caiman vs dac magic vs v dac

[The Grand Wazoo]

For the same reason a dog will lick it's balls - because it can.

Stan could too if he wanted. Sell for more that is - I can't vouch for his double jointed prowess.

[sburrell]

Hi Steve,

I actually did a side-by-side between the Beresford TC-7510 Mk6/latest and the V-DAC, and posted a quite comprehensive review here on The Art of Sound forums.
In brief, though: it's definitely not a "case of 'brown' or 'red' sauce". The Beresford quiet clearly trumped the V-DAC, most especially in simple quantity of detail. This was the opinion of the member of staff in the store where I did the side-by-side too.

PS: apologies, I quite definitely "pilot posted" this (is that the term for it, where you don't read all the replies?).

[StanleyB]

Now, if Stan makes 3 to 5 per day and the finished result sells for £250??? then how come a fancy cartridge made with fairly cheap parts (!!,,??) in the same quantity sells for thousands?

Too many middlemen and get rich quick merchants. Remember the Pioneer vs Goldmund saga?

[Chippy_boy]

what exactly are you saying the benchmark is not match for the caimen or have i mis-understood?

I didn't understand him either. And his "clarification" left me none the wiser.

I have both the Caiman and the Benchmark DAC1 HDR and very good though the Caiman is, the Benchmark is clearly superior. Which you would really hope it would be, considering the huge price difference! It's really not a fair comparison. The Benchmark is clearer, has a more open spacious soundstage and seems just cleaner sounding. The Caiman is slow and muddled by comparison.

The differences are not enormous, but they are quite apparent. I have never been able to discern one interconnect from another for example, but I have no problem picking out the Benchmark from the Caiman.

Please don't misunderstand - I think the Caiman is very very good. It punches way above its weight. But there are limits as to how much you can do for £200 retail and the levels attained by the Benchmark are out of reach imho.

EDIT: Something I just thought of though, is it may well depend on the quality of your source. My source (an Apple TV) is pretty crappy compared to any decent transport. First it only has optical output and I have no idea how jittery that is. The improved sound of the Benchmark may be down to its undoubted superior ability to deal with jittery input signals. Maybe the Caiman would be more competitive if both were fed via coax from a decent transport. Just a thought.

[Themis]

I didn't understand him either. And his "clarification" left me none the wiser.

It is very simple.
I've tested two Benchmark models : the DAC1 and the DAC1 usb.
They were both (at their best) as neutral as the Caiman. But most of the time, they were not.

I hope this is clearer.

Now, if you think that the Benchmark HDR is better than the DAC1... well, why not ?
Benchmark's comparison chart says not much about any differences, though... http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/system...ac1-comparison

[Peter Galbavy]

And that is actually a disadvantage. Because I am able to make cost cutting measures that I pass on to customers, my lowish price is in fact a turn off for most.

Aye. See also the very very excellent BK Electronics Monolith sub. At about £400 it wipes the floor of most subs at least twice the price - according to most neutral reviewers - but of course gets the same "can't be good when it's that cheap" view of the masses.

[Chippy_boy]

It is very simple.
I've tested two Benchmark models : the DAC1 and the DAC1 usb.
They were both (at their best) as neutral as the Caiman. But most of the time, they were not.

I hope this is clearer.

Now, if you think that the Benchmark HDR is better than the DAC1... well, why not ?

No, I don't. The HDR is sonically identical to the DAC1 and DAC1 USB I am sure.

If you prefer the Caiman then great, but personally I can't share that view.

[Themis]

No problemo, Chippy. I find it equally enriching to have different views.

The only thing which is a pity, is that we don't live nearer : it would have been even better to exchange more precise opinions on specific listening material.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

I'd be interested to hear more about such comparisons!

[StanleyB]

No, I don't. The HDR is sonically identical to the DAC1 and DAC1 USB I am sure.

They do not. The DAC1 and TC-7520 use the NE5532, whilst the Caiman and HDR us ethe LM4562NA. Those two opamps sound completely different in their respective environment.