Bushmaster 1 & 2 and USB

[Darren Cotter]

Hi All

I have a Caiman with a Gator board and was thinking about getting a Bushmaster. Is there any converter that would allow a USB output for a norebook to work?

Regards

Darren

[StanleyB]

Or you can wait for the C2. It will have a 24/96 USB input and an Gator2 PCB. I am supposed to be testing two versions of the Gater2 PCB to find out which one is more musical, but I am up to my head with sorting out Bushmaster invoices and sales inquiries.

[Darren Cotter]

Hi Stanley

Thanks for the quick reply. Where can I find more information on the C2?

Regards

Darren

[StanleyB]

No info yet released. I am still busy perfecting some aspects of it.

[wee tee cee]

You could try a co-ax/spdif converter in the interim......berringger uc 202 will do optical conversion about £23 on amazon....optical lead whatever length you need.
I use a v-ink mk1 to great effect one of the Scottish members phoned me yesterday just got hold of his BM MK2 His chifi cheapo convertor wouldnt work he drove into Glasgow and bought a v-link mk2( all purchases hidden from his good lady.)

I was relieved that what he hears from his BM MK2 mirrors my ramblings. He runs a hot custom built server built by our very own Gazjam I run a poverty spec lap top with no fancy software.......we are both very happy music lovers.

[Covenant]

Will the Caiman 2 be inferior to the Bushmaster Stan? I think USB is much better than coaxial/optical (with EDO mod on the Squeezebox) and like the built in preamp function on my Caiman.

[StanleyB]

I am doing my best to get the Caiman2 to sound just as good or better. But the BM2 has been deliberately stripped of any extra components in the signal path to get rid of losses in the signal. That's the secret behind the performance to price ratio of the MKI and MKII.

The C2 USB output is limited to 96KHz so that no special drivers are needed to play 192KHz files. But it's the variable output that people would be interested in, which in turn works best with a discrete or opamp buffer stage. This adds extra components in the signal path, which means improving the circuitry even more by adding some more advanced components in the C2. It's a viscous circle as far as I can see.

I have done a lot of work with the Touch and made use of all the various output options that it offers. The SBT is not tainted with the async USB marketing issue, so it's a straight fight between USB, TOSLINK, and COAX. My money is on the SBT TOSLINK output fed into the 25MHz TOSLINK input of the BM2. That combination might not work equally good on any other DAC out there. I don't know. But I reckon that the 25MHz TOSLINK input on the BM2 gives a huge advantage over the 12MHz USB output from the SBT. The SPDIF signal to I2S signal async conversion process that is used in the BM2 makes the use of special async drivers redundant and also makes it possible to use async on TOSLINk and coax as well. So it is no longer limited to USB equipped DACs.

Also consider that there is no power line noise to worry about from the SBT with optical. To get the best from the SBT via coax and USB requires investing in an expensive linear power supply for the SBT. But if you use the optical output you don't need to worry about adding an expensive linear PSU to your SBT.

I am not really interested in making an issue of my use of existing electrical and electronic design techniques in different ways. A long list of marketing BS can cloud the judgement of the buyer. I am more interested in the clear and present audible night and day differences that customers can hear straight out of the box, even with a budget set of amp, headphones, or speakers.

[Krisbee]

A C2 with a 24/96 USB input and an Gator2 PCB that can be used as a pre-amp sounds very good to me. Excellent SQ is taken as a given, but the crucial question for me is will the USB receiver be Linux compatible? Some are, some aren't.

[StanleyB]

A C2 with a 24/96 USB input and an Gator2 PCB that can be used as a pre-amp sounds very good to me. Excellent SQ is taken as a given, but the crucial question for me is will the USB receiver be Linux compatible? Some are, some aren't.

I am hoping that you'll pass by again in due course with your Linux laptop and check it out for me .

[Krisbee]

Once your able to say which USB receiver chip is used, there's probably more than enough data out there to put a tick, or otherwise, against Linux.

I'd love to drop by Stan, but that wasn't me, and poor mobility would count me out.