Location: Wiltshire
Posts: 194
I'm Alastair.
Cheers
Alastair
RPI4/PI2AES running PiCorePlayer/LMS-> AQ Carbon AES -> Topping D90 DAC-> Khozomo Passive Pre-Amp -> 4x Temple Audio Monoblocks powered by 2xLiFePO batteries->Van Damme Black Bi-Wired to B&W 804 Nautilus and Sommer Carbokab 225 Interconnects
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 105
I'm Craig.
Just put in my order for the new dorado to go with my caiman Seg can't wait...
Location: Glasgow, UK
Posts: 2,076
I'm Tony.
Location: Chelmsford, Essex
Posts: 433
I'm Gareth.
It’s well worth it guys, how Stan does it for the small price he charges is beyond me.
Location: Bristol
Posts: 3
A great upgrade. All Caiman Seg should consider upgrading.
Location: Troon
Posts: 2,476
I'm tony.
should get mine in the next couple of days...will see if it plays nice with a innous zen mini mk2.
Stan suggested i try the zen on battery power...he wasn't wrong-another incremental gain across the board!
Location: Royston Vasey
Posts: 217
I'm AndrewR.
It has been a bit of a busy weekend, but I managed to get some time to further listen to the SEG-30 and Dorado upgrades to my Caiman MkII DAC.
A bit of background. I run both a Caiman MkII and a kit version of the Audio Note DAC2.1. Both have different presentations on offer, the Caiman has more resolution and precision and the Audio Note has more tone and ambience. Having said that, for a solid state DAC, the Caiman MkII from stock (Rev 1.3 and no upgrades) has a great deal of tonality and body, to a point where it is within reach of me no longer justifying the Audio Note, and I can look towards downsizing to just one DAC.
Recently I have changed from Volumio on the Raspberry Pi to Volumio through an Asus Tinker Box - similar to the Raspberry Pi, but with a improved sound, particularly as the built in regulators are better and its USB does not share the same bus as the Ethernet. The Tinker Box is not without its technical difficulties, including an incompatibility with my Musical Fidelity USB-to-Coax converter, so I am not yet able to compare directly the Caiman MkII updates with the Audio Note.
The rest of the system is a self designed and built pair of 300B SET amplifiers with interstage transformers (no decoupling capacitors in the signal path) - the design has been carefully optimised and I would equate its performance to being world-class. Highly transparent, involving, yet with great bass, tone and body. The loudspeakers are a pair of Q Acoustics 3050 floor standers - brilliant value for money, doing all the stuff you would expect at way above their price range.
The first upgrade to the Caiman MkII was the SEG-30, which was fairly easy to do. My advice is to add a small bit of masking tape over the pozidriver bit, in order to reduce any scratching when undoing the screws - to keep the nice look of the DAC. Some gentle coaxing of the top revealed the gorgeous interior of the Caiman MkII.
IMG_1840.jpg
My advice is to follow the instructions in the firmware area on the Beresford website, but this photo should help to give you a good idea of where the firmware chip is behind the blue LEDs. A few alternating coaxes of the chip at either end of its DIL socket, with a small flat bladed screw driver, will easily allow you to take out the chip.
I also took the photo to make sure that the replacement chip is aligned in the same direction as the old one. That and placing the chip on the table in the same alignment helps. The whole process is not difficult, and you will see below that the minimal effort translates into an inordinately huge upgrade.
Yes, the upgrade is HUGE. I would go as far as to say that the upgrade on the Caiman MkII is the most significant ever. What it does is it keeps the same tonal performance of the Caiman MkII (which I preferred over the Caiman SEG), and greatly improves the timing and tunefulness of the music. This is a MASSIVE musical upgrade to the DAC. This is mainly due to two things - 1. it improves the detail and edges of the sound, without introducing any distortion, and 2. it improves the coherence of the sound. That coherence adds delicacy and a sense of correct placement to the harmonics and start/stop of musical notes, while also improving on the intelligibility of different instruments. Sound stage also increases, with better resolving of instruments at the far left and right (without creating any hole in the middle of the stage).
My first choice of music was deliberate. Brendon Benson's Metarie is a very tuneful song that delicately begins with guitars and male and female voices, with further instruments building up the mix and drama along the way. It is also nicely recorded without being a super-audiophile recording that would distract from isolating the capability of the DAC upgrade. This first track was conclusive, and the effector the firmware upgrade will immediate for you (no warm-up required).
You know how a great system makes it difficult to play music and read at the same time, because the music takes over your concentration? Well this £8 further achieves that. This upgrade is a no-brainer - if you haven't done it, JUST DO IT.
The Dorado itself is a bit more difficult to evaluate and write about. Mainly because, and correct me if I am wrong, it seems to require some warming up and running in.
IMG_1834.jpg
I have had two listening sessions with the Dorado, one at five minutes after charging, and another at one day after charging. Between the two listening sessions the Dorado's impact seems to evolve.
The improvements, SO FAR, are quite different from the firmware. What it seems to do is work on the tonality and presence of the music. The bass has more power and texture, the treble is more rounded. The first listening, minutes after charge-up, and the treble seemed too reticent, after one day it has opened out a bit more and I suspect that after further charging it will open out further - already it gives a more turntable-like presentation to the sound. So far, the Dorado makes the Caiman MkII into a beefier sounding DAC, which is a good thing. From a timing perspective, the Chinese linear supply on its own with the SEG-30 update was astonishing; whereas adding the Dorado gives more tone, and still very good timing, the SEG-30 on its own had better timing and transparency. Overall the Dorado does make the Caiman MkII into a more expensive sounding DAC, and further running-in may yet further improve the timing and transparency.
My overall thoughts are that:
1. The SEG-30 update is absolutely essential, particularly in terms of increased musicality.
2. The Dorado puts a luxurious jacket on it.
3. 1 and 2 work nicely together.
Andrew
Andrew Randle
Location: Troon
Posts: 2,476
I'm tony.
great write up Andrew....thanks
Location: Bridgend
Posts: 142
I'm Simon.
Andrew, do you need a linear psu to power the dorado or can it be used instead of/as well as? I too have Caiman mk2 but currently just use the standard wall plug which it came with.
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 145
I'm Jerry.
Just ordered a Dorado to go with my Bushmaster II.
The SEG-30 will slot nicely into my modded SEG.
Almost two for the price of one!