Beresford Bushmaster DAC Reviews

[NRG]

Just get a standard 75 Ohm cable but don't use a 1m length use 1.5m

If you want to go a bit exotic buy some of the Audio/Visual stuff from Maplin or speak to Mike who can if asked nicely sell you some of his...

[edmondwolfman]

Received the unit. Excellent package, excellent built quality. The headphone section has way more juice than the gator unit. It is too powerful for sensitive IEM. I still prefer the gator for my sensitive IEM but the k702 sounds excellent from the headphone section.

Too soon for me to comment on the DAC section, but right out of the box is sounds as good as the caiman.


Update:The vocal is too forward on the Bushmaster. While it has more gain which seem to benifit the k70x I out of the box i prefer the balance of the gator board of the caiman over the BM for ER-4S. I hope things change.

Mine was just the opposite. I had DACMagic and BM both running at the same time so I could just change from AUX1 to AUX2 immediately and the vocals seemed recessed as compared to the DM. Over the last 5 days things have changed for the better. When I switch back and forth the BM no longer seems subdued but very detailed without being forward or bright More to come.

[audionewbi]

Mine was just the opposite. I had DACMagic and BM both running at the same time so I could just change from AUX1 to AUX2 immediately and the vocals seemed recessed as compared to the DM. Over the last 5 days things have changed for the better. When I switch back and forth the BM no longer seems subdued but very detailed without being forward or bright More to come.

I am using this merely as a bedside dac/amp, I am not using any speaker setup.

Have you tried the headphone out yet? Anyways the unit is burning in, I will try it in few days time. But I am sure what I described before is me not been use to the sound signature of the unit. I am sure once I get used to this I wouldnt notice what I have noticed now.

To recap: I hear loud hissing noises from the headphone out of the BM when I pair it up with my sensitive IEM (XBA-4). There is hiss.

At low volume there is imbalance, but that is not an issue for me as I dont listen to such low volume. it would have been an issue only if this unit was usable with sensitive IEM, but due to the hiss I dont think I will ever care about the imbalance at such low volume.

I dont know if the hiss is normal or not but it is present in my unit out of the headphone out.

[Richardl]

I might try one of these, if they ever come back in stock

I was wondering how everyone used theirs, straight into a power amp using the variable output, or to an integrated amp?. I know the information's on this thread, but there's 84 pages of posts.

[MartinT]

Just get a standard 75 Ohm cable but don't use a 1m length use 1.5m

Interesting, Neal. I presume that 1m lengths give bad reflections at that impedance? Is there a shorter length than 1m that works?

[edmondwolfman]

I might try one of these, if they ever come back in stock

I was wondering how everyone used theirs, straight into a power amp using the variable output, or to an integrated amp?. I know the information's on this thread, but there's 84 pages of posts.

No preamp feature so you will need to feed into a preamp or integrated amp. The volume knob is for headphone only.

[StanleyB]

To recap: I hear loud hissing noises from the headphone out of the BM when I pair it up with my sensitive IEM (XBA-4). There is hiss.

Do you hear the hiss when the music is playing and/or when there is no music playing but with the volume control turned to max?

[Gie663]

My first impression after unpacking hasn't changed much : you could tell immediately that the soundstage has widened considerably : the bass fundament is better focussed, mid register has stepped up a bit and the highs sound as silky natural as before (they already did on my Accuphase e-213 integrated amp). I listened to the Bushmaster mostly coax-connected with my Marantz 63mkII KI cd-player (14 years of age !)
It's not so easy to catch into words what exactly this Bushmaster achieves : the feeling of 'directness' is sometimes overwhelming : the recording space as such becomes almost palpably audible, most spectacular in classical recordings : the strings of La Stagione Frankfurt for example in the Telemann Wind Concertos vol, 4 (CPO) ring out beautifully and naturally (they even sound 3D on a stereo). The coloratura soprano of Danielle de Niese in her Handel cd (with Les Arts Florissants – Decca) is a triumph, both in artistic achievement, but also in recording quality : the Bushmaster gives this voice the space and ease to reach unknown regions of virtuosity, reproducing every note and breath – it gives you shivers down your spine.
Jazz recordings fare well too. The saxophone of Stan Getz (Getz/Gilberto – Verve) is 'greasy' and one tick more prominent and transparent.
Do I sound enthusiastic ? Sorry, I can't help it.
Since my old (and rather cheap) DVD-recorder (Philips DVDR 610) happens to have a digital coax output I connected it to the DAC too. And yet again the Bushmaster turned the low-fi Philips into a very decent cd-transport, the sound somewhat more laid back compared to the Marantz, but still surprisingly full and clear,
I 've only given the headphone output (with the Grado SR 80) one quick listening : brilliant sound, but maybe a bit too close for comfort ? I need to have a second opinion here.
So far I used one optical imput for the Sony Minidisk recorder, the sound evenso nice and clear, but less spectacular compared to straight cd-playing.

One oddity : at first I used a digital audio coax cable (1m) from Sunshinetronic.
Later on I changed this cable with one more 'everyday model' from Bandridge (also 1m) and the sound ameliorated slightly. Who can explain that ??? These interlinks only carry digital information, so normally there can't be any differences as to quality ?

http://www.sunshinetronic.de/epages/...%22/HomeCinema

http://blue.bandridge.nl/products/au...e/general.html

Greetz from Belgium !

[edmondwolfman]

^name added.

I am playing back some white, pink and brownian noise, will check things after 40 hours of burning in.

Just had a question in regard of playing back 24/192 files, can coaxial cable handle such files?

I am using squeezebox touch, dont know whether I would benefit more if I use the optical out instead of the coaxial out.

I too use a Touch and after carefully listening I found that optical connection to sound better than coax. I tried both and optical was just better...at least in my system.

[edmondwolfman]

To recap: I hear loud hissing noises from the headphone out of the BM when I pair it up with my sensitive IEM (XBA-4). There is hiss.

I dont know if the hiss is normal or not but it is present in my unit out of the headphone out.

I've only tried my heaphone briefly but there is no hiss at all.