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Buffalo II

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R

ronpod

Member
Joined 2010
Hi Russ and Brian,

After reading many of the threads on your development of audio delights I pre-ordered the BII. I'm a recent arrival in digital after extended excursion through vinyl and tubes land. The SB Touch moved me over to thinking that digital may be closing in on that visceral musical experience. I have recently built Siegfried Linkwitz's Orion+ speakers that reveal source quality. The Touch now feeds a Hagerman Clarinet line stage (volume control) with 50k ohm input impedance. The pair of Telefunken ECC82s sound very sweet but do add a little noise with the pleasant color. The Clarinet feeds Linkwitz's ASP active crossover with 10k ohm input impedance.

So my plan is to improve on the DAC in the Touch by passing S/PDIF to the BII bypassing the SBT Dac. I was going to use the IVY III but now I'm confused by the introduction of the Legato. I am still predisposed to the IVY III but is that the right choice? Which one can handle the 50K to 10k ohm load range? Also what are the compromises if I get a volume control module with the BII and feed the Linkwitz ASP directly? I am thinking less might be better bypassing the Clarinet but will no tubes be as pleasant?

My wife has just asked what I want for my birthday so now she is aware of Twisted Pair. She previously has given me the Hagerman Cornet2 and Clarinet as presents. She is reluctant because "how can the sound be any better?" Well I hope you can help us out!

The HD downloads from HDTracks and High Definition Tape Transfers has reinvigorated interest in developing this digital chain. This morning we listened to the Grisman-Garcia-Rice Pizza Tapes followed by Mozart's Violin Concerto in G major and Albert King and Stevie Ray V In Session. We are liking 24/96! Haven't spun any vinyl all day - I could enjoy getting lazy...

Ron
 
vitalica

vitalica

Member
Joined 2005
I have a CD-PRO2M and I want to use it with I2S output in dual-mono version.
This is what I bought:

2 pcs. Buffalo II DAC;
2 pcs. PSU 5.5 V;
2 pcs. Ivy I / V stage;
2 pcs. PSU 15V;
1 pcs. Metronome;
1 pcs. PSU 5.5V
1 pcs. Volume controller.

Can you tell me if this component is ok?

How should I properly connected modules for dual-mono version:

CDPRO2M- I2S - Metronome - Buffalo II DAC - I / V - Volumite?

Thanks very much!

Vitaly
 
L

LeonvB

Member
Joined 2010
Ron,

Have you tried the 2L test files at High Resolution Music DOWNLOAD services ? I agree with you now is a good time to look at high res audio. It's become possible after recent internet bandwidth increases and rapidly dropping prices, esp. the TPA kits offer convenience and a great price/performance ratio.
I have a feeling the questions you have will all come down to personal preference, not only about IVY/Legato, but also about volume control. It'll be hard to hear it in advance, as it's a DIY solution and you're unlikely to find both configurations you would like to compare anywhere near (i.e. built in an identical way). The good thing about volume control is that it's cheap to add, so you could test that for yourself.
 
M

matthiasw

Member
Joined 2010
Counterpoint vs. Legato

Russ White said:
This is just to show how things are progressing on the discrete output stage front. This circuit is called Legato. It is a derivative of Counterpoint but without the folded cascode and with an optional buffer and some other changes.
Russ
Click to expand...

Hi Russ,

it would be appreciated if you shed some light on the sonic differences between Counterpoint and Legato.

Thanks

matthias
 
R

ronpod

Member
Joined 2010
LeonvB,

Thanks for the heads-up! Just downloaded the test files on 2L and they are playing now. These are very good high rez recordings that are convincing me that I need more then the 96k limit provided by the SB Touch. I am looking forward to building the BII into my system and experimenting with the options the BII allows!
 
B

Bunpei

Member
Joined 2008
thanh1973 said:
Will the buffalo up convert cd to higher resolution?
If not is their benefit in re-encoding cd to a higher resolution eg 24bit 96kHz (pcm)?
When you re-encode is interpolation used or are there just steps?
Click to expand...

My understandings are;
1. Firmware of Buffalo DACs always enables "Over sampling mode".
Therefore, 44.1 kHz sampled data is converted internally into data of higher sampling rate (I guess, x 8 = 352.8 kHz ) by a digital filter in a first stage of ES9018 chip.
2. As for a bit length of one sample, I guess no apparent conversion of 16 -> 24 bit with dithering is performed.

If anyone find any misunderstandings in the explanation above, please tell us correct information.
 
Russ White

Russ White

Member
Joined 2005
twistedpearaudio.com
The DAC does indeed upsample in the OSF, but it further asynchronously samples at a much higher rate which is dependent only on the master clock, not the source frequency. This is how they provide such excellent jitter rejection. The final sample rate with jitter reduction enabled is actually in the Mhz not Khz range. Out of respect for the NDA I won't go into more detail than that.

Cheers!
Russ
 
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