Any Digital Impressions of the Caiman yet?

[Alex_UK]

The Caiman was out of stock for several weeks, and I have only been able to ship some off this week again after the delay. So now there is a new group of Caiman owners whose views would be most welcome in this thread.

Ah, sorry, so I read more into it than there was! 2+2 doesn't = 5...

<Move along, there's nothing to see here>

[Ali Tait]

If I may refer to earlier posts in this thread with regard to timing etc.I accept that any piece of hi-fi is indeed just a piece of electronic equipment,but I do think the particular design of said piece of equipment affects our perception of how it plays music.The reason for this post is the direct-coupled amplifier prototype I am fortunate enough to be in possession of at the moment,driving my electrostatic loudspeakers.I have to say, the sense of "speed" this amplifier imparts to the music played through it is staggering.The way it defines the leading edges of drum beats and cymbals just has to heard.I can't adequately describe it.It does however,make all the other amps I have sound slow and pedestrian by comparison.Now I'm not saying the amp itself has better PRAT or whatever you wish to call it,just that the design of the amp and the way it plays music is very different to any other amp I've ever heard.Make of that what you will.

[Labarum]

Ah, 'speed' certainly is a quality of both electronics and loudspeakers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amplifier

Electrostatic speakers are among the fastest, but horns also can be fast

http://www.audiocircuit.com/index.ph..._Quo-O-A01.htm

Horns are not in vogue at the moment and are expensive to make.

Closed boxes and reflex enclosures are slow in comparison.

[NRG]

The Caiman was out of stock for several weeks, and I have only been able to ship some off this week again after the delay. So now there is a new group of Caiman owners whose views would be most welcome in this thread.

Stan

Still running in Stan but impressions are of a very clean presentation without any hardness or upper mid sharpness. The top end is particularly open and detailed but with no razor sharp edges to be heard, its very easy to listen to and a noticable step up from the 7510 even with the various mods. The Bass quality is very good as well and in balance with the mid and top...I'll compare in depth later this week with my other DAC's...

[CanDAC]

Hi,

Even though I live in Canada (not the usual market), Stan was nice enough to send me a Caiman, which I looked forward to listening with great anticipation, given all the buzz in this forum. I've owned a Benchmark DAC-1 and was more than a little curious to see how the Caiman would perform against it at about a quarter of the cost.

It was no contest. The Caiman sounded as good or better than the DAC-1 right out of the box, and seemed to be decently broken in after only several hours of playing. The vocals are more natural, the soundstage bigger, all with greater detail. As a result, the Benchmark is up for sale. I am waiting with great anticipation for the upgraded PS Stan has mentioned.

There has only been one glitch-whenever I put a new CD in my transport, there is no sound for about a second or less after it has started playing the disc, so it is disconcerting to realize that I’m missing that first little bit of music. Has anyone else reported this sort of problem-on the Caiman or 7510/20? It’s a minor annoyance, given how good the Caiman is at everything else, and any info on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

Bill

[Alex_UK]

There has only been one glitch-whenever I put a new CD in my transport, there is no sound for about a second or less after it has started playing the disc, so it is disconcerting to realize that I’m missing that first little bit of music. Has anyone else reported this sort of problem-on the Caiman or 7510/20? It’s a minor annoyance...

Hi Bill - I too have noticed this on my Caiman - I assumed it was a "feature" of the DAC, in that as far as I can tell it "goes to sleep" when it is not receiving a signal and "wakes up" when it gets one (apologies everyone for my use of technical jargon! ) Sure Stan can confirm or deny - but mine is defintely doing the same - I've got used to pressing play, then immediately pressing the back button once the sound comes on which obviously counters the problem.

[CanDAC]

When you start a CD, the Caiman internal clock locks on to the CD player clock in order to give a jitter free reproduction as possible. However, this locking process relies on reclocking and that has a certain amount of delay, which can vary with the transport that is feeding the DAC. That's why you get that fraction of a delay. If you skipped to track #2 and then back to track #1 you'll notice that initial loss of sound is not there anymore. It's only from start up of the CD.

If we come up with an ingenious in-house solution, I shall offer you a free correction as long as you help out with the postage :-) .

Regards,

STan

[Stratmangler]

Does this silence problem afflict all Caiman DACs ? I don't have any such issues with my 7510.

Chris

[Ali Tait]

Well the silence does seem to be deafening since it appears Stan may have shot himself in the foot,seemingly posting as a newbie and answering himself! Or is it a fault with the board?

[Labarum]

I looked at those posts and decided that CanDac copied to the forum something that Stan sent to him privately.

If Candac had known the board software better he would have posted:

When you start a CD, the Caiman internal clock locks on to the CD player clock in order to give a jitter free reproduction as possible. However, this locking process relies on reclocking and that has a certain amount of delay, which can vary with the transport that is feeding the DAC. That's why you get that fraction of a delay. If you skipped to track #2 and then back to track #1 you'll notice that initial loss of sound is not there anymore. It's only from start up of the CD.

If we come up with an ingenious in-house solution, I shall offer you a free correction as long as you help out with the postage :-) .

Regards,

STan