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The DAC has no buffering, if the "Pre amp" has no buffering it might sound great, and it might not.Quote:
Originally Posted by Val33
I think I might be waiting for a Bushmaster+
But in fairness to Stan, I guess most of his customers will be using integrated amps.
Any updates on the Bushmaster. How near is it to being ready for sale?
Stan quoted me March.Quote:
Originally Posted by bostod
BW
Bonky
Hi StanQuote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
how do you expect the Bushmaster to stack up against the Silmic Gator on line out? and secondly how far behind time wise and in front sound wise are you targeting the non named, higher spec product mentioned above.
As you know I sold my Audiolab Mdac to buy another Caiman so if these move performance up a level without sacrificing the musicality of the SEG I just need to know where to go next, hell maybe I should just buy both and decide from there
Time is one thing that I haven't managed to keep under control. But I want to have things wrapped up on the next DAC after the Bushmaster by October.
put me down for a Bushmaster then and I'll run it in parallel with the SEG and take it from there.
A very wise choice. Everyone who has heard the pre-production board has left my place with a grin from one side of their ear to the other;).Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.Ian
:scratch:Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
:eyebrows:Quote:
Originally Posted by bobbasrah
A binaural grin?
I look forward to your new product, Stan.
from one side of the ear to the other would be the other side of the ear therefor a monaural grin....;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Labarum
What I believe in old navy parlance was a mixed semaphore...:lol:
+1 :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Labarum
Thanks guys :). Sorry about the lack of 'purchase decision making' information. I am putting the finishing touches to a hot item that could set a new benchmark in terms of what customers would expect from the performance of a DAC even when playing (properly ripped) mp3 files. My skin is hurting from all that pinching of myself that I have been doing.
Stan, you are a bugger (in the nicest possible way ;) ) at whetting the appetite and leaving us with all sorts of questions hanging in the air. Please don't keep us in suspenders for too long :) .Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
Dave.
+1 :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Labarum
Hi stan and all,
Really looking forward to this. I've been waiting to upgrade my system for a while, and think that getting the Bushmaster may be the most cost effective upgrade, as really I'm quite happy with it overall.
What differences do you think I'll hear coming from the 7510 given that most of my listening is done from Spotify premium? It's the standard 6/4 as I'm not a tweaker like many here seem to be! I was/still am happy with it as is, so left it like that.
Can't wait for more news,
Cheers
Jon
Sorry to be a bit vague about the audio performance of the Bushmaster, but rest assured that I have spent an awful long time on making sure that it will be another value for money purchase. Having had a chance to try it out against some of the heavy hitters below £1000, you can rest assured that people will soon be telling me that I am selling it far too cheap. If the Caiman was about detail, then the Bushmaster is about added definition. There is so much more venom in the way the Bushmaster takes care of each digital bit. I almost felt sorry for some of the speakers that I tested it on.Quote:
Originally Posted by jonnyd
Thanks for the message Stanley, looking forward to hearing about availability. I'll be keeping an eye on here as ever.
Cheers,
Just dropping in here (I registered on this forum a few years ago but never got around to posting more than one message!).
I bought a used Caiman DAC (with Gator and Caiman boards) earlier in the year. I was always blown away with the sound from the moment I heard it, - from both the headphone out and the line out into my Hifi system.
Stan kindly helped supply me with some opamps over the past few months (when I inserted a few the wrong way!) and we kept in touch. On Saturday he kindly dropped by place and brought his latest DAC invention (the Bushmaster) along with him so we could try it in my Hifi system. This was his uncased pre production version of the Bushmaster (that is exactly the same technical spec as the one coming out). We played it through my rather transparent Magnepan 3.3R planar speakers and compared it to my Caiman.
I was blown away, - seriously, - I've never heard a sound so detailed and transparent. The Bushmaster is just amazing. I thought the Caiman with Gator was good but this is something else, - the jump in performance in terms of the clarity and transparency is not small. After Stan left I felt my system sounded totally inadequate without the Bushmaster in place. I 'll be buying one as soon as it comes out!
Stan tells me the sound improvement is down to the simplicity of the design, - there is so much less is in the output stage than the Caiman, - no relays, no coupling caps etc.
I modified my Gator board a while back with all film and foil coupling caps, but it still does not come anywhere near to the performance of the Bushmaster. One of the albums we put on was the 1980s original Tracey Chapman album. It was amazing, - I could hear instruments and other details in the background that I had never ever heard before and just simply never knew were there.
The bass is more punchy and solid than even the Caiman, the treble more extended, and there is loads of pace and rhythm. Somehow Stan has managed to achieve all this without the sound being cold and unmusical. There is also no hint of digital hardness/harshness whatsoever (which is very important to me).
The biggest thing that got me though (and which was obvious from the very first second of listening) was the incredible transparency and sheer resolving power of this device. It is simply jaw dropping. The release date will not come soon enough for me. It's incredible to think this DAC will be priced lower than the Caiman was! Just wait till you hear this one guys and you will see what I mean!
I can tend to be critical of hifi components, but I have to say that I simply can't pick any holes in Stan's products!
Isn't it too early for Christmas and Boxing Day this time of the year?
Put me in the Q too please :D
Stan - you can put me down for one as soon as you're ready!
Consider it done :).
Sorry about the delay with the launch. We are having to make some adjustments to the case. The weight of the DAC plus packaging exceeded the 2Kg Royal Mail SD and ISF weight limit. So the case is being put on a diet to reduce the weight, and then it's off to the test house for CE etc. approval.
Stan,
I will probably take not only one, but two. One for me, and another for my m8 Zvonimir in Donji Miholjac, Croatia who thinks that Musical Fidelity M1 is very good.
Anyone compared M1 to Bushmaster?
Thanks
Hmm ... sounds like Our Stan has done it again!
Put me down for one as well, please, Stan. :)
+1 :eyebrows:
I have already put you at the top of the list ;).Quote:
Originally Posted by jandl100
Just what Ive been waiting for!...Yes Please!
Any idea of the cost yet Stan?
(understand if its too early to say...)
Less than the Caiman, if I recall an eaarlier post correctly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
If i remember right its around £40 or so cheaper than the Caiman. Stan might be able to confirm.
I have to say that in some ways I wish Stan had not dropped by with the Bushmaster, - simply because I will have to wait until April!. Now I've been spoilt, my system sounds completely inadequate to me. I've never heard anything quite like it before if I'm being honest. The transparency and definition (in particular) really were something else. I didn't think that type of sound was possible from digital sources that still sound musical. Now I've heard it once, nothing else will do..... I honestly have no idea how he's done it for the price.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveK
selling direct with no distributors or retailers in the chain must help a lot. I can well imagine each looking for a margin of 40-50% which could quadruple the price to the end user.
Looks to me as if the money is going into sound quality rather than displays etc so I imagine it being rather good - which is what I am keen to buy one asap.
My Caiman-Gator drives my Quad 520f Power Amp direct, straight into the sensitivity pots at the input. How will the Bushman cope with that, Stan? The input pots are 100k.Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
If it will I can replace the two single channel pots wit a ganged stereo pot and just carry on. Is the lack of a buffer amp likely to be an issue?
The Bushmaster goes down to DC, which means that there could be a DC component in the audio signal path. It's not more thyan 1mV, but pots and volume controls can produce a scratching kind of noise when they have a DC voltage going through them. So you would have to put a capacitor in series with the signal in order to block the DC component.Quote:
Originally Posted by Labarum
Alternatively, you'll have to sit it out till I have completed the variable volume version of the DAC. No release date yet penned in for that one though.
I can be patient.Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
So what's the price?
Sorry of we have been over this ...
I don't even need another dac, in fact my caiman has gone into the work hifi today ...
Funny actually both my colleagues laughed saying they probably would be able to hear a difference compared to the old Cambridge audio dac ... Until I plugged it in ... Both of them looked a bit wide eyed and took back the preconceptions!
Anyway... I'm wittering ...
Is there a price yet?
you mean they couldn't and they were surprised at how little things have moved on since 1989Quote:
Originally Posted by Hamish
As things stand, best estimate is less than £170 delivered to the UK, or £175 to anywhere else. I know that's beer money for some people, so you'll have to make a decision whether it's the beer or a Bushmaster :lol:.
a lot of us Caiman owners Stan (Im sure) are looking at the best of the current £500/£600 dacs and thinking "upgrade path"?
the Caiman sound great, if the new one is better I guess the likes of the Rega and Audiolab Dac is what you'll be up against.
90% of what a £600 Dac can do would get my £170
(not beer money to me so better be good!)
http://emotiva.com/xda1.shtmQuote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
...and that :)
That's part of the idea. Not everyone can afford to squander £170, let alone £600. But as you know, each of my DACS were regarded as "a lot of bangs for your bucks" on their launch. But 90% might be far too conservative. Be prepared to go higher ;).Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
How would the the new one compare with the 7520? Is it much better?
your reputation proceeds you Stan...
lot to live up to!
(no pressure) :)
That was my question as well but compared to the 7510 6/4. The answer was all about definition, but as not many people have heard the bushmaster, there's not much to go on. Definitely high hopes, if it's going for around £170 you can put me down on the waiting list please!Quote:
Originally Posted by pumpkineater23
Remember when I first mentioned the performance gains of the Gator and how much it was going to cost? Lot's of raised eyebrows then as to what such a cheap upgrade could realistically accomplish.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
As for comparison with the TC-7510/TC-7520: I prefer to leave those answers to someone impartial :). Colin has however done a small write up on his findings when he compared his Caiman and Gatorized Caiman against the Bushmaster. It's in this thread a page or two prior to this page.
Can you add me to the list please Stanley :)
Add me at the very top of the list for the Bushmaster, Stan. The reason I'm being this uncivilized is that I live on the other side of the planet, so I would need a fair head start if I am to be among the first to fully review it.Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
Is it the 'first come, first served' list, or the 'first served, first come'?
A hypothetically controversial question: will Bushmaster require as long a burn in time as Caiman did? I remember it took ages for me before Caiman reached the point of showing all its formidable strengths. I would assume, by looking at a streamlined and quite spartan design of the new Master, that it shouldn't require that much burn in, because of the fewer pathways of execution yadda, yadda, yadda. But then again, what do I know?
If it takes ample time for it to burn in, I'll make arrangements to leave it on in the office for a constant weekend burn in before deflowering it at home:)
To be honestly perfect, I've been itching to see if there is a reasonable upgrade path from Caiman, and so far have been only a bit impressed by the Naim's DAC; however, at $4,000.00 a piece, and sounding only marginally 'wetter' than Gatorized Caiman, I didn't feel it was worth the trouble (even if it was four times cheaper).
Here is hoping that Bushmaster will bring me that coveted 'wetness' in sound that I've been only hearing on some of the insanely expensive systems.
I've not actually heard the 7520 or 7510. I went straight to the Caiman as I wanted the best in this price range.Quote:
Originally Posted by pumpkineater23
All I can say about the Bushmaster is that it actually completely blows the Caiman away. The difference is not at all subtle in my opinion. There is more than just a few layers of much hash removed from the sound, - its like having an open window to the performance that I've not heard before in my system. Like I mentioned earlier today, I kind of wish Stan had not brought the Bushmaster by for a listen as I now have a three month wait knowing what is going to be possible for £170.
Lord know how much I'd have to spend on a DAC to get anything that sounded close in the meantime.:scratch:
I'll leave you to explain in due course what you mean :).Quote:
Originally Posted by magiccarpetride
Quote:
Originally Posted by magiccarpetride
I might be wrong, but I think he means the realism/that elusive open window to the performance that's like actually being there with the musicians live in front of you. That's what the Bushmaster does best above anything else in my opinion.Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB