Three or four (or maybe five) years ago I bought a Buffalo DAC, Ivy, LCDPS and LCBPS. I used it to great effect until the Buffalo 32S came out, when I moved that in, together with another TP power supply and retired the original Buffalo

We moved house, spent a couple of years having building work down and all the while the Buffalo sat in a box. In the meantime, I had thoughts of getting it back into service once the builders were gone and ordered a replacement LCDPS and LCPBS to use it in my 2nd classic Quad system.

Today, I knocked together the LCDPS and LCBPS, blew the cobwebs off the Buffalo (V1.2) and Ivy, adjusted the power supplies (Ivy 12V + and -, VD 6V and VA 6.6V) and connected them up. The power LED glow but the lock LED stays dark and there is no output.

What on earth can have got broken? I've measured input volts at the Buffalo and they are fine. Outputs are SE and I've tried SPDIF and stereo coax inputs into the Buffalo. I've tried it with the Ivy disconnected and with the Volumite disconnected. I'm stumped. Anyone got any suggestions? I want to use this direct into Quad IIs and ESL57s but into anything would be good :-(

Hey Russ, source is a Squeeze Touch. I tried an old Squeeze Duet because that's what I was originally using with it when it worked, but no difference. Input is stereo coax from the Touch into D1, D2 and ground to G on the Buffalo. Does that help? Please tell me I've done something dumb ;-)

Oh yeah, and I've also tried it in my main Naim/Avondale/DIY-based system, where it used to sit, and no difference.

Edited by user Monday, July 1, 2013 8:09:25 PM(UTC)  | Reason: And another thing....

Yay, result! Thanks Russ. Well half a result anyway. Just using SPDIF didn't work until I unhooked the volumite, then, bam - a solid lock. It just goes to show. You always have to go back to the beginning and be methodical. I'd taken the volumite out once but obviously not in the right sequence of fiddling.

So now I have a volumite question.... The volumite is hooked up as per the manual, noting that SDA and SCL are switched in position. There is 3.3V at the volumite, I've left out the two resistors, IC2 is omitted and jumpered (pins 1 to 3), I've checked the caps are the right way round, the AVR chip and socket are in place, oriented with the dot on the silkscreen and the original chip is still in the Buffalo.

I've just desoldered and resoldered every joint on the volumite and checked each with a magnifying glass. It's still not working. I've also just noticed that when I woke the PC that Squeeze Server is running on, the DAC paused. Significant?

Is there anything obviously wrong with this set-up? Have I got the right firmware? I just looked up the confirmatory email from TP and it says its firmware for Buffalo-II Stereo/Buffalo-II Dual-Mono/Buffalo32S.

Finally, and rather spookily, while looking through old emails I noticed that I ordered the 32S from you exactly four years to the day from when I started fiddling with this yesterday!

Edited by user Tuesday, July 2, 2013 10:18:05 AM(UTC)  | Reason: More info

Hi Brian, yes, I've tried it without the Buffalo chip and also with both in, because I thought I read somewhere that the early versions needed both. No joy.

Damn! I think you're right. Just to be sure, I checked the manual that I used against the ones in your document downloads and it is, indeed, this one (http://www.twistedpearaudio.com/docs/digital/buffalo_manual.pdf).

So I bought the wrong firmware. Can you tell me, please, which one to choose on the order page and I'll do it straight away? I guess that this old Buffalo now counts as 'classic' and will fit in well with the Quad IIs

Outstanding! Thanks guys, I do appreciate it. My apologies for being a nuisance.