Despite its naming, the Caiman Mk. II owes its origins more to the Bushmaster and Bushmaster 2 than to the original Caiman (which I still have, performing great duty on my PC system). The C-II is a relatively compact DAC (Digital to Analogue Converter) offering two optical, one co-ax S/PDIF and one USB input, and features up to 24-bit 192kHz conversion rate at a very high oversampling rate of 32-bit 768kHz. The headphone circuit is class AB and sounds extremely fine, in fact it’s the best headphone output I have ever heard from a DAC. The phono outputs features no buffer, emerging directly from the DAC chip at either line output level or via the volume control for running directly into a power amplifier.

The casing is attractively finished and controls are limited to power, input selection, function and volume. The C-II can be optionally supplied with a compact 15V switched-mode power supply, but I strongly recommend that you use it with a 12V battery such as the Ankaka or many similar ones, on the basis that it makes a considerable difference to sound quality and is the only way to yield the C-II’s maximum performance. This is borne through my experience of powering the Bushmaster 2 in different ways and finding that battery power always wins. There is a useful LED sleep mode that, as soon as signal lock is achieved, makes all LEDs extinguish for listening.

All functions work seamlessly and the lock speed is now far quicker than with, say, the original Bushmaster. Locking is very positive and not prone to any glitching, no matter how hard I tried. The USB interface is adaptive, claiming to work with most Operating Systems without the need for a driver. I did not test this interface as I have no need for it in my system.

I connected up my Sky HD box (optical), Blu-ray player (optical) and Logitech Touch streamer (co-ax) and played much music and broadcast material for many hours while getting to know the C-II. Since I know the Bushmaster 2 well, and since it previously set a high standard for playback, my comments compare the C-II with it and with my Ayre SACD/CD player.

The Caiman Mk. II is an extremely fine sounding DAC, there is no doubt. There need be no excuses made for its sound irrespective of price. Never mind outperforming my previous Bushmaster 2, it as good as matches the Ayre for all but absolute bass potency, which is a startling achievement. Qualities include extreme fine detail within a wide and deep soundstage, great dynamics (this is the area where Stan has made the most progress), and wonderfully neutral and extended frequency range. It has the ability to achieve great stability of reproduction from all sources (e.g. my streamer when playing Spotify internet music, or my Blu-ray player which is not a wonderful sounding transport). It’s this ability to clock and derive the best from less than perfect streams which differentiates it from all previous models. I find myself amazed at the detail in film soundtracks (sometimes with unintential traffic noise) and material on Sky Arts channels, the added sparkle makes all kinds of programming hugely enjoyable. Ultimately, though, we’re about music at TAS and this DAC brings insight into music you may think you already know well.

Downsides? It won’t clock 176.4kHz files (this is an input chip limitation, I’m told) and the phono sockets are a little close together for WBT clamping phono plugs.

For the princely sum of £300 (UK price including tax), the Caiman Mk. II gives you high end performance for not a large outlay. Highly recommended.

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