Digital Drive: REVIEW: Beresford TC-7520SE Caiman DAC Processors by magiccarpetride

Model:	TC-7520SE Caiman
Category:	DAC Processors
Suggested Retail Price:	$279.00
Description:	WM8716-64x oversampling DAC chip, LM4562NA - Recording Studio specification audio operational amplifiers, PCM2902 - Adaptive Mode for Isochronous Data Transfer
Manufacturer URL:	Beresford
Model Picture:	View

Review by magiccarpetride on January 10, 2011 at 15:54:52
IP Address: 207.219.52.100 Add Your Review
for the TC-7520SE Caiman

Back in 2009, I made a decision to audition the new digital streaming technology. I visited my local hi fi dealer and attended their comprehensive demo of the line of flagship digital streaming devices made by Linn (Linn Majik and Linn Akurate). Left the audition extremely impressed by the musicality and the lack of congestion in the demonstrated playback, and decided to explore similar, but less expensive solutions.

To test the waters, I've purchased Logitech Squeezebox Duet, which offered a very easy way to take the plunge for around $500.00. I've immediately noticed large improvements in the sound quality over my Sony CD player.

Despite the fact that the sound I was getting out of the Logitech Duet player was tighter, firmer, and overall more precise than the sound I was getting out of the CD player, I was still bothered by the overall 'nervousness' of the sound -- it was still very obvious that I was playing digitized music, with all the unwanted digital artifacts.

I then started shopping for a standalone DAC, in the hopes that a quality converter will help attenuate the digital harshness of the Logitech Duet sound. After doing some research, and on recommendation of the audio community, I've decided to give Beresford Caiman a try. For approximately $300.00 (shipping included), and a comprehensive 'complete satisfaction or your money back policy', I felt I have pretty much nothing to lose.

Bersford Caiman DAC arrived promptly, in a very sturdy, no nonsense packaging. It was a breeze to set it up, and I was able to start evaluating it in just a few minutes after I've unpacked the box.

Stan Beresford (the genius behind this product) offered (and is continuing to offer to this day) his very personalized assistance (he is glad to answer the phone call or to respond to the customer's or the prospective customer's emails). He advised me to connect the digital transport to the DAC via a digital coaxial cable (according to him, the sound quality is better through the digital coax than through the optical cable).

On to the listening results: today, 8 months later, my product evaluation log shows that the first song I've played through this new DAC was Annie Lennox "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" (from her album "Medusa"). My notes show (and my memory is still fresh from that session) that my initial impressions were quite disappointing. Much to my surprise, I felt that the sound quality through the Caiman DAC had somewhat been degraded from the quality I was getting out of the stock Logitech Duet player. The overall sound was wimpier, a bit quieter, it felt somewhat indecisive, with weaker bass and somewhat unstable soundstage. The icy cold highs of the synths in the far right channel weren't nearly as exhilarating as I was used to hearing them.

Disillusioned, I've decided to return the DAC. But before I did that, I went online and expressed my bewilderment. I've soon received suggestions from the community to give Caiman some time to burn in. The stock recommendation is to leave it on (playing music in a constant loop) for about three full days, and then have another go at it.

I did exactly that, and holy smokes, did these three days of burn in make a huge difference. After three days of constant playing, the character of the sound delivered through the Caiman had completely changed. I was now listening to a very authoritative source producing very enjoyable musical playback without a trace of previous nervousness and indecisiveness. I couldn't believe what a difference three days make, and even though I couldn't find a plausible explanation for this phenomenon, I fell in love with this DAC nevertheless.

This time around, the same song ("A Whiter Shade Of Pale" by Annie Lennox) sounded much, much better than it sounds when played through the Duet's built in DAC (and I went back and compared and it was clear where the differences lie). The differences in the sound quality were obvious and undeniable (much warmer, less grainy sound from the Caiman), and I had no doubts at that point that this DAC is a keeper.

To test the DAC some more, i've played Bennie Maupin's tune "Escondido" (from his 2008 album "Early Reflections"). This time, the opening melody on his bass clarinet went much deeper than it goes on the stock Duet DAC, while at the same time avoiding any boominess or coloration. Obviously, Caiman is capable of handling those tricky low notes, rich in overtones, in a much more controlled fashion.

The grand piano sounded crisp, ethereal, while at the same time retaining its physical presence. The highs extended to near supersonic heights, and sounded less digitized than I've heard on many other systems. The tune bobs and bounces rather nicely, and is overall much more musical sounding than I suspected (this being a somewhat abstract jazz composition).

This DAC was so good, that it quickly became obvious to me that the bottleneck in my sound system is the digital transport itself. After a bit of additional research, I've realized that upgrading Logitech Duet to Logitech Touch was probably the best option, and that's exactly what I did. Now finally I was able to evaluate this DAC on a level playing field, because the Touch brought incredible improvements by significantly lowering both jitter and the overall noise floor.

Despite the fact that Logitech Touch coupled with the Beresford Caiman DAC seemed like a match made in heaven, it was very obvious to me that, at best, this was a mid-fi solution. Something was missing from that picture, and it was clear that one would have to pony up some serious cash in order to enter the high end audio territory. My suspicions were confirmed after I made several trips to the local high end audio dealer, and did some serious side-by-side audition of their top shelf digital streaming players (the aforementioned Linn line of products). What Linn offered, in comparison to the Touch/Caiman combo, was less congestion, more relaxed sound, much clearer transparency. And that's exactly what I'm looking for when listening to music playback.

Just when I was beginning to resign myself to the fact that, without springing for an extra few thousand dollars, I won't be able to break out of the mid-fi realm, Stan Beresford, the brains behind the Caiman, came to the rescue. Stan sent me a message that I should get ready for re-eaxmining and re-evaluating my entire music library, so naturally I got intrigued and inquired what's that all about. To cut the long story short, Stan had been working tirelessly on bringing his Caiman into the esoteric world of high end audio, and in the end he came up with a brilliant solution -- an electronic board which he named Gator (http://www.homehifi.co.uk/products/Gator.htm). For a measly $60.00 (which is how much I've paid, including shipping and delivery), this board breathes entirely new life into an already impressive DAC.

Fitting the Gator board into the Caiman was easy and straightforward. From that moment onward, it's nothing but good news. The improvements in the sound quality are nothing short of staggering (more about that in a moment). Also, very significantly, I wasn't able to detect any volatility in the sound quality related to the burn in process (unlike with the stock Caiman, which took quite a long time to settle). Despite the fact that Stan warned me that the Gator board will require some burn in before the opamps settle in properly, I wasn't able to hear any difference as the board kept working in my audio chain. The sound became stellar from the get go, and it continues to deliver beyond my wildest expectations.

On to the more concrete observation (this review is actually more about the 'modded' Caiman than it is about the stock Caiman, so you could say that the real review actually begins here):

As is my custom by now, I've started the evaluation of the modded Caiman (or, as I like to call it now, the Gatorized Caiman) by listening to Annlie Lennox's rendition of "A Whiter Shade Of Pale". I'm using this song as my first litmus test for any changes in my system because it contains pretty much everything: the highest highs, the deepest deeps, the phenomenal, sensual, throaty and breathy vocals by Ms Lennox, the layered choirs, the horns, the strings, the synths, even the harp. This tune places a lot of demand on the audio system, and any flaws or inadequacies get quickly revealed if you play it at a near to real life volumes.

So how did the Gatorized Caiman perform during this test? It played beautifully, it elevated that tune to the new, never before experienced heights. The icy cold high synth tones introducing the Bach inspired main theme were extended to seemingly endless heights. There now seems to be no upper limit, no ceiling not only to how high can the sound extend, but also to how loud can it get. The dynamics that the Gatorization of this DAC brings are incredible. Vocals now cut through the mix with unprecedented clarity. they are not smothered by other mid or high range sounds. This is also true for the backing vocalists and choirs. If three of four of five people are singing in the background, you can now pick them apart individually, and it is now easy to detect particular individual timbre of each of the vocalists in the choir.

The bass is much clearer, tighter, and is much better sculpted in the space. In addition, each bass line that I've listened to (whether it's an acoustic upright or an electric bass, or a synth bass) brings forth its own texture, tone color, and singing quality. Without going into the high end audio territory, it gets real hard to attribute singing quality to the deep bass lines -- they tend to come forth as just a low frequency rumble. Not so with the modded Caiman -- it is now incredibly easy to follow the deep, intricate bass lines as if they're being played on a trumpet. That's quite an accomplishment on its own (at least in my book).

Another thing that impresses me about this modded DAC is the independence of various sounds that get rendered at the same time. For example, you can have strong, muscular drums playing somewhere between the centerstage and the right speaker, while at the same time you can have a strong horn section playing to the left of the centre. These two strong sources of sound feel completely independent, and are not stepping on each others' toes. Almost as if there are two independent stereo systems installed in front of me -- one playing the drums, the other playing the horns.

This phenomenon is impossible to detect in any mid-fi system I've ever heard.

Switching to the "O Samba: Brazil Classics Vol 2" CD (http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/6835265/a/Brazil+Classics,+Vol.+2%3A+O+Samba.htm) was another revelation for me. These songs now all of a sudden come to full life. I was able, for the first time, to clearly hear and follow the beautiful, singing (although rather quiet) bass line on the first track ("Deusa dos Orixas"). All these years I was convinced that there is no bass on that track, only some deep, rumbling kick drums.

The imaging and the sound stage are now almost holographic, with all the performers distributed on the stage in a very natural fashion. The resolution of this modded DAC is simply unbelievable, so that now I can detect many more tiny, barely audible scratches and squeaks and those "palm of the hand on the drum skin" sounds.

Listening to the ultra familiar Beatles catalog was a revelation. The first song I played was "Yesterday". I thought I knew this song better than the back of my hand, but I was in for a huge shock. At the very beginning, I started hearing subtle squeals and scratches that McCartney was making on his acoustic guitar, something I've never heard before. Obviously, modded Caiman was able to squeeze pretty much the last drop of the musical information from that track.

Then, Paul's voice came in, and I was blown away -- it felt completely holographic, three dimensional, literally as if he was standing in front of me, singing.

Switching to other Beatles tunes ("Ticket To Ride", "The Night Before") gave me endless goose-bumps. Ringo's cymbals now, for the first time, truly sizzle. His snare break in "Ticket To Ride", after the first solo guitar line, leapt out of my Magnepan speakers and hit me right in the chest -- the snare is now that realistic sounding.

After sitting through "I'm A Loser", I had to take a break -- the clarity of the sound was so overwhelming, that I was getting increasingly emotional. Lennon's voice on that track carried so many never before heard nuances, that I was only now able to truly comprehend the emotional content of that song.

Running away from the Beatles material (to avoid the 'choking my own tears' syndrome), I played some classical chamber music. Vivaldi is one of my all time favourite, so I played his "Recitative and Aria from Cantata RV 679, "Che giova il sospirar, povero core" in high resolution (24 bit/96 kHz). Again, Caiman did not disappoint, as it delivered laser sharp resolution coupled with truckloads of musicality.

I could obviously go on forever. Time to slow down and summarize my review: in a nutshell, it would be incredibly difficult to find any fault with a DAC that sells for under $400.00 (including the Gator mods plus shipping) and that delivers a definitive high end audio experience. I claim that this is indeed the high end performance as I've compared it, side by side, to a series of much more expensive DACs which I was able to borrow from my audiophile friends. While the modded Caiman wasn't really in the position to outshine these multi thousand dollars DACs, it certainly had nothing to be ashamed of next to its older, more polished and posher brethren. I warmly recommend this DAC to anyone who wishes to enter the world of high end digital audio on a shoestring budget.

What's that? Any downsides? Oh yes, like anything else in life, there are downsides to this product too. Here are some:

1. Only available as an online order from Stan Beresford. There practically isn't a way to audition this DAC in any store that I know of. Because of that, you're expected to buy blindly, relying on the reviews and peer recommendations. This is unfortunate, but is also an economic reality. I doubt that there are any dealers out there who would considered a sub-400 dollars DAC worthy of their trouble to hold on inventory and allow their customers to audition. The margins on this DAC are probably very, very slim.

2. As was already mentioned in this review, a surprisingly long time required for proper burn in. That doesn't bode well in our instant gratification culture, where everything we buy is plug-and-play; no one has the time to wait patiently until their latest toy slowly blossoms into the beauty that it potentially is.

3. Finally (and this is quite problematic for me at the moment), poorly recorded/mixed/mastered CDs tend to sound terrible through this DAC. Even some of the CDs that I previously thought are OK (not great, but still OK), now sound unbearably bad through this DAC. Oddly enough, when I play the same CDs in the car, they sound fine.

I contribute the poor sound quality of those CDs to the excessive compression applied during the tracking/mixing/or mastering, which as an unfortunate outcome of the much maligned loudness wars. What that may mean to you is that, as you move into the rarefied world of high end audio, you'll be forced to seek better quality recordings. That too is very unfortunate, because music is the only thing that counts at the end of the day, but once the damage gets done (read: over-compressed masters), nothing can heal that problem.

In conclusion, if you'd ask me whether I feel that digital reproduction through the Gatorized Caiman is on par with the high end analog reproduction, I'd have to say not quite. Still, for a meagre $300 - $400 price tag, it's getting dangerously close to that esoteric high end. I can still hear some traces of digital nervousness, especially in the high frequencies (and who knows, maybe these will diminish with the ever elusive burn in?) But these are minimal indeed, and the only thing you need to make sure you do before you take the plunge and order this Gatorized Caiman is that you are feeding it a healthy, low jitter, low noise signal from your digital transport.

Product Weakness:	Needs surprisingly long burn in time before it can show its true strengths
Product Strengths:	Best bang for dollar on the current market, high end sound for under $300.00

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: DPA 200s
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): DSP 2000
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Logitech Touch
Speakers: Magnepan MG1-IMP
Cables/Interconnects: Nordost
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Chamber, acoustic ethnic, folk, blues, world, rock, pop, electronica, jazz, symphony
Room Size (LxWxH): 15 x 12 x 10
Time Period/Length of Audition: 8 months
Type of Audition/Review: Home Audition

Amplifier:	DPA 200s
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	DSP 2000
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Logitech Touch
Speakers:	Magnepan MG1-IMP
Cables/Interconnects:	Nordost
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Chamber, acoustic ethnic, folk, blues, world, rock, pop, electronica, jazz, symphony
Room Size (LxWxH):	15 x 12 x 10
Time Period/Length of Audition:	8 months
Type of Audition/Review:	Home Audition