[seefeel]

Anyone familiar with this DAC system? It's supposed to use some fancy software with Windows Media Player to get rid of digital nastiness. Sounds a little too good to be true. I've been on a path to try to get the cleanest path out of Foobar possible. Is this thing just snake oil like that new Creative thing that's supposed to make Mp3s sound as good as their original master recordings?

Here's a link to the product page, and one to a discussion over at the asylum:

http://www.burwenaudio.com/BURWEN_BOBCAT.html

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/dig...es/110659.html

 

[pho_boi]

"Make MP3s that sound better than original CDS"

Quoted from there: http://www.burwenbobcat.com/Products.html

Maybe he hired Creative's marketing team

[edit] just noticed you wrote the same thing i did!

 

[Mr Do]

It is Mark Levinson the man who helped desighn this so I think there is some truth to it. I rember reading somehwere you can use this software for mp3's that are playable on an ipod. Sounds promising but expensive.

http://www.danielhertz.com/
http://www.danielhertz.com/ipod.html
Later.
Do!

 

[Bones13]

I read a few threads about this in the Audio Asylum forums. Seems that some folks are using it, but have discarded the software, and are using software setups that sound pretty much like what we are discussing here on this forum.

No clue as to just how good the USB DAC is though.

 

[audioengr]

If you use WMP, then there is no way to bypass the evil KMIXER. Seems like this thing has a bunch of S/W DSP functions to "enhance" the audio.

I would rather just get the actual analog recording, or as close as possible. Some of these "enhancements" I have heard, and initially they are impressive, but longer listening reveals not only loss of detail and liveness, but can actually be fatigueing. I think they are often expansion algorithms to make the music more dynamic. I did not read that it supports 24/96 either.....

 

[bozebuttons]

I heard it demoed at the last NY stereophile show Mark levinson used his laptop,redrose intergrated amp & rosebud speakers,Sounded pretty good,I walked away impessed,just sat back & enjoyed the music without analyzing it. I believe Marks dad makes the Dac,if I am not mistaken.

 

[pho_boi]

Yeah, I wonder how good the USB DAC is. It's a good sign that a 'high-end' company is making some PC based products.

I don't think I'd want to pay extra for software and plug-ins for MS media player that is going to add DSP effects to the music.
If I want better ambience/soundstage/imaging in my music, I'd do it the proper way and look at buying different speakers or room acoustics.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bozebuttons I heard it demoed at the last NY stereophile show Mark levinson used his laptop,redrose intergrated amp & rosebud speakers,Sounded pretty good,I walked away impessed,just sat back & enjoyed the music without analyzing it. I believe Marks dad makes the Dac,if I am not mistaken.

funny that Mark Levinson decided to re-badge Chinese products for most of his Red Rose range.

The line of Red Rose solid state amps are Dussun products from China, and the Rose Bud bookshelf is Aurum Cantus from China!! hahaha

Great that his into the Chinese stuff (I think it's a good sign, the Chinese are doing something right!), but not great that he marks up the prices by around 500%

 

[audioengr]

You must understand two things: 1) ML is not a designer, he is a musician. 2) the Chinese are getting quite good in their attempts to design high-performance audio components. I use a Lite DAC-60 from China with a lot of mods for my own reference DAC product. The new DAC from Monarchy is a Lite design as well.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Manufacturer

 

[mshan]

Positive Feedback review:

http://positive-feedback.com/Issue28/burwen.htm

 

[ironbut]

If anyone is still interested, there's a pretty good tread going on now over on the Asylum with a couple of guys with impressions of the software. It looks like the Bobcat is now available in several different versions now with the Bobcat re being the main consumer versions for $200 without the dac. There is also a cheaper version and a free download of before and after songs. I hope you windows folks check it out because being an Apple guy,.. boo hoo!

 

[Nirmalanow]

I am using Bobcat RE ($200) on a dedicated server with Windows Vista basic and the required WMP.

At one point I got tired of the standard presets. They may work great on speakers, but on headphones the effect is not as good. I started noticing a distortion or buzzing sound on drum sounds, and finally traced it back to the Bobcat.

However when I mentioned this to Dick Burwen in an email, he sent me a new preset he was working on called Analog 14. And this sounds great, a very subtle smoothing of the sound.

Another strange bit of info is that supposedly typical digital sources make you go weak with muscle testing, but the Bobcat software corrects this. I have dabbled a little with muscle testing and can confirm that for me, my muscle tests stronger with the Bobcat engaged.