Any Digital Impressions of the Caiman yet?

[leo]

It had crossed my mind as well but I'm a curious bu**er and wanted to find out...so far I wish I hadn't bothered! Tried the resistor and cap mod and messed with the opamps...gone back to standard!

Leo, BTW the 2132 I have is a BurrBrown one....checked it again today...still sounds pants Hope the TI version is better!

Yep, the one I have is BB too, we'll soon see if the TI one is different/better

I tried this BB one again, it goes shouty with complex material, gives a fake hump in the upper mids, out it came

[technobear]

...which i will do and which undoubtedly will sound fantastic... however eventually i will want to listen to my 24bit stuff in 24bit

OIC

I forgot that the USB input is still limited

[sum1]

Yay i just got news that my Caiman has been dispatched this morning. Unfortunately i missed on the new PSU that was also announced this morning. Oh well i can always get the caiman PSU later on after hearing some impression from you guys.

BTW anyone try OPA2228 with the caiman? I got that opamp lying around my house and i used to put it on some chinese DAC to make the vocal become more forward but i havent listened to the caiman yet so i dont know if it needs tweaking on that area

I also got some other opamps like the LMH6655,LT6234 ,LMH6622 that i can try on the caiman but i guess it will probably be months before i start opamp rolling since i like to burn-in the dac first and get familiar with its sound

[Peter Galbavy]

OK, this one is probably for Stan but as it involves another component someone else may be able to chime in...

Caiman sounding great but my turntable (MM, grounded) was buzzing. Hmm. Was it my moving of the kit 5 feet ? After much head scratching and turning stuff off it turned out to be the Caiman even when *off* but powered.

I have a 50Hz hum IFF the Caiman is powered and the line outs connected to *any* input on my Audiolab 8000C pre-amp. This is too annoying at anything past about 9 o'clock on the volume. There is a very slight mains hum also on the pre-amp on any input even when the Caiman is disconnected (from about 12 o'clock, but much quieter). If I either remove the power from the Caiman (PSU still on, just not in the DAC) or the line inputs I get back to somewhat "normal". Other line level inputs (SB3, Sony CD player) do not trigger this behaviour.

Now, I suspect the secondhand 8000C I got just a week or so ago, but suggestions welcome. For now, it's Caiman off at the wall if I want vinyl (which isn't that often)

[StanleyB]

It appears that the 8000C has a similar circuitry like some of the NAIM amps. i.e. a double earth. The solution is to connect an earth wire from a screw on the bottom of the DAC to a screw on the amp. This then puts the DAC at the same earth potential as the amp. It's the same method used on turntables.

[Peter Galbavy]

Thanks! Will give it a go tonight.

[Themis]

Hi all,

I was was just passing by, saw some light, then entered.

I guess this is the right place to ask about changing Caiman opamps... Which alternative solutions have been thoroughly tested ? Which ones produce partial oscillation (perhaps none) ?

Thank you for your help.


PS: Btw, congratulations for this superb dac, Stan.

[Labarum]

Hi all,

I was was just passing by, saw some light, then entered.

Welcome to this corner of cyberspace, Themis.

[Themis]

Welcome to this corner of cyberspace, Themis.

Nice to find you here, Brian.



PS: "a knowledgeable and well respected member" oO ? Flattery will get you nowhere...

[Peter Galbavy]

Thanks Stan! That worked, sort of. Attaching a grounding wire from the body of the Caiman (view the rear left screw - fiddly) to the phono ground on the 8000C has reduced the mains hum to an acceptable level - not too audible until 1 o'clock, just like the other inputs.