No linky?
Printable View
No linky?
Hi Rob,
That wasn't very bright of me was it? Well I have been up since 7.30am wthout my afternoon nap so I've got a little excuse :lol: .
Here wiggo: -
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...59&refid=store
Sorry folks, old age 'n' all that.
Dave.
Very interesting that and in my price bracket too! Who is going to be the guinea pig and buy one first?Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveK
It wouldn't be of much use with the Bushmaster. The external power supply is used as a battery charger on the Bushmaster.
Hello Dave,Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveK
Not sure what makes you think it is a linear PSU, does not say anywhere in the description.:scratch:
The specs say it weighs 600 grams and can output 12 volts at up to 7 amps, a transformer capable of that would weight more than 600 grams without a case etc.
Also on the Conrad site is it described as ' voltageswitch Power Supply' :)
http://shop.conrad-uk.com/1/2-a2-uk0...fsp-1207-.html
The pdf download from that link explains it.
Halfway through March now....any update on the delivery for the Bushmaster Stan?
GT
I am spending most of my time on getting it ready, which is why I am hardly on AoS at the moment.
Quit nagging, folks! ;)
The more time Stan spends answering "Are we there yet?" questions, the longer it'll take to get there.
I feel sure that Stan will let us know when it's ready to ship, or if there is anything to report. :)
Hello Mark,
Thanks for pointing that out - dohhhh, my brain 'urts :doh: :scratch: .
I can think of a few possible explanations, the most likely being that I was looking at other Conrad listings (which I was :) ) that were linear and of similar build, and totally missed the fact that this one wasn't, or
the seller subsequently revised his listing to withdraw any linear reference - if you look at the list of revisions to the listing there have been many (but I'm clutching at straws here, TBH ;) ).
Sorry to all for the confusion.
BTW I'm surprised that no one has reacted to Stan's comment that the Bushmaster is battery powered - that is news to me and quite significant isn't it?
Dave.
It is a big power capacitor that is used as a power source. I coined the term VirtualDC when I first introduced that process in the TC-7510. The Bushmaster is using an updated revision of that circuit. But more about the subject in due course. I am not sure I got the time and capital to patent it, so that's one reason why I don't want to describe the principle of operation. But it has had a good track record in the TC-7510 and has proven its usefulness in providing a low noise DC power supply. The added advantage of that circuit is that you can use a battery to power the Bushmaster. I posted a picture earlier in this thread where I demonstrated that.Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveK
I am sure it mentioned before Dave
The sound quality of the Bushmaster is very good indeed and pretty sure it willl challenge a lot of the big boys
John,
which other DACs did you use for your comparison?Quote:
Originally Posted by John
Werner.
I heard a lot of DACs but just heard this in isolation at Stans. It had a lot of resolution
I happened to have lent it to a fellow trader, who is registered on AoS as audioflair. He managed to test the Bushmaster against a range of DACs and CD players, before he shipped out the orders for those products used in the comparisons. He wrote a bit about it in this thread.Quote:
Originally Posted by Werner Berghofer
But don't worry Werner. I shall send you a loan unit to try out once I have the production on the way :). No purchase required on your part as you have been a loyal customer for years.
John,
I see, thank you for your quick reply. In my opinion direct A/B comparisons are indispensable, especially when trying to notice subtle differences with DACs.Quote:
Originally Posted by John
Werner.
Stanley,
many thanks for this really generous offer, but the third Schiit Bifrost DAC already is on the way to my home. It shall replace the last remaining Caiman in my living room’s system. Two days ago I did an A/B comparison, swapping only the DACs, but using the same headphone amplifier and headphones.Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
Werner.
John had a Gatorized Caiman sitting next to it to compare it with. But first he spent about 6 weeks listening to the Caiman so that he was familiar with its performance, before then comparing it to the Bushmaster.Quote:
Originally Posted by Werner Berghofer
I am just giving a overall view point around the DAC not a comparsion so hence not a detailed response more of a impression
Lets just say I was impressed
I see the predicted Caiman selling frenzy has started on ebay,ahead of the Bushmaster release.At least half a dozen at last count,getting strong money thou',best get in quick whilst the price holds.Must be mainly those rare people with only one system.:whistle:
I can see 2 :scratch:Quote:
Originally Posted by alan47
I am looking at five ,with two finished.By Caimans i really mean Beresford dac's,by the way.Normally there are none.
Hi Stan, what is the output impedance of the DAC? Will it mate OK with a passive preamp measuring between 16K and 18.5K input impedance?
No further technical details will be released at this time for commercial reasons :).
But with regards to passive amps; I can try it out if you pass round with the preamp. I don't own one of those type of devices so do not know what they can or can't do with a DC coupled signal such as the Bushmaster provides.
Hey, it's April, Stan - is my Bushmaster in the post yet? :eyebrows:
... perhaps I can do a pucka review in the Hifi Pig webzine. :)
Is it launched yet?
A few delays right now. But let me not worry you with my problems :). They are not insurmountable and has nothing to do with the DAC itself. I am stil enjoying the two prototypes everyday and discovering a lot more about the way some tracks were recorded.Those drop-in corrections and track overlays were never so clear cut as they are now.
Hi Stan, do you have an update on the Bushmaster. due to my clumsy diy skills i appear to have fried my caiman trying to change a voltage regulator so i have a big hole where your new dac would fit nicely :)Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
I should have the all clear from the test house this week, which would then give us the authorization to start production based on the submitted samples of the PCB, case, and power supply :). So middle to end of May is the release date.
Have you got any pics of what has been fried? Where in the UK are you? Are you looking to fix it or bin it?Quote:
Originally Posted by bostod
Rob.
Here is a picture of what happened. i think the new voltage regulator touched the metal casing. if you look behind it, you will notice a fried diode( i think that is what it is). At the moment all that comes out of it is some cracking noise.Quote:
Originally Posted by Puffin
Picture removed so not to confuse thread
what would i be looking at to ge tthis fixed?
Guys, that is not a picture of the inside of the Bushmaster DAC. So can I ask you not to confuse this thread. Potential customers might get the wrong impression.
Dave, it was probably the New class D reg that fried itself, they tend to do that, not the most stable plug and play regulator design. I had two go in a Wadia ipod dock.
Replace the reg and the part behind it.
I put some sticky plastic insulation on the inside of the lid because the Dexa is so tall.
However, as Stan says this is the Bushmaster thread so let's keep it on subject.
Hi Simon, did you see my post above yours?
Picture removed so not to confuse thread. sorry for that
Whilst going through my long list of suggestions from customers for features missing or hard to find on DACs, I came across one that cropped up a couple of times. One was for the ability to switch off the LEDs on front of a DAC even when the DAC is in operation. The reason for this appears to be that some people find the bright LEDs a bit of a distraction when they are playing music and the DAC is within their field of vision.
I was also asked by a beta tester with a SKY box if it is possible to bypass the DAC's input that has the SKY box connected to it. when the Bushmaster is in the Auto Search mode. The reason appears to be that the SKy box, and many cable boxes, put out a constant signal on their digital audio output. This constant signal prevents the auto search function from finding any other active input.
Any ideas if those features are reasonably important in general?
Hi Stan
I for one found the LEDS on the caiman way too bright, cured the problem with some black insulation tape so a dimmer or on off option would be great.
In terms of the sky box Personally I'm not overly bothered about auto switching I doubt if I would use it, indeed I tend to have several things on at the same time.
Mine you if the dac could auto block dd signals instantly ie no pass through what so ever if would be great. Manually switching the sky box to PCM is a pain and even the Mdac that was meant to mute didn't do it quickly enough to prevent nasty noises through the speaker.
Not bothered about Sky auto-switching, I tend to switch manually anyway.
Personally, I would prefer to have no leds and only manual switching.
Val
But you only have to do it once :scratch:Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.Ian
Instead of piercing blue LED's, could you use a gentler more diffuse LED instead?
When I tarted up my X10-D, the kit came with a soft-tone blue LED to replace the perfectly adequate red one (clear LED when unlit). This faded away after a few weeks and I replaced it with a stock blue one (with extra inline resistor to try to cut it down). Still too bright.
Perhaps red is the new blue, and we can go full circle?
Some digital clocks adjust their display brightness to suite the ambient lighting. That can't be too expensive to implement.
My Caiman is now behind a door, but I must admit I didn't like those blue lights screaming at me.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-v...0/IMG_1683.JPG
My principle concern , however, is that the Bushmaster will not drive my power amp which starts with a volume pot.
I am grateful for Stan pointing that out, and look forward to developments.
Sky boxes also have the HDMI output active all the time.Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
This causes a problem with many automatic HDMI switches.
Quality HDMI switch brands such as Octava get around this by suggesting to connect the always on device to input 1.
The device is programmed so that if input 1 is active to keep scanning the other inputs for a signal.
If signal found on input '3' etc, automatically switch to that and when it drops off then go back to next active input taking into account that input 1 will always be active if it is a sky box.
Hope that helps.
Most people on here will have forgotten more about audio electronics that I ever knew, indeed my technical prowess could be detailed on the back of a postage stamp, a small one - what about the volume pot shunt mod which is often mentioned on forums as a way to take the volume pot out of the signal path.Quote:
Originally Posted by Labarum
That's not entirely correct.Quote:
Originally Posted by Labarum
The Bushmaster is not suitable for use with a volume control that consists of just a set of parallel connected resistors. Those are in the main passive preamps. They are in the main not consistent in their input impedance due to the nature of their design. The Bushmaster has a minimum input impedance requirement of 1K, which some passive preamps seem to ignore at their lowest volume settings.
It so happens that I am the guy who invented the auto scart switch, and then the auto optical and auto HDMI switch, but never made anything from it. Many people have copied the basic operation of my invention over the last 18 odd years, but not really improved on it. The Bushmaster will have some new tricks up its sleeves in the LED and auto search department :eyebrows:.
I'm not a big fan of the bright led's on the caiman,i cover them with insulation tape :D
I like what glen croft has done on his amps,having a gentle led that is recessed back from the fascia.I don't know if you could do something like that? It would get my vote!
Just run the LEDs on very low current - saves power, looks better, increases life.
Agree!Quote:
Originally Posted by Val33
When I build hifi devices for myself I avoid any lights and use simple on/off switch which looks cool and retro, inmho.
Also it does not take any precious electricity which is needed for sound :)