Pete, I used to own an 8000C and I don't remember any hum off any input at any volume setting. I would be concerned that something is not right if you get audible hum at 1 o'clock.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Galbavy
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Pete, I used to own an 8000C and I don't remember any hum off any input at any volume setting. I would be concerned that something is not right if you get audible hum at 1 o'clock.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Galbavy
I have now recabled and put the kit on a glass shelved TV stand that I had in bits in the loft. Much more organised. Now there is zero hum on non-phonos inputs even at max and only background hiss on the MM phono input!
(I crimped a grounding cable for the Caiman and slid it between base and lid with the screw going through the loop).
Oh, also moved all the power cables onto a single supressed multiway plug, as earlier the DAC PSU was in it's own wall socket and everything else on another suppressed mains block - that may have also contributed ?
Hello everyone,
last week I received my Caiman and since friday I'm burning it in. So it has about 50 hrs now. But before I say something to the sound of this unit I have to thank to Stan. He's great guy and although there were some problems with delivery (not Stan's fault) he was always kind and patient. Once again thank you.
Ok and what about the sound? It's great. I was using some PCM1793 DAC before and compared to Caiman it is no competition. The only good thing about 1793 was women vocal and highs but everything below was much worse. Almost none bass, very recessed mids. When I first plugged my HP into Stan's DAC it was kinda surprise for me. To be honest I had very low expectations from Caiman. To understand me correctly I had no doubts about quality of this machine but I had doubts about my ears. ;) I thought I won't be able to hear differences between the previous and the new one. As you suspect I was wrong. Caiman has everything (bass, mids, highs) and I also hear more detail than before. That's about pros.
And about cons? I don't know if it's feature of the DAC or just problem of mine but I can hear some unbalance with the volume pot. As I said I am using headphones and my hp are very easy to drive so I don't have to turn the volume up very much. But to certain level I hear mainly left channel and after some more turning up it starts to play both channels on the same level of sound. That border is very low so that is not bothering me very much right now but if someone plugs even easier hp to drive (like IEMs) into the hp socket of DAC he/she could be very suprised. The border could be way above the normal loudness so it will be either listen music with very high volumes or listen with normal volumes and hear mainly only one channel. But who would plug some IEMs into Caiman, right? :lolsign:
Would I buy this unit again? After few hours of listening? With all pros and con(s) I've found out until now? Of course, this DAC is awesome for the price and that unbalance I wrote about is more cosmetic problem than some serious issue.
But I have small problem. With PCM1793 I used some cheap toslink cable I bought in the first shop and now I am thinking if it's not kinda inappropriate to use that cable with my Caiman. If I should buy sth more serious (hifi, professional, in one word more expensive (ok I know, 2 words) :lol:). I have done some research and there is too many choices out there. So I will be grateful to every advice. What cable are you using? Is there any difference between USB, toslink and coax? And would average ear (or maybe below average) hear that difference?
Hi Petr,Quote:
Originally Posted by sauhirt
Glad you like the Caiman - most people do :). Ive never heard of the headphone unbalance problem so I suspect a headphone problem (but of course you just might have the only slightly faulty Caiman produced) - I am sure Stan will be along shortly with a more authorative opinion.
Regarding you cable question, a lot of people here, including me, swear by AoS member Mike Homar's co-ax cable - not the cheapest at £40 each but definitley the best IMHO.
Cheers,
You should try to use a good coax like Mike's one, as Dave points out, or use a decent modern optical (that you can get from the Beresford site).Quote:
Originally Posted by sauhirt
I use the Caiman with a very good coax, but I can't hear any difference with a good glass toslink. Which means that Caiman circuits do perfectly their job. So, perhaps, your actual toslink does the job.
In any case (unless you can be sure about the particular quality of the digital interconnects, like the Mike's ones), I doubt you should spend more than any cable that Stan sells.
OK, silly Q time. Something got me worried and it's playing on my mind - I have th SB3 with new f/w (Squeezecenter 7.4.1 w. 130 f/w) the Caiman, Audiolab 8000C preamp and a shiny new Rotel 1572 amp.
Last night I had two 10-15 seconds periods where the left channel cut out. The SB3 VU meters showed left channel OK and the power amp did not show any protection or anything... any chance some bit-errors could cause the Caiman to get out of sync for that long (I doubt it) and while I will continue to check and maybe eliminate each box in turn as I can, has anyone experienced something like this specifically on the Caiman ?
Nope, I've not encountered this with my Caiman. It could be a cable problem but I would have thought if the digital cable was to blame that both channels would cut off. I could be wrong though. I'd play some gentle music at low volume and then work your way through all your cables making sure they're all plugged in securely and also give them all a gentle wiggle near the connectors and listen for the sound cutting out. It might just be a dodgy connection.
If that doesn't help, you need to find out if your amp has a dodgy channel. I guess you could try swapping the left and right analogue inputs round and see if the problem moves to the other speaker. It's not unheard of for brand new amps to have problems like this. My new Arcam surround amp developed a buzzing fault that Arcam couldn't reproduce or explain. In the end they swapped a few components that were most likely to be causing the problem. Since then it's never happened again. So something they replaced was faulty. :confused:
Thanks - your second suggestion was my first thought for tonight - swap the channel inputs and speaker outs on the amp and see if the left channel cut out ever again or does it move to the right. I am still suspecting the SB3's new firmware, or rather hoping. I don't think it's the Caiman but I thought I would ask...
Whilst talking to my local Hi-Fi dealer about Audiolab's surround processors and amps in January he mentioned that they had recently had quite a few customers complaining that their Audiolab gear hummed. Apparently they had sent several to be repaired but that this hadn't resolved the problem. So perhaps this is a know problem. It might be worth contacting your dealer as a solution may have been found now. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Chippy_boy