Beresford Bushmaster DAC Reviews

[DaveK]

Ummm ... not you, Dave!
I have an upgraded MF-XCANS, and now I have the Bushmaster which handily runs rings around it!

So, you don't trust my ears, then, Dave?

... Jerry sobs, and leaves the room disconsolate and heartbroken



.... Ummm, I'm not sure I'm prepared to take it quite that far, Stan!

Jerry, I'm (almost) completely lost for words and that doesn't happen too often . The 'Jerry' I was referring to, and I think so was Stanley, was the northern on from Lancashire (nearly as good as Yorkshire), not the soft southern one from deep in the Gloucester backwoods .
Dave.

[jandl100]

Ah right - saw that just in time, Dave.

Can now wipe the tears from my eyes and remove the noose from around my neck ....

[StanleyB]

First I want to thank Stan for the incredible fast delivery. The Bushmaster was shipped on Monday and arrived this morning in Berlin.

The speed of my delivery service was discussed only yesterday or the day before .

But, as an Information Sytems student, one thing puzzled me: The PSU has "Exclusive for Beresford.me" printed on it, but it seems like an "ordinary" Unifive PSU. I don't want to make a spiteful remark - I was just wondering what is "Exclusive" on this PSU?

The power supply was discussed at length in another topic some time ago. If you do a search you should be able to dig up the relevant thread, and the history behind it. It looks ordinary, but it is not . If you look up the data on the UniFive website you'll get a lot more info on it.

Another question, which I dont expect to be answered: What DAC Chip is driving the Bushmaster? (A PCM1794?)

From recollection the PCM1794 is a current DAC that needs an I to V converter before it can produce a voltage. That rules it out for use as a passive DAC chip. The number of the IC that I use is printed on the chip package so it is not a secret to find out.

As already said, I am fully happy with my purchase, even if I have listened only for 2 hours today, it is a big step forward for my setup. I listened to the Rega DAC and DacMagic before and I think this is the best value-for-money product I bought in the last 5 years in terms of HiFi.

Thanks for confirming what many others have also been reporting as well on AoS. It's good to have multiple sources as reference to any claims made with respect to the Bushmaster versus other more expensive DACs.

[DaveK]

Ah Jerry, that's good, we're all back on the same hymn sheet again .
I have the utmost respect for your ears but you did slightly disappoint me when you did not enthuse as much as me about the HA10 review in HiFi Pig. That's not to say I disagree with you in any way - I suspect (know ) that your ears are used to hearing far more sophisticated bits of hi-fi than are mine and you were naturally comparing the HA10 with other kit you've heard. So just because they were as good as anything I'd heard before, the same could not be said by you - simples .
Anyway, I expect to succumb to BM temptation sooner or later so God help you if it doesn't live up to your findings
Dave.

[James_Woods]

From recollection the PCM1794 is a current DAC that needs an I to V converter before it can produce a voltage. That rules it out for use as a passive DAC chip. The number of the IC that I use is printed on the chip package so it is not a secret to find out.

Maybe I sound a little bit stupid, but which package? The metal case is "warranty-void-protected" and there was nothing printed on the black package, as far as I know.

I will lookup the PSU-Thread, thank you for the quick answer!

[sondale]

Stan,

Thanks to the talk about various headphones I suddenly remembered that I have a pair of tatty (spongeless) Jecklin Floats - plugged them in - phew was that good! Best they have ever sounded - they always were a bit bass-light - they still are - but what a mid-range/top end. Not only that but the opening to 'The Goodbye Look' on 'The Nightfly' by Donald Fagen was a revelation - I have never heard the various instruments in the opening bars presented so clearly.

I had bought a repair kit ages ago but never bothered to glue the pieces together - a job now scheduled for tomorrow.

I might get out my WhiteNoiseAudio headphone amp and do a comparison using the Jecklins.

[myles]

Wow, putting my cash away for one of these, seems like THE upgrade to have at this pricepoint.

[NRG]

Maybe I sound a little bit stupid, but which package? The metal case is "warranty-void-protected" and there was nothing printed on the black package, as far as I know.

I will lookup the PSU-Thread, thank you for the quick answer!

Why the interest? If it sounds better it is...a bit of a google shows that the ES9023 is functional with out IV there are others

[Martinh]

Hey Martin, you may be the person I'm waiting to hear from.

I too have a DACMagic and while I like it I've never been completely satisfied and was wondering if replacing the DACMagic with another DAC might be what I'm looking for.

Would you describe the differences you are hearing between the Bushmaster and the DACMagic?

Hi Bobby,

Yes, it's a better DAC than the Dacmagic IMHO - the dacmagic is good, but the BM is better.

I didnt notice a huge difference through my budget Marantz amp, however when I put my new exposure 2010s2 in, the differences became all to obvious. Much, much better bass, a much wider soundstage and better separation.

Both the exposure amp and BM are still running in, but the sound is lovely - silky smooth with no coarseness. Its maybe a little bit more laid back than the dacmagic, but not much.

So, I guess it all depends upon the rest of your system.

What have you got and what's wrong with the sound?

Cheers,

[loonytunes]

Stan - you are proving that keeping things pure and omitting electrical components in the path with no oversampling is strongly benefitting sound quality.

May I suggest keeping the same ethos in mind when designing your DAC with preamp - perhaps keeping the preamp in the digital domain bit-perfect. Or if you want to stick with analogue - the simplist one with least parts seems to be one of those Light Dependant Resistors as depicted here http://diyaudioprojects.com/Solid/DI...ve-Attenuator/.

Anyway, just some thoughts.