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...Quote:
Originally Posted by Hamish
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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...Quote:
Originally Posted by Hamish
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,Quote:
Originally Posted by 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.
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...Quote:
Originally Posted by Hamish
:):):)
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.
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?Quote:
Originally Posted by maxrob200
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
Interesting re: PSUs and battery packs.
My Stan-recommended battery pack arrived today.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1807947135...84.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 Ken,Quote:
Originally Posted by ZincAlloy
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.
My Paul Hynes PSU set for 16V sounds better than the 12V battery, which sounds better than the supplied 12V SMPS.Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
I found the battery was worse! :) Going to fix up an adapter for the 15v Caimen supply and try that...
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.
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).Quote:
Originally Posted by icehockeyboy
Not sure it would be much fun having to faff around keep unplugging and recharging! :scratch:
Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
Hokay - all wired up. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by NRG
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/1807947135...394671&afsrc=1
Stan told me (I think) that the battery should last a month or so between charges.Quote:
Originally Posted by icehockeyboy
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).Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
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!Quote:
Originally Posted by Martinh
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:
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...
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:Quote:
Originally Posted by Hamish
My bank balance knows which way I want the result to go! :eyebrows:
... 2 weeks away, is it?
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
Define "abuse".Quote:
Originally Posted by Martinh
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
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:Quote:
Originally Posted by myles
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:
Exactly!Quote:
Originally Posted by myles
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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Martinh
Sounds like a quality bit of kit :rfl:Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
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?
You have said it Martin ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
As I say, I hope number two (wasn't that Pinkley, or one of my favourite actors - Donald Sutherland) does the business :)
:eyebrows:
Go green and off-grid:Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
I noticed these were on offer at Maplins recently Solar Powered 12V Battery Charger
Have to check the specs to see if it will charge the Hong Kong thing.
:zzz: ... mmmm? .... What?! .... Ah, sorry - I must have drifted off ....Quote:
Originally Posted by myles
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by nat8808
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-2...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.
I fancy trying the S-Booster thingy - can't find it on the MCRU site - can someone give a linky? :)
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: :)
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.
You don't know how right you are based on my experiences over the years with the orient! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
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?)Quote:
Originally Posted by Mains Cables R Us
No, its not just a passive in line filter, there are two voltage lines into the second reg. Sorry.
Fook. My cheapo Chinese battery charger has given up the ghost, too. :doh:Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
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.
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.