ;)
I did realise that ;)
add another to the list of duff battery chargers - after initial charging of the new battery I unplugged the charger from the wall and the live pin was left in the socket!! Oh well back to the SLA's.
So I've had a chance to do some listening to the BM powered by both the Li-ion battery (as "recommended" by Stan) and AC power with the Sbooster. I was comparing using my headphone setup only (Grado GS1000 via Graham Slee Solo SRG II/PSU1) - a setup I reckoned would be able to resolve any minor differences between the 2 different power supply scenarios.
To my ears the battery is inferior. Sound is thinner, bass is less extended, dynamics (PRaT) are suppressed and there is a clouding of detail with voices lacking emotion. Don't get me wrong it's not huge but it's definitely there (or not).
I will continue to use the Mains + SBooster.
Steve
There is no problem with the BM. The Rega Brio appears to have been set up for the Rega DAC. I have heard from several people with a Brio and a different amp who have checked the BM on both amps. They confirmed that BM and Brio don't like each other.
Was it the new Brio Stan, the Brio-R?
This:
http://www.rega.co.uk/html/Brio-R.htm
This is the one we used.
I emailed Rega and they say that whilst listening tests were done with both components the amp was not specifically tuned to work with the Dac.
Just wondering. :)
So I've had a chance to do some listening to the BM powered by both the Li-ion battery (as "recommended" by Stan) and AC power with the Sbooster. I was comparing using my headphone setup only (Grado GS1000 via Graham Slee Solo SRG II/PSU1) - a setup I reckoned would be able to resolve any minor differences between the 2 different power supply scenarios.
To my ears the battery is inferior. Sound is thinner, bass is less extended, dynamics (PRaT) are suppressed and there is a clouding of detail with voices lacking emotion. Don't get me wrong it's not huge but it's definitely there (or not).
I will continue to use the Mains + SBooster.
Steve
+1 ;)
Hi Dave , can you please tell me the RAM of your laptop. Also is this a Teralink X2 USB TO SPDIF converter.If it is how do you rate it .
Thanks
Brian.
Hi Brian It is not a laptop but a slim server. it is running with 1 gig of ram. I have the teralink x2 usb audio converter with power supply.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Teralink-X2-Native-24bit-96k-USB-to-SPDIF-I2S-Converter-/250988944739?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item3a701b5d63
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Upgraded-Power-Supply-for-Teralink-X1-or-X2-/300703898469?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item4603595b65
It works very well but will only play Sampling Rate up to 96kHz. That is not a problem to me as i don't have any higher rez files.
jandl100
30-06-2012, 06:24
Thanks for the order Jerry :)
UPS should be delivering today.
Thanks Mark. Package arrived yesterday. :thumbsup:
Mark kindly sent me a 12V and a 15V vesrion of his linear PSU + S-Booster package to try out, and return the one I don't want. :eek:
Only an hour or so one each as yet ....
The Bushmaster plus stock SMPS is excellent.
The cheapo Chinese battery pack (with now-failed recharger!) I found a bit better - yes, a slightly 'thinner' sound, but a bit more articulate and lucid.
Mark Grant's linear PSU + S-Booster is simply a major step up in sound quality. Playing one of my standard "test discs" (solo lute sonatas) I just laughed out loud, I have never heard anything approaching this level of insight into the playing before on any kit I have ever heard. Just astonishingly high resolution, but not 'hifi', just very very naturally musically rewarding.
I played some Big Music as well, of course. The opening movement of Mahler's 3rd symphony, Tennstedt's recording om EMI. Music doesn't come any bigger or better recorded than this imho. With the MG linear PSU the music has lost a layer of treble hash and forwardness that is now evident by its absence. The best just got better! Superb deep bass resolution and slam as well.
Differences between 12V and 15V? ... :scratch: ... hmm, I could possibly convince myself that the 15V had a slightly cleaner top end, with slightly more presence and more solid imaging. But I can equally believe that I am just listening a bit too hard for differences! Without a doubt, both are truly excellent with the BM DAC.
Much more listening to do, of course. :) ... and a big thanks to Mark for his superb service. :thumbsup:
StanleyB
30-06-2012, 06:56
Just astonishingly high resolution, but not 'hifi', just very very naturally musically rewarding.
That's probably the most fitting description of the Bushmaster.
The Vinyl Adventure
30-06-2012, 07:07
...I just laughed out loud...
That's exactly the reaction I had with the Linear psu I tried ...
Like a little excited kid I was! :)
brian2957
30-06-2012, 07:45
Hi Brian It is not a laptop but a slim server. it is running with 1 gig of ram. I have the teralink x2 usb audio converter with power supply.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Teralink-X2-Native-24bit-96k-USB-to-SPDIF-I2S-Converter-/250988944739?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item3a701b5d63
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Upgraded-Power-Supply-for-Teralink-X1-or-X2-/300703898469?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item4603595b65
It works very well but will only play Sampling Rate up to 96kHz. That is not a problem to me as i don't have any higher rez files.
Thanks Dave .You have PM.
Brian.
That's exactly the reaction I had with the Linear psu I tried ...
Like a little excited kid I was! :)
Bollux, just went upstairs for a minute, came back down and a postcard from the post office ... Saying couldn't deliver my parcel and sorting office will have it on Monday. Nobody in sight down the road.
It's my LDA linear PSU from Mains Cable (David)made by Nick
Arrrghh... grrrrrrr
The Vinyl Adventure
30-06-2012, 09:27
Absolutely gutted!
Mine is back with nick at the mo for its upgrade to BM spec!
So your not the only one doin without ..
Not that doing without is a bad thing really ... I'm listening to leftfield at the moment 'el cid' to be precise ... It sounds awesome psu or no psu
These speakers of mine might not have the low end kick of bigger drivered version but they dont half make the place vibrate with the bm and this sort of music ... Especially when Connie turns up the volume. (she seems to be attracted to the silver shinney volume control... she is currently jiggling on the floor to 'Afrika shox' )
Well... I'm getting more pissed off by the second. Was just enjoying a bit of Goldfrapps Seventh Tree. The BM really makes musical sense of this album, the bass lines just drive some tracks along. So why pissed off? Cos I've been asked to turn the volume down because my 23 and 20 year old 'kids' didn't get to bed until 4 this morning.
Mumble mumble... Grumpy old man mode.. Making life too bloody comfortable for 'em.
Ali Tait
30-06-2012, 09:43
Kick 'em out!
I've been warned the "terrible teens" actually last for ten to fifteen years....
The Vinyl Adventure
30-06-2012, 09:59
Tell em bolocks! It's not your fault they are enjoying thier youth ;)
It seems to make musical sense of most things ...
I've had goldfrapp (funnily enough) 'head first'
Days of the new 'days of the new'
Daft punk 'discovery'
Leftfield 'leftism'
And now smashing pumpkins 'siamese dream'
Ive not thought anything other than happy thoughts about any of it so far
'today' by the smashing pumpkins is currently blasting out the speaks with aparent ease ... It's actualy a good test of good hifi IMO - how much of the emotion you can hear Billy Corgan's voice on this album... My set up is now doing an admirable job of it I think!
Of cours nothing has yet beaten the Naim CD555 nac52 and nap500's with all the relevent psus actively powering Naim dbl's ... But then I don't have c'£150,000 to spend on hifi or c,£500,000 for a house to put it in ... So I'll just have to be happy with the remarkable job this little £200 dac is doing of getting me closer to that stupidly out of reach (wouldn't even happen even if I did have the money) dream :)
Russell Turner
30-06-2012, 10:25
The final version of the MCRU / LDA power supply has now been finished and is ready for ordering, all existing orders will be sent the latest spec. which has been fine tuned by Nick with Stan's input for optimum sound quality. I will be listening myself as soon as I get time to go to Nick's den as he has the Bushmaster (http://www.beresford.me/main/home.html) set up in his own system.
Here is a quick picture of the final design. Any existing users of our power supply's will know there are plenty of additional tweaks that can be performed to improve the performance even more, the up-grades are available at time of ordering on my website (http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/power-supply/461-lda-linear-power-supply-for-bushmaster-dac-.html) or there are simple ones you can do yourself such as fitting a better fuse or mains lead.
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/themainsman/PSU/cc98a97c.jpg
Just busy listening to the prototype Nick kindly sent me try out for him, will post my honest thoughts and review when I have finalised my opinion on the unit...
I've been warned the "terrible teens" actually last for ten to fifteen years....
As my wife put it... It's nature's way of helping you to let go. Insert friggin smiley face.
If anybody has the 15v improved Caimen PSU it's worth getting a new 2.1mm plug fitted to it and then using it with the BM. I don't know if its the increased voltage or a better quality PSU but it makes a very worthwhile improvement to SQ across the board...
Canetoad
30-06-2012, 12:51
Well... I'm getting more pissed off by the second. Was just enjoying a bit of Goldfrapps Seventh Tree. The BM really makes musical sense of this album, the bass lines just drive some tracks along. So why pissed off? Cos I've been asked to turn the volume down because my 23 and 20 year old 'kids' didn't get to bed until 4 this morning.
Mumble mumble... Grumpy old man mode.. Making life too bloody comfortable for 'em.
My old man used to mow the lawn on a Saturday morning outside my window after a Friday night out! If they don't like it they can always go live somewhere else! :lol:
I did a comparison between the BM with standard PSU (good), added Mark's SBooster (better), which definitely makes a difference to me. The higher frequencies especially seem to be a lot smoother sounding to my ears. I then tried my home built 15v Caiman PSU (with a Paul Hynes regulator board fitted) and this sounded better again. Music seemed to just have a bit more impact, if that makes sense. Sorry, hifi speak is only my 2nd language. :lol:
I also have the battery pack but I haven't given that a lot of comparison. It does sound pretty good though on it's own but I haven't done any direct comparisons.
One think is for sure with the BM. Power supply definitely makes a difference to the sound produced. :)
RoboCopper
30-06-2012, 22:12
Anybody tried SBooster with Battery if that makes sense?
sq225917
01-07-2012, 06:46
It doesn't make any sense, a battery will be lower noise and impedance if chosen correctly. use one or the other, but using battery to power a psu is just throwing away stored energy in un-required stages of further regulation. Been there, done that, measured it, moved back to a good regulated supply.
Canetoad
01-07-2012, 07:37
I was wondering if the SBooster would make an improvement to the Hynes regulated PSU. I haven't tried that one yet. I'll have to check with Mark Grant to make sure it can take 16v first.
audionewbi
01-07-2012, 10:17
Just a question about the Sbooster, can use the Bushmaster sBooster switch with my Caiman DAC?
Thanks
Stratmangler
01-07-2012, 11:13
I'll have to check with Mark Grant to make sure it can take 16v first.
It can.
Stratmangler
01-07-2012, 11:13
Just a question about the Sbooster, can use the Bushmaster sBooster switch with my Caiman DAC?
Thanks
Different sized connector.
What colour is the band of the connector that fits the Bushmaster?
What colour is the band of the connector that fits the Bushmaster?
http://shop.rabtron.co.za/catalog/images/dc%20plug%203.5mm.jpg
Bollux, just went upstairs for a minute, came back down and a postcard from the post office ... Saying couldn't deliver my parcel and sorting office will have it on Monday. Nobody in sight down the road.
It's my LDA linear PSU from Mains Cable (David) made by Nick
Arrrghh... grrrrrrr
The postmen don't even knock on the door these days, they arrive with the red card ready!
Grrrhhhhh I paid extra so you would get it for Saturday, never mind!
The Vinyl Adventure
01-07-2012, 21:04
The postmen don't even knock on the door these days, they arrive with the red card ready!
Grrrhhhhh I paid extra so you would get it for Saturday, never mind!
They stroke the door ...
I cant understand how often this sort of thing happens ... they make more work for them selves??? It makes no sense!
We have a massive brass knocker on our door ... the amount of time they dont use it is madness ... this is why i get everything delivered to work... that and so the missis doesnt see parcels before i do!
The postmen don't even knock on the door these days, they arrive with the red card ready!
Grrrhhhhh I paid extra so you would get it for Saturday, never mind!
Thanks anyway Dave !!
I'll pick it up in the morning.. What really grates though, is that I am away all week... Although the up side is that on weds at Glyndbourne pretending that entertaining clients counts as 'work'.
Look forward to hearing what Hamish is on about.
Just a question about the Sbooster, can use the Bushmaster sBooster switch with my Caiman DAC?
Thanks
You can get a 2.1mm to 1.3mm DC power adapter of Ebay for a few £
I was looking for the opposite but could only find the above...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-Power-Supply-Adaptor-2-1mm-to-1-3mm-Barrel-/270595911149?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item3f00c5eded#ht_1508wt_1145
If anybody has the 15v improved Caimen PSU it's worth getting a new 2.1mm plug fitted to it and then using it with the BM. I don't know if its the increased voltage or a better quality PSU but it makes a very worthwhile improvement to SQ across the board...
I take this back. I must learn not to try and evaluate kit when the family is in the house, too distracting.
In fact the stock supply is slightly better! :doh: There is slightly more detail and insight than the Caimen supply...it's subtle but it's there...waiting for the sbooster to turn up....
Russell Turner
02-07-2012, 10:28
For testing the evaluation PSU Nick had kindly sent me to evaluate I had the Stan provided PSU, a 13v 1amp hefty PSU I had "discovered" at work and Nick's evaluation unit.
The qualities Nick's PSU has above the others is ultimately it is cleaner sounding, its not as brash as the Stan unit, the hefty one isn't far off Nick's so I am guessing it is a Linear supply, hence the clean audio.
As a consequence of this cleansing of the audio signal you can interpret low level detail slightly better, perhaps its more coherent and better organised if you know what I mean...
Its also less fatiguing as well, I was sat listening to one of my reference CD's (The Art of Noise's Seduction of Claude Debussy) and I was not finding it hard work.
I think the stock Stan unit you get is louder, I would say by about 1dB or so (my Leema amp has 0.2dB volume steps), and I mentioned previously to Nick the low level detail is there with the stock unit, it just gets uncongested with the higher spec PSU.
Ultimately I guess the question would be “would you buy one”? I am unsure on this, don't get me wrong it does make a difference but I wouldn't say it made a £200 difference like the Squeezebox Touch power supply made, its better but its not jaw dropping difference better than the Touch one.
I guess this is a testament as well to Stan's DAC design more than anything, as it must have a good noise rejection front end that cleans up as much as it can before it gets to the audio parts.
Russ
I take this back. I must learn not to try and evaluate kit when the family is in the house, too distracting.
In fact the stock supply is slightly better! :doh: There is slightly more detail and insight than the Caimen supply...it's subtle but it's there...waiting for the sbooster to turn up....
Hope this is relevant but I found with my Caimanised 7520 that feeding it 16.3v DC (from a linear PSU followed by a JLH Ripple Eater) actually improved the SQ to my ears. Stan recommended that as the maximum it would take and I have been feeding it 16.3v for well over a year now with no apparent ill effects :) .
Dave.
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