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Buffalo II - Assembly for the Electronically Bewildered.

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Well. Despite my intention to leave things alone until Monday I just couldn't resist setting the DAC up. I mounted it on a board, left things dangling, just connected the TOSlink directly & with great trepidation popped it into my system.

And stone me, it actually WORKS!!!

buffalo-up--running.jpg


Experience of Hi-Fi has taught me that new items take a fair while to burn in and sound of their best but this Buffalo sounds really special already. My system's pretty ruthless with sources but even at this early stage I can jack the volume up to unfeasible levels and it still sounds excellent.

As you might be able to tell, I'm dead chuffed! :D
 
Well done!

Every time I see pictures of your system I have to do a double take... Quite a lot of equipment!!!
 
sam_cat said:
Well done!

Every time I see pictures of your system I have to do a double take... Quite a lot of equipment!!!
Click to expand...


Sorry, my intention isn't to boast about my kit (which I built up over many years and thanks to good fortune was able to afford in the past).

Despite being now retired I've still maybe got the means to buy a decent 'Off-The Shelf" DAC but this DIY thing is a whole lot more satisfying, and I suspect the Buffalo's as good if not better than the usual suspects...
 
Suffolk Tony said:
Sorry, my intention isn't to boast about my kit
Click to expand...

I don't think any of us think that Tony, we are just pleased to be able to ogle at the pics.

It also gives credence to your SQ reviews as we know the caliber of the review system.
Keep the pr0n coming.
 
My congratulations Tony :)

My Buffalo kit is already waiting at the post office, i will pick up it tomorrow, but i have not so much time at the moment, i will start to build it in two weeks and i am very curious about the sound ;)
 
sq225917 said:
So, better than the cd555 ?
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No. Nothing else digital sounds quite as good as the 555, but the Buffalo's a very high-quality DAC and the differences aren't immediately apparent.

A better comparison is with my trusty modified Gigaworks DAC, which now sounds very "soft", lacking definition and dynamics. A bit dull.

I'm currently using TOSlink but I plan to fit the co-ax digital input today. I'm wondering whether, until I can get my hands on another Placid, I can continue to use the single input and not use the MUX 4:1, then install the Tridents? That way the existing Placid can power the Buffalo & Tridents only.
 
With my Placid adjusted to the "standard" settings as per manual it delivers "up to 350 mA" & the Buff. + Tridents requires 450 mA. Oh...

Yet reading through the TP Forum Russ white seems to suggest it should be OK, plus there's this posting from avr300 -

"Are you using Placid PSU?. If yes, it depends of how you have adjusted now. The current draw is 450mA after the Tridents, so yes, you should probably adjust your Placid.

I'm burning 500mA (full scale - flat out) in my Placid, leaving about 50mA in the shunt itself after connecting the BII.

Yes, according to manual:

"Now adjust the CCS pot (VR1) until the measured voltage across R8 is ~ 0.35V. The Placid is now ready to supply current of up to 350mA." - you just have to turn it up to ~ 0.5v."

So I assume if I adjust mine in a similar way it'll produce 500 mA, but then there's some suggestion I might need bigger heatsinks? It's all a bit vague really. Or more like a bit beyond me.

Presumably if the Placid can't deliver the required current then the Buff. won't work?
 
You can get the standard placid to supply 500mA with some adjustments. I think it's actually just a case of putting a wire link in place of one resistor, but that would need confirming. I've never done it. depends which board version you have as well, as the resistors are numbered differently from early to later due to circuit revisions.

You probably would need bigger heatsinks once cased, in the open air as you have them now you're probably ok. I ended up changing the transistor orientation so they were under the board and could be bolted to the case.
 
Thanks again James. Yes it does appear I can replace the R5 resistor with either a 4.7 ohm or a wire link. I'm using a very large case with headroom for the Tridents so hopefully there should be adequate ventilation but I'm quite happy to replace the heatsinks also with some a bit bigger.

Reading a bit more, it appears the best solution is to use the LCDPS module to power the Buff/Tridents. Perhaps I'll wait until I can get one of these before fitting the Tridents?
 
I'm using LCDPS to power mine at the moment (with current limiting resistors replaced with wire links). The added advantage of this is it gives you another independent output with which to power mux etc. Tpa have said that lcdps should be fine, as it's overkill to put a shunt reg in front of more shunt regs. Some users have posted that they still prefer the sound of placid powering buff+tridents. Once the high current placid is availble, and funds are available, I'll probably try this as well. Can't resist a tinker!
 
Right, in that case I'll up the power of my Placid as suggested, then when the high-current Placid's available I'll get one & use the original to power the MUX & TOS link.

Is there some means to reduce the desire to tinker? :)
 
My Buffalo arrived today.

This is Buffalo DAC+Placid+Legato+BP Placid+9V Tranny+15V Tranny:

IMG_4723.jpg


I want to build it immediately, but i don't have to much time at the moment.

Grrrrrrr....
 
Congratulations tomek! Don't those packets just look so damn tempting?

I've just wired mine up for co-ax digital input via my iMac into a Teradac USB - SP/DIF convertor & the sound quality over TOSlink is quite a step up, much more apparent than when using my Gigadac.

Now, a silly question maybe but I presume it's OK to add a wire link under the Placid board to bridge out R5? This resistor's a bit buried away & will be tricky to unsolder.
 
Should be fine re R5. Easier to undo as well!

Interesting re the teradac. Is that the one you can also take i2s out of? might be worth playing with that into buffalo as well.
 
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