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Based on my somewhat enthusiastic and glowing reviews, which heaped high praise on the Qinpu A6000 MKII tube amp and the Beresford Bushmaster DAC, I would like to set the record straight.
NO, I am not a SHILL for these products. They were purchased, both of them retail from from Amazon and Beresford. My wife and I have no connection whatsoever, with any of these products or companies.
My reviews were based solely on my listening perceptions and evaluations of these products. My musings on the above products were purely a desire, for me, to share with readers of these forums, what I consider to be great sounding products, which cost so little, yet give so much musical enjoyment, that it would be a sin, in my view, not to let others know. Take it for what it's worth and let your ears be the judge. I call them as I see or listen to them.
I also have in my possession, the french made Battery Operated NOS DAC (Non-oversampling DAC) which I am still breaking in; Additionally, I have also ordered the chinese made SMSL 398 DAC, which I am still awaiting receipt of. Once i have listened to them, I may, depending on my mood, share my findings, and listening experiences with readers of this forum.
Rex
Rex - hope I haven't offended you - just "having a laugh" as we say over here - great if you are an enthusiastic customer, and you certainly have a very sound basis for comparison (pun intended!) You'll get used to me - eventually, but all in good spirit! :)
Hi Rex, don't take it that serious ;). I remember selling you the DAC. But you probably hadn't figure out that I am the same person who designs and sells the Beresford Bushmaster DAC :).Quote:
Originally Posted by rxjr
No offense taken. Was so taken aback and pleasantly surprised by what I consider to be great strides and improvements provided by the Qinpu A6000 MKII and the Beresford Bushmaster; at what I consider to be, such ridiculously low prices, that prompted my great enthusiasm for these products.
Yes, StanB, I do know and am fully aware, that you are the creator of the famous (infamous) Bushmaster. I will eagerly await the next iteration of this great sounding piece of audio gear. Wish list on next gen Bushmaster: Addition of RCA inputs (at least two); volume control that functions as preamp controls; USB inputs; retain headphone jack; while of course, retaining the clean, lively dynamic sound of its predecessor; A Bushmaster sort of Preamp; all of this (or more) for the sensibly, ridiculously low, penny pinching price, your gear is known for. A challenge for you indeed.
I opened my mail just moments ago, and there it was. The Sbooster from Mark Grant cables, UK. I have it hooked up to the Bushmaster and am currently playing music through it- breaking it in, so to speak. Initial listening (not critical) sessions sound very promising indeed. Will provide comments on the Sbooster Bushmaster combo versus the Incredicharge 18,000 mah rechargeable battery that I purchased from Amazon for use in charging my Iphones and Ipads, Hp tablets and Laptops. The Incredicharge rechargeable battery pack was pressed into service in powering the Bushmaster, only because I already had it and my desire to see (hear) any differences between the ac mains Bushmaster power supply vs battery power. Will let you know results, when sufficient listening sessions are finished and compiled. Will comment at that time.
rex
The Beresford Bushmaster ~ Pure Gold... I shall expand on this more once I have peeled myself off the ceiling :D
Hello fellow DAC peeps.
So, my shiny new Beresford Bushmaster DAC arrived yesterday. It took less than four days from order to doorstep....considering where I live and the more than vague 'postcodes' we have here I would say that was pretty impressive, bordering miracle status.
Anyhows, plugged it in to Cambridge Audio 640c (transport) into Cambridge Audio 640 Amp into B&W 685's (I know,fairly 'low-fi' amongst this forum).....couldn't help it but put in Pink Floyd, Delicate Sound of Thunder.
Now bearing in mind I had spent close to £200 and it looks pretty natty coupled with all the anticipation/reviews I had to control myself and give it a harsh critical listen...to be on the fence so to speak. Ignore all Emperors new clothes and all that.
Having only ever owned a cheap Fiio DAC (which was pretty good, until it died on me) I had nothing else to compare it to but powered it up.............drum roll......
I can only liken the experience to that of, you know when you in an aeroplane and your ears go fuzzy with the pressure and then they suddenly equalise and everything is then really open and sharp. Well thats what we have here. I had to rewind a few tracks and listen again as there was so much more to take in than before, so many more instruments and dynamic placement that I had to make sure it wasn't me. But yes, they were there in abundance, clear and punchy, a far broader spectrum of sound that I have not experienced with my set up before.
I did the usual comparison of Apple Lossless files and then the same CD and have to say on the whole, the CD sounded better. Maybe my ripping, on an old Macbook and the Apple Lossless format contra a good ripper into FLAC is just not quite up to it. Certain tunes such as Welcome to the cruel world, Ben Harper sound pretty darn good in Apple Lossless format as well as similar genre which are generally cleaner, i.e less intruments, sound fairly ace. Movies, fed from Apple tv 1 modded with Broadcom Card and general TV stuff also leap out at you. Darn it's good....how did I cope before?! There is now so much more detail that I was missing before.
So onto the main reviewer, My Wife...(Wi-fi)...she is super critical of me spending anything remotely hi-fi related...but understands my needs, so long as she can have another pair of shoes....ahem......I put on her fave Avalon, Roxy Music in CD format which she listen for a full one minute and she said it sounded amazing. At that, I stopped the CD and sent her off to the supermarket, for the weekly shop. Test over. Harsh, but she doesn't procrastinate and pontificate like me, she'll listen and then give it the the critical marks out of ten straight away
So thats it.
Now, I know that my set up is fairly low-fi but at least it is a start and this DAC has certainly improved the sound, full stop, which is what it is all about.
However, and this is surely going to be the problem for all of us, this is now the normal, par for the score sound and after a while will I be hoping for something better? Right? I think in this instance, I'll cash my chips in buy a few more cd's, dust down all the old cd's and just enjoy..................at least for the moment anyway :carrot:
Stanley Beresford, take a bow.
Thank you.
Yours,
Michael
Any chance of a USB version materializing at all Stan?
Does the silver one have chrome select press button,Hedphone bezel & volume control trim, if so would it be possible to have the chrome fittings with the Black fasia as my OCD has issues with Gold!
:D
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rare Bird
Maybe, maybe not :ner:
http://www.homehifi.co.uk/aos/TC-7531R2.jpg
You aren't asking for much, are you :scratch:?Quote:
Does the silver one have chrome select press button,Hedphone bezel & volume control trim, if so would it be possible to have the chrome fittings with the Black fasia as my OCD has issues with Gold!
:D
No not really, so is it possible Stan?Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
Possible: yes. Practical: very unlikely. The parts manufacturers want orders of 10K on the pusk buttons and 3K on the headphone sockets. It's easier to rip the standard DAC apart and customize it with the coloured parts as required.
Your right. Do you think a USB version will appear anytime soon as i need to dump the DAC i'm using with the Laptop at the mo, replace it with one of these Bushmasters.
Testing, testing. one..two ;). But joking aside I am aiming for a June date if possible.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rare Bird
Oh, a Bushmaster DAC with USB. It's not a high res photo, but TC-7531 rev2 looks to have a TENOR USB receiver chip (TE0772?).
Brilliant Stan The wife can buy me one for my Birthday then :eyebrows:
Looks like just what i need for when the SB Touch goes tits up and i have to go back to the netbook. :eek:
How about a Bushmaster with additional 2 pairs of RCA inputs, USB, volume control for headphones and RCA outs. A Bushmaster DAC preamp which would retain or improve on the sound of the current Bushmaster, with a fair price to boot. Should this become available, I'm in.
Rex
From my Gallery thread:
This is the other substantial addition to the system this week. From what others have said elsewhere about Stan's little marvel I was confident beforehand that the BM would outperform the Caiman, but what I was not prepared for was by how much. The BM really is a staggeringly capable piece of equipment in every respect and in my opinion qualifies to be called a statement product. I hope Stan is rightfully proud of his little baby because his design prowess is evident throughout.
One of the things that disappointed me about the Caiman from the off was the poor quality of its headphone output, particularly so because I purchased a pair of Superlux 668B headphones before the Caiman was delivered to take advantage of it. Despite coming pre-fitted with a Gator board I have never been happy with the resulting SQ therefore the headphones have remained more or less unused for over two years. The headphone section of the BM redresses the balance in spades. I had no idea the Superlux's were such a capable product until yesterday evening and I have lost count of the number of albums I listened to, or for that matter what time it was when I eventually packed down to sleep. Never have I experienced a soundstage so wide and so deep through headphones. Listening to the second track on Third Worlds self-titled debut album, which contains a live, outdoor recording of tribal drums, you are suddenly transported to the African plains. All around you are the voices and general banter of African tribes people and right in front of you a fire is crackling away as the sound of feet swishing and dancing over the dusty ground underpins the entire scene, real movie magic for the ears is this.
The synergy that currently exists in this system is a joy to behold and if I was not quite so ill I would be very proud to show it off at Scalford Hall where I am absolutely certain it would turn quite a few heads. The unbelievable part is that I have achieved all this for relatively little outlay, some judicious wheeler dealing and the good grace of friends and members on this fine forum, and of that I think we can all be rightfully proud...
Hi folks, I haven't ventured on here for ages but to my shock, my new laptop does not have a s/pdif connection so in trying to find a solution to that (to connect to my modded 7510). To my shock my laptop has neither optical nor ps/pdif when I came across the Bushmaster aha, I thought, I will utilise usb but nope, I can't do that either :( ah what is a fella to do? I have a feeling that that the modded 7510 and the 7520 aren't too far apart so I don't want to invest in the usb 7520.
Get a USB to S/PDIF adapter. You can find them on eBay.
There are many TC-7510 owners out there who'll tell you that the TC-7510 is better than the TC-7520, and even better than many far more expensive DACs.Quote:
Originally Posted by daveyboy
Look into the Teralink X2 USB converter.
Some laptops have a S/PDIF hidden in their mini-Jack; if that is the case you need an adapter for thatQuote:
Originally Posted by daveyboy
Hi, I recently registered on this board and I just wanted to let Mr. Stanley know how much I appreciate the Bushmaster.
I've listened to a lot of gear (really a lot!) over the years and although there are great sounding DACs in the market, I think the Bushmaster is really something special. I bought it used with the Venom upgrade on a whim as the price was just right and I was needing a new DAC for listening with headphones with one of my computers and... well, it sounds spectacular. Thank you and I'm looking forward to listening to your "creations" yet to come.
I'm listening to the Oblivion soundtrack (yes, the PC Game) right now and it's so enveloping and full of light that it almost sounds magical.
I've posted this on another forum:
First impressions for the Bushmaster with venom upgrade (it's optimized for LCD2, which I don't own)
Mac Pro > Audirvana Plus > el cheapo optical cable > several Grados family members, all modded; HD600; modded HFI780 (Stax but that's another story and rig)
Music listened was mostly Classic Rock, Prog Rock/Metal, Classic Jazz. Mostly lossless ALAC, but ripped a few tracks in AAC @250ish and 192.
Pros: Very, very detailed; Fast paced; Amazing bass: articulate, textured, impactful; excellent for voices: you can hear voices as clearly as I have ever been able to, amazing; drumming in general is excellent as well as most instruments in general -> great timbre and loads of texture!; macrodynamics are incredible. It retrieves a lot of around the scene info since all audible cues that were captured by the mic just pop out of nowhere; Transparent. Great case/faceplate combo for the price; Apparently a linear PSU will improve a lot of things I hear and I plan on getting one as they can be had for not a lot of cash (this will lower the bang for the buck factor, though)
Not as good: Not a lot of air on the highs (not a lot of air in general, but this is not a sissy's music DAC as it's very engaging); Can sound congested in complex music; Microdynamics seem a couple of rows behing if this makes sense; Hot upper mids which can make Grados sound a bit tiring, but hey... it's a Grado (which I love too much); In your ears sound: little soundstage; Lossy music sounds... lossy when looking at redbook; Bad mastering sounds just like that; Volume control feels a bit flimsy; Not great at low listening levels as channel imbalance kicks in (no biggie for me)
Cons: analog RCA outs are too close for some of my ICs. Wireworld Gold Eclipse connectors barely fit... but they cost several times the Bush.
Last note: The HD600 (old drivers, stock cable) sound really amazing with this puppy. The HFI780 bass is the best I ever got out of anything with them.
Overall: Sounds like an amazing product for the price. Unbelievable, really, how little cash can get you so much overall quality.
There seems to be something different with the sound coming out of this DAC and I still need for it to sink in. It sounds different of what I'm mostly used to listening and it's disconcerting not being able to pinpoint what it is. I posted those impressions with no preparation and I wrote that it sounds transparent and also a bit hot on upper mids. It's this part I'm having trouble with... I think :)
I've plugged it onto the Audiolab transport into the Jadis off the Headtap - not factoring in the exotic cables and tubes, there's a rather large price difference with the transport and a huge one with the amp and the disconcerting (great sound) is even better - this is a great achievment for the guy who built this. Funny how there seems to be very little headstage with headphones but with the big Dunlavy's there's a huge wall of sound all around. I wouldn't have noticed this not-so-good aspect if I were using only the loudspeakers.
Note: Although not all is amazing with it's sound (I believe I may have my own faults:)), in no way it compromises the pleasure of listening to music with this source.
Amazing performance for so little cash but completely ruined for me by poorly implemented source selection code resulting in source hunting and occasional freeze ups, which require a power down/power up cycle to clear.
I'm sorry to hear that synsei - maybe a firmware update could sort that problem out?
I see no interface on the back of the device for a clean update so I guess it would involve a chip replacement.
I haven't experienced that specific problem since I connect only one source to each DAC.
It is a shame Luis. Other than that it is an excellent product but I have two digital sources and the product purports to support four, so it seems a bit remiss to me that users are required to use just one source if they wish for a perfectly functioning DAC. I'd go as far as to say it is a firmware design fault. Removing the auto-selection code from the firmware would go a very long way to solving this issue I feel. I am awaiting the original owner to supply me a return address so that he can have it back as I now have a Rega DAC which fulfils all my needs more than adequately ;)
Your comments are at odds with the facts I am afraid to finally have to say. You asked me if I could modify the firmware for you so that the auto function is disabled. that is exactly what I did. Unfortunately this code hack seems to have affected the normal operation of the firmware. Your original complaint was that if you had two sources playing and you switched from one to another you got a clicking sound at the moment the 2nd source was engaged.Quote:
Originally Posted by synsei
However since then you have given varying accounts of the original situation. None of them has ever made it clear that the firmware that you have in the DAC is not the same as the firmware in the standard DAC. However, readers are led to believe that it is, which is not helpful to me and anyone else reading your complaint.
As for the original owner: he was not too pleased when he found out that you had the firmware modified. I now have to send him a copy of the original one.
It was a developing situation Stan, which is why my account of what happened has also developed. Please remember dear reader that DAC's and how they operate would not be my chosen subject of expertise on an episode of Mastermind, however like anybody else without a grounding in electronics, I know when something isn't working correctly so Stan's attempt to belittle me is a bit rich.
FACT: The BM was not working properly for me from the time I first set it up...
FACT: Within a day and a half of receiving it the BM packed up completely (which is why it went back to Stan with Nigel's blessing)...
FACT: Stan informed me that disabling the Auto-Select feature would solve the problem...
I also object to you stating that the original purchaser, Vinylspinner, (who isn't the original purchaser incidentally, that would be Martinh) is angry with me for having the unit "modified" when in fact you stated to me on the phone that this would fix the problems I was experiencing, therefore I bowed to your superior knowledge and agreed to have the work done. If what you say is true and Nigel is angry with me for sending the DAC back to you for repair (at my expense incidentally, that's nearly twenty pounds, ten pounds each for the outbound and inbound postage) then he should have said so at the time as I was in contact with him, and not got you to do his dirty work for him. Bearing in mind I agreed to pay Nigel £160 for a second hand BM, with the money I have already paid out in postage, I would in fact have paid full retail price for this machine had I continued with the deal. As it is, including yet another tenner in postal charges to return the unit to Nigel, I will be thirty pounds out of pocket because of somebody else's problem by the end of all this :(
All I can say is that I am delighted with the Bushmaster and the standard of service from Stanley.
I love the sound quality of the Bushmaster and the headphone amp is a real bonus to me as I have been able to retire my Little Dot III Headphone Amp to a bedroom system (using just the Bushmaster to drive my Sennheiser HD650s in my main lounge rig).
Over last weekend my DAC started misbehaving on source selection. I basically couldn't get it to change source. I rang Stanley on Monday morning and by Tuesday he had sent me a new Firmware Chip. I slotted in the new chip and hey presto everything was working nicely again.
Stanley has advised that I switch off the DAC after use as the source selection problem is - he believes - temperature related. I use Sleep Mode so with no tell tale LEDs I sometimes forget to turn it off - I must try harder to remember (should help with leccy bills too).
I am glad you are happy with your BM Adam, this is certainly not how I wanted to handle it but unfortunately I am being singled out as the villain in this and it feels as if I am being told that I should have just put up with the situation. It was a difficult one for me as I was well aware that I was not the original purchaser therefore I was always concious that any support from Stan could be dropped at his whim, and this is exactly what happened. Stan told me to return the BM to Nigel and inform him that he was to send it back to Stan for a full refund.
I should state that money has not changed hands between myself and Nigel as he kindly deferred payment until after Scalford to allow me to recoup some funds after a particularly expensive month. I was due to pay him today incidentally.
Anyway, I have drawn a line under it now and put it down to experience... ;)
I've had the Beresford Bushmaster for quite some time and have accidentally discovered a weakness or discrepancy in its otherwise great sounding armor.
I purchased from Amazon an admittedly cheap Ace deal branded Analog to Digital converter (ADC), with both coax and optical outputs, to digitize my cassette collection, using my Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck as source and my custom Modified Pioneer Tangential Straight line Tracking turntable for my vinyl collection.
Source used for testing was my Optimus CD 3400, powered by a custom Dick Sequerra PS1 battery Operated power supply, into the Ace deal ADC, then into the Bushmaster coax or optical inputs for playback. For those interested, or may have questions about this set-up, Stereophile has highly reviewed and commended the Optimus CD 3400 and Dick Sequerra PS1 combination as an arguably excellent, if not great input source for CD playback. For those who may or may not know, Dick Sequerra is the famous manufacturer of the best rated FM tuner on the planet. Period.
When I first used the Ace deal ADC, into the Bushmaster, I got no sound from its coax input and some distortion from its digital input. So I ordered a replacement unit and also purchased an additional Okeba ADC with coax and optical outputs feeding the coax and optical inputs of the Bushmaster.
RESULTS: Good sounds from both ADC units using their Optical outputs into the Bushmaster Optical inputs. However, NO sound when using their coax outs into the Bushmaster coax inputs. Numerous times I tried, still NO sound from the Bushmaster coax inputs.
I then pulled out and tried these combinations with my old trusty Audio Alchemy DAC in a box and the french made Battery NOS (non-oversampling) DAC. Both units played and sounded good with no problems, using both their coax and optical inputs with the two ADC's.
ANALYSIS: There may some anomaly or weakness in the Bushmaster coax input (either hardware or software related) that causes it not to lock onto the 48khz outputs of the 2 ADC's. The Bushmaster Optical inputs, on the other hand, works perfectly fine and sounds great, with no issues. This has placed a damper, on my desire or fantasy of converting my over 40 yr old vinyl and cassette collection into the digital realm.
RESULTS: The Bushmaster is still a great sounding product, and will remain in my system, as my favorite DAC for digital playback. But this anomaly or incompatibility has also led me to look at other ADC/DAC combinations for digitizing my vinyl and cassette collections, which would possibly take the Bushmaster out of the equation.
Namely the NAD PP3i and the Furutech ADL GT40 and Furutech Esprit. All of which contain ADC/DAC within one unit. Owner or users of the above products, your comments and reviews of the above, would be greatly appreciated by one and all. Thanks.
Rex
If optical works and co-ax doesn't, it suggests to me that an earth loop may exist.
As suggested by member MartinT, tried various grounding schemes, such as grounding the ADC's and Bushmaster,grounding the Coax RCA to the Bushmaster, all of which is easy, since the Bushmaster has a ground connector.
RESULTS: Still NO sound from the 2 ADC's coax outputs into the Bushmaster coax inputs. The 2 ADC's optical outs into the Bushmaster optical inputs works with no issues and sound quite good. So, I still hold my original thesis that there may be an anomaly and/or incompatibility in the Bushmaster coax inputs that may be software of hardware related, that prevents it from locking onto the 48 khz signal from these 2 ADC's. As previously stated, these incompatibility does not occur when using my other 2 DAC's.
I still consider the Bushmaster an excellent DAC, dead silent, highly versatile, dynamic and great sounding. It will always be my preferred DAC for CD playback.
However, to convert my vinyl and cassette collections to digital, I am now looking at various alternatives. Any owners and or users of these units - NAD PP3i, Furutech ADL GT40 or Furutech ESPRIT, your review and comments would be highly appreciated. Thanks.
To: StanleyB - if you are reading this, any thoughts on the Bushmaster incompatibility with the the 2 ADC's which only affect the Coax connections? By the way, the Bushmaster Coax inputs work and sound great with my CD setup. It is only with these 2 ADC's that I encountered the no sound issue. Thanks.
Rex
Sorry if I missed this but do the coax inputs work with any other source without issue?
To Peter Galvany: Yes. The Bushmaster Coax and Optical inputs work with my normal CD sources. The No sound issue only comes up when using the the 2 ADC's coax outputs into the Bushmaster coax inputs. This is the only issue I have run across. Otherwise, everything works fine and sounds great.
Still waiting for StanleyB and others to share some thoughts on this issue.
Rex
To Peter Galvaby: my apologies for misspelling your last name. comments, anyone?
Rex
Mr. Stanley Beresford, thou art a genius. Based on your email, i tried your suggestion of just letting the center pin of the coax cable touch the Beresford DAC coax input. However, this produced no sound. As a last resort, I tried both ends of the coax cable center pin just go into both the ADC's coax output and the Bushmaster coax input. The skies opened, the seas parted, and then there was glorious sound. Thanks for the quick reply and the great advise. Will try to post this whole email exhange between us, so others may utilize this info in the future. thanks again.
Rex
From: "Stanley Beresford" <Stanley@homehifi.co.uk>
To: rxjr22@comcast.net
Sent: Saturday, March 9, 2013 12:49:48 PM
Subject: Re: Beresford Bushmaster question
Hi Rex,
from your test results it appears that the ADC is probably using a virtual earth internally. The Bushmaster has an isolated earth. When you connect the ADC and Bushmaster you are technically shorting out the virtual earth in the ADC to the isolated earth in the Bushmaster. So the signal from the ADC drops to below the level required for proper detection by the DAC's input receiver.
Try just getting the center pin on your coax cable to go into the Bushmaster coax socket. So the outer section of the coax cable RAC plug should not touch the RCA socket on the Bushmaster. Now try the ADC to see if it works.
As for technical question on issue with any product of mine: it is always best to email me. I am a member of loads of forums, but don't have the luxury of being able to surf the net all the time and read through all the topics. Otherwise I won't have time to develop new stuff, answer emails, and pack and post out orders.
Regards,
Stan
On 09/03/2013 17:15, rxjr22@comcast.net wrote:
To: Mr. Stanley Beresford,
The questions I have are all contained in my posts in The Art of sound forum, page 104 of the Beresford Banter section. Specifically, that when using the 2 ADC's described therein, I get no sound when using these ADC's coax outputs into the Bushmaster coax inputs. These ADC's optical outputs into the Bushmaster optical inputs work fine with no issues and sound great. Coax outputs from my CD players into the Bushmaster coax inputs also work fine, sounding excellent.
Because of the above, my curiosity as to the above anomaly has been aroused. Other forum members have given me advise, but all of which have not resolved the no sound issue. These ADC's output a standard 48khz output via coax. As also stated in the forum post, I have tried these ADC's with my other 2 DACs, they lock onto the signal via coax and optical and play with no problems.
Please understand that I am not in anyway denigrating the Bushmaster. My great admiration, respect for your design prowess, and high regard for the Bushmaster still remains undiminished, as it still is, and will remain, my current all time favorite DAC for digital playback. Any ideas or thoughts from you, about the above issue, would be most greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Rex
Heh, heh, glad it's sorted Rex.
I will never understand electronics or the life of its component parts.
23 days ago, the Bushmaster arrived and being a DAC virgin a) didn't know what to expect and b) had nothing to compare its performance against except previous cd players.
After set up, it sounded ok, warm bottom end and lower midrange, higher frequencies were less exaggerated and harsh sounding than with the Sony 930e being used on its own. Texture of instruments was quite pleasing, timbral quality, well it seemed better but that could have been imagination. It made me smile. After a few days, things improved, the top end opened out and the bottom lost some of its warmth and sounded more textured and all in all more layered. I could imagine now the studio set up and actually hear some of the recording techniques ( if that makes sense ). A nice sound, but not the revelation I was hoping for, although better than the Sony on its own. For £200 or so including a coax lead what should I expect ?.
23 days on, playing minimally 8 hours a day ( just to see if this ' burn in ' phenomena is fallacy ), Well what can I say.
A difference in sound greeted me this evening on switch on, and after 10 minutes warm up, the top end for whatever reason has opened out I would say fully, cymbals, high hats snare, breath tones, instrument decay and resonance absolutely incredible. The bottom end is tight, well defined and well controlled, no euphonics, just pure as it should be lower and lower midrange frequencies, any 'bloom' is down to room resonance. Vocals and acoustic instruments, incredible. Even my wife (happy with a transistor radio) asked if I'd been fiddling again, ' it sounds clear and I can hear things better' (whatever that means).
All this after probably 200 hours of 'burn in' (what is this ?). Pleased you bet I am, and far more than I ever expected, but why all at once and after so long.?
The volume setting is the same, nothing has been 'fiddled' with, the recordings I have played are all well known to me, no components have been changed and yet I now have a sound that betters (to my ears) equipment costing many times more than my own for a relatively small outlay and three weeks of running at 8 hours a day. Incredible.
I've been into hifi since 1972, I don't believe in snake oil, fancy cables or sheets of A4 placed strategically around the room, didn't believe in 'burn in' of electronic components, oh and I still have the same pair of ears that I've always had (although with less acute hearing).
Equipment in use :- Sony cdp930e, Bushmaster, Sugden A21a, JR149 speakers and a BK Gemini mk1 subwoofer (x/over at 51hz).
None of it is high end but what an incredible and involving improvement in sound quality and seemingly all down to the Bushmaster - a new system for £200 !.
I'm very happy with my new toy. :)
Nice write-up, John. Burn-in is real, of that I have no doubt.
And my DACs are possibly the world's most notorious piece of audio equipment that can be used to demonstrate this odd phenomena :).Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
But what you guys have not yet discovered it seems is that the BM does a two way burn in. To demonstrate this secondary burn in you need two systems or at least two amps and/or two sets of speakers. Use the BM in one system for a week or two until there is no more improvements to be heard. Then put the BM in the next system set up and let it play there for another week or two. You are likely to hear the system improve as well over that period.
I happened to have discovered this odd behaviour purely by accident. I have two systems wired up to a TC-7220 audio router. I tend to use them at random so it was not so obvious to me that something strange has been going on. But then one day I decided to try out another amp that I have. As the days went by I noticed that the amp started to sound different. At first I thought that I might have plugged in a different DAC as well, but nope. It was the same one as used with the other systems.
This has had me thinking :scratch:. So far my theory is that the faster pace and lower frequency ability of the BM (it goes down to 1Hz at 0dB :eek:) is somehow causing old caps in the amps and speaker crossovers to be reinvigorated. Maybe those caps were not pushed hard enough before? The introduction of the BM's faster response may well be doing some re-energizing of the caps and possibly even the semiconductors.
All conjectures so far, but I would be interested to find out if anyone noticed the same thing. You might have dismissed it at first, but you may have experienced the same thing that I discovered.
Most capacitors are fully charged, and perform their best, after 200 hours. So burn in is real.Quote:
Originally Posted by jfs
ok, I have to admit that I am a 'burn in' convert. I didn't realise that my small jr's could resolve such detail, then again they have never been presented with a signal to generate the detail I am now hearing.
There be magic afoot, I tell thee magic and wizardry.
Okay well this is my first post in this AoS forum (excluding Welcome of course!)
I have been in the look out for a new DAC and from all reviews I have seen online, the Bushmaster appealed the most i.e. great performance at a low price and you have a headphone amp thrown in. Initially I was waiting for the USB feature but after learning it would be delayed I could not wait for this upgrade so bought a silver Bushmaster.
As expected, Stan had the item delivered on time and on unboxing the first thing I did was attach RF clamps to the PSU leads. 4 in fact.
Plugged in and I was impressed with the neutrality and detail of the sound but thought it sounded a bit flat - a bit like my Sony CDP-561E(HFC Best Buy) or Revox B226 I used to have years ago but with more detail. Yes it sounded better than my existing Sony SCD player but not quite what I had expected as it had a 'budget' tonality to it. My current Sony is well reviewed and I have been quite happy with it. I left the BM to run in non-stop.
Last night I tried the headphone amp and was very impressed. The bass does tend to thump in a soft and undefined manner at times but overall it sounds very rich, detailed and surprisingly good. My Sennheiser HD650 does not sound as good through my Pioneer A-400. It seems the BM's headphone input within a split second responds to the load put on it in order to optimise the sound- in fact you can hear this sound change taking place. I did also notice a slight low level hum I could hear through my A-400 on my HD650 when the BM psu was plugged in...but this was so low for it not to be audible through my speakers.
Tonight I did further listening through my speakers with the BM having run in around 48 hours. Now the BM sounded more complete. That lack of richness and upper frequency sparkle had gradually disappered leaving a very neutral and natural soundstage full of detail. My Sony use to accentuate upper frequencies adding an unnatural richness but the BM presented a much more accurate picture allowing the midrange to shine through with much better imaging and detail. Switching back and forth confirmed that the BM is distinctly better then my Sony (£800 in 2004). At times it can seem a bit tame but what it produces is a very detailed an convincing sound. It's very neutral and accurate. On SACD my Sony does sound better but that is not so surprising.
So yes I am mightily impressed with the Bushmaster - what an amazing product at a sensible price! I've not compared other DACs in my system but have recently heard a Roksan Caspian and Primare CD21 player through headphones when I chose my HD650 at a local dealer.
I only received it on Wednesday but I like it so much that I want to bring the best out of it so ordered a Mark Grant linear PSU today. I thought the MCRU psu was too expensive at more than the same price of the dac plus didn't fancy having an extra box sitting next to it with that lousy logo! Hopefully no one here will say the MCRU sounds alot better than the Mark Grant!
Okay so I tonight removed the 4 ferrite clamps that I'd attached to the supplied PSU leads and erm....oh what happened to the sound when I plugged it back in? Sounded like increased jitter, unnecessary brightness to the treble and lack of smoothness. Yes it still imaged better then my Sony with more detail but clearly was not leagues apart as it sounded earlier. Clearly what this confirms is that the BM definitely benefits from a better power feed with the VirtualDC not keeping the BM so guarded from external noise.
Overall I'm extremley glad I bought this DAC. Well done Stanley!
Technically the Longdog Audio PSU is better than the MG one. Its design is better thought out and engineered, the MG is based around an LT linear regulator available off the shelf with some external filtering added...IMHO expensive for what it is. However, the proof is in the listening and if it makes an improvement then don't worry.
Unlike the majority of DACs currently on the market, the Bushmaster can go down to 1Hz at 0dB signal drop. That's extreme subwoofer territory. So any very low frequency bass sounds will be reproduced by the BM. If your headphones can reproduce those low frequencies then you might get to hear them, maybe even for the first time. Most speakers are unlikely to reproduce the very low frequencies unless they are supported by a subwoofer.Quote:
Originally Posted by mudan
There is a thread somewhere where I asked for example of extreme low frequency bass sometime last year. I needed the info at that time in order to test the BM's low frequency capability. The Bushmaster is an eye opener if you are into deep bass and got the amp and speakers for it.
Yes I can see that the MCRU is better designed however I'm sure the benefits will vary a lot system to system based on how much other mains noise there is.Quote:
Originally Posted by NRG
I also agree with you about the MG - I wonder how much the LT PSU costs on its own... But as the benefits seem, according to others, more than the sum of its parts I hopefully will hear that the £110 was well spent. If not then it goes back and I'll be back to the ferrite clamps!
Mudan,Quote:
Originally Posted by mudan
I too would like to buy either the Mark Grant linear PSU or the MCRU psu - but is it worth it???
has anyone done a side by side comparison? that would be very interesting!!
Mudan when it arrives, please let us know how the Mark Grant sounds compared to the ferrite clamps!
And thanks for your thoughtful review!
Stuart
Just this week I received a linear PSU + sbooster ordered from squeeze-upgrade which looks pretty similar, if not the same product, than the one offered by Marc Grant.
I'm pretty happy with the impact it had on the DACs performance: lowered noise floor, more detail, the sound is less congested with the improvement in clarity and the overall sound is more articulate and more "analog" like. It's not a dramatic effect, but it certainly is an upgrade. If you love the Bushmaster I highly recommend it.
I don't own the HD650 anymore, but I still use my 15 year old HD600. The Bushmaster seems to mate very well with high impedance headphones. The Beyers (+250ohm) sound also very good with the Bushmaster.Quote:
Originally Posted by mudan
I'm not aware of the Bushmasters specs, but from personal experience owning many headphones and headphone amplifiers, I've concluded that once you have your impedance sorted you either have headphone outs putting out current or voltage. High impedance phones usually mate better with high current outputs. Lower impedance headphones prefer voltage. I find this is a rule and there are exceptions. Still, a rule that I've heard many times confirmed by my own ears.
Just listening to Mahler's 2nd with Kubelic through the HD600 and the Bushmaster with the tubas and percussion sound really impressive - the bass! :eek: