Beresford Bushmaster - REGA DAC compared
So my Bushmaster arrived yesterday - I left it running for about 20 hours fed from my Wadia 170i on repeat to get things burned in a tad before doing any listening.
I just used a single digital source namely Cyrus CD XT SE2/Cyrus PSxR connected with Mark Grant G1000HD digital coax and Mark Grant HD1000HD phono leads into the Croft. Comparison was with my REGA DAC - this involved physically swapping the above cables rather than "switching" between the 2 units.
First listening was with Antonio Forcione's "Acoustic Revenge" and Otis Taylor "Recapturing the Banjo". Straight off the BM sounded stunning - indeed it sounded very similar to the REGA in it's sonic characteristics (tone, PRaT). Perhaps a little less bass weight and a tad "leaner" (maybe the REGA was a bit flabby in the low mid-range?). I was detecting perhaps a little more subtle detail. What was different was that the stereo imagery was more focussed. I was getting more acoustic clues about where various instruments/musicians were placed/standing both from to back and top to bottom. The cymbals on the Otis Taylor track 10 million slaves were most definitely above and to the right and the drum kit was behind the banjo players - this was not evident with the REGA.
There was perhaps a little less "bite" to plucked strings on both albums with the BM but conversely the BM conveyed more detail about the decay of notes - you could hear a few times where Forcione is fading the notes on the fret work to get some decay/delay - this is not obvious with the REGA.
So straight out the box and after a little warm up the BM more than holds it's own against the REGA and it is doing some things I like more than the REGA (like the imaging and stereo projection) while the overall "tone" of the presentation is very similar - it's all the things I like in the REGA - musical in a vinyl replay sort of way.
Then I connected in the SBooster - Switch Mode Upgrade I'd purchased from Mark Grant into the DC input and the SQ instantly went up another notch or 2! The midrange just got cleaned up - any hint of "smear" at the start and end of notes had gone. It was like a blast of fresh air - music just seemed to ebb and flow effortlessly. Imagery was even better and things just sounded more "real" and it wasn't half bad before. All further listing was/is with the SBooster in circuit.
Einaudi tends to use a lot of sustain in his pieces that is oft to run into "overhang" both in the bass notes but more irritatingly with the higher frequencies through the system in comparison to the live playing - the REGA displayed this and could sometimes sound harsh/hard or muddy with lots of low notes. The BM is much cleaner and doesn't do this anywhere near as much. On Eden Roc the style of playing with "stroking" or "hitting" the keys is much better conveyed with the BM and so there is more emotion and pathos as appropriate. From memory the tone of his piano is more faithfully reproduced with the BM - the REGA tended to make it sound a bit more resonant than I remember.
Quick food break and back to the BM - rest of the system has been up and running for about 5 hours now so good and warm. Time for a different genre.
On the Nils Petter Molvaer album Khemer - track 4 has a phenomenal over breathed trumpet solo which just makes the neck hairs tingle - I love this track on the REGA. It's just as "good" on the BM but there is if anything more atmosphere - the breathy quality is just sublime - more like being in the jazz club next to the stage than in the cheap seats.
Female vocals - one of my favourite listening pleasures (Thea Gilmore, Marianne Faithfull, Eliza Carthy) I think can be particularly difficult to "get right" so that the emotion and expression of the voice is conveyed - another reason I like the REGA - well the BM does it to, no better and no worse, to my ears I can't hear the difference which is fine by me.
Finally, for now, totally different hard punchy rock. On Springsteen's "Wrecking Ball" the first track as well as having hard driving drums also has some delicate shaken tambourine in the backing - these are much better defined with the BM than the REGA, again the overall tone and character is similar but the BM seems to extract a bit more detail and doesn't "bleed notes" as much in complex mixes.
So, after just a few short hours I can say I am totally impressed with the BM. It sounds every bit as "good" as my favourite REGA DAC with the same tone and underlying character but has better grip and control of the music with more precise timing and imagery. I think the addition of the SBooster at only £29 delivers a very cost-effective enhancement in SQ. Bodes well for linear PSU's in the future I guess. I have a 12V DC battery pack on order so it will be interesting to see how that fares.
I promised a report on my thoughts in comparison to the REGA DAC and these are they. I suspect that with little more than than 24 hours of "up-time" the BM is likely to improve still further.
Steve
