Russ,
I plan to build buffalo III es9038pro with coax, toslink and usb inputs.
Do you think something like this:
NEW AK4118 digital receiver board SPDIF input switch IIS with IIS support XMOS | eBay
would work with hermes and cronus? It seems like it is amanero pin compatible ...
unless you are planinig on doing something like this
Cheers
What are you trying to achieve? The Buffalo Pro will accept both consumer level S/PDIF and I2S/DSD and allow switching between them.
So, the BIII-SE-Pro w/9038 will arrive in two days.
However, without the new Mercury I/V the dac will
be silent until it's available
Is there any way to use the dac until the Merc is available?
Keeping the volume turned down will limit the output current. Just be careful
Keeping the volume turned down will limit the output current. Just be careful
I'll give it a try
Won't damage the Legato if I do go too high?
I see the package is out for deliv----- oooo I just heard
the mailman!! It's here!!
I notice that the DAC chip doesn't have a heat sink?
I thought heat was a problem with the 9038?
-Joe
DIP switch settings are going to be different, as the new chips have a much different feature set.
More information here: GitHub - twistedpearaudio/Buffalo-III-SE-Pro-On-Board-Firmware
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The chip has a power pad that is thermally coupled to a copper pour - it barely gets warmI'll give it a try
Won't damage the Legato if I do go too high?
I see the package is out for deliv----- oooo I just heard
the mailman!! It's here!!
I notice that the DAC chip doesn't have a heat sink?
I thought heat was a problem with the 9038?
-Joe
Running with legato at high volume won't damage it - but it will cause clipping.
Hi Folks!
The manual for this DAC is now live on github. It should be complete enough for people to start assembling.
Buffalo III SE (Stereo Edition) Pro
If you find it lacking or see an error please open an issue. We will be adding other forms of integration guides and module docs there as well.
If you want to contribute please fork the blog and submit a pull request - or you can simply open an issue.
The on-board firmware is also on github - feel free to fork it and submit pull requests.
The firmware is continuously released and the hex file can be downloaded from the release. You then just need a serial programmer for the ATTiny85 like the "AVR Dragon" to get the firmware on your controller. I have a fairly complete header file for the chip registers etc... Take a look!
GitHub - twistedpearaudio/Buffalo-III-SE-Pro-On-Board-Firmware
Cheers!
Russ
The manual for this DAC is now live on github. It should be complete enough for people to start assembling.
Buffalo III SE (Stereo Edition) Pro
If you find it lacking or see an error please open an issue. We will be adding other forms of integration guides and module docs there as well.
If you want to contribute please fork the blog and submit a pull request - or you can simply open an issue.
The on-board firmware is also on github - feel free to fork it and submit pull requests.
The firmware is continuously released and the hex file can be downloaded from the release. You then just need a serial programmer for the ATTiny85 like the "AVR Dragon" to get the firmware on your controller. I have a fairly complete header file for the chip registers etc... Take a look!
GitHub - twistedpearaudio/Buffalo-III-SE-Pro-On-Board-Firmware
Cheers!
Russ
The firmware we are shipping right now is stereo only - because for most folks the current in stereo mode is already staggering
If people want it I can make a mono version as well - but there are lots of good reasons *not* to go mono. I will try to expand on that later.
Lets just say this - an ES9038 is already like running 2 pair mono ES9028s summed per channel. I can't see getting much real world benefit in a mono-ES9038 - but there is quite a lot of complexity - and stuff to go wrong. For example - you need to rig one DAC without a controller and disable the port expander - you then need to change the DAC address - and the most complex part - you need to route your input signals to both DACs in a way that does not harm the signal - that is not as simple as it sounds
For that reason I would not suggest dual mono to anyone who is not very very confident in doing it themselves - when it's all done I doubt you would get better results then you would by simply using the 9038 in stereo - and the stereo solution will be much more tidy - which does a lot. In my opinion - unlike the old 9008/9018 in this configuration the 9038 is best used 8 channel or stereo. If there is enough demand I could create a single board dual-mono module - that's really the way to do it right.Cheers!
Russ
The other practical reason not to go dual mono on any of the ES9008/18/28/38 etc... is that there is a +/- 14% matching accuracy between chips... what that means is that you have to apply level correction to each chip to get them to match. Well there is good news and bad news on that front - the good news is that the new chips have an ADC and an "auto level calibration" feature - that bad news is that to use it you have to reduce the master trim on the chips (to give the calibration feature headroom to apply positive or negative correction) - which has much more impact on dynamic range and THD than you might think! The ES9038 was designed really to eliminate the need for mono.
I can only share with you the feedback that I am using my 9018 in Dual Mono just following Leon's Integration manual and your advise and it sound MARVELOUS.
The I/V-Resistor is a Texas Components Z-Foil and after this follows a tube stage with DHT, playing into an amorpous OPT. So basically if you want not to spend 7000-10000 $ for Lampizador kind of DACs, the Bufallo can be a perfect basis.
I know that you always advised to find a lowest possible impedance I/V-solution and therefore, the more current we can get, the smaller the passive I/V-resistor. I have tried OP-AMPs, but this is not my cup of tea.
The other advantage is when you go with a tube stage like this and have a bigger/louder signal: I can more aggressively choose a step-down-ratio. So, currently I use 4p1L in triode mode with rp of 1k5. If I have more current, I can use 4:1 step down and have 1/16 output impedance...like 100 ohm from DHT WITHOUT a cathode follower...how cool is this ?
The I/V-Resistor is a Texas Components Z-Foil and after this follows a tube stage with DHT, playing into an amorpous OPT. So basically if you want not to spend 7000-10000 $ for Lampizador kind of DACs, the Bufallo can be a perfect basis.
I know that you always advised to find a lowest possible impedance I/V-solution and therefore, the more current we can get, the smaller the passive I/V-resistor. I have tried OP-AMPs, but this is not my cup of tea.
The other advantage is when you go with a tube stage like this and have a bigger/louder signal: I can more aggressively choose a step-down-ratio. So, currently I use 4p1L in triode mode with rp of 1k5. If I have more current, I can use 4:1 step down and have 1/16 output impedance...like 100 ohm from DHT WITHOUT a cathode follower...how cool is this ?
Sure 9018 in dual mono is not a bad idea - but in retrospect - not an ideal idea either because of the channel imbalance - indeed it sounds excellent! In fact it is you have to try pretty hard to make the ES9018/28/38 sound bad...
But... a 9038 is stereo already has double the current per channel as a mono ES9018!!! As a bonus you will have far cleaner wiring/routing - which can make a big difference. So all in all - that extra complexity nets you practically nothing - and maybe makes things worse (because of the complex wiring)In any case nothing prevents you from using the B3SEPRO in dual mono - it's just a matter of firmware.
Cheers!
Russ
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Absolutely! I am quite willing to write the firmware - but someone else (you maybe?) will need to test it.
Because I don't currently plan on running the B3SE-Pro dual mono. I think that if I ever do dual mono again it will be on one PCB.
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Both ( testing testing with two stereo board in mono mode or the option of a dual mono board) would be perfectly fine for me...volunteer here...(by the way: I heard the 9018 in normal stereo as well some time before I upgraded to dual mono and felt that this was a worthy upgrade and since then no issues....a wonderful com o with Ian's fifo and Lucien's Wavio).
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Nice the switchs 2-3 for the PCM format ...
Please keep it also for the incoming multichannel version
I have been building Buffalo dacs since the original 9008 version and they have always been great sounding systems that have seen off many commercial units brought in for comparison as the opportunity arose.
My means of delivering bits to the dac has varied over time and currently I am mostly interested in highly upsampled DSD. I would appreciate some technical understanding on how the new ESS chips process DSD if Russ or anyone can offer some insight without breaking their NDA!
If I hit the new chip with DSD512 from HQPlayer will the chip pass the data through its own filters?
Thanks
Mark
My means of delivering bits to the dac has varied over time and currently I am mostly interested in highly upsampled DSD. I would appreciate some technical understanding on how the new ESS chips process DSD if Russ or anyone can offer some insight without breaking their NDA!
If I hit the new chip with DSD512 from HQPlayer will the chip pass the data through its own filters?
Thanks
Mark