Beresford Bushmaster DAC Reviews

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18-06-2012, 21:50
magiccarpetride

Quote:

Originally Posted by MartinT

For those who missed Stan's link, I bought one of these 12V rechargeable batteries and charged it up fully before powering the Bushmaster from it.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDAwWDQwMA...Jrg~~60_12.JPG

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISA...E:L:OU:GB:1123

Listening to it tonight in place of the provided 12V Unifive SMPS, I am impressed. The whole sound has taken on more solidity, especially in the bass, and there is even less harshness with a sweet, extended treble. In fact, the treble quality with hi-res streams from the Logitech Touch is delicate, airy and resolved in a way that CD cannot manage. Brushed cymbal work is superb. The noise floor seems a little lower, bringing the music up from blackness in a very satisfying way.

Once again, as if it need be drummed into us, a linear PSU works wonders to lower the noise floor, enrichen the soundstage and reduce hash and lack of resolution compared with a switched mode PSU.

A second benefit is that the BM + battery becomes an excellent portable DAC/Headphone amp for use in the field or on travels. I dare say you could charge it from a car socket given the correct adapter. An absolute bargain.

Well feck it, just when I solemnly promised my wife that Bushmaster will be the absolute last hi fi component I'll ever purchase!

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this battery improves the sound.
19-06-2012, 01:32
J-PG

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hamish

[…] The pc has an optical out that last time I tried it fed horrible clicking and hissing noises into the dac whenever I moved around the room […]

Hamish, I'm having similar ''signal loss'' problems while playing 96khz content, standard 44.1 khz and 48 khz files are working fine though. I tried two different cables while the more expensive one (better built quality) creates less clicks and pops. Temporarely I had a clean signal @ 96khz but the fireckracker sounds are coming back irregularly.

I ordered three different cables now to determine wether it is the fault of the cable or the 3,5mm optical output + adapter.

I will discuss this topic more in depth in my upcoming BM-Review!

:doh: My English must sound horrible to you guys :whistle:
19-06-2012, 01:46
nat8808

Quote:

Originally Posted by J-PG

Hamish, I'm having similar ''signal loss'' problems while playing 96khz content, standard 44.1 khz and 48 khz files are working fine though. I tried two different cables while the more expensive one (better built quality) creates less clicks and pops. Temporarely I had a clean signal @ 96khz but the fireckracker sounds are coming back irregularly.

I ordered three different cables now to determine wether it is the fault of the cable or the 3,5mm optical output + adapter.

I will discuss this topic more in depth in my upcoming BM-Review!

:doh: My English must sound horrible to you guys :whistle:

Is this from your PC?

This sounds familiar thinking back to the days of setting up a PC soundcard for use with Digital Audio Workstation software (making and recording your own music). Sometimes solved with new drivers for the soundcard, sometimes solved using different latency settings within the software drivers, sometimes only solved when tinkering with background processes in the operating system.

Could also be a clock-locking problem too - perhaps your soundcard not giving a good 96KHz signal.
19-06-2012, 01:56
nat8808

Quote:

Originally Posted by magiccarpetride

Things keep getting better with the Bushmaster, now that it continues burning in (I'm leaving it on a constant uninterrupted 27/4 burn-in diet).

Hey, I've just discovered a brand new Bushmaster's talent. This is something I've never heard from ANY DAC, but this baby seems to offer it in troves (after the mandatory initial burn-in, that is). It's gonna be very hard for me to describe this new peculiar talent in words, so the impatient should stop reading right about now:

Let me start with a riddle. You know those pesky little sentences many of us keep getting in an email, as a lighthearted joke? Something like this:

H0W 0UR M1ND C4N
D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5
1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5
1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG
17 WA5 H4RD BU7
N0W Y0UR M1ND 15
R34D1NG 4U70M471C4LLY

For the purposes of my illustration, let's say that regular DACs are converting digital to analog by rendering sentences in the above fashion. Now, what I found about the Bushmaster is that, unlike any DAC I've ever heard, it actually renders the above material like this:

HOW OUR MIND CAN
DO AMAZING THINGS
IMPRESSIVE THINGS
IN THE BEGINNING
IT WAS HARD BUT
NOW YOUR MIND IS
READING AUTOMATICALLY

Looks like a minor difference? Not really. The difference is actually enormous. You see, even though the brain can be trained to read the original gobbledegook, it tires easily, because it's constantly straining to replace the numbers interspersed in the text with the appropriate letters. What the Bushmaster does is it spells out, in full (in clear text), the content it is converting from the bit-perfect digital signal.

This feat produces such clarity, such enjoyable listening experience, that it can indeed rightly be compared to a good analog reproduction. It is, to my mind, a major breakthrough, because what I've discovered is that now I can literally listen for hours on end, and continue enjoying music, while not getting tired or fatigued even one bit.

I don't know what exactly is going on inside this DAC, but I call it 'continuity'. When I compare it with other DACs I've listened to, I'm startled to hear the lack of this 'continuity' in other DACs, which causes tiredness and irritability to the listener. Basically, all other digital reproduction that I've listened to seems to expect the listener to 'fill in the blanks' (in a similar fashion to how we were expected to 'fill in the blanks' with the above letters-and-numbers sentences). It is this 'continuity' that seems to be a special talent of the Bushmaster, because it does not expect us, the listeners, to fill in any blanks. Because of that, it is now incredibly easy to follow any instrument, or any chosen cluster of instruments/voices, from the beginning to the very bitter end, without losing track for even a split second. Musical performance now feels completely coherent, as there are no hiccups or little burps on the journey. In short, the music flows joyously!

That, to me, is a major accomplishment. I'm pretty sure there must be other high end DACs that can compete with regards to this ability to offer uninterrupted 'continuity' and the joyous flow of music, only I haven't ever been able to hear such rare beasts. Did anyone ever hear DACs that can pull this stunt? Did what I wrote here even make any sense to anyone?

This sounds like something I've thought about before, why some things you want to turn up, some you want to turn down the volume, sometimes you want to turn off the music..

Your brain is so relaxed and at ease with the sounds coming to your ears that your brain can kind of switch off and not be on the alert to certain I-can't-quite-put-my-finger-on-it unnatural sounds that keep tweeking its attention.

Happens often between digital and vinyl - some digital can get annoying after a while whereas you can listen to vinyl all day and you always want to crank up the volume rather than often tweeking it down.

I guess it is real detail, resolution coming through.

I always imagine it comes of real low noise conditions.

I really need to get myself a BM! Have some other holes for money to go in before I start to have spending money unfortunately but hopefully with some sales of unused gear I'll fill those financial pot-holes up soon and begin to enjoy a smooth ride.
19-06-2012, 02:06
J-PG

Hi Nat,

My setup:

Macbook Pro early 2008 with 6Gb of RAM, Mac OSX Lion 10.7.4

Software: iTunes, Amarra, Fidelia

I can reproduce the problem by changing the sample rates manually in the os audio/midi setup. The built in 3.5mm optical out is limited to 96khz so it should work properly.

I turned off every third party process, Spotlight and the OS sounds but without any change. Only the better built tos-cable changed a bit. I found mac users with similar problems, some saying that it is the fault of the built in output and others are saying that a better adapter (tos with built in 3.5mm jack) should be used. Oo
19-06-2012, 06:22
The Vinyl Adventure

Quote:

Originally Posted by J-PG

Hamish, I'm having similar ''signal loss'' problems while playing 96khz content, standard 44.1 khz and 48 khz files are working fine though. I tried two different cables while the more expensive one (better built quality) creates less clicks and pops. Temporarely I had a clean signal @ 96khz but the fireckracker sounds are coming back irregularly.

I ordered three different cables now to determine wether it is the fault of the cable or the 3,5mm optical output + adapter.

I will discuss this topic more in depth in my upcoming BM-Review!

:doh: My English must sound horrible to you guys :whistle:

This isn't a recent issue as such for me ... And it was seemingly (from memory) a connection problem as it only happened when I moved (I think - it was about 18 months ago that I last tried the optical out on the pc)
19-06-2012, 06:41
StanleyB

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.
19-06-2012, 06:56
The Vinyl Adventure

Yeah, that's definitely not what I was suggesting ... I was after a cable to see if it did happen with the bushmaster as it used to happen with my majik ds ...
But even then I knew it was at the pc end
19-06-2012, 07:04
StanleyB

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hamish

Yeah, that's definitely not what I was suggesting ...

I was not saying that you did Hamish. I was making a general point since I have had a few emails from various people asking about it.
19-06-2012, 07:46
The Vinyl Adventure

I wasn't saying that you were saying that I did Stan, just backing up your comment ;)
19-06-2012, 07:52
StanleyB

No problem :). So many things on my mind right now. I only have 19 pieces of stock left out of a first production of 250 pieces, and next batch won't be ready till last week of July. So I am completely stressed out right now with doing the logistics.
19-06-2012, 09:03
Gazjam

Quote:

Originally Posted by magiccarpetride

Hi Gaz,

Yes, you're right. I chose the wrong term. What I should've said is that the already bit perfect signal gets slightly polluted by some unwanted spurious noise. I've been experimenting with changing the config parameters on the Touch, and was able to affect the level of that pollution. However, the more I was getting close to minimizing this pollution, the more would I be getting breakages in the playback, even to the point that the Touch would just fall completely silent, and only a hard reboot would jolt it back to life! So you see, the files do not always get through.

You can't win (not on the cheap, at least).

Not good mate.
I know you liked your Touch as well.
19-06-2012, 09:29
Jamtoast

Quote:

Originally Posted by magiccarpetride

T
This feat produces such clarity, such enjoyable listening experience, that it can indeed rightly be compared to a good analog reproduction. It is, to my mind, a major breakthrough, because what I've discovered is that now I can literally listen for hours on end, and continue enjoying music, while not getting tired or fatigued even one bit.

The word play is a nice analogy and I echo the sentiment. The most analogue sounding DAC I've ever heard.
19-06-2012, 09:33
Jabberwocky

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveK

FFS lighten up, it's only stereo. We are a community and as far as audio fora go, IMHO we are a fairly close knit one, so little spats will occur from time to time. But they rarely get out of hand, thanks mainly to the general ethos of the main body of members IMO. If such spats were a daily occurrence I would have some sympathy with your 'Farewell' - even the people involved do not seem to be as upset as you about it.
Join in and contribute your findings, there are a lot of people who would find it of interest, me included :)
Dave.

Will do - but a bit busy this week.
The 'rough and tumble' doesn't bother me - just don't see the point of it in this context. It wouldn't shut me up (quite the contrary) but it could put off others...
19-06-2012, 09:35
Jamtoast

Quote:

Originally Posted by MartinT

For those who missed Stan's link, I bought one of these 12V rechargeable batteries and charged it up fully before powering the Bushmaster from it.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDAwWDQwMA...Jrg~~60_12.JPG

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISA...E:L:OU:GB:1123

Listening to it tonight in place of the provided 12V Unifive SMPS, I am impressed.

Does this work to improve the sound while plugged in and charging or does that defeat the purpose?
19-06-2012, 09:39
MartinT

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jamtoast

Does this work to improve the sound while plugged in and charging or does that defeat the purpose?

That would defeat the purpose and the supplied cables don't allow it anyway. The battery lasts for hours and hours on a single charge, so it's not really inconvenient.
19-06-2012, 09:55
icehockeyboy

Quote:

Originally Posted by edmondwolfman

FWIW, I use the Touch and I have no noise at all from the SBT that I can detect. I use a DACMagic but I also use an optical cable. I tried the coax with the Touch and found that optical just sounds better. I saw a few posts when it first came out and people recommended the coax as they thought it should sound better but after the Touch had been out a while I saw a lot of people confirming what I found in that the optical cable did sound better than coax :scratch:

Stans own recommendation is a coax into input 4 (coax 2). :scratch:
19-06-2012, 11:16
icehockeyboy

Only managed a very short listen, but last night after about 6 hours running, I listened to a few tracks vis Spotify, and first impressions were of a holographic feel to the music, I couldn't have the volume high enough to hear what was happening treble wise, hopefully do that later.

First impressions? Build quality miles ahead of my first Stan dac, small enough to hide from the wife's eyes ( very important!) and so far already an improvement on SQ!
19-06-2012, 11:47
nightyy

Just received mine, and as I am at work I can only comment on build quality:in that area the BM is miles ahead of its predecessors. The casings of the 7510 and 7520 were sturdy but looked a little like controllers in industrial environments. The BM is a gorgeous looking audio device!
It is noteworthy that I always had the trouble of my cables (coax, toslink, cinch, power) pulling the 7510/7520 down at the backside, so they went up at the front like doing a wheelie. The BM is deeper and will not suffer that effect.
19-06-2012, 13:43
bacobits

Can anone please tell me the cost on this Beresford Bushmaster DAC???
I cannot find it listed anywhere or if it is it does not state the price.
Also where is Beresford made? GB?
Sorry for the stupid questions I did not go through all the posts but my curiosity is up.

Both of Stan's link sites need better info.

Thanks!

D
19-06-2012, 13:43
loonytunes

Quote:

Originally Posted by magiccarpetride

You can't win (not on the cheap, at least).

Of course you can - you've got the Bushmaster have you not? And your cheap alternative transport could be the QA550 seen here http://www.chevronaudio.co.uk/html/untitled24.htm on Chevron Audio's website. In fact Colin from Chevron replied saying that as a transport it sounds better than a substantially upgraded Teac VRDS25X! So there you have it, a cheap transport albeit severly restricted to WAV file playback only and no streaming. But at least its something that promises to sound excellent on the cheap.
19-06-2012, 13:51
loonytunes

Quote:

Originally Posted by magiccarpetride

The difference is actually enormous. You see, even though the brain can be trained to read the original gobbledegook, it tires easily, because it's constantly straining to replace the numbers interspersed in the text with the appropriate letters. What the Bushmaster does is it spells out, in full (in clear text), the content it is converting from the bit-perfect digital signal.

This feat produces such clarity, such enjoyable listening experience, that it can indeed rightly be compared to a good analog reproduction. It is, to my mind, a major breakthrough, because what I've discovered is that now I can literally listen for hours on end, and continue enjoying music, while not getting tired or fatigued even one bit.

Perhaps this is what we have all been waiting for all along (or does new kit always get stirred up into a new box frenzy like this?). Perhaps this is why I need a valve amp to make things sound fantastic (in my case a Consonance Cyber 10 Signature) - maybe valves calm down the transient state of digital. I'm getting excited at the prospect of getting rid of my bulky valve amp (I love it really) in order to save space in the lounge, now that digital has evolved to this level and we no longer need valves to help voice digital :)
19-06-2012, 13:58
edmondwolfman

Quote:

Originally Posted by bacobits

Can anone please tell me the cost on this Beresford Bushmaster DAC???
I cannot find it listed anywhere or if it is it does not state the price.
Also where is Beresford made? GB?
Sorry for the stupid questions I did not go through all the posts but my curiosity is up.

Both of Stan's link sites need better info.

Thanks!

D

If you go to the Beresford site and click on the Shopping (or similar) link it takes you to the homehifi page. The cost in US with shipping is around $179.00
19-06-2012, 14:56
magiccarpetride

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gazjam

Not good mate.
I know you liked your Touch as well.

Bushmaster revealed certain slight issues with the Touch that I wasn't aware of while I was using the Caiman. Tweaking the Touch certainly helps, but there is a fine line somewhere in there and if I cross it, the Touch starts with hiccups and breakages (which is, as you might imagine, very disturbing to the listeners).
19-06-2012, 15:15
MartinT

All I've done with my Touch is setup the EDO (Enhanced Digital Output) and disable any unnecessary add-ins. Everything else is standard. I have no problems with sound quality whatsoever.

Methinks you need to go back to square one.
19-06-2012, 15:22
icehockeyboy

Just got home, wife out, so volume at normal and got Larry Carlton live in Paris on.

Wow! This is one hell of an improvement with only 24 hours on it!

As you may recall, I sold on my Theta, which I loved as I could not detect any difference to the SQ when I compared it to the Touch's dac, not so with the BM!

I had thought maybe a newer dac would act differently, and it seems I am not wrong!

This is one fine piece of kit that I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone looking for a big up in SQ! ;)
19-06-2012, 15:44
edmondwolfman

Quote:

Originally Posted by icehockeyboy

Just got home, wife out, so volume at normal and got Larry Carlton live in Paris on.

Wow! This is one hell of an improvement with only 24 hours on it!

As you may recall, I sold on my Theta, which I loved as I could not detect any difference to the SQ when I compared it to the Touch's dac, not so with the BM!

I had thought maybe a newer dac would act differently, and it seems I am not wrong!

This is one fine piece of kit that I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone looking for a big up in SQ! ;)

I use an older DACMagic and Touch and I compared each for DAC and I can say that if you compare a standalone DAC to the internal DAC in the Touch and you can't tell the difference then you should definately move on. The DACMagic was far better than the internal Touch DAC. If I didn't have them side by side I may not have seen such a stark difference but being able to switch and listen within a few minutes proved that while the Touch DAC works fairly well the external DACMagic just sounded a lot better.
19-06-2012, 15:48
loonytunes

Quote:

Originally Posted by icehockeyboy

As you may recall, I sold on my Theta, which I loved as I could not detect any difference to the SQ when I compared it to the Touch's dac, not so with the BM!

The Theta and the SBT in the same league, who would have guessed?
19-06-2012, 17:38
magiccarpetride

Quote:

Originally Posted by MartinT

All I've done with my Touch is setup the EDO (Enhamced Digital Output) and disable any unnecessary add-ins. Everything else is standard. I have no problems with sound quality whatsoever.

Methinks you need to go back to square one.

So you're not hearing your Touch delivering any hardness in the upper mids and highs (I'm assuming you're using the Bushmaster)? If that's the case, I think I'll have to indeed try going back to square one...
19-06-2012, 17:40
The Vinyl Adventure

Heard it through these today
http://i728.photobucket.com/albums/w...l/1c2df460.jpg
It wasn't quite as good as the linn klimax ds unfortunately, but that is a £13000 source so I wasn't expecting it to... Certainly didn't shame its self in that company though :)
19-06-2012, 17:50
Bazil

^Thats a rather nice buffet going on there :cocktail:
19-06-2012, 18:05
MartinT

Quote:

Originally Posted by magiccarpetride

So you're not hearing your Touch delivering any hardness in the upper mids and highs (I'm assuming you're using the Bushmaster)? If that's the case, I think I'll have to indeed try going back to square one...

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.
19-06-2012, 18:14
magiccarpetride

Quote:

Originally Posted by MartinT

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.

Sounds great. Gotta get me that 12V battery (just after I've solemnly swore to my wife that there will be no-more-audio-purchases!)
19-06-2012, 18:31
sq225917

I love the idea that a digital source could be damaging the signal in someway to affect a specific frequency band- that's genius. 'If' the dac sounds like that it's the dac that sounds like that, the Touch just passes the bits onwards.
19-06-2012, 18:33
The Vinyl Adventure

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazil

^Thats a rather nice buffet going on there :cocktail:

It was lovely ... The joys of uhes
19-06-2012, 18:39
alan47

Been there,thought i recognised the table,and the statue,that room can be an expensive place to be in.:eek:
19-06-2012, 18:56
MartinT

Quote:

Originally Posted by sq225917

'If' the dac sounds like that it's the dac that sounds like that, the Touch just passes the bits onwards.

If we were to accept that, all digital transports and streamers should sound the same. After all, it's only the DACs that sound different. Is that really your experience?
19-06-2012, 18:57
Gazjam

Oh well.
thats that then...
19-06-2012, 19:05
magiccarpetride

Quote:

Originally Posted by MartinT

If we were to accept that, all digital transports and streamers should sound the same. After all, it's only the DACs that sound different. Is that really your experience?

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.
19-06-2012, 19:24
nightyy

Quote:

Originally Posted by magiccarpetride

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.

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.
19-06-2012, 19:31
icehockeyboy

Quote:

Originally Posted by edmondwolfman

I use an older DACMagic and Touch and I compared each for DAC and I can say that if you compare a standalone DAC to the internal DAC in the Touch and you can't tell the difference then you should definately move on. The DACMagic was far better than the internal Touch DAC. If I didn't have them side by side I may not have seen such a stark difference but being able to switch and listen within a few minutes proved that while the Touch DAC works fairly well the external DACMagic just sounded a lot better.

I think the rub is in the fact that the Theta, although high end and high priced, may be of an age that didnt do the Touch any favours.

Worthy of mention, years ago when I had my first Stan dac, it boosted the SQ of the Minimax cdp, but when the MM was replaced by a Consonance Linear 2.2' it did nothing, and was outed, to be replaced by the Theta, which did make a difference.
19-06-2012, 19:42
The Vinyl Adventure

Quote:

Originally Posted by alan47

Been there,thought i recognised the table,and the statue,that room can be an expensive place to be in.:eek:

Indeed ... It has been for me a few times!
Although concidering the fact that you could buy my whole system and still have change for a pretty decent s/h car for the cost of the speakers we were listening to ... It can get a touch more pricey!
Still, you can't argue with the service!
19-06-2012, 19:59
magiccarpetride

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightyy

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.

Wow, that's a very impressive list, and a very interesting conclusion. I just did a side-by-side comparison between Squeezebox Touch into the Bushmaster via coax and Playstation 3 slim into the Bushmaster via optical. Colossal differences in the sound reproduction, switching back and forth creates such a jolt. I'm not sure if it's just the Playstation, or if other transports would give me the same jolt of surprise.

But if you can, do try comparing SBT with Playstation 3. I'm sure you'll be able to hear the difference.
19-06-2012, 20:26
nightyy

Well there are differences, when you cannot control the source or chain. I have a broken 7510, and the replacement Moodlab DAC just would not accept the 15m coax connection (signal to weak?) So I had to go via HDMI to my HP ZR24W LCD, and using its coax out with a short cable to the Moodlab DAC. I just couldn't get SQ right there. But well, maybe it was just the Moodlab DACs performance?
As long as you can force ASIO or WASAPI out or have a source putting out nice bits you're ok
19-06-2012, 20:57
Ali Tait

Ok, back from the shoot out at Gary's. Can't be arsed posting all about it tonight, I'll do a write up tomorrow. Some interesting conclusions, which we all agreed upon.

One star of the show was my TQ Black cables. I have never heard a cable make such a difference in a system.
19-06-2012, 21:01
wee tee cee

majik
19-06-2012, 21:02
sq225917

Quote:

Originally Posted by MartinT

If we were to accept that, all digital transports and streamers should sound the same. After all, it's only the DACs that sound different. Is that really your experience?

I'm 100% behind the statement that all transports and streamers 'should' sound the same, yes of course they 'should'. Any decent dac should render all competent transports to sound the same. Obviously there are varying degrees of dac 'quality' out there (quality being technical ability to deal with the source variance) but we're being told the Bushmaster is a high quality dac with a reference grade sound. Are we now to understand it has that but not the ability to reject moderate jitter?

To answer your direct question though, yes it is my experience that a good dac renders the source moot, certainly the Weiss does.

This is far of topic however, shall we move it to the other thread where pc sources are being discussed with the Bushmaster, Mods?
19-06-2012, 21:04
MartinT

It's difficult to hold the two threads separate but yes, let's keep this one for actual reviews.
19-06-2012, 21:11
brian2957

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ali Tait

Ok, back from the shoot out at Gary's. Can't be arsed posting all about it tonight, I'll do a write up tomorrow. Some interesting conclusions, which we all agreed upon.

One star of the show was my TQ Black cables. I have never heard a cable make such a difference in a system.

I think the TQ Black caught us all by surprise mate . Good meeting you and hearing your excellent system Ali.
Brian.
19-06-2012, 21:20
Ali Tait

Cheers Brian, yes likewise, it was good to meet you, it was an enjoyable afternoon.

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