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Received my Buffalo/Ivy combo in just enough time to hear it for 45 mins before the same ice storm Brian spoke of hit and took out our power for 3 days. We got killed to Brian, I feel for you.
The Buffalo/IVY is a winner. Very much different from the various NOS and BB17XX dacs I have built before. I am interested in taking the Buffalo to the highest level of performance within my skill level as possible. I am going to list some thoughts and questions I have in no particular order. I should mention I am mostly PC based and using the SPDIF output of a VIA motherboard. I would also like to explore TPA's products first in appreciation of bringing such a fine dac to market.
I'm pretty sure I need to ditch SPDIF, what USB> I2S solution is optimum? Is the Lukit dac4392 worthy of the expense? Empirical Audio stuff is probably out of my price range. Are either of these that much better than TPA's USB>PCM2707>I2S solution?
Dual mono IVY's for Buffalo? If so,individual power supply's for each?
What is the best bang for the buck power supply/regulation swap for Buffalo? I am thinking a dedicated clock supply to start. I am using a LCDPS for the Buffalo and a Burson bipolar for the IVY. Where is the Placid? I would like to hear one of these before I use another set of Jung regulators. They (JSR's) don't seem to be the be all end all regulators I thought they would be. Saw a detailed post about splitting almost all power requirements on the Buffalo (or maybe a Saber devlpr. board). I have been that route before with varying amounts of success. It would be great not to wreck another PCB for no real reason.
As I move forward I will try to share what I do, FWIW.
Thanks for any input, Washout
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Hi, There is no difference to the DAC if the input is I2S or SPDIF, other than the time it takes to lock. The performance is the same if the data is the same. The clock is not recovered from the SPDIF signal, just the data. Dual mono IVY might have degree of success, but I would not expect anything major there. :) Placid rocks, it needs a few tweaks and is in the next batch of PCBs to come. As soon as we test it it will be available. It has the right combination of low output impedance and low noise to perfectly suite the Buffalo (or any similar device really). Glad you made it through the storm. Stay warm and listen to some nice music. :) Cheers! Russ Edited by user Sunday, December 14, 2008 7:59:35 PM(UTC)
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From reading various threads here I was under the impression that adding the MUX gave a performance boost because it bypassed the "comparator" on the DAC board.
I haven't ordered the MUX yet. I do not really need multiple inputs yet, But I will if there is a definite performance boost.
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If you have one of the newer Buffalo it has a much faster comparator and you will not have that issue. :) The older comparator is simply limited to 48khz. At that range and below it works just fine.
The MUX is very very nice to have though, and it does offer isolation.
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thanks for the clarification Russ
I have just started building my Buffalo/Ivy combo. PS first then the rest.
I will see how it goes and maybe add the MUX later.
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Thanks for the reply Russ.
Being the clock is generated at the Buffalo, USB>I2S would not offer any improvement either?
It has been awhile (unless I missed something) since there has been mention of the Placid. Can you give us an approximate as far as price and availability?
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Well the USB module would allow you to use USB, but it won't make any difference if you use SPDIF or I2S and like the TORX module you can go direct to D1 and skip the comparator. :)
Placid should be here soon after we come back from our Christmas vacation. :)As long as the new version checks out it will be for sale shortly thereafter.
Cheers!
Russ
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Removed REG1 for separate PS and regulator. Lifted supply pin on REG2 and feed with separate PS and regulator. Remove IC3 and feed C11 and C12 with separate regs and PS. I would like to feed the clock separately but there has been a minumum of disruption to the pcb at this point and I'd like to keep it like that. All regs are Jung Supers. Looking forward to trying the Placid when it is available. Also have some Teddy reg pcb's on the way to play with those.
IVY is sensitive (in my rig) to different PS's and regs. I have a combo I like very much after a little experimentation.
There are a few other things I'd like to try, but for now this dac is kicking the crap out of anything I've ever had in my system. Over and out on this one.
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Wow. That's a lot of work! Well I am sure it sounds great. Have fun!
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