Beresford Bushmaster DAC Reviews

[worrasf]

Get to try a Sennheiser HD800 with the Bushmaster

Jeez Stan - good job my wife doesnt read these posts - yet more money on the line for HiFi kit various . The repairs to the Beyerdynamics will be (a very reasonable I think) £70 + VAT and P&P but I'll look out for a pair of HD800's at a reasonable price but looking at prices on The Bay at the moment I think I'll pay for a holiday in the sun instead

Steve

[StanleyB]

The Denon D7000 is also a very good choice and worth trying. A pity you are not close by to me otherwise you could come and try them all out. As for paying for them: ever considered moving into Harley Street ?

[slate]

... Once I manage to add a variable output on the BM I shall be able to retire my analogue preamp for good.

Still holding out for "that" to replace my Caiman+ in the big setup

[worrasf]

As for paying for them: ever considered moving into Harley Street ?

Clearly youv'e not seen my ex-wife's financial settlement ( I hope you havent anyway)


Steve

[magiccarpetride]

The Caiman relied on a receiver chip that has a old style jitter performance (i.e. not state of the art). The Bushmaster uses a crystal locked oscillator instead, which has also been kept away from any other nearby oscillation circuits. This is one of the reasons why the so "familiar" jitter harshness in digital music files isn't present in the Bushmaster. I expect other designers to copy that section of my design once they have figured out how it operates.

The effect of that newfangled crystal locked oscillator is quite startling, Stan. It completely changes everything, and offers, in a wholesale fashion, a brand new presentation. It really is forcing me now to set aside a lot of free time to go back and revisit and re-listen and re-discover my entire music library. Everything, and I truly mean everything I've listened to via Bushmaster so far sounds so incredibly different, that it's not even funny.

My wife (I promise, I'll drag her into this discussion only once) remarked early on how this new sound is "too nice", and how she didn't like it. And indeed, compared to Caiman, back-to-back, Bushmaster tends to sound way too polite.

However, the moment we put on Amy Winehouse, my wife lightened up and said how now this sounds way superior to the old configuration. So it seems almost material-dependent.

[magiccarpetride]

I've not noticed any burn in, it sounds as good now as it did when I got it. One thing I've found puzzling is that recorded vinyl played back via the same system sounds a little 'enhanced'...I cant put it into words yet but theres something different between playing the LP live and playing the recorded version.

Listening to my modified Caimen in isolation is very good, its not until the BM is switched in do you hear the slight hardness and slightly lean presentation. Its very good, battery pack on the way so hoping for a further improvement.

Well, after 12+ hours of burn-in on the Bushmaster, I may be inclined to agree with you. Unlike with the Caiman, where in my case the burn-in delivered instantly audible change, here I'm not detecting much of a change. Perhaps I should leave it on for another two-three days and then compare?

I am still very baffled and confused that the Bushmaster would change the presentation in such a drastic fashion. For example, listening to Thomas Dolby's "I Scare Myself" (from his 1983 "Flat Earth"), I'm shocked to hear how the trumpet in the right speaker is now completely muffled and pushed into the background, and has lost much, if not all of its previous sparkle (it's almost as if it got castrated). Yes, it is much more polite and pleasant now, but I always felt that that rough edge and sparkle on that trumpet added much of an edge, in a good way, to that production. Can someone/anyone confirm that that's indeed how this (in)famous trumped should sound? (I tend to believe that a lot of people should be familiar with this amazing hit song?)

Thanks, and cheers!

[DaveK]

When are these BM customers gonna shut up, realise that they've struck gold and just listen to the music? . I am doing my darnedest to resist the temptation and every time I look at this thread another brick falls out of the wall.
ATM I've got one on my list for Santa but the question is whether I can hold out that long. Anything likely to happen before Christmas, design wise or performance wise, Stan?
Dave.

NB: Rhetorical question and not really expecting an answer .

[magiccarpetride]

When are these BM customers gonna shut up, realise that they've struck gold and just listen to the music? . I am doing my darnedest to resist the temptation and every time I look at this thread another brick falls out of the wall.
ATM I've got one on my list for Santa but the question is whether I can hold out that long. Anything likely to happen before Christmas, design wise or performance wise, Stan?
Dave.

NB: Rhetorical question and not really expecting an answer .

OK Pussyman, time to put up and spread wide (I mean, open up your wallet) and take the plunge. We're talking pocket change here (certainly cheaper than spending one night on town), and it's gonna change your life forever!

[StanleyB]

So it seems almost material-dependent.

Far from it. This sort of music decoding accuracy has up until now only been possible with expensive and complicated design configurations. But in the midrange price bracket designers have been happy to move the technology further in very small steps so that they can extend the length of their employment within the companies that they work for. I don't have that kind of baggage to carry around. For me it is about the music and I can interact directly with my customers and know right away what works well and what doesn't.

[StanleyB]

For example, listening to Thomas Dolby's "I Scare Myself" (from his 1983 "Flat Earth"), I'm shocked to hear how the trumpet in the right speaker is now completely muffled and pushed into the background, and has lost much, if not all of its previous sparkle (it's almost as if it got castrated). !

Maybe the trumpeter was using a trumpet mute? May be the Bushmaster is letting you hear that clearly now.