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View Full Version : Beresford Bushmaster - REGA DAC compared



worrasf
13-06-2012, 20:19
So my Bushmaster arrived yesterday - I left it running for about 20 hours fed from my Wadia 170i on repeat to get things burned in a tad before doing any listening.

I just used a single digital source namely Cyrus CD XT SE2/Cyrus PSxR connected with Mark Grant G1000HD digital coax and Mark Grant HD1000HD phono leads into the Croft. Comparison was with my REGA DAC - this involved physically swapping the above cables rather than "switching" between the 2 units.

First listening was with Antonio Forcione's "Acoustic Revenge" and Otis Taylor "Recapturing the Banjo". Straight off the BM sounded stunning - indeed it sounded very similar to the REGA in it's sonic characteristics (tone, PRaT). Perhaps a little less bass weight and a tad "leaner" (maybe the REGA was a bit flabby in the low mid-range?). I was detecting perhaps a little more subtle detail. What was different was that the stereo imagery was more focussed. I was getting more acoustic clues about where various instruments/musicians were placed/standing both from to back and top to bottom. The cymbals on the Otis Taylor track 10 million slaves were most definitely above and to the right and the drum kit was behind the banjo players - this was not evident with the REGA.

There was perhaps a little less "bite" to plucked strings on both albums with the BM but conversely the BM conveyed more detail about the decay of notes - you could hear a few times where Forcione is fading the notes on the fret work to get some decay/delay - this is not obvious with the REGA.

So straight out the box and after a little warm up the BM more than holds it's own against the REGA and it is doing some things I like more than the REGA (like the imaging and stereo projection) while the overall "tone" of the presentation is very similar - it's all the things I like in the REGA - musical in a vinyl replay sort of way.

Then I connected in the SBooster - Switch Mode Upgrade I'd purchased from Mark Grant into the DC input and the SQ instantly went up another notch or 2! The midrange just got cleaned up - any hint of "smear" at the start and end of notes had gone. It was like a blast of fresh air - music just seemed to ebb and flow effortlessly. Imagery was even better and things just sounded more "real" and it wasn't half bad before. All further listing was/is with the SBooster in circuit.

Einaudi tends to use a lot of sustain in his pieces that is oft to run into "overhang" both in the bass notes but more irritatingly with the higher frequencies through the system in comparison to the live playing - the REGA displayed this and could sometimes sound harsh/hard or muddy with lots of low notes. The BM is much cleaner and doesn't do this anywhere near as much. On Eden Roc the style of playing with "stroking" or "hitting" the keys is much better conveyed with the BM and so there is more emotion and pathos as appropriate. From memory the tone of his piano is more faithfully reproduced with the BM - the REGA tended to make it sound a bit more resonant than I remember.

Quick food break and back to the BM - rest of the system has been up and running for about 5 hours now so good and warm. Time for a different genre.

On the Nils Petter Molvaer album Khemer - track 4 has a phenomenal over breathed trumpet solo which just makes the neck hairs tingle - I love this track on the REGA. It's just as "good" on the BM but there is if anything more atmosphere - the breathy quality is just sublime - more like being in the jazz club next to the stage than in the cheap seats.

Female vocals - one of my favourite listening pleasures (Thea Gilmore, Marianne Faithfull, Eliza Carthy) I think can be particularly difficult to "get right" so that the emotion and expression of the voice is conveyed - another reason I like the REGA - well the BM does it to, no better and no worse, to my ears I can't hear the difference which is fine by me.

Finally, for now, totally different hard punchy rock. On Springsteen's "Wrecking Ball" the first track as well as having hard driving drums also has some delicate shaken tambourine in the backing - these are much better defined with the BM than the REGA, again the overall tone and character is similar but the BM seems to extract a bit more detail and doesn't "bleed notes" as much in complex mixes.

So, after just a few short hours I can say I am totally impressed with the BM. It sounds every bit as "good" as my favourite REGA DAC with the same tone and underlying character but has better grip and control of the music with more precise timing and imagery. I think the addition of the SBooster at only £29 delivers a very cost-effective enhancement in SQ. Bodes well for linear PSU's in the future I guess. I have a 12V DC battery pack on order so it will be interesting to see how that fares.

I promised a report on my thoughts in comparison to the REGA DAC and these are they. I suspect that with little more than than 24 hours of "up-time" the BM is likely to improve still further.

Steve

cycler2
13-06-2012, 21:38
Steve,
Thanks for your excellent review. It well thought out and nicely written.
Rich

sq225917
14-06-2012, 08:25
Nice review.

DSJR
14-06-2012, 08:54
I've added some stuff on the original thread, but mainly to ask if the different filter settingds on the Rega make any difference to this comparison and indeed, if they make any meaningful difference at all? I'm mindful of the fact that if the Bushmaster was sold through a dealer network, it would sell for around the £400 mark....

StanleyB
14-06-2012, 09:07
Filters? Who needs filters? They harm the signal.

The dealer price is going to be around £250. I base that on the price of my dealer in South Korea.

worrasf
14-06-2012, 09:59
I've added some stuff on the original thread, but mainly to ask if the different filter settingds on the Rega make any difference to this comparison and indeed, if they make any meaningful difference at all? I'm mindful of the fact that if the Bushmaster was sold through a dealer network, it would sell for around the £400 mark....

Hi David
I've responded on the original thread but essentially after playing around I leave the REGA on filter 1.

Steve

camtwister
14-06-2012, 10:34
The filter behaviour from the Rega device will be determined by the sample rate of the source, as follows:

Filter settings 1 – 5 (sample rates 32/44.1/48K)
1 Linear phase half-band filter
2 Minimum phase soft-knee filter
3 Minimum phase half-band filter
4 Linear phase apodising filter
5 Minimum phase apodising filter
Filter settings 1 – 5 (sample rates 88.2/96 & 176.4/192K)
1 Linear phase soft-knee filter
2 Minimum phase soft-knee filter
3 Linear phase brickwall filter
4 Minimum phase apodising filter
5 Linear phase apodising filter

I cannot discern an audible difference unless I'm listening to recordings at 96 kHz or above via my modified Squeezebox, and then, only from recordings with wide dynamic range. The difference is subtle and I'm not always confident I could identify the change in a blind test. Thus, I leave the settings alone and get on with enjoying music.

I've read Stephen's review with interest because I currently use a Rega and Gatorized Caiman. In my rooms and systems, I find the Rega's response in the upper mid-range more to my tastes. In direct comparison the Caiman is leaner. So, the Rega wins in a race run to my rules, but only by a nose. At the time of purchase, the Rega cost one hundred per cent more than the Beresford.

I look forward to auditioning the Bushmaster.

DSJR
14-06-2012, 11:25
Filters? Who needs filters? They harm the signal.

The dealer price is going to be around £250. I base that on the price of my dealer in South Korea.

Forgive me being pedantic Stan, but is that retail price ex tax, or retail inc?

Still a bargain regardless I reckon :)

DSJR
14-06-2012, 11:32
[COLOR=black]I've read Stephen's review with interest because I currently use a Rega and Gatorized Caiman. In my rooms and systems, I find the Rega's response in the upper mid-range more to my tastes. In direct comparison the Caiman is leaner. So, the Rega wins in a race run to my rules, but only by a nose. At the time of purchase, the Rega cost one hundred per cent more than the Beresford.

I look forward to auditioning the Bushmaster.

Glad you find the basic difference in "flavour" similar to my experience listening to Alex's Gator-Caiman. I also appreciate the filter switch may be more of a sales tool than a musical necessity in all honesty. There's certainly bass weight and articulation on much digital material, but for some reason (output op-amps not being taken seriously enough?), so many CD players of old just sound stripped out and "bleached" in comparison with players that do the job properly. The difference made at both ends of the frequency spectrum in simply dual-supplying the ancient QED Digit was vast, and the Rega DAC sounds a lot more "comfortable" than that I remember, if not necessarily "clearer."

Gazjam
20-06-2012, 10:19
good write up Steve.

*EDIT*

Interesting reading this again Steve in the light of the recent Dac Bakeoff at mine where we compared (amongst others) the Bushmaster and the Rega.
Sounded as though your Bushmaster was good with only 20 hours or so on it?

worrasf
24-06-2012, 11:53
good write up Steve.

*EDIT*

Interesting reading this again Steve in the light of the recent Dac Bakeoff at mine where we compared (amongst others) the Bushmaster and the Rega.
Sounded as though your Bushmaster was good with only 20 hours or so on it?

Hi Gaz - yes it was good "straight out the box". I didn't do any listening for a few hours so it had a little burn in time but not extensive.

Over the last few days I think there has been a bit of a change - not in detail but in the depth of the soundstage and imagery. One of the things I noticed but can't be at all sure is the "off axis" sound stage is much more stable. I tend to always sit dead centre of the speakers when listening properly but if just having as background music tend to sit in a chair much closer to the left which usually means I get an asymmetric sound stage as you might expect without adjusting the "balance" - well I noted yesterday that even off centre I was hearing a much wider sound stage than before - it was enough of a difference to make me get up and check the "balance" hadn't been altered.

I'm not sure what this betokens but when sitting dead centre there is an enormous depth and breadth to the music that wasn't there before with the REGA and I suspect was not as prominent in the "early days" of the BM.

It could of course all be BS and nonsense :mental: but I don't think so. :)

Steve

brian2957
24-06-2012, 13:41
Hi Stephen , did the S Booster make much of a difference.
Brian.

worrasf
24-06-2012, 16:48
Hi Stephen , did the S Booster make much of a difference.
Brian.

Hi Brian - yes most definitely it did. Gave more depth and solidity to overall presentation.

Steve

brian2957
24-06-2012, 16:59
Thanks Steve , I use it with the Caiman with similar results.
Brian.