Gajanan- Thanks! I've heard that explanation before, and many others, but I still don't have an instinctive sense of it, the way I do of say voltage or current. One day though I will get it 
Owen- I tried hooking up to the GC last night, and I am stumped by what I should be hearing. The volume level is much lower versus plugging the line out on the CD player directly into the amp, though it can certainly still make plenty of noise. But, the sonic qualities seem to be about the same whether I have the batteries attached to the buffer or not, as far as I can tell.
Is there any tell-tale sign I should be looking for? It was late so I didn't test that much or push anything too hard. I'm just wondering how I should know when in fact everything is working.
Owen- I tried hooking up to the GC last night, and I am stumped by what I should be hearing. The volume level is much lower versus plugging the line out on the CD player directly into the amp, though it can certainly still make plenty of noise. But, the sonic qualities seem to be about the same whether I have the batteries attached to the buffer or not, as far as I can tell.
Is there any tell-tale sign I should be looking for? It was late so I didn't test that much or push anything too hard. I'm just wondering how I should know when in fact everything is working.
AndrewT- as you may notice if you start back 50 or so posts in this thread, we have been playing "find that fault" in this very simple circuit for about two months now. 
To answer your question, yes, the signal seems pretty much the same whether power is on or off. That, plus the drop in volume (which I am assuming would not occur if the buffer were applying true unity gain?) leads me to the same conclusion.
Given the by-now miniscule parts count, it seems clear that we are overlooking something fantastically simple and obvious that would no doubt have revealed itself long ago in person. I am going to post some high-res picks of the thing in the next day or two and will submit any test inputs/outputs people want to know about--I have a scope now so I should be able to show people anything they might want.
To answer your question, yes, the signal seems pretty much the same whether power is on or off. That, plus the drop in volume (which I am assuming would not occur if the buffer were applying true unity gain?) leads me to the same conclusion.
Given the by-now miniscule parts count, it seems clear that we are overlooking something fantastically simple and obvious that would no doubt have revealed itself long ago in person. I am going to post some high-res picks of the thing in the next day or two and will submit any test inputs/outputs people want to know about--I have a scope now so I should be able to show people anything they might want.
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