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Heads up - more Buffalo sighted!

Paul,

I like how you’ve pulled balanced XLRs + RCAs off the IVY. I’ll do that too.

On the MUX, it looks like there are 3 BNC connections. Is there a reason to use BNCs rather than RCAs? What’s the BNC underneath?

It's a shame the HiFi 2000 bottoms don't come with vents on the right side only. I do like your idea of putting the bottom vents in front.


James,

OK, I’ll pull the LCBPS & Welbourne supplies and get a Placid instead to power the IVY. If need be, I should be able to hang the regs off the sides or even off the bottom in order to fit heat sinks, but I’ll need to plan for the extra footprint. I’ll also need to upgrade one transformer to a dual 15V 30VA.

And I need a replacement pot for the Volumite.

I’ll soon accumulate enough left-overs to build a second DAC for an office system….


Thanks to all for putting up with my digi-newbie questions!
 
My intent was to go balanced all the way from the DAC to the (active) speakers. Not quite there yet though. I have a Volumite to try next.

I prefer BNC for 75 Ohm S/PDIF. BNC-phono adaptors then work well for compatibility with phono cables. At the moment the third BNC is wired to the S/PDIF output from the mux, it will end up being used for the fourth input as I now need all of them. And I need two of them to be optical inputs, which is a pain. Anyway the BNC thing is a matter of taste, I don't think there is any real issue either way.

I've had no heat issues at all. The DAC has run for weeks on end with no complaint. I am using lower voltage transformers though.

Paul
 
Thanks, Paul, my disc player outputs digital on either an RCA 75 ohm jack or Toslink. My other digital source is a Mac Mini which outputs either USB or Toslink. 2 Toslinks and 2 RCAs would give a lot of flexibility. I'd get a 2nd Toslink module except that TPA has been out.

Just ordered the Placids and associated transformers, so I'll have 3 power supplies:
  1. Placid bipolar for the IVY
  2. Placid mono for the Buffalo's analog rail
  3. LCDPS – one rail for the Vd on the Buffalo & the other for all the other digital bits

Almost there, and just in time for the new TPA Buffalo32/IVY combo to obsolete the whole effort. :p
 
Just pulled the trigger on one of the new Buffalo II's and IVY III's to replace my "Mk1" Buffalo and Ivy. Looking forward to building it and seeing how it sounds. Ordered the Placid's to go along with it. I've been very impressed with the original Buffalo. Fantastic performance for stupid money.

Colin
 
I'm just assembling an IVY III to replace my earlier gen IVY. The new one has the option to power each channel with separate Placids. Has anyone tried this and found it to be worthwhile?

BTW, I've been enjoying HiDef FLACs through my Buffalo II, but vinyl still kills it with a sense of presence around the instruments and a depth to the soundstage. Hence, I'm putting some more cash and effort into the I-V stage of the DAC.
 
I found the regulation to have quite an influence on the sound with Buffalo32s, tbh I wasn't 100% happy with it in stock form, after lots of faffing about I settled on upgrading all the regulation to Paul Hynes shunts and series regs which to me really boosted its performance

Not tried the BII with IVYIII yet so let us know how you get on
 
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