The Great White Mini Buss!

[malloy]

Look at what the postman delivered today!



Retiring my cheapo Emotiva power strip (in the background).



Matches my medical isolation transformer/step-up down transformer.



Side-by-side with the DigiBuss. Look at all that dust!



NCF goodness! Wow!

Plugged the tv and cable box in to test and burn it in while at the office. The picture was so much sharper watching an Amazon Prime stream! I kid you not, I thought I was imagining things until I removed it and the grainy, pixelated images returned! 

I'll report again after a full burn in.

Paul

[Nick B]

Look at what the postman delivered today!



Retiring my cheapo Emotiva power strip (in the background).



Matches my medical isolation transformer/step-up down transformer.



Side-by-side with the DigiBuss. Look at all that dust!



NCF goodness! Wow!

Plugged the tv and cable box in to test and burn it in while at the office. The picture was so much sharper watching an Amazon Prime stream! I kid you not, I thought I was imagining things until I removed it and the grainy, pixelated images returned! 

I'll report again after a full burn in.

Paul

That looks great, Paul! Never seen them in white before. I’ve heard great things about improving the picture, but I use mine only for audio.
Nick

[rpf]

Beautiful piece!

[rollo]

  Yup better picture for sure. White is right color.

charles

[dflee]

Run my Digi through the Majic Buss and love it.
What it does for video and audio is amazing.

Don
ps: white is right.

[malloy]

That looks great, Paul! Never seen them in white before. I’ve heard great things about improving the picture, but I use mine only for audio.
Nick

Hi Nick! On a whim (and because I've never seen a Buss like it), I asked Dave to make one in white.  I actually asked Dave to just make the body white, but he did one better and painted the top plate white as well! And, I did not want to mistake it for the DigiBuss, so I asked for a different color.

I just removed the tv from the Buss and plugged in the amp - even without much burn in, the sound I am hearing is already very special! More on this later.

Question to all Buss and Digi users here - so do I plug in the DigiBuss into the Buss or leave them separate? Don mentioned a 'Magic Buss', is this a different type of product?

Paul

[Nick B]

That looks great, Paul! Never seen them in white before. I’ve heard great things about improving the picture, but I use mine only for audio.
Nick

Hi Nick! On a whim (and because I've never seen a Buss like it), I asked Dave to make one in white.  I actually asked Dave to just make the body white, but he did one better and painted the top plate white as well! And, I did not want to mistake it for the DigiBuss, so I asked for a different color.

I just removed the tv from the Buss and plugged in the amp - even without much burn in, the sound I am hearing is already very special! More on this later.

Question to all Buss and Digi users here - so do I plug in the DigiBuss into the Buss or leave them separate? Don mentioned a 'Magic Buss', is this a different type of product?

Paul

Hi Paul,
A very excellent snap decision on your part  The attention to detail is so nice to see and I appreciate vendors having the ability and taking the time to do that. Had I thought of it, I might have asked Dave for a midnight blue or dark crimson.
Happy listening 🎶🎶
Nick

[P.I.]

That looks great, Paul! Never seen them in white before. I’ve heard great things about improving the picture, but I use mine only for audio.
Nick

Hi Nick! On a whim (and because I've never seen a Buss like it), I asked Dave to make one in white.  I actually asked Dave to just make the body white, but he did one better and painted the top plate white as well! And, I did not want to mistake it for the DigiBuss, so I asked for a different color.

I just removed the tv from the Buss and plugged in the amp - even without much burn in, the sound I am hearing is already very special! More on this later.

Question to all Buss and Digi users here - so do I plug in the DigiBuss into the Buss or leave them separate? Don mentioned a 'Magic Buss', is this a different type of product?

Paul

The MajikBUSS was my first product.  Don has a very special one (1 of the first 2 prototypes) that was built for a friend of mine that passed away from pancreatic cancer.  Colin returned it to me with the admonition to gift it to someone in his name.  Special seeks its due.

The white cover plate was serendipity.  My supplier mis-shipped 1 white one in an order, so it all worked out.

Plug the Digi into the Mini and you tell us! 

Also, I'll be interested in your direct comparison of the standard 5362A to the UberPuerto.  Remember: each receptacle needs separate break-in.

[malloy]

Plug the Digi into the Mini and you tell us! 

Also, I'll be interested in your direct comparison of the standard 5362A to the UberPuerto.  Remember: each receptacle needs separate break-in.

I can hardly wait to try the UberPuerto. Right now it is feeding an extension cord with lights and the wifi extender. I need to get used to the sound I am hearing now, which is already incredible!

In a week or two, I'll plug in the Digi, and then try the UberPuerto after it has broken in.

As to the receptacles each needing separate break-in, I just don't have enough gear to plug into them!

Now I have an excuse to buy another sub, amp, streamer, tube amp....

Paul

[P.I.]

Plug the Digi into the Mini and you tell us! 

Also, I'll be interested in your direct comparison of the standard 5362A to the UberPuerto.  Remember: each receptacle needs separate break-in.

I can hardly wait to try the UberPuerto. Right now it is feeding an extension cord with lights and the wifi extender. I need to get used to the sound I am hearing now, which is already incredible!

In a week or two, I'll plug in the Digi, and then try the UberPuerto after it has broken in.

As to the receptacles each needing separate break-in, I just don't have enough gear to plug into them!

Now I have an excuse to buy another sub, amp, streamer, tube amp....

Paul

That's me : Dave, the audio enabler! 

[malloy]

Update: I've had the Buss plugged in and 'running' constantly for the past two weeks and I still haven't broken in every single outlet. 

But, I've burned in the 'normal' ones and the UberPuerto ones enough to make a short report.

Day one: Just the amp plugged in:

With no burn in and the amp plugged in to the normal Buss outlets and everything else plugged into the DigiBuss, it is evident that this improves:

• Bass- There is simply more punch, impact, and extension
• Midrange- even with no break in, it already cleaned up a harshness to the midrange that I wrongly assumed to be the fault of the speaker cables. Wrong! It was the dirty, sewage-like water of the mains that was polluting the sound!

The sound was bright, forward, and thin at this point, but already an improvement!

After 7 Days

I plugged in the DigiBuss into the Buss. This improved:

• Detail retrieval - some micro level details buried in the mix became more evident, such as reverb, second voices, double tracking, faint percussive details such as brushwork, strumming, etc. are now plain to hear

The sound at this point was more fleshed out and relaxed

Second Week

Plugged in the amp and the DigiBuss into the UberPuerto and did an A/B test. And to prove that I haven't just been imagining things, I asked the wife to listen.

The UberPuerto had these effects:

• Pulled out even more recorded details in music I am intimately familiar with and have listened to for hundreds, if not thousands of times over the last two decades! Real spooky stuff to realize what was there all along!
• Music sounds audibly louder and more dynamic - what sorcery is at work here, Dave?  The bass has better texture and hits harder.
• micro dynamics, especially of vocals and softer instruments are more discernible
• the midrange and all other frequencies sound more relaxed and natural, yet the Buss seems to pull out more detail (if that makes any sense?) My wife, commented that the timbre of voices and instruments sounds more natural and clearer.
• Lastly, the imaging has improved further. Voices are now locked solidly in place.

I can't comment on depth and the overall soundstage since I listen in the extreme nearfield, but I can't imagine how it could not have improved.

Overall, the Buss acts like a microscope in bringing out details in music or maybe it is more akin to a great lens with deep focus in the way it can illuminate different sounds in different sonic planes of the mix. It doesn't bring any particular attention to one aspect of the sound such as the midrange, bass, or highs and everything now sounds less homogenized and more natural. It is now far easier to follow certain instruments even when the music gets 'busy' with so many sounds thrown into the mix.

Again, just as I concluded in my review of the DigiBuss years ago, I do not consider the Buss to be an accessory, but a mandatory component of a system in the way that it vastly improves the sound of - well, anything you plug into it, to be honest.

Now, it boggles my mind just thinking what an UberBuss would do!

Paul

[Nick B]

Update: I've had the Buss plugged in and 'running' constantly for the past two weeks and I still haven't broken in every single outlet. 

But, I've burned in the 'normal' ones and the UberPuerto ones enough to make a short report.

Day one: Just the amp plugged in:

With no burn in and the amp plugged in to the normal Buss outlets and everything else plugged into the DigiBuss, it is evident that this improves:

• Bass- There is simply more punch, impact, and extension
• Midrange- even with no break in, it already cleaned up a harshness to the midrange that I wrongly assumed to be the fault of the speaker cables. Wrong! It was the dirty, sewage-like water of the mains that was polluting the sound!

The sound was bright, forward, and thin at this point, but already an improvement!

After 7 Days

I plugged in the DigiBuss into the Buss. This improved:

• Detail retrieval - some micro level details buried in the mix became more evident, such as reverb, second voices, double tracking, faint percussive details such as brushwork, strumming, etc. are now plain to hear

The sound at this point was more fleshed out and relaxed

Second Week

Plugged in the amp and the DigiBuss into the UberPuerto and did an A/B test. And to prove that I haven't just been imagining things, I asked the wife to listen.

The UberPuerto had these effects:

• Pulled out even more recorded details in music I am intimately familiar with and have listened to for hundreds, if not thousands of times over the last two decades! Real spooky stuff to realize what was there all along!
• Music sounds audibly louder and more dynamic - what sorcery is at work here, Dave?  The bass has better texture and hits harder.
• micro dynamics, especially of vocals and softer instruments are more discernible
• the midrange and all other frequencies sound more relaxed and natural, yet the Buss seems to pull out more detail (if that makes any sense?) My wife, commented that the timbre of voices and instruments sounds more natural and clearer.
• Lastly, the imaging has improved further. Voices are now locked solidly in place.

I can't comment on depth and the overall soundstage since I listen in the extreme nearfield, but I can't imagine how it could not have improved.

Overall, the Buss acts like a microscope in bringing out details in music or maybe it is more akin to a great lens with deep focus in the way it can illuminate different sounds in different sonic planes of the mix. It doesn't bring any particular attention to one aspect of the sound such as the midrange, bass, or highs and everything now sounds less homogenized and more natural. It is now far easier to follow certain instruments even when the music gets 'busy' with so many sounds thrown into the mix.

Again, just as I concluded in my review of the DigiBuss years ago, I do not consider the Buss to be an accessory, but a mandatory component of a system in the way that it vastly improves the sound of - well, anything you plug into it, to be honest.

Now, it boggles my mind just thinking what an UberBuss would do!

Paul

Thanks for the update, Paul. Glad there’s been such a significant improvement. You are absolutely right also in describing the Buss as being a mandatory component. I wouldn’t want to be without mine! 
Nick

[malloy]

Hi Nick,

Yep. The Buss is essential and is staying in!

I can address the deficiencies in the stereo now that I have a better handle on what is really sounds like.

Paul

[tmazz]

Paul,  I have to say, I installed an Uber Puerto just as a wall outlet and I hear very similar things to what you described when moving the components to the Uber vs the standard outlets in the Buss.

I am sure the differences were not of the same magnitude as what you heard since mine did not have the benefit of the Buss behind it, but they were similar in nature.

If you have not already done so I would suggest getting Uber Puertos to replace the wall outlets that your other PI units are plugged into. They are simply a huge value for the money an I would think they could do nothing but improve what you already have.

[malloy]

Hi Tom,

Good suggestion. I was thinking of doing that next. I have an Orange IG 5362 20 amp receptacle in the wall that replaced a 2-decade ordinary, old outlet. I think this is the commercial heavy duty one. Now, every outlet and every inlet is suspect!   

Paul