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I've received this DAC last week, and kept it on constant burn-in for the past five days. I did some side-by-side comparison with the following DACs:1. Beresford Caiman (Gatorized)
2. Cambridge Audio DacMagic
3. Easter Electric MiniMax
4. Naim DACOf the four, only Naim DAC did not stay with me; I was only able to listen to it for a few hours while the friend who brought it was staying with me. This means that I was not able to re-listen and check my initial impressions and observations related to that DAC vis-a-vis the Bushmaster.
I must say that, to me, the Bushmaster outperformed all four DACs listed above. It just sounded as if it's in a completely different league. What's interesting, shocking even, is that I was able to pre-order this DAC for a price that's way less than the price of a decent pair of interconnects, or even a single entry-level power cable! Talk about the giant killer. The other DACs were on the loaner (except for my Caiman), and have all been properly burned-in.
Beresford Bushmaster DAC offers previously unheard continuity in the way it converts digital signal into the analog output. Of course, it goes without saying that it expects/hopes to be fed healthy, noise-free digital signal. Failing to do that, the resulting sound will end up being flat and lifeless. This was confirmed by switching from feeding the DAC from the Logitech Squeezebox Touch to feeding it through Sony PlayStation 3 Slim. The difference in the sound quality between these two digital transports were palpable, and unforgivable.
A word of warning: in my case, it took around 48 hours of burn-in time before this DAC could start sounding good. During the first few days, it sounded very nice, warm and authoritative, however with a bit too much rolled off highs. It took about two full days for the DAC to open up and deliver the punch and the bite it is now capable of. Please keep this in mind when evaluating this product.
Comparing it to the other DACs enlisted above, I found in those other DACs all kinds of deficiencies that I wouldn't be able to detect otherwise. In other words, without a benchmark that the Bushmaster now establishes, many of the not-so-desirable traits of DACs such as Caiman, DacMagic, even Naim, would've remain unnoticed. For example, I've now discovered that many DACs tend to actually gloss over some of the finer details in music reproduction, leaving it to the listener's brain to connect the dots and fill in the blanks. Not so with the Bushmaster, who is always making sure to dutifully spell all the details out, not leaving anything to the listener's imagination.
Furthermore, I wasn't able to detect any syntactical sugar coating from the Bushmaster. Naim DAC, on the other hand, tended to editorialize a bit, and to smear over certain musical details in favor of painting a prettier-than-life picture. Some people may prefer this sugar coating, but I most certainly don't.
Similar thing seemed to have been going on with the MiniMax DAC, especially with its tube pre-processing, where a bit of an artificial warmth and a denser-than-expected sound was emanating. At the other end of the spectrum, I found Beresford Caiman to be on a very lean side, quite two-dimensional and harsh sounding. DacMagic appeared to be somewhere in the happy middle, but it was also quite anemic sounding, and of the four in the list, I'd be the least upset if I were to lose that one.
In conclusion, I highly recommend you try the Beresford Bushmaster DAC. It's extremely affordable, it is supported by one of the best customer services I've experienced, and it's brain dead easy to return it for a refund in case it doesn't work out for you.
Edits: 06/18/12Follow Ups:
I bought the Bushmaster last month,first i thought is made in England,but not i recived this Dac fr Taiwan and the power supply is made fr China. Nevermine,the sound quality is all the matter,i own few dac,Mark Levinson 36, PS Audio DL III,MSB,Audio Alchemy DDE and Audio Lab Dac.
As per manual advice,i burn this dac in 50 hrs more.It work over All my dac especially more obvious when it use more high end transport (Mark levinson and Krell).I only use factory come power supply.
Strongly recommend this dac to any one looking for USD1000 price range.
I'm holding back, cuz it sounds like it needs a good transport, and I'd be feeding it from my MacBook Pro. This makes me think it might need something like the MF Link to clean up the jitter. By the time I add that, I may as well pay for the Schiit Ningnang (or whatever it is called) when it arrives August.
If not, it's a non-starter for me and many others. As much as folks crow about DACs and computer-based audio replacing CDs and such, most DACs are stuck in the 2-channel world. Suuround sound, done properly, crushes 2-channel sound. And, it is, obviously, possible to playback your 2-channel files using a multi-channel DAC...
-RW-
Crushes 2 channel???? Wow, quite a statement.
I own one and it is soooo much better than listening to 2-channel music that I can hardly over-state it. And I sold *very* good hi-end gear in the late 70s-early 80s (Tandberg, Mark Levinson, Hafler, Revox, KEF, Spendor, etc.) so I am quite familiar with very good 2-channel sound.
If I have a choice between 5.1 un-compressed audio vs. 2-channel un-compressed audio, 5.1 wins every time....
-RW-
What is the cost?
Where is it made? GB?
Thanks!
It's made in the UK. I paid $200.00 (pre-order).
As my post below says.
No, it's made in Taiwan.
Look at the picture on their website...
At that price it HAS to be so no surprise.
Rick
"No, it's made in Taiwan."
True. More correctly, it's designed in the UK, and the blueprints got shipped to Taiwan for assembly.
But the soul of the product is in those blueprints...
Thanks for the clarifcation on the place of manufacture.
I just did an X-Currency conversion of GBP$149.00 to US$ to get the $235.00.
WoW!
That kicks the Schiit out of Schiit. I had one ordered but cancelled at the beginning.
Thanks, I'll be watching that.
So, at 150 GBP -> $US235.00 + shipping from England.
Certainly a very reasonable price!
Thanks for the review. I followed the progress at Art Of Sound and quite a few there had input to what the final product became. The price is perfected for cheapies like me. I'll be buying soon.
Freedom is the right to discipline yourself.
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