A little more work on my caiman mk2

[aleman]

Have had stans upgrade swf3 chip installed now for a few months works very well indeed have done his gfu mod super caps though underneath as did not wish to disturb the oscons i had soldered in earlier.Whilst i had the case open installed the 22x 470 uf 16vdc oscon sepc caps in place of earlier bank of sep oscons as these have better esr .Why so many the values are smaller thus required this many ,however once installed and measured found total capacitance was 12,700uf caps done in paralel.will post pictures.As for the sound had to be run in overnight sounded very splashy strident on first firing up.After run the following day the dac is now superb playing discs all day hearing details on discs i know very well and being astounded .Every single source movies streamed via oppo 105d the television all sound great,i use dx3 in a horn boxes bass is fast tuneful midrange informative treble soaring all whilst being relaxing and at low levels.,should i crank up the wick all i have described remains the same just much louder, speakers feed by bottlehead modified 4 watt class d amplifier fronted by stereo coffee ldr preamp.Stanley has brought music to the masses i own the original caiman as well as bushmaster mk 1&2 .

[StanleyB]

That's a great job. Given that you know how to wield a soldering iron, you might be interested in the now abandoned GFU mod for the Caiman. See the PDF file that I did with reasonably clear instructions at http://www.beresford.me/downloads/CMIIGFU.pdf
You don't have to worry about the elusive SFW4 firmware mentioned in the PDF itself. The SFW3 will do just fine. But once you have done the mod, and if your fingers are itching to try the SFW4 in the mod, PM or email me a picture of the changes you made to make the PCB GFU compliant. I'll then PM you how you can get the SFW4 for the cost of P&P only.

There is a derivative of the GFU mod for the Bushmaster MKI and MKII as well, but I haven't released them for the same reason that the GFU mod was abandoned: difficulties with desoldering and soldering of SMD components. Not everyone is confident enough to take on that task.

[aleman]

Thanks for the kind words stan the gru mod i have completed my pictures of my board look different to yours in the pdf picture is due to the fact that,i read somewhere that you had used used size b 150uf low esr tant cap at c43/c49.Also the cap 10uf tant at c43 was reused at cap49 the tokin supercaps have been soldered underneath c73/c83 thus are not visible i ,should photographed these prior to closing the case all other component changes as stated in the pdf.Could please send me a paypal payment request for swf4 did not realise there was another upgrade chip available1&2 i have upgraded the chip on the bushmaster mk2 could please send me details of the gfu mod for the bushmaster mk1&2 as the bushmaster mk2 feeds my stax electrostatic headphones and the mk 1 bushmaster takes spdif from my computer in the cellar as well as handling headphone duties as well..thanks a lot Aleman.

[aleman]

Sorry Stan have read your post properly will pm you and ask for swf4 software chip details email pictures of board now see why you have not answered as breech of rules by myself i have dyslexia .thanks Aleman

[maxrob200]

Hi Stan,
Does it mean that there is a Super Caiman or Caiman 3 in the works? If so, please post some details when available.

[StanleyB]

I have been thinking of an equivalent to the Gatorized version of the Caiman MKI, but the additional cost of making a limited production run as before is the one stumbling block. There is no space on the Caiman MKII PCB to do any major upgrades either. So a redesign internally would be the only sensible way to go about it. But then we get into unknown territory at a higher manufacturing cost.

[PeteC]

. . . . after reading Aleman's comments here. So, after emailing Stan to request the GFU firmware and ordering the other bits and pieces I should be good to start surgery on my CMII by the weekend. Everything really sounds superb anyway, but once again curiosity got the better of me! Will report on progress and results soon.

[wee tee cee]

Pete,
I would be interested to read your findings,sadly my skill set with a soldering iron is sadly lacking.

[StanleyB]

Pete,
I would be interested to read your findings,sadly my skill set with a soldering iron is sadly lacking.How far are you from Edinburgh Tony?

[PeteC]

Tony, I live near the Erskine Bridge, just off A82. Once my BMII is modded I could possibly be persuaded to do yours. All you would required to provide is the chip from Stan as I will have enough resistors and caps left over to do another one. I anticipate favourable results - been soldering for over 40 years !

[PeteC]

All up and running again. There is a subtle, but noticeable improvement on all three data processing modes. Certainly a bit better at the bass end and more 'bounce' and space to the sound generally, but will have to wait for everything to settle down for a while and then decide which of the options I prefer. Not sure which mode is being used as when changing one option the LED blinks once, the next twice, then the following time no flash, a bit of a mystery. Stan, if you could throw a bit more light on what is going on here it would be appreciated. I think the option with no blinking could end up the winner, but it's early days. Was attempting to attach some images, but sadly failed and have so far been unable to resolve the issue.

[StanleyB]

Many people overlook the first blinking of the red LED, which is why it can appear that there are only a maximum of three blinks. So include the first time you see the red LED light up, and it will total three at the maximum count.

For those of you who got a subwoofer, the Jurassic park movies are good ones to use for testing of the bass you can hardly hear otherwise. The mod will transform that into bass you can feel. Organ music is also a favourite of mine. Loads of stuff on Youtube to scare you to death with some bass. But I also like the increased presentation pleasure of things like acoustic guitars, violins, and pianos.

[PeteC]

I can recommend the opening sequence of 'Saving Private Ryan'. The bombs going of on the beach should lift you from your seat!

[PeteC]

If anyone is interested here are links to parts on eBay: Panasonic caps, to use as alternative to Oscons: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111020269027?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=410237167326&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT And the other bits: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251732470900?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271410630694?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=570277130741&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401090731052?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111504436443?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[PeteC]

. . . . everything has settled down nicely.

I was obviously expecting a small improvement in sound quality, but ended up with much more than expected. Fitted the Venom and Gator mods, as per Beresford website. Also replaced C73/83 with Tokin supercaps, added Panasonic 22uf 25v capacitors in parallel with C61/63 and , of course, the GFU firmware chip from Stan.

After a very quick listen to the three settings decided one and three were the only contenders, so left it on three for a few days as this is the same as I had been listening to previously. The sound seemed to have more depth and fluidity and continued to improve over a few days. Time for a change - switched to option one and wow! In comes firmer, rock solid bass that goes right down to room shaking frequencies. But further up the frequency range everything is better defined too. Stereo images are more focused with slightly increased depth too, voices have more definition and cymbal crashes sound extraordinarily realistic.

This listening to DVD, HDTV and CDs. We are now up to good studio monitoring quality, let down only by domestic room acoustics.

With TV it is easy to hear the difference between microphones and recording techniques used. The only downside is with poor recordings. OK with normal TV, especially live and documentary where circumstances often dictate the outcome. Mostly the film industry does a good job, sound tracks, particularly on movies with a decent budget are often outstanding. Then CDs, the good ones can be right up there with movies, but so many, particularly 'digitally remastered' efforts sound awful.

Anyway rant over. The point is we can now hear just about everything, that is on speakers. HD650 cans sound very similar, but lack slightly in definition, smoothness and the deep bass.

[StanleyB]

Great piece of work there Peter. I can imagine that many people would only expect a minor improvement based on the theory of diminishing returns. But I am only interested in developing mods that make a substantial improvement for a very small outlay in component costs. So it is nice to see another successful GFU conversion.

[soles]

Modded DAC section:

16670 16671

I already had spare 1.5F SuperCaps, so I used them at C73/83:

16672

GFU Firmware inserted:

16673

- Thanks, Stan!

Now it is time for some music. Using Capella and HD800 - I can immediately hear the difference: clear and open sound, more defined and powerful deep bass. As PeteC described it before: a studio tool.
After some tracks I can truely recommend this upgrade to everyone, a big step or even two...

[soles]

As a notice:

I had plugged the HD800 into the Capella to check the results after finishing the mod.
After seconds of listening my first thought was: "Stop. Did I something to the Capella too?" Checked the knobs. Hm. No!

As if the Capella had turned into a new device.

Great moment. And many more to come. Really happy here. :eyebrows:

[StanleyB]

That is great news :). The HD800 of mine is now permanently hooked up to a Capella.

I have had so many inquiries asking if I can do the GFU mod for people, or sell them a modified Caiman MKII with the GFU mod. So I have added it on my website as an item that can be ordered ready made.

[loonytunes]

Stan, did I read somewhere that you will included MQA digital decoding in your new DAC some time soon (if you think it's worthwhile)?

[StanleyB]

Stan, did I read somewhere that you will included MQA digital decoding in your new DAC some time soon (if you think it's worthwhile)?
I don't get the jest of it.