Any Digital Impressions of the Caiman yet?

**The Grand Wazoo** · 21-09-2009, 22:35

Never mind what the BC sounds like - I'd say 2k is a lotta lolly for a bit of convenience.
Do you really need rc that much?

**StanleyB** · 21-09-2009, 22:36

I use the volume control on the INOI multi media hard disk to adjust the volume level through the Caiman. Works perfectly well for me.

**technobear** · 22-09-2009, 11:56

The postman has just left Caiman number 2 (cheers Stanley

)

This is destined for my bedroom system to be used with the upcoming Squeezebox Touch.

This has, however, left me with a riddle

Do I now have two Caimans or two Caimen ?

**Jason P** · 22-09-2009, 13:13

Now Technobear, your just rubbing it in... someone near me having ONE Caiman is bad enough, but TWO!?! Shurely shome mishtake....

I'll happily take one off your hands if you feel two is too many!!

Jason

**Gazjam** · 22-09-2009, 14:21

Originally Posted by technobear

The postman has just left Caiman number 2 (cheers Stanley

)

This is destined for my bedroom system to be used with the upcoming Squeezebox Touch.

This has, however, left me with a riddle

Do I now have two Caimans or two Caimen ?

Caimii ??

**trailer** · 22-09-2009, 15:03

cai⋅man

–noun, plural -mans.

any of several tropical American crocodilians of the genus Caiman and allied genera: some are endangered.
Also, cayman.

Origin:
1570–80; < Sp caimán < Carib

Dictionary.com Unabridged

**Chippy_boy** · 22-09-2009, 17:48

Thanks for your thoughts guys. I know £2k for a remote control seems ridiculous. But my hifi is also the sound system for watching the TV, so I route my Sky box and my Caiman through my pre-amp.

If I plug the Caiman into my power amp and connect both my Sky box and music source, it's just not practical to have no remote volume control. The volume on TV channels is all over the place and not being able to turn it up or down from the armchair is really a non-starter.

I have considered buying a passive pre-amp (with remote volume) but no matter how transparent they are, nothing is going to be quite as transparent as having the DAC driving the power amp directly.

Still, from your comments I had better audition the Bel Canto very thoroughly first!

@Marco - thanks for the comments. However, I would seriously expect the Bel Canto dac to be *dramatically* better than their CDP. First of all, it (the dac) retails at nearly the same price as their CDP, yet has no tranport nor other electronics to worry about. Second, there is some seriously more advanced technology in it and much more up to date electronics and thirdly it gets pretty rave review from Stereophile - one of the publications I have some faith in. Still, I accept that may not mean anything and in fact it may sound no better. I would definitely have to audition it thoroughly.

**Marco** · 22-09-2009, 18:16

Hi Chippy,

No problem. But you should also know that the owner of the Bel Canto CDP has heard the matching DAC (which like you he was in the market for) and has concluded that Duncan's copper DAC is still markedly superior...

One mustn’t forget the 'value' attached to the Bel Canto badge as a commercial product. How much of its retail price do you think reflects what's actually used under the hood?

Therefore, why pay for anything other than what *really* matters (ultimate sonic performance)? I can assure you that the copper DAC ticks all the relevant boxes.

Marco.

**Spur07** · 22-09-2009, 18:50

Marco,

not sure if you've picked up yet, but I've sent you PM. Hope you don't mind.

Cheers.

Spur

**Marco** · 22-09-2009, 18:54

Yep mate, got it. I'll reply later when I've finished my dinner and done a few things

Marco.

Thread: Any Digital Impressions of the Caiman yet?

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