Caiman passive output mod revealed

[leo]

As in dac with passive output? The only problem is it might not suit all set ups , it sounds great if your gear is suited though .

This mod is so easy to try , the beauty is if it doesn't suit its no problem to stick the active audioboard back in

[NRG]

Indeed, Stan was asking over on the linear thread (hope you don't mind me posting this Stan):

"Actually, on reflection, you make a very valid point. Here I am dreaming up all sorts of mods etc. for people to try on my DACs. But that might give the impression about the product. One only has to look at my competitors who do not have a long list of mods to recommend. So maybe I should halt thinking up any more mods for the rest of the year or even longer. I can ask a small company to advertise mods etc. instead. Worth me thinking about, since business is slow right now and other means of income need to be looked at."

Firstly please keep the mods and ideas coming and how about you commercialise these mods and role them into a new high end DAC with suitable case to go with it?

I know this probably goes against your 'ethos' so to speak but this is what SlimDevices did with the transporter, took a bunch of well understood mods and tweaks and rolled them into a high end product and added a few other touches. I'm sure people would buy it as the sound quality as far as I can tell is right up there, its just the packaging that IMHO puts people off and also why some quarters dismiss it off hand without even hearing it....just my 2p worth....

[leo]

You can adjust that by trying 10, 22, or 33uF.

Thanks Stan!

Do you still have the Benchmark dac? Hows the Caiman compare now ? I bet its quite a bit infront now isn't it ?

[leo]

At least Stan gets the feedback from current owners who are willing to try some of his mods and little tweaks , it gives him an idea what people like, don't like etc .

[Ali Tait]

As in dac with passive output? The only problem is it might not suit all set ups , it sounds great if your gear is suited though .

This mod is so easy to try , the beauty is if it doesn't suit its no problem to stick the active audioboard back in

Yes indeed,as Neal said,perhaps a higher-end dac in a nice case would sell well.

[StanleyB]

I'll have to borrow a few DACs again to compare .

A higher end DAC? I call that a midrange DAC . I am still working on such a beast, but progress is dead slow with many technical hurdles still to be overcome even after two years. The modest Caiman is turning out hard to surpass by even me.

[James G]

I'll have to borrow a few DACs again to compare .

A higher end DAC? I call that a midrange DAC . I am still working on such a beast, but progress is dead slow with many technical hurdles still to be overcome even after two years. The modest Caiman is turning out hard to surpass by even me.

If you build it, they will come.

[StanleyB]

Maybe in the next 12 to 18 months if the economy does not collapse again.

[MartinT]

The modest Caiman is turning out hard to surpass by even me.

A lot of that has got to be down to the brilliant Wolfson DAC, placed in a nice environment (Caiman) and fed a diet of lovely clean DC (mods). I can imagine that it's going to be difficult to beat. As it stands, it's only a smidge behind my Ayre player's sound and that is a £6k beast with Minimum Phase filters!

[Tripmaster]

Can you not just add a switch to enable the user to toggle between the passive mod and the standard Dac? Then it could suit all tastes