I found the same kind of improvement using the rather less costly S-Booster "Best of two worlds solution" linear PSU available from Mark Grant.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee
Has anyone compared the two PSU upgrades for the Bushmaster DAC?
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I found the same kind of improvement using the rather less costly S-Booster "Best of two worlds solution" linear PSU available from Mark Grant.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee
Has anyone compared the two PSU upgrades for the Bushmaster DAC?
My Paul Hynes PR3-16 based PSU still sounds superb. Don't discount that for self-builders.
Yes, all the add-on PSUs seem to do a good job with the BM, it would be interesting to have a shoot-out!
Would any type of linear psu work better than the one that comes with the BM?Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
I tried to order either the SBooster or linear PSU (can't remember) but the site said that there is no shipping to the USA so I was wondering if any linear type PSU would be better? Would 13 or 14V be better than 12V:confused:
The Bushmaster manual says that it can take up to 16V DC input. This is what my Paul Hynes PR3-16 is set to. I think the regulation quality is more important than the absolute voltage, so no, Bobby, not any old linear PSU will do. It needs to be a well regulated, low noise supply.
Didn't Stan make a big thing about supply isolation in the Bushmaster though? This should give it greater immunity to the supply fed it I reckon.
I find it's as critical as any other DAC, in other words quite critical of its supply quality.
Hmmmm, I'm not yet convinced ;)
Are you back from holiday Neal? Still want to try that supply?
Yes Nick, maybe in a weeks time...I'll drop you a PM when ready.
I'm running the BM off a li-po battery. Was so impressed by the immediate SQ improvement that I went and bought a second battery so I always have one ready to go. The SBooster from Mark Grant, which I had attached prior to the battery upgrade, had less/little effect - to my ears. The battery powered improvement has now got me thinking, whether my Macbook running off its battery would improve on my current mac mini mains powered source?
I agree with the above about the sBooster, if there is an improvement it's minimal at best to my ears...it does cut the SMPS noise down by about 45db though so its effective in that respect.
Can't agree about the battery though, found it reduced HF detail and clarity. A step backwards IME. The output impedance of a battery gets a lot worse as frequency rises and I wonder if this effect is directly responsible.
I found the same when running a T-amp from a battery, the sound was "nice" but lost detail.Quote:
Originally Posted by NRG
The BM has a noise filter built into the internal power supply as well, but its main purpose is to reduce the noise on the power rails to the digital and analogue circuit. The filtering effect of the internal filter is not very steep so that the power rail impedance is not increased.
I have been playing around with a couple of inexpensive and simple mods to see if I can get more out of the PSU circuit. But the Olympics have come in the way so the project is on ice for a week or two for now.
I'm running a pair of Mini-T amps bi-amped from a single LiPo battery and can't say I've noticed any lack of detail. Not saying it doesn't happen, just that I don't notice it with my kit and my ears :) . I'll try and take special notice next few times I listen, maybe even A to B test 'cos I've still got my linear supply through JLH Ripple Eaters 'plumbed in'.Quote:
Originally Posted by Clive
I had thought about putting the Ripple Eaters between battery and Mini-Ts but was advised against it because of initial current draw IIRC - anybody got any thoughts on that?
Cheers,
Dave.
There's no ripple to eat from a battery, Dave. Only mains PSUs have ripple.
Martin,Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
Thanks for your response. What little logic I have regarding electricity led me to think the same but to be safe I asked the question on another audio forum - see here: -
http://rockgrotto.proboards.com/inde...ad=8368&page=1
Given the inconclusive nature of the responses I thought I would risk posing the same question on here.
I interpret the other replies as being possibly not in total agreement with your thoughts. As I said, I know nowt, so I'm not pitching A against B, I'm just interested in seeing if I can raise the SQ any, given that I already have the Ripple Eaters, but not wanting to see any smoke if I tried to :) .
Cheers,
Dave.
Well, ripple is strictly speaking the residue from imperfect rectification and smoothing of a sinewave (transformed mains, in this case). Yes, the battery may exhibit 'sag' and it's just possible that the 'ripple eater' may help to compensate, but in a battery there is no ripple.
Thanks Martin,
I'm beginning to wonder if there are any 'absolutes' in audio electronics, or indeed in anything 'audio' ;) .
Cheers,
Dave.
Absolutes are for religion, inquiry is for science.
Progress in any science is built on absolutes, surely? Most things start of as an idea, a hypothesis, a theory, which is then tested and, if proved, becomes an absolute on which further ideas etc are based and so the cycle contunues and progrees is made. IMO very few absolutes get reversed with the benefit of future discoveries and those that don't can surely be regarded as absolutes?Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
As to religion, I don't know much about non-Christian ones but absolutes are generally being demolished I would have thought in those, with the possible exception of the Rome based dinosaurs? No offence to anybody, beliefs are a personal thing :) .
Just my opinion :) .
Dave.
No, Absolutes have no part in science. And I think you are making the common mistake about the use of "theory" in science, its not the same as a legal theory. In science, a theory is the closest a concept can get to being a "fact", something is only awarded the tag of being a theory if its withstood many and varied tests, has make proven predictions and is the simplest model that explains the behavioured of the part of the universe it concerns itself with.Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveK
But even Theory's are open to being shown to be wrong, or more often to being incomplete, and so eventually replaced with a new model that explains more observations.
Nick, I stand corrected :) .
There is: You get no sound if you don't switch your gear on. That's about yer lot! ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveK
Marco.
I think the basic rules in audio reproduction were sorted decades ago, but it's the application where the subtle artistic differences come in I feel - there's enough leeway to interpret the rules...
It's little gems of information like that, given so freely, that keep me coming back to AoS :eyebrows: .Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco
Dave
I disagree!Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco
Those "inky black backgrounds" are still there in spades.
:lol: :lol: :lol::mex: Not very often that Marco is proved wrong but this time you've got him dead to rights :lol::ner::yay:Quote:
Originally Posted by nat8808
Dave.
Test Equipment:-
Slimdevice squeezebox
Naim cd5i
Linux pc with asus a8n nforce 3 coax and optical out
( mplayer -ao alsa:device=plughw track.flac )
Chord Crysalis stereo phonos
Denon AVR 3805
Monitor Audio 9i with modified caps
Coax cable made myself years ago from maplins
cambridge audio optical cable.
Burn in:-
2 days left on with online radio from the squeezebox
##################
Squeezebox low quality source test
I used my squeezebox as it was my only digital source at first. I use it for online radio mostly, things like radioio at 128kbit. They sounded good with the bushmaster and I could still hear a difference compared to the denon's built in dac that sounded muddy.
Naim comparison
Amazingly the volumes between the naim and my linux pc hooked up to the bushmaster seemed very similar, I had to just swap the phono leads over and left the volume the same...
Phil Colins face value track3. The Naim initially seemed more foot tappy and the bushmaster sounded less whole but eventually I began to miss the vocal quality of the bushmaster that was lacking with the naim. On the top end I noticed finger snaps that I weren’t obvious on the naim. Treble didn't seem harsh at all.
Jeans team van oben track12 (kraftworky type stuff), the electronic instruments sounded incredible on the bushmaster with massive sonic swoops showing off the bottom end, naim didn’t even hold my attention!
Optical and Coax comparison
Turns out my pc can output optical and coax concurrently so I could just swap the selector on the bushmaster over. I only did a quick test but to me the coax sounded better with firmer drums.
Round up
My naim is already boxed up ready to go, after hearing a few tracks I was convinced on the bushmaster. The thing I'm really pleased about is that beats still sound snappy, this was my main reason for picking the naim over a rega cd player years ago. The extra benefit are on vocals, they sound great. Classic hiphop and vocal house seemed to stand out for me. The other benefit seems to be the bass. I put some wu tang on and the lowend started to feel like a sub woofer from my floorstanders, very odd. I do wonder if I would get the same feel from 320kbit mp3s.
Take one guess at what I've just ordered? Yes a linear power supply pack with new phonos from mark grant. Any questions ask away.
Would be interesting for Stans take on this, but one reason why optical is recommended for computer connection is because of electrical "stuff" that might inadvertantly get into the external DAC. May not apply to the BM of course and although you don't need to spend a fortune on a blingy optical lead, the very cheap ones might not be optically good enough?
I've had these ones for years and I'm pretty sure the ends have been scratched up a bit. I'm just pleased that my pc has two digital outs so i can still run 5.1 out to my surround amp. All in all this has to be the best bang for buck of any of my hi-fi purchases, along with the mini-t I got for the kitchen.
With the low cost of all these bits I might even buy a new 2 channel amp to feed off my denon to do the fronts. What do you experts think the next bottleneck in my system could be?
g.
I was joking in this post, but now I am worried.:doh:Quote:
Originally Posted by RoboCopper
The battery was working fine so far (although charge did not last more than 3 days on few hours of listening a day), but now when I charge it, the green light is blinking when being charged.
btw battery does not get hot or anything mischevious, only green light is blinking on the charger whereas before it wasn't.
latest update. the green light is now steady as it used to be.
update two.... green light is blinking again.
Is that normal operation?
this sort of battery
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Portable-1...item23207673f3
I've just received my BM, and it's up and running.
The set-up is......
SB touch with a Maplin PSU and a S-booster to Audiolab 8200DQ with a 0.5M Wireworld starlight Coaxial cable.
SB touch with a Maplin PSU and a S-booster with a VDC 1M optical cable into the BM, then using Xindak FA1's into the Audiolab 8200DQ's analogue inputs (I know the cables aren't great, but it's all I had knocking about with dismantling my very complicated cabling).
This setup means I can press a button between listening to the Audiolabs dac and the BM dac. Both setups were using the 8200's analogue volume control.
My thoughts so far.....I'm preferring the sound of the BM, the Audiolab seems a very slight bit more detailed (occasionally too detailed), slightly more digital sounding. I wish I could say more, but there's not really a lot in it though.
I'm going to be doing some swapping around in a bit, using the S-Booster and the Wireworld cable for the BM, I'll see how it goes. I'm guessing there's going to be a bigger difference after swapping around.
You need to give yourself time to settle down with the sound as well, Richard!
... and the BM needs to run in.
Differences grow with familiarity. :)
Yes, I really pleased with the BM, considering it's only been on about an hour and has a disadvantage with the cabling it seems an excellent buy.Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
I didn't give the rest of the system, a Nuforce mch-2c3 and Rega RS5 speakers.
Had a slight change around.......
A) SB - Wireworld cable - BM - Audiolab
B) SB - VDC cable - Audiolab
B sounds horrible, the sound is completely out of control, too much bass ( every note is a 'Boing'............if you see what I mean) and it sounds as though someone has turned the treble upto 10 on my system, it sounds really harsh and completely unlistenable. One of the tracks I use to test new equipment was painful to listen to.
Question in relation to Bushmaster PSU (sorry if the info was already given).
Can this be used to power Bushmaster? Is it worthwhile upgrade?
http://www.maplin.co.uk/13.8v-regula...ower-units-231
Thanks
All I can add is that on a T-amp it was worthwhile but the more expensive Ordo was better, . These Maplin jobbies are very cheaply made and some have a tendency to buzz.Quote:
Originally Posted by RoboCopper
See the Ordo here, hunt for a UK supplier of one of these, I got mine for £50 + postage:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ORDO-90-12...-/120749249027
Can't be sure it's a good match for a DAC as it's designed for an amp
bushmaster arrived today played for four hours did not sound to bad however stans,sdac need to be run in .ha dto modify as mysource ha bnc sockets stripped bushmaster replaced input rca with silver plated bnc sockets wired with teflon covered pure silver wire rca outputsalso changed for silver plated cnc rca sockets silver wired also earth lug modified rivet rplced with a screw tgus only need to solder the wire leading to the earth tag which will help when furthet dismantling the dac to carry out any further mods ,also had to cut a slot in the inner ffront chassis bt the power konb so as to be able to take out the board to carry out wire and socket mods and any future mos without any difficulty as stan,s dac is very well built bur arkward to dissasemble cnc output sockets large thus rca hole had to be enlarged.reassembled th eunit fed for three day a diet of loose ends where are you 80,s funk on repeat via headphones asennheiser hd 485.
fed by marantz ud5005 universal player via silver plated 75 0hm coaxial cable terminated in silver plated 75 ohm bnc plugs then connected to a khzoumo individual left and right shunt 48 step passive preamp silver wired single input feeding in turn ajren helder ta 2020 battery powered t amp feeding tony gee solo horn loudspeakers the sound sublime bass taught informative midrange informative imaging great can easily pick out individal instrument depth of imaging is outstanding makes passive caiman sounde two dimensional how technology has come along teble shimmering detailed no harshness easy to folow hi hats sound real information never heard befoe even on discs i know well all the above is with the bushmaster fed via battery you may ask why change the sockets and wiring did this to the caiman dac and elicited an improvement on the bushmastereven more so as a great design i believe is being strangled via the wiring from the sockets both in and out from the board (sorry about my little pet hate even on equipment costing hundreds of pounds same awful wiring to sockets) .So thta aside a great dac i would happily recommend to anyone trying to get value for money and a good sound to boot the inputs are enoghe for my requirements .well done stan.thanks
Well, I parsed those paragraphs several times and utterly failed. Don't you use punctuation? Also, we're still waiting for your name.
bushmaster arrived today played for four hours did not sound to bad however stans,s dac needs to be run in .had to modify as my sources have bnc sockets stripped bushmaster replaced input rca with silver plated bnc sockets wired with teflon covered pure silver wire rca outputs also changed for silver plated cnc rca sockets silver wired also earth lug modified rivet replced with a screw thus only need to solder the wire leading to the earth tag which will help when furthet dismantling the dac to carry out any further mods ,also had to cut a slot in the inner front chassis by the power switch so as to be able to take out the board to carry out wire and socket mods and any future mods without any difficulty as stan,s dac is very well built bur arkward to dissasemble cnc output sockets large thus rca hole had to be enlarged.reassembled the unit fed for three day a diet of loose ends where are you 80,s funk on repeat via headphones asennheiser hd 485.
fed by marantz ud5005 universal player via silver plated 75 0hm coaxial cable terminated in silver plated 75 ohm bnc plugs then connected to a khzoumo individual left and right shunt 48 step passive preamp silver wired single input feeding in turn ajren helder ta 2020 battery powered t amp feeding tony gee solo horn loudspeakers the sound sublime bass taught informative midrange informative imaging great can easily pick out individal instrument depth of imaging is outstanding makes passive caiman sounde two dimensional how technology has come along teble shimmering detailed no harshness easy to folow hi hats sound real information never heard befoe even on discs i know well all the above is with the bushmaster fed via battery you may ask why change the sockets and wiring did this to the caiman dac and elicited an improvement on the bushmastereven more so as a great design i believe is being strangled via the wiring from the sockets both in and out from the board (sorry about my little pet hate even on equipment costing hundreds of pounds same awful wiring to sockets) .So thta aside a great dac i would happily recommend to anyone trying to get value for money and a good sound to boot the inputs are enoghe for my requirements .well done stan.thanks
sorry Martin my computer skills leave a lot to be desired please accept htis edited version of my post and the previous one.thanks Alrick LOVE
Hey - remind me not to lend aleman any kit - I doubt I'd recognise it on its return! :lol:
Still, he seems to like what he's done with the BM! :)
Hi Alrick, any chances of some pics? Maybe you can start a Mod Your Bushmaster thread off. The rest of us will follow :).
I had some issues with my Bushmaster which were caused by the different voltage here in North America. Stan was great with diagnosing the problem and promptly supplying the solution, so hat's off to Stan's absolutely fantastic customer support!Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
But the point I'd like to make is that, while my Bushmaster was out of commission, I was forced to switch back to my trusty old Caiman. After listening to Caiman for several days, I've gotten accustomed to its sound, and grew to like it. Started even suspecting that maybe there aren't any substantial differences between Caiman and Bushmaster.
However, the moment my Bushmaster became operational again, and when I plugged it in, I sighed a huge sigh of relief -- the sound is sooo much better, so much more silkier and at the same time firmer and more authoritative. It is clear to me that Bushmaster is in an entirely different league, and cannot be touched by Caiman.
Here re a a few photo,s of the work done to my bushmaster.Please excuse the photo,s i have taken as have new phone and iam not used to it yet.Work is not as tidy as some have seen but was in a hurry stans nice well made casework hides my mistakes nicely.
Also dug up an old linear power supply that used to supply my pink triangle replaced all capacitors with poly prop capacitors missing link mains cable set voltage 15.5 volts ,sounds even better than the battery supply i had been using .just smoother informative and relaxed sound with my system.because i live in a little terrace the ability to resolve detail at low volumes(most of my listening ,tv watching done late at night)is also helpuful.Anyway iam shure there will be more mods done by people with more skills than me .
Well done for the 1st mod! (as far as I know)
A couple of weeks ago, i was pondering on whether to get a new cdp or a dac to link up to my blu-ray player. One forum member suggested the bushmaster. And i can tell you it was advice much appreciated. :)
The ordering process is quick, and the customer service is top notch.
And the dac? straight out of the box it sounded great and after two days running in the sound has got smoother and sweeter, with more slam and depth to the bass. Something that i'd never fully appreciated was the depth of sound that you can get, and with this dac it's all there.
I know this dac has been out for a while and there of plenty of reviews here, for anyone who is relatively new to hi-fi like me and isn't sure how it would sound with a blu-ray player as the main source give it a go.
As stan says himself "now you know why i can afford to give a big grin guarantee".:D
Absolutely. Auditory memory is especially poor, which is why if you are comparing kit you *must* have both with you! Moving a unit on and then trying to compare it to your existing kit is a fruitless task.Quote:
Originally Posted by magiccarpetride
Not sure I understand what you're talking about. I have both Caiman and Bushmaster sitting next to each other. I can switch between them at will. I do not need to rely on my auditory memory, as I can hear them side-by-side.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yomanze
Yes I don't dispute that & makes sense that the Bushmaster is a better DAC, but I was interested when you said: "After listening to Caiman for several days, I've gotten accustomed to its sound, and grew to like it. Started even suspecting that maybe there aren't any substantial differences between Caiman and Bushmaster."Quote:
Originally Posted by magiccarpetride
I think it is almost impossible to compare kit from memory rather than what you ended up doing, which is comparing them side by side.