Beresford Caiman SEG
- Thread starter suzywong
- Start date
suzywong
Wot, no electrons?
Been around the Art of Sound website. The Audio Standard is a new one to me (but now signed up - same user name & avatar), so thanks for that.
Lots of RPi goodness - I see a few monikers that I recognise....
mikemusic
pfm Member
mikeyb
pfm Member
Stan offers a buy and return if don't like service, I don't think he's had many returns if any
mikemusic
pfm Member
mikemusic
pfm Member
Then there's Stan's upgrade serviceStan offers a buy and return if don't like service, I don't think he's had many returns if any
Nice steps up for a massive 10 or 20 quid
suzywong
Wot, no electrons?
Then there's Stan's upgrade service
Nice steps up for a massive 10 or 20 quid
I read on TAS about the output connectors, and have asked him about that one. Are there others?
suzywong
Wot, no electrons?
Good to know. I’ve been getting into streaming over the last year or so (RPi/IQAudio/moOde from a Synology NAS) and grabbed the V-DAC for a modest sum. My feeling is that it’s not quite up to the level of my 82-active 250-sibbles (please someone tell me I’m wrong, it could save me some dosh ) and have been considering a nDAC - even gone after a couple on fleabay - but they are now quite old and maybe have been surpassed, in SQ terms, by more modern designs.
OTOH the nDAC is still “a Naim” even if it is in the wrong box......I’m “all olive” here
But the Caiman does seem to be exceptional VFM!
) and have been considering a nDAC - even gone after a couple on fleabay - but they are now quite old and maybe have been surpassed, in SQ terms, by more modern designs.OTOH the nDAC is still “a Naim” even if it is in the wrong box......I’m “all olive” here
But the Caiman does seem to be exceptional VFM!
mikemusic
pfm Member
All sorts. They keep coming, seriously.
My Caiman has had about 3 or 4 updates. All good steps up
pjdowns
Living the Hifi dream
The standard SEG without the Dorado betters the Rega in everyway. With the Dorado it is like listening to a much, much more expensive DAC.
I haven’t compared the Naim DAC’s directly with the SEG, but I suspect it’ll better the cheaper one and equal or better the more expensive one. Interestingly it easily bettered the Naim NDX internal DAC when I compared them.
I have a Caiman SEG with Dorado, bought essentially as a way to listen while I work as a DAC and headphone amp in one streaming via USB. Works well for me like that.
I did have some troubles when I tried it in my main system as a potential upgrade to my ancient Trichord Genesis CDP and to a CCA I use for steaming. When streaming from Spotify I seemed to sometimes get a horrific noise from the Caiman SEG between tracks. Not always. Not sure what would be going on but others have reported the same issue. My guess is Spotify leaves CCA in an odd state between tracks, CCA flaps the optical output and the Caiman SEG doesn't like it up it ... not the most technical insight perhaps.
A decent improvement on the CCA analogue output, more marginal and different as opposed to clearly better than the Trichord Genesis.
I haven't used the Dorado on anything else, I note it is switchable between 12v and 15v output.
Would be interested to know more about the mods, it seems there is a clock improvement but Stan Beresford doesn't like people buying that from new, you buy one, then after a bit send it off for the update ... any other updates of note I should be aware of?
I did have some troubles when I tried it in my main system as a potential upgrade to my ancient Trichord Genesis CDP and to a CCA I use for steaming. When streaming from Spotify I seemed to sometimes get a horrific noise from the Caiman SEG between tracks. Not always. Not sure what would be going on but others have reported the same issue. My guess is Spotify leaves CCA in an odd state between tracks, CCA flaps the optical output and the Caiman SEG doesn't like it up it ... not the most technical insight perhaps.
A decent improvement on the CCA analogue output, more marginal and different as opposed to clearly better than the Trichord Genesis.
I haven't used the Dorado on anything else, I note it is switchable between 12v and 15v output.
Would be interested to know more about the mods, it seems there is a clock improvement but Stan Beresford doesn't like people buying that from new, you buy one, then after a bit send it off for the update ... any other updates of note I should be aware of?
pjdowns
Living the Hifi dream
Unless you’ve had the internal super cap mods done to the SEG don’t use the 15v option or you’ll likely blow the SEG sky high.
The clock upgrade is a nice upgrade for what I’ve been told, but not done it myself. The supercap upgrades in the DAC are a nice uplift in performance, which is something I did try but not through Stan.
The noise you describe I believe has been resolved with the latest firmware, or certainly something that Stan was talking about sorting out when I met him at another forums show last year.
The clock upgrade is a nice upgrade for what I’ve been told, but not done it myself. The supercap upgrades in the DAC are a nice uplift in performance, which is something I did try but not through Stan.
The noise you describe I believe has been resolved with the latest firmware, or certainly something that Stan was talking about sorting out when I met him at another forums show last year.
Pine Marten
pfm Member
I've had my Caiman SEG for nearly 2 years, with an excellent linear power supply with "super-reg" type filtering etc. It's from Breeze Audio, and I was very impressed with the build quality and component count on the board. Initially I used a Linn Genki as transport, but have had a Cambridge CXC for about a year now. I find I can listen to CD playback and enjoy it far better than ever before. Some of my discs go back to the launch of CD, ok, I got taken in at the time, and even these ancient discs play back faultlessly. I have no issues, CD playback is as satisfying as LP via a well sorted LP12. In some regards LP has the edge, just, in others CD. I probably buy more CD's than LP's, as I cannot justify the costs of the LP, if it is an option, which it often isnt, on music or a band I'm trying for the first time, often unheard. I only "stream" internet radio via mobile phone and CCA, via a toslink and, if the stream allows, in as high a quality as possible that the CCA can manage. Again, no issues at all. The SEG is a 5star product in my opinion.
Yes a good point, I bought mine recently (last month) with the Dorado so it is the latest "standard" spec, designed and recommended to use the Dorado at 15v, glad you warned others that may not be appropriate for them, I was unaware and would hate to encourage somebody to damage their kit
I am keen to try the clock upgrade, thanks for the info.
The noise issue is still there with the latest firmware however I appreciate it is hard with intermittent problems to recreate and fix them!
Only other thing I found odd was the Dorado power switch is upside down versus the Caiman SEG.
I was surprised to find my partner disapproved of the look - mainly a dislike for blue LEDs I think, I never can predict that one though. Does mean it is unlikely I will get a second for permanent installation in my main system.