Beresford Bushmaster DAC Reviews

[alan47]

It amazes me that we ever agree on anything ,we all listen in different rooms to different gear,with different wifes and different carpets.Must do us all good to hear someone elses kit from time to time.If i didn't live in englandshire i would love to hear Ali's gear.

[Gazjam]

My carpet's better than your carpet....

[magiccarpetride]

My carpet's better than your carpet....

Excuse me, I'm not wearing a rug.

[Gazjam]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1lJFlB-89Q

[StanleyB]

People hear differently, different systems, different tastes etc.

Absolutely.

Not to damn it with faint praise, but the BM is a very good dac for the money, its a crackin buy.
It was only in direct comparison to the others that (to us three) the differences came out.
Remember the other Dacs are more expensive, Ali's Dac being many hundreds of pounds more!!

I wouldn't use price as a guide to why someone prefers something. But I can see why it could subconsciously be taken into consideration.
The BM is different, but not necessarily better suited for everyone. As Anthony D and others have already pointed out before, manufacturers can flavour their DAC to taste through the use of caps, opamps, etc after the DAC output. Or, as in the case of the Rega etc., through additional use of digital filters. The BM on the other hand offers a completely unmodified signal to the amp or preamp that it is connected to. It has a passive output after all. The BM wasn't designed to be the best sounding DAC. It was designed to sound more neutral and accurate with a more accurate frequency response and signal separation. These might not be attributes that are necessarily to the taste of everyone, but at least there is now the possibility to buy a DAC with that kind of performance.

[Gazjam]

Absolutely.



I wouldn't use price as a guide to why someone prefers something. But I can see why it could subconsciously be taken into consideration.
The BM is different, but not necessarily better suited for everyone. As Anthony D and others have already pointed out before, manufacturers can flavour their DAC to taste through the use of caps, opamps, etc after the DAC output. Or, as in the case of the Rega etc., through additional use of digital filters. The BM on the other hand offers a completely unmodified signal to the amp or preamp that it is connected to. It has a passive output after all. The BM wasn't designed to be the best sounding DAC. It was designed to sound more neutral and accurate with a more accurate frequency response and signal separation. These might not be attributes that are necessarily to the taste of everyone, but at least there is now the possibility to buy a DAC with that kind of performance.

Hi Stan,
We didn't take cost into account when we were listening.
I mentioned cost just to try to put things into perspective for folk reading.

With the Rega I think the filters were present on the Dac chip already, they just put a button on the front to change them if desired.

Can highly recommend getting out and about and hearing other kit, it'll open your eyes (and unfortunately your wallet!)

[NRG]

I find the lean comments about the BM at odds with my listening, I had to double check after Ali's report and put the Caimen and my own AK DAC back into the system. The AK is not as good as the Caimen and the Caimen in turn is not as competent as the BM so I'm puzzled.

I can only think theres system synergy at play, I feed all line level inputs into an active Valve buffer stage which adds voltage and current drive, I'm wondering if the input into whatever the Pre was at the meet needs current drive to work at its best.

[StanleyB]

Can recommend getting out and about and hearing other kit, it'll open your eyes (well, ears)

I consider that a very condescending statement Gaz. I do listen to other kits, but at the same time I let others listen to products that I am working on and get an added perspective on the looks, feel, and the way it sounds.
Your suggestion implies otherwise, which is not what I expected from you. It demonstrates a preconceived idea on your part which I hope is only limited to this instance and not to people in general who do not see things in the same light. I would be worried if this is a particular character trait that you exhibit in general.

I have offered my comments with regard to the difference between my design and other ones available on the market. I don't generally offer my opinion on reviews and how i feel about the conclusions drawn up afterwards. Nor do I defend the implementation of my design against the way other manufacturers have implemented theirs. It's for the buying public to decide what kind of listening experience they are after. All I can do is to highlight how my design is put together and what solutions customers can expect to find when following my route. I am not trying to copy the signature from anyone, or trying to artificially create a signature in the first place. The BM is not about creating a signature, but about offering an unadulterated reproduction of the analogue output from the D to A processor used in the design.

[leo]

Keeping the output stage of a dac simple is a good idea imo, the end user can add his/her own flavourings down stream if they think its required .Lots of choices like valve buffers etc can have quite a big influence on the end result.

[Ali Tait]

I find the lean comments about the BM at odds with my listening, I had to double check after Ali's report and put the Caimen and my own AK DAC back into the system. The AK is not as good as the Caimen and the Caimen in turn is not as competent as the BM so I'm puzzled.

I can only think theres system synergy at play, I feed all line level inputs into an active Valve buffer stage which adds voltage and current drive, I'm wondering if the input into whatever the Pre was at the meet needs current drive to work at its best.

Aye, that crossed my mind too Neal. There was no pre used for the comparisons, just straight into the Rega amp.