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Twisted Pear Audio - Buffalo32S (ES9018 DAC)

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Russ White

Russ White

Member
Joined 2005
twistedpearaudio.com
Hi Rene,

I am sure I could tell them apart, but I am very bad at writing subjectively. The ES9018 and the ES9008 are definitely different sounding chips. And the Buffalo32S just sounds more alive and real to me than anything I have heard to date.

I will leave it to others to compare and contrast because I am afraid I would do a bad job of it. :)

The biggest difference I hear myself is when driving headphones. The Buffalo32S really shines here.

Cheers!
Russ
 
Russ White

Russ White

Member
Joined 2005
twistedpearaudio.com
sleep888 said:
Russ,

If my understanding is correct, the input quality for Buffalo should be I2S > AES > SPDIF, am I right?

I am wondering if there is a way that I can connect AES(XLR) input direct to new Buffalo32 without MUX-CS8416? I checked all documents which I can found, but didn't get a clear answer.

Thanks in advance.
Roland
Click to expand...


Hi Roland.

I am not sure which is "better". I have very good SPDIF sources and I hear no difference between them and an I2S source.

The ES9018 can decode both AES and SPDIF formats. No worries there. But you will want to level shift the signal to either consumer level (say with a 4:1 trafo or similar cct) or to true TTL level.

If you have it as consumer level then use it as if it were consumer SPDIF.

If you have it as TTL then use D1 and GND.

Cheers!
Russ
 
muizel

muizel

Member
Joined 2005
Thanks for the answer Russ

Russ White said:
Hi Rene,

I am sure I could tell them apart, but I am very bad at writing subjectively. The ES9018 and the ES9008 are definitely different sounding chips. And the Buffalo32S just sounds more alive and real to me than anything I have heard to date.

I will leave it to others to compare and contrast because I am afraid I would do a bad job of it. :)

The biggest difference I hear myself is when driving headphones. The Buffalo32S really shines here.

Cheers!
Russ
Click to expand...

Thank you Russ,

I find this a very good answer
:) and a good headphone is very reveeling.

Thanks a lot,

Rene.
 
protos

protos

Member
Joined 2002
Russ White said:


Hi Protos thanks for the encouragement. :)

With all respect, your estimation of the costs involved is not even close and very simplistic. This topic has been covered before, so I won't do it again.

If its not a good value to you, then by all means look elsewhere.

Cheers!
Russ
Click to expand...

Well since you are a business the subject of encouragement is neither here nor there.
As a business of course you have the right to set the prices that you think are worth your time and effort.
I was not aware that the subject of pricing was explained in a satisfactory manner previously but in any case you don't owe anybody any explanations.
In fact my comment was not really directed at you since I did mention my respect to begin with but at other members of the forum in order to get a feel if they think that the pricing structure is good value for money for the diy community.
 
Russ White

Russ White

Member
Joined 2005
twistedpearaudio.com
protos said:


Well since you are a business the subject of encouragement is neither here nor there.
As a business of course you have the right to set the prices that you think are worth your time and effort.
I was not aware that the subject of pricing was explained in a satisfactory manner previously but in any case you don't owe anybody any explanations.
In fact my comment was not really directed at you since I did mention my respect to begin with but at other members of the forum in order to get a feel if they think that the pricing structure is good value for money for the diy community.
Click to expand...


Protos,

Brian and I take pride in the fact that we set very fair prices. Both of use knew that some people would see the price of the Buffalo32S and wince. Let me try to explain why it is what it is. There are a lot of hidden costs. Prototypes. Stencils. Production. Packing. Support. And all of the components on the circuit are premium type components. They are not cheap. Bottom line is we are trying to be as fair as possible without having to go out of business.

Now, if you want to make a comparison, compare our bundle to the ESS9018 evaluation board. I think you would have to conclude our bundle is not a bad deal at all. BTW, they are actually not making a whole lot of money on that board either. I am just using it as an example.

I would say that our module is a lot more DIY friendly, and has some advantages like a much lower output impedance. You cannot drive headphones directly from the evaluation board. But our module make a complete headphone driving unit all by itself. This in fact is my preferred way to use it because nothing comes close to the fidelity of good headphones.

Cheers!
Russ
 
K

krgaunt

Member
Joined 2008
protos said:


In fact my comment was not really directed at you since I did mention my respect to begin with but at other members of the forum in order to get a feel if they think that the pricing structure is good value for money for the diy community.
Click to expand...

You might consider getting the tweeker board, which will be much less cost. You will then be able to build a circuit to perfectly suit your tastes and your budget.

For the B-32/IVY board that TP is offering, Russ went all out to make the circuit components match the quality of the signal coming out of the Sabre. The precision components used do not come cheap. Russ could have used 25% carbon resistors for example. But he wisely chose not to.

There is no question there will be less expensive boards available in the future. I purchased an entire Blu-Ray player that has an internal Saber-8 chip for less than the cost of the original Buffalo 1.0 board, but the sound quality of the Blu-Ray doesn't compare to the B 1.0.

On the other hand, the B-32 produces a signal on par with the $6,000 (usd) Macintosh Saber-8 CD player. I'm quite happy to pay $450 for something that actually sounds better than the Macintosh (yes, I've A/B compared them.)

In my mind there is a difference, and not just in price, between a Jetta and a Lamborghini, for example. I'm happy driving my middle class car. But for myself, a $450 audio Lamborghini seems quite a bargain

RossG
 
3

3lviz

Member
Joined 2009
Here is my version of B32s. Started with the electronics today and could not help finishing it. It even worked the first try. I guess i am not all thumbs with DIY stuff after all.

I gotta say, i love the sound compared to Benchmark DAC1 (vanilla). Well, i think i just love the sound, with or without comparisons.
 

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Russ White

Russ White

Member
Joined 2005
twistedpearaudio.com
fff0 said:
Hi Russ,

1) Just curious, what will happen if I connect 2 different source of SPDIF together at the input of B32?

2) How do I tell if my SPDIF source is TTL or consumer level output?

3) If I want to try an external I/V output, where can I tap the signal from?
Click to expand...


1) To the same input? That would not be good thing to do, the two SPDIF sources would be driving each other and it would not work. If you use two different inputs you could use the on board mux, but you would need custom firmware to configure the DAC.

2) Measure it. You would need a scope. Alternatively it might be documented. Generally unless you have pro gear it is going to be consumer level. It won't harm anything to apply TTL level to the comparator in any case, it just won't work as well.

3) There is no good way to do it on the Buffalo32S. You would need to cut a lot of traces and/or remove parts.

Cheers!
Russ
 
W

wackyterbacky

Member
Joined 2007
Question on single ended output

Good morning:

I know the Buffalo32S has Single Ended and/or Balanced outputs. I have a tube integrated amp with single ended inputs that are switchable from integrated (with Volume control) to power amp.

I am planning to test the Buff+ Volumite + power amp inputs and compare it to the Buff + integrated inputs.

I am concerned that I will be losing the maximum benefit by not using the balanced outputs, and I am thinking about using some sort of matching transformer on the Buff output to convert to single ended. Of course the Ballsie is also an option, but that adds 6 more op-amps ( albeit good quality ) per channel.

The amp has 470K input resistance integrated, 100K input resistance in power amp mode.

Can anyone comment on the pros / cons of adding a matching transformer?

Any recommendations on a specific transformer?
 
S

sleep888

Member
Joined 2009
Russ White said:



Hi Roland.

I am not sure which is "better". I have very good SPDIF sources and I hear no difference between them and an I2S source.

The ES9018 can decode both AES and SPDIF formats. No worries there. But you will want to level shift the signal to either consumer level (say with a 4:1 trafo or similar cct) or to true TTL level.

If you have it as consumer level then use it as if it were consumer SPDIF.

If you have it as TTL then use D1 and GND.

Cheers!
Russ
Click to expand...

Hi Russ,

Thanks for your kind reply. I have one more question.

In terms of getting the best out from D32, you mentioned that one way is to let D32 to drive headphone directly. In this case, I am assuming I can parallel/join connect RCA XLR and headphone jack, and get D32 drive headphone directly, am I right?

Thanks,
Roland
 
Russ White

Russ White

Member
Joined 2005
twistedpearaudio.com
sleep888 said:


Hi Russ,

Thanks for your kind reply. I have one more question.

In terms of getting the best out from D32, you mentioned that one way is to let D32 to drive headphone directly. In this case, I am assuming I can parallel/join connect RCA XLR and headphone jack, and get D32 drive headphone directly, am I right?

Thanks,
Roland
Click to expand...


Yes, you can drive all three.

I drive my headphones balanced (I usually listen to HD650s).

Cheers!
Russ
 
Russ White

Russ White

Member
Joined 2005
twistedpearaudio.com
The nice thing about the HD650 (and some other cans) is that there are 2 pairs of wires running to the cans from the plug , the two return wires are connected at the jack plug.

So it pretty simple to cut the plug off and strip the wires, then just connect two XLRs.

Be warned though, once you tried it directly out of the Buffalo32S you might not want to listen to anything else. :)

Cheers!
Russ
 
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