Cant wait to try this. So excited
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Cant wait to try this. So excited
cant wait to receive this. I am pretty sure it will be a great DAC, hopefully a decent amp. But one think for sure I think I got more than enough DAC for now :-D Time to invest on a good amp.
Some folk think I must be crazy to say this, except Jerry (Jandl) who is of a similar opinion, but having sold on my mega expensive Theta dac, believe the Bushmaster to be way better!Quote:
Originally Posted by audionewbi
I am certain you will love it!
Im with you too Craig!
Works an absolute dream in my system!
Im well in to getting accustomed to it/burn in ... And I'm completely, overwhelmingly chuffed!
Just received my BM today, fantastic service from Stan.
Only been running for five hours, but sounds so much better than my 7510.
Just finished listening to Candice Night's Reflections album, never heard it sounding so good.
Do you leave them powered up constantly, does sound benefit from this?
Richard
Richard:
Please attend to this before you do anything else.
Thanks
Sorry, done now.:eyebrows:Quote:
Originally Posted by The Grand Wazoo
Anyone using an offboard headphone amp with their BM?
I have just built a Panda, but after hearing the BM in comparison to the 7510, I'm not sure I'll hear any benefit from it. Can't try it just yet, still waiting for an enclosure for it and final interconnect wiring.
Richard
Thanks Richard
SBooster effectiveness:
Before:
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l8...ter_before.jpg
After:
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l8...ster_after.jpg
Crikey! :wowzer: that's an amazing improvement. Job done!
I've compared it with an upgraded MF X-CANS (cylinder chassis) and the BM is clearly superior - more dynamic, more controlled, more transparency, tauter bass.Quote:
Originally Posted by ukemaxxer
Neal,
Thank you! I've been searching for this information for some time.
What is the measured p-p ripple without the S-Booster?
Its not ripple as such but 150mV p-p spikes at about 8Khz on this supply and 30Khz within the group (thats from the first to last 3rd spike)...
Received the unit. Excellent package, excellent built quality. The headphone section has way more juice than the gator unit. It is too powerful for sensitive IEM. I still prefer the gator for my sensitive IEM but the k702 sounds excellent from the headphone section.
Too soon for me to comment on the DAC section, but right out of the box is sounds as good as the caiman.
Update:The vocal is too forward on the Bushmaster. While it has more gain which seem to benifit the k70x I out of the box i prefer the balance of the gator board of the caiman over the BM for ER-4S. I hope things change.
audionewbi (please can we have your real name) - you have to give it more time, it settles down as it burns in. Vocals too forward? Not in mine they aren't.
^name added.
I am playing back some white, pink and brownian noise, will check things after 40 hours of burning in.
Just had a question in regard of playing back 24/192 files, can coaxial cable handle such files?
I am using squeezebox touch, dont know whether I would benefit more if I use the optical out instead of the coaxial out.
Hi Moe, I use the co-ax connection and I've streamed 24/192 files without issue. I believe the ultimate bandwidth capability of co-ax is higher than optical, but I couldn't say for sure which sounds better as both my optical inputs are tied up with other sources.
I always find that a decent co-ax sounds better than TOSLINK optical. It sounds like a rez thing to me.
Thanks guys, I will try buying a high quality coaxial cable tomorrow.
Do not take my suggestion (as myself have not tried it and do not cause more confusion) but I got recommendation that this could be good.Quote:
Originally Posted by audionewbi
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sa...e&LH_PrefLoc=2
Anybody have tried this cable as digital coax?
Does it make sense?
Of course, some DIY soldering RCA connectors should be applied.
No idea what I just looked at :-DQuote:
Originally Posted by RoboCopper
You are dealing with a total noob here mate, take it easy on me :D
No worries, the question was aimed at more experienced engineers or DIY enthusiast.
I am also beginner in some way. So welcome to our club :)
Just buy a standard RG59U cable, which is designed for 75 Ohm co-ax use. You should find them made up in different lengths over in Amazon Australia or eBay.
Thanks, but anybody any experience in Oscilloscope probe cable for connection between source and DAC?
No, but make sure you don't screw it up with high capacitance phono plugs, of which there are a few out there!
Your oscilloscope probe lead will be multi-stranded cable, which is not ideal.Quote:
Originally Posted by RoboCopper
By reading specs of the probe seems that it can handle lots of data through it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stratmangler
Obviously must try first :)
I don't understand why you have this idea that you'll need a cable that can handle extra data.
To take your argument to it's conclusion, how much information should an analogue cable be able to cope with? An analogue signal isn't sampled like a digital one - it's the whole thing. So you'd need a really fancy cable to hear an analogue signal, right?
Just get yourself a competent 75 ohm cable & listen to some music!
Yes, I know all this, but obviously some of us are into tweaks, testing, trying. I am naturally curious and so far rule 1+1=2 does not apply in hifi.
It is mostly 1+1= own ears
Just get a standard 75 Ohm cable but don't use a 1m length use 1.5m :eyebrows:
If you want to go a bit exotic buy some of the Audio/Visual stuff from Maplin or speak to Mike who can if asked nicely sell you some of his...
Mine was just the opposite. I had DACMagic and BM both running at the same time so I could just change from AUX1 to AUX2 immediately and the vocals seemed recessed as compared to the DM. Over the last 5 days things have changed for the better. When I switch back and forth the BM no longer seems subdued but very detailed without being forward or bright More to come.Quote:
Originally Posted by audionewbi
I am using this merely as a bedside dac/amp, I am not using any speaker setup.Quote:
Originally Posted by edmondwolfman
Have you tried the headphone out yet? Anyways the unit is burning in, I will try it in few days time. But I am sure what I described before is me not been use to the sound signature of the unit. I am sure once I get used to this I wouldnt notice what I have noticed now.
To recap: I hear loud hissing noises from the headphone out of the BM when I pair it up with my sensitive IEM (XBA-4). There is hiss.
At low volume there is imbalance, but that is not an issue for me as I dont listen to such low volume. it would have been an issue only if this unit was usable with sensitive IEM, but due to the hiss I dont think I will ever care about the imbalance at such low volume.
I dont know if the hiss is normal or not but it is present in my unit out of the headphone out.
I might try one of these, if they ever come back in stock :)
I was wondering how everyone used theirs, straight into a power amp using the variable output, or to an integrated amp?. I know the information's on this thread, but there's 84 pages of posts.
Interesting, Neal. I presume that 1m lengths give bad reflections at that impedance? Is there a shorter length than 1m that works?Quote:
Originally Posted by NRG
No preamp feature so you will need to feed into a preamp or integrated amp. The volume knob is for headphone only.Quote:
Originally Posted by Richardl
Do you hear the hiss when the music is playing and/or when there is no music playing but with the volume control turned to max?Quote:
Originally Posted by audionewbi
My first impression after unpacking hasn't changed much : you could tell immediately that the soundstage has widened considerably : the bass fundament is better focussed, mid register has stepped up a bit and the highs sound as silky natural as before (they already did on my Accuphase e-213 integrated amp). I listened to the Bushmaster mostly coax-connected with my Marantz 63mkII KI cd-player (14 years of age !)
It's not so easy to catch into words what exactly this Bushmaster achieves : the feeling of 'directness' is sometimes overwhelming : the recording space as such becomes almost palpably audible, most spectacular in classical recordings : the strings of La Stagione Frankfurt for example in the Telemann Wind Concertos vol, 4 (CPO) ring out beautifully and naturally (they even sound 3D on a stereo). The coloratura soprano of Danielle de Niese in her Handel cd (with Les Arts Florissants – Decca) is a triumph, both in artistic achievement, but also in recording quality : the Bushmaster gives this voice the space and ease to reach unknown regions of virtuosity, reproducing every note and breath – it gives you shivers down your spine.
Jazz recordings fare well too. The saxophone of Stan Getz (Getz/Gilberto – Verve) is 'greasy' and one tick more prominent and transparent.
Do I sound enthusiastic ? Sorry, I can't help it.
Since my old (and rather cheap) DVD-recorder (Philips DVDR 610) happens to have a digital coax output I connected it to the DAC too. And yet again the Bushmaster turned the low-fi Philips into a very decent cd-transport, the sound somewhat more laid back compared to the Marantz, but still surprisingly full and clear,
I 've only given the headphone output (with the Grado SR 80) one quick listening : brilliant sound, but maybe a bit too close for comfort ? I need to have a second opinion here.
So far I used one optical imput for the Sony Minidisk recorder, the sound evenso nice and clear, but less spectacular compared to straight cd-playing.
One oddity : at first I used a digital audio coax cable (1m) from Sunshinetronic.
Later on I changed this cable with one more 'everyday model' from Bandridge (also 1m) and the sound ameliorated slightly. Who can explain that ??? These interlinks only carry digital information, so normally there can't be any differences as to quality ?
http://www.sunshinetronic.de/epages/...%22/HomeCinema
http://blue.bandridge.nl/products/au...e/general.html
Greetz from Belgium !
I too use a Touch and after carefully listening I found that optical connection to sound better than coax. I tried both and optical was just better...at least in my system.Quote:
Originally Posted by audionewbi
I've only tried my heaphone briefly but there is no hiss at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by audionewbi
My Shure IEM manual tells me to expect hiss on most equipment because of their sensitivity.Quote:
Originally Posted by audionewbi
I guess a case of not being able to design a headamp for every single type of headphone..
The hiss is present when there is no music is playing. The volume control position adjusement does not seem to make any difference when there is no music playing, however while music is playing the hiss becomes louder as the volume is not is turned more towards 12 oclock.Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
Update:
Discovered something interesting! The hiss seems to only be coming from the left channel, the hiss on the right channel is almost non-existence while there is no music playback!
Update 2:
I hear no music, the unit seems to have died on me! Tried the different coaxial connection, non seem to pick up the digital signal coming out of the SB touch. I thought maybe there is something wrong with touch, so I hooked up the touch back to the good old caiman and yea I think there is something wrong with the BM.
Well its to do with non ideal cable termination and reflections for the wave length of the signal...1.5m came up as the minimum length somewhere I read...longer maybe better in multiples of 1.5m but for practical considerations 1.5 is OK.Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
Switch it off and on againQuote:
Originally Posted by audionewbi
I've got a naim cd5i at the moment, I love the fact that dance music and any beats sound really snappy on it but of course I barely use the thing these days and listen to more music on my squeezebox in the kitchen. I'm thinking about getting another squeezebox for the lounge and some sort of dac. Do you guys think that the squeezebox beresford combo will sound as a good as the naim? Difficult question I know... Also I do have a htpc in the lounge with an optical out so is there even a reason for me to buy a squeezebox touch?
The old Caiman was probably as good as a CD5i, so the Bushmaster should eat it alive I reckon :)
Interesting thanks for your response. I might try one out then. Is it essential that I drive it with a squeezebox or would the optical out of a standard pc motherboard do? Actually I use the htpc for 5.1 output so I'm probably best of getting a squeezebox.
You should be able to drive a Caiman or a BM directly from any optical or coax digital source. You don't need to buy yet another squeezebox to act as an interface. There may be some merits in using a touch, but it's not the only way to get the job done. I am thinking of using a Mac mini to drive my DAC instead of or as well as a squeezebox. That way I can also watch video on the TV via the HDMI interface.Quote:
Originally Posted by gilesw
Well to explain I have an old Denon 5.1 amp which doesn't have a hdmi in so my htpc has optical out to the amp and hdmi straight to my projector. My htpc is also my filestore box so it has all my flacs on it. So are you saying it's better for me to directly play them from that machine? If that is the case then I need to get a separate soundcard with optical out. to feed the dac and run some separate player on the htpc rather than just xbmc which can use the old onboard optical out.
It certainly looks like xmbc can be configured to use 2 separate soundcards for playing music or movies:-
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=86038
Question is what soundcard do I buy for linux then with the best optical out I can find..
What is it about digital that you hate? I bet what you're hearing is an amp not able to take uhf very well (many outputs of players and DAC's have spurious hash coming out and many amps just don't like it), and the speakers may not take to the increased high frequency impact of master recordings or their digital clones over the more restrained tones of a good record player.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rare Bird
Tone controls? Nah, just get a proper Klark Teknik parametric eq and do it properly :) Most of the analogue stuff you listen to will have been through a few of these already, so another one won't make any difference :)