Hello!
I'm a proud new Caiman owner and I'm still burnin' it in. i'm Currently using the Caiman as a preamp to my Nad C355Bee. It sounds fantastic so far, but I'm expecting the sound to become even better in time. Under 50h so far:)
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Hello!
I'm a proud new Caiman owner and I'm still burnin' it in. i'm Currently using the Caiman as a preamp to my Nad C355Bee. It sounds fantastic so far, but I'm expecting the sound to become even better in time. Under 50h so far:)
I just started modding my Caiman. I replaced the opamps with two THS4032CD opamps and replaced a lot of the caps with highend panasonic caps. The result is more detailed sound, better imaging, and more controlled bass. With a little more work on replacing the caps and lowering the 11mhz noise I think this will be the best DAC that I have ever heard.
Just curious what other DAC's have you heard?
Plan to do some extensive mod work myself :D
Its real good to see things finally progressing from simple opamp changes now.
The more information we have about extensive modding on the caiman the better!
Did I read on another thread that Stan is working on a remote digital volume control for his DACs. With suitable active studio monitors such a setup could be an AVI ADM9.1 killer.
Has anyone experimented with Active Studio Monitors driven directly from a Caiman?
I have used a Dac1, a DacMagic, a custom DIY DAC, and a Wavelength Brick V2. I am still working on this DAC, so I will keep you posted. Currently I plan on swapping out some of the panasonic caps for blackgate or elna caps.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shanedudddy2
My Caiman has just landed, and I like what I hear from the off.
Immediately I can hear greater resolution than I get from my modded 7510.
It should be burned in by the end of the year;)
Thanks again Stan
Chris:)
Normally I would not comment further on the sound of the Caiman for at least a month, but I can't contain myself any longer.
Part of the increase in resolution is more subtle than tone and acoustics/reverberation (although they're very important) - it's to do with meter, closely related to the beat, but has more to do with the way musicians play around the beat.
And I already have a greater sense of real musicians playing real instruments because of the increased sense of meter I get from the Caiman.
I think I'm going to be burning midnight oil for some time to come.
Chris:)
I agree the Caiman has very good resolution and handles reverberation, decay and ambience (recording space acoustics) very well because of that; but I have great difficulty in understanding what you say about meter, beat and rubato - that remains the same no matter what the quality of the replay chain.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stratmangler
But then I am deeply sceptical of PRAT - Pace, Rhythm and Timing - and all the subjectivism that goes with it.
The Caiman does what it does because the chips do their job accurately and Stan has the supporting circuitry right.
Rubato? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubato
One interesting thing that I gained from my mods to this DAC was that the bass extension became a little more powerful, which of course exposed a problem area in my room's acoustics, so yet again I am foaming up my walls. I am not complaining though.
Probably because they are too busy listening to music!!!!
At long last having recieved my Caiman over three weeks ago I can only tell you how pleasd I am with i'ts perfomance - so far because of an injury I have only been able to play it on my headpohnes where it has been powered from my lap top - the results are nothing short of stunning.
I have two sets of head phone some Bose Quiet Comfort 2's which are OK a misguided present from my good lady but they are comfortable and a pair of Shure 530's at a price I wouldn't dare tell her- Extended listening periods over.
When i first theard the unit I was amazed the sound stage even with the Bose phones was huge the sound seemed a little bright but the definition was superb and I was hearing subtleties I had never heard before. On classical works especially vocals again I was really pleased - however was I listening to my equipment or the content??
The diferrences were very marked - extended listening the brightness has gone but the space and dimensionality is still there - I can follow all the various instruments and am discovering that layering effect people refer too the Shures always were a revelation as headphones even with the Ipod but the thing that still amazes me is the quality over headphones, considering I have to date been using my computer Itunes abd the basic the Appleloss less format which has its limitations any way.
When I get better I am going to record some CD's using Exact Audio Copy software to see if I can hear the diference.
In have an old Meridian 206B transport when health improves I am going to use the DAC with that I have a Meridian 500 transport and 563 Dac but from memory even using headphones I cant remember the holographic presentation I now seem to be enjoying and I wonder how much I would need to spend on speakers and amplification to enjoy what I am at present
The DAC must be good because I have let my wife hear some of her recordings via headphones and she can hear the difference and her feet tap away and she says that shes impressed with the sound but commented it seems busy - playing CD's through our DVD player she probabaly has never heard the level of detail I have heard on recordings before.
I had a large house using a triamped system through SD1 speakers big boxes with plenty of welly bass and holograpic imaging and soundstage. We live in a small flat now in Glasgow so music in rooms have to be a compromise and I am looking to build a small active system using a Wadia Caiman and Active Quads.
I played a friend of mine some jazz choral work from Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble - its a stirring record voices in space accompanied by a saxaphone - he thought it was unbelievable and that was from the computer so I have restarted listening to music and close miked accostic blues I am hearing fingers sliding over frets and people breathing... I am well impressed and from my perspective think after a month of listening money well spent..