New Caiman mk2 chip on way!

[icehockeyboy]

As it says in the title, I have a new StanDac chip on the way and I can't wait!

If it brings the kind of improvement that everything else I've had from Stan previously, it will be astounding!


Did I mention I can't wait??? 😄😄😄😄😄😄

[Lee]

Stan kindly sent the chip with updated firmware to me a few days ago. So clear, musical, pure, emotional and present in the room! Very addictive sound. I don't know how Stan does it. Just when you think it can't get any better, he makes it so! Anyone with the Caiman mk2 should be thirsting for the new firmware. Anyone without the Caiman mk2 should buy one without hesitation, ASAP. I have two!

[sq225917]

What's the new bit, usb chip?

[NRG]

The new Holly Grail by the sound of it....

[StanleyB]

As I mentioned in the Bushmaster II firmware thread, the latest upgrade for the Caiman II was done in tandem with that of the Bushmaster II. The Bushmaster II only has one option unfortunately due to the lack of an extra button to give me more selection options.
The Caiman II doesn't have that limitation however, so I have managed to develop a method to switch between various data processing methods, which also works "on the fly". So you can get a near instant result by comparing the old and new firmware code. So no need to swap chips over to check for differences. I shall do a different thread on the actual workings of the new code.

[sq225917]

Do you mean different digital filters?

[StanleyB]

Do you mean different digital filters?

There is only one digital filter in my design, and that is built into the DAC chip with no selection option.

[wee tee cee]

I had a listen to the new firmware last night. Im sporting a head cold that defies any attempt to clear my ears consistently. I had a couple of hours on the cans to start with which proved interesting.

The most noticeable difference on red book flac was the level of separation of both instruments and vocals. I picked up on vocal effects on tracks I know really well that I hadn't been aware of before. Again some elements were stripped bare and revealed poor recordings for what they are.

Spotify premium also highlighted new levels of resolution and subtlety to recording that were not noticeable before. I found myself tweaking the settings on the Capella to dig out even more info.

On cans the level of detail in instrument placement /ability to follow individual instruments/vocals and backing vocals was quite overwhelming. I was restarting tracks over and over again just annoyed at how much I hadn't picked up on before.

Initial impressions are that the new firmware is enabling a wealth of detail and subtlety to be exposed which is very noticeable.Hopefully my cold will clear up and let me get my head round what Im hearing and post my impressions more accurately.

[sq225917]

I see from the other thread it offers the chance to select from two different clock recovery schemes. Under what circumstances is the XO driven clock that is synced to the DAC chip not the most accurate?

[StanleyB]

I have absolutely no idea Simon. The results appear to be different when applied to the Caiman and the Bushmaster. On the Caiman the results are audible even on mp3, whilst the Bushmaster is more comfortable with higher quality material. I am not fully clued up technically why I am getting these improvement on clock recovery, when compared to the XTAL. But I suspect that the input receiver is taking fixed data chunks that are not so dependent on the bit or sample rate of the audio data, whilst the clock recovery method is taking data based on the frequency rate of the audio data. It has also crossed my mind that in case of the XTAL the data sampling frequency is fixed by a division of the XTAL frequency, whilst in clock recovery mode the clock can follow the incoming data even if it drifts away from the sample rates standard. But the fact that the clock recovery method is highlighting musical details that I had never previously heard is a head scratcher for me. For that information to be missed or ignored when using an XTAL doesn't quite compute in my mind right now.