CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Lobby => Head Amps, DACs, Sources, Portable Equipment Discussion => Topic started by: Sorrodje on November 26, 2014, 10:14:17 AM
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The products :
- Bushmaster mkII (DAC) http://www.homehifi.co.uk/S2/tc-7533.htm
(http://www.homehifi.co.uk/S2/home_htm_files/10540.png)
- Caïman mkII (DAC) http://www.homehifi.co.uk/S2/tc-7534.htm
(http://www.homehifi.co.uk/S2/home_htm_files/1243.jpg)
- Capella Headphone amp http://www.homehifi.co.uk/S2/tc-7110.htm
(http://www.homehifi.co.uk/S2/home_htm_files/14354.jpg)
So : Here's my Story with Beresford Products :
First, I saw some trustable Head-fiers who lived with Beresford dacs for a long time. That's always a good sign for me when people keep their gear instead of selling and buying new toys every month. So those affordable british DAC tried to interest me.
in last september, I had a good opportunity to buy a used Bushmaster. So I bought it in order I could make my own opinion. I plugged the dac in my current rig and listened to it. Holy cow! The result was stunning with especially an impressive holographic soundstage. After a few days , my opinion changed a bit . Indeed Bushmaste's sound was a bit too lean overally and there was some little treble etch whitch is bothersome with the HD800. Very very good dac , expecially for the price but not well suited to my headphone. So, I ordered the bigger brother : the Caïman. I've read this one sounded more analogic.
Caïman received in early october. This dac is still in my rig and I did extensive comparison with my Metrum Octave. Many people know well the Metrum products here so. To my ears, The Caïman mkII sounds incredibly good. its sound has the same analog sound than the metrum but with a bit less thickness , better soundstage (airy, holographic) and moreover better detail and dynamics. I did extensive A/B , including some self organized "blind" comparison and those two dacs sounds close to my ears. I've ever thought about selling m beloved Octave.
Considering the price of the Caïman , i'm currently thinking it's a pure bargain.
I always doubt about my own impressions. so I organized a loan tour here in France for my Caïman. Fortunately I have some trustable ears with Hi end headphone and speaker Rigs and I'm looking forward their impressions. Maybe I fool myself maybe not. we'll see. the loan tour begins next saturday.
Why opening a thread here ? We're not authorized to talk about Beresford Products on Head-fi. I know Beresford had some strange behaviors on the Web and it's possibly why he and his products are banned from Head-fi . That's why I PMed Marvey and asked him If we could talk about Beresford products here. There's a lot of talk on British forum but I'd prefer to avoid crowds of fanboys. You know what I mean.
Last Point : Beresford released a dedicated heaphone amp theses last days. This headphone amp proposes some settings I've never met before. Dunno how it works but it sounds interesting and and I'll order it ASAP in order to test it seriously. more impressions to come ( compared to the Sonett and a good old Lake People G103). I've my doubt about the amp section of Beresford DACS. tried the HO of both Bushmaster and Caïman and it didn't sound so good to my ears. I asked Stanley to optimize My Caïman's HO for high efficiency/LowZ heaphones though . But the Standard Bushmaster HO didn't sound good either. I hope its headphone amp will bring something better to the table. That been said , a friend of mine currently uses a bushmaster with his headphones and he's happy.
Stanley Beresford is very reluctant to share its technical choices and it's quite hard for me to understand how its products work. Its sounds darn good to my ears . That's all I know. So. If people here have experience or some thoughs about this product, it should be useful. I'd really like to send my Caïman to some other pyrates as I'm currently doing in France but I wil miss it too much after two or three month of travel in France.
Hope someone here has or will have one in order you can measure it and give it a serious listen. That's affordable products after all ;)
Trust me , I'm not affiliated to Beresford by any means and I've paid my DACs at the full price :)p13
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I have the Bushmaster DAC/AMP and at least the DAC part is listenable. The output is pretty linear but low on resolution. Overall a bit texture less sound but still an easy listen. The amp part is bad....too bright
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Hi Sholay,
Bushmaster MKI ? MkII ? Compared to which other dac ? Associated with wich amp/headphone/Speakers?
My Own experience and feelings are closer to those : http://www.head-fi.org/t/648659/beresford-tc-7530dc-bushmaster-review-giant-killer . The embedded HO seems to ass warmth and Bass to my HD800. enjoyable but not accurate. when I plugged other headpones or IEMS , the effect seems to change. This HO has a strange behavior indeed.
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Hi,
It's the Bushmaster TC 7530 DC. Not sure if it's MK1 or II.
My reference system is an EHHA Rev A Hybrid amp and a modded Assemblage DAC2. Headphones are modded Yamaha HP1 orthos.
As i mentioned, as a dac bushmaster is acceptable but it smoothes out details. Kinda low resolution smoothness.
(http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k595/oyster150/DSC_0012_zps7e10a215.jpg)
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It's the Bushmaster TC 7530 DC. Not sure if it's MK1 or II.
MKI
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i can't find any info on the dac that is used is this a r2r dac as well? If not how is the smoothness compared to the metrum?
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i can't find any info on the dac that is used is this a r2r dac as well? If not how is the smoothness compared to the metrum?
Sigma/Delta Wolfson DAC. The Caïman is very close to the metrum (aka analog sound) but with slightly less body especially in the mids and more resolution. Good choice if you want a smooth yet resolving DAC. Claritas owns the caïman. you can shoot him a PM ;) . The Bushmaster offers an incredible soundstage but a leaner sounds with a slight etch in the treble. Great value too.
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hmmm interesting I want to get a entry dac and currently the front runners are the modi uber and the starting battery dac, the starting battery dac is suppose to be like a less detailed version of the metrum octave. Has anyone had any experience with both the starting battery dac and bushmaster?
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Less detailed than a Metrum? What is it, a white noise generator?
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A very musical white noise generator.
It's basically a $125 Phillips r2r dac with a passive discrete I/v stage. Current there is a thread on head-fi about it but know one stated whether it's any better than the hifiman 601
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Best know what you're getting into before dumping money on a NOS DAC of any kind. They are not for everyone and have inherent compromises. Most people are better served by a good oversampling DAC. But, in a nutshell, that 1543 DAC is on the warmer and thicker side of things (cleans up with better sources but is still in that area). Metrums are more agile and less thick. Yes, less micro-detail and resolving ability than the Metrums even, but more fun/musical or whatever, if you want to say that. If you're like Anax and need good resolution and details to get drawn in, generally stay away from most or all NOS DACs. If you want something smooth, more on the euphonic side, and are drawn more to ambiguous "feelz" them maybe NOS will work for you. I stick with NOS DACs but recognize that I'm in the minority and have particular reasons for going that route.
Modi Uber would be a safer starting choice for most. Or something like a Gamma2, which you can find used for good prices.
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No I had the hm602 And for some genres I liked it but not for all genres. To be honest I listen to the bifrost uber and I thought it was a waste of money. I wanna a intro desktop dac but don't know which one to get I think in a month or two I'll get the
modi 2 uber
Starting battery dac
And the beresford mk ii
And a/b them before having to return two of them
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If I had to guess, that Starting Point 1543 DAC will be more similar to the HM602 than not, so there's some level in safety knowing that before purchasing. Did you not like the Bifrost Uber or just did not find it worth the cost?
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For sure the Beresford Caïman will not be as blurry and muddy than the HM602. Owned the hifiman, hated it, sold it quickly. i'll see right now If I noticed it in the "worst piece of gear you've ever met" . :)p13
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If I had to guess, that Starting Point 1543 DAC will be more similar to the HM602 than not, so there's some level in safety knowing that before purchasing. Did you not like the Bifrost Uber or just did not find it worth the cost?
it was ok I guess but I felt it was cold an clinical, the song was there but it didn't connect musically. As if the individual notes were played without allowing them to decay not what I was expecting from a audiophile dac.
I'm suprised you say that about the starting dac as the hm-601 has a butterworth filter to roll of the top frequencies and uses opamps that are known to be warm. When you say they are similar are you using the headphone out or line out of the hm 601 to compare? never used the line out as I didn't have a amp at the time.
For sure the Beresford Caïman will not be as blurry and muddy than the HM602. Owned the hifiman, hated it, sold it quickly. i'll see right now If I noticed it in the "worst piece of gear you've ever met" . :)p13
I didn't think it was that bad but I didn't want it as my sole source. Right now I am more interested in the Bushmaster mkII than the caiman. I think my ears can handle more tremble than yours Sorredje (no offense). I love the sonnet 2 with the hd800 but I do know that the sonnet 2 already cuts of the very top and very bottom, so I think we might have slight different taste (because as I said I wish I had your headphone + amp combo).
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Oh, well I was just making assumptions about how the HM601/2/3 sounded (NOS 1543 based, as far as I know), but maybe the the Starting Point 1543 DAC will sound noticeably different. It definitely isn't cold and clinical...
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Oh no the cold and clinical comment was for the bifrost. I don't think that the hm 601 upsampled but I know it used digital filters and opamps for an active I/v stage so that's what i meant
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Gotcha. As far as I know, those HFM 60X players didn't oversample (which explains the roll-off) or upsample, so you should expect more of the same from that SP 1543 DAC. Could be wrong. If you didn't like the Bifrost, you might not like the Modi Uber...would have to hear them both to say, though.
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I didn't think it was that bad but I didn't want it as my sole source. Right now I am more interested in the Bushmaster mkII than the caiman. I think my ears can handle more tremble than yours Sorredje (no offense). I love the sonnet 2 with the hd800 but I do know that the sonnet 2 already cuts of the very top and very bottom, so I think we might have slight different taste (because as I said I wish I had your headphone + amp combo).
That makes sense. The Sonett is indeed smooth and not the last word in extension. What I appreciate is the association with the HD800.
Consider the Caïman as analog like but resolving enough . The Metrum is not resolving enough in my frame of reference . IMO the Bushmaster is treble oriented and more on the lean side with a slight sizzle . Kind of U shaped sound sig . No USB though ;) .
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I wanna a intro desktop dac but don't know which one to get I think in a month or two I'll get the
modi 2 uber
Starting battery dac
And the beresford mk ii
I owe y'all Caiman impressions. :-[
Between Caiman and Starting Point, it depends which phones you'll be using.
I enjoy Caiman more with all my phones except ESP950. With that one, it sounds just a little bright and I preferred Starting Point. Caiman isn't a bright DAC so it has to be the Kosses. It also suggests that Starting Point has some treble roll off.
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Sounds odd, the ESP950 isn't usually bright.
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Yup surprising. I owned the ESP950 and tried it with the Beresford and that wasn't bright at all. Both The Koss and the Caïman mkII are more on the warm/Dark side of things.
I can't imagine any dac whatsoever could make the Koss bright.
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Tone: Caiman II has a slightly warmish tilt and isn't particularly analytical, but I don't feel that so much important information is missing (with Paradox / HD600).
Soundstage: We have a common notion of empty space filled with objects, say, a concert stage with performers playing on it. Caiman's soundstage doesn't sound that way. It's much more filled in with sound, and there's much less empty air around and in front of the players. In this regard, it doesn't sound so accurate to live performances in concert halls. I happen to enjoy it, nonetheless, because it sounds ripe and intimate without getting blurry regarding positioning.
When I buy another DAC, I'd be happy to send this round to get your thoughts.
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@Claritas : for a significant upgrade, you can consider a Meier DACCORD amongst other offers. More resolution, blacker background, more micro and macro dynamics. More everything but still the same kind of tonality without digital glare or harshness. The DACCORD is probably a DAC i'll rebuy and associate to a Classic to build a full Meier Stack. and the DACCORD is probably one of the two D/S dac that makes me envy. the other one is the BMC puredac.
It would be great to hear some other opinions about the Caïman indeed. I loaned mine in France and impressions was positive . I Still own and use it and I'll probably add the amp : the Capella. I'm curious about it.