Caiman passive output mod revealed

[goody]

Could you maybe try a different set of interconnects with different shielding? Perhaps RFI is getting in and causing noise? There should be no sampling noise from the DAC when in mute mode, i.e. no disc is playing.

Hi Martin, I tried with a different set of interconnects and the noise is gone. It's quiet now.

Thank you all for helping. I am glad I can continue enjoying the passive mod.

[MartinT]

Excellent, glad you're sorted.

[Puffin]

I have tried many different caps on the passive mod :-
Black Gates 10uf
Polypropylene (Clarity Caps 1uf) (ICW 2.2uf, 3.3uf 4.7uf)
Ampohm 2.2 (monster depth charge stylee - about £20 each retail)
Nichicon Muse 47uf
Elna Silmic 2.2uf, 10uf,

Today I found the best cap for my system by a loooooong way.
Price 21p each......Jamicon 2.2uf 16v. A pathetic looking excuse for a capacitor. Looks like a Rabbit dropping. And they say you can't polish a turd.
Crazy thing this audio lark!

[Tripmaster]

I have tried many different caps on the passive mod :-
Black Gates 10uf
Polypropylene (Clarity Caps 1uf) (ICW 2.2uf, 3.3uf 4.7uf)
Ampohm 2.2 (monster depth charge stylee - about £20 each retail)
Nichicon Muse 47uf
Elna Silmic 2.2uf, 10uf,

Today I found the best cap for my system by a loooooong way.
Price 21p each......Jamicon 2.2uf 16v. A pathetic looking excuse for a capacitor. Looks like a Rabbit dropping. And they say you can't polish a turd.
Crazy thing this audio lark!

How much! I'm not made of money (slugs and snails and little puppies dogs tails)

[robyonekenoby]

Today I found the best cap for my system by a loooooong way.
Price 21p each......Jamicon 2.2uf 16v. A pathetic looking excuse for a capacitor. Looks like a Rabbit dropping. And they say you can't polish a turd.
Crazy thing this audio lark!

Very interesting...

I'm now convinced that those Audyn cap plus 6.8uF are not the best for my system, amazing details for classical, but bass, while fast and well controlled, still lack of depth, for jazz and blues I feel an overall lack of energy and warmth

also they tend to the bright side, in the end quite fatiguing listening after a while

I'm wondering if going for a bigger film & foil, like Obbligato (10-22uF) or some 'lytics

Stan stated he had best results between 22u and 47u, but I can't accept the idea of a 'lytic in the signal path

maybe that beloved reverberating bass is just a kind of distortion introduced by electrolytic caps......

I'm curious to read more comparison between passive mods and gator, could be my next move after Christmas holidays

[goody]

Hi, I wonder whether there will be any significant improvement by upgrading the clock of the digital circuit of dac? Is it feasible to do this? Has any of us tried before? Please advise.

[Reid Malenfant]

I don't see why a more accurate clock couldn't be fitted, there are enough of them out there after all The only problem might be the power supply as the Caiman appears to only run off of a single rail DC supply & i'm not sure about aftermarket clocks I'd have thought 5V DC would be the order of the day though.

____________________________
Just bought a Caiman + today so i'll see what all the fuss is about when it gets here It'll be interesting to see how it compares to my Monarchy Audio dual 20 bit DAC when running as standard & when subtly modified One or the other will find it consigned to duty of the arse end of a Theta Data Basic transport, it'll be nice to get that spinning again.

Someone will be getting some feedback in the private exhibitions section shortly

[DSJR]

Caiman 2 beckons I reckon... Bigger, wider case, option to split and isolate the supplies and plenty of room for upgrading later. Could this be done economically Stan?

[StanleyB]

Well I am still staring at the final drawing, with various components from different suppliers under reliability test, or waiting to be tested. Only after that is completed can I begin with the first production PCB layout and see what is possible. So realistically speaking, we are still ages away from a beta sample, let alone production.

I am not going to increase the case size by more than a millimeter here or there. Empty space still cost money to create. I am mainly doing a Caiman upgrade, so I don't want to burden the final price with senseless add ons that would shock my customers with a sudden price jump. Everything has to fit inside £300, and that includes delivery.

That reminds me that I also want to upgrade the TC-7510. I used to be accused of upgrading that every week, so the last upgrade was in 2008. Enough time to allow for the next upgrade I reckon .

[Gazjam]

Too early for details Stan, but good luck with it.