Any Digital Impressions of the Caiman yet?

[StanleyB]

I'm using it purely to drive my Denon AHD-5000 headphones to play FLAC files from my laptop, and I have to say I'm extremely pleased with it.

Try some reggae and feel the Denon vibrate even when you can't hear any bass. The AHD-5000 goes down to 5Hz, and I managed to test the Caiman all the way down to 10Hz at 0dB.

Stan

[MartinT]

I collected my Caiman this morning (many thanks, Stan). I'm running it in the office just to put some hours on it before I connect it to the Hi-Fi system tonight. First impressions are very good: nicely finished unit, quality controls and sockets and seamless operation via the USB interface from my XP netbook. Sound quality through my Sony in-ear phones is very favourable with good soundstage, excellent detail and a very nice immersive feel.

I shall write more when I test it tonight.

[jandl100]

I've had my Caiman now for getting on for a week.

As I always find with Stan's DACs (Yes, I've had a few!) they sound awful when first plugged in. I'm used to this now and don't even try to listen for a few hours. But imo 5 or 6 hours takes you 90% of the way thru the break-in process.

I'd not disagree with any of the positive comments already posted, but would just add some additional comments of my own ....

1) it's Stan's best yet, and I say that as a long-standing Fanboy of his DACs.

2) I was happy with the 7520, but the Caiman really does go to another league with its sense of image solidity, naturally presented tonally-correct detail, and its relaxed, unhyped but awesomely wide dynamics.

Oh, and I prefer it with my Yamaha DVD player as a CD source rather than my usual Audio Synthesis CDT. The latter comes across as a bit lightweight in comparison, it always was a detail-oriented player and that seems to be taken a bit too far with the Caiman.

Nice one Stan.

[marscay]

Just received my Caiman this morning, thanks for the speedy service as usual Stan.

First impressions are hard for me because i am also integrating a new processor and amplifier which is vastly better than my predecessors and using sub optimal IC's until i put everything back into place but there's definitely more slam in the bass, not boomy but i can really feel it and it's nice. Just like the 7520 brought more energy and mid range versus the 7510 i feel this Caiman is doing the same to the 7520.

A little sibilance for me right now but that should settle a bit once burned in and i probably need another EQ change which also happened with the 7520/TH4032 combo.

[Labarum]

A question for a Mac user:

When using the Caiman, has anyone compared the USB and the Optical link?

[lovejoy]

A question for a Mac user:

When using the Caiman, has anyone compared the USB and the Optical link?

Yes indeed. USB is the choice for me for two reasons on a Mac:

1. I prefer the sound. There's not a lot in it, but I find it a bit more natural and airy.
2. I don't like the mini TOSLINK connector on the Mac. If you're using a good quality optical cable (like Stan's for instance) which requires an adaptor, the heavy cable puts quite a lot of strain on the socket, and as this socket is soldered directly to the motherboard, sooner or later it'll work loose and you'll need it repaired.

The drawback of course is that USB is no good for anything higher than 48KHz/24-bit. The only stuff I've downloaded at any higher quality than that is the B&W music club stuff, which, to say the least, is not to my taste.

[Labarum]

Thanks Rich.

And to advance the question.

Has anyone using a Windows PC with S/PDIF (coax or optical) made a comparison with the USB connection.

[Labarum]

The drawback of course is that USB is no good for anything higher than 48KHz/24-bit.

That is not true.

See this (very long) thread

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/co...04-mini-review

This box will go higher, and very cheaply.

The problem is, I believe, that many PC manufactures do not implement USB 2 properly.

[MartinT]

I've now installed the Caiman in my 'big rig', being used with Sky HD, D-Link DSM-520 media streamer and Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray player through to the Pass Labs preamp.

The Caiman is at the same time subtle and immediately obvious in its capabilities compared with my old Assemblage DAC3.0. Let me explain: it throws a wide and deep soundstage, entirely natural and populated with such fine detail as to make for a very realistic sound picture, drawing you in to the presentation. There is nothing obvious about the frequency extremes, except for the fact that media with real bass content starts to move air in an alarming manner. Watching hi-res content from Blu-ray, I begin to become aware of the sheer amount of micro-detail and micro-dynamics in the presentation. This is something I've only heard from SACD and DVD-A material. Again, it's subtle but beautifully presented, the last thing from in-your-face equipment.

Playing a music CD using the Blu-ray player as transport, the combination seriously kicks at the heels of my Ayre disc player, very high praise indeed.

The Caiman represents superb value for money. Forgetting the price and using a decent transport, it competes honourably with £5k of high end SACD player. Fabulous!

[lovejoy]

That is not true.

See this (very long) thread

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/co...04-mini-review

This box will go higher, and very cheaply.

The problem is, I believe, that many PC manufactures do not implement USB 2 properly.

Yes, this is interesting. Although I was referring to the Caiman which won't go any higher.