Twisted Pear Audio - Buffalo32S (ES9018 DAC)

[Russ White]

Looks great Russ

Any opinions on how much of the new improvements are the Sabre32 chip, versus the IVY II and new board design?

Hi Beefy,

Thanks for the nice comments from you and the rest of you folks. So many of you I have learned from. My respect to you. You know who you are.

Well, to your question, I would say a lot of both.

Let me be less obtuse. I think the ES9008 would be better on the new PCB with the new circuit changes. But I think the ES9018 is even better still.

I am very very pleased with the changes on the new chip. Dustin and his cohorts did a great job. It is much easier to work with and I think the digital filter is better. The DPLL bandwidth is even lower now (1/64th the ES9008 if I remember correctly) which means that jitter is even less.

All in all in I think it's a great synergy. I hope you agree.

Cheers!
Russ

 

[thomaspf]

Hi Russ,

thanks for posting the numbers and the graph, that looks very impressive.

One additional question. Are the numbers unweighted?

Cheers

Thomas

 

[Joshua_G]

Re: Ap Fft

Here is the FFT at 1khz 0db.

Very impressive.

 

[mavallarino]

Wow, impressive, but what does it all mean?

I will wait for the DAC only version. But can I really wait that long?

I have to congratulate the twisted pear people for the great persistence and drive to create such nice products and their dedication to diy community.

Waiting for the DAC only version...

 

[alboran]

good morning
me to want to understand well..
if me to buy new buffalo32s.. me to be able to use other Ivy expresses?
transformer.. buffer to tubes.. etc
or new buffalo32s to only work with integrated IVYII?
graces and regards

 

[Joshua_G]

It was said few times here.
1 version will be with integrated I/V.
Second version will be without integrated I/V, so you may use any I/V you wish.

 

[TheShaman]

Concerning the "tweaker's" version coming out next, it should be noted though that the added bonus of flexibility will lead to a few compromises, as Russ has pointed out:

Making a board "tweakable" means two things have to be accounted for. First, it will definitely not be suitable for beginners, and we will not cater to beginners with it. Second, it really cannot be routed as well as a finished solution because quite simply, you have to make design decisions final to optimally route a board. Building in flexibility means compromise. You will have much more to wire, and you will have much longer signal routes. That is the compromise. There is no way around it.

...don't expect the same kind of Dynamic range as can be done on a single board, as it is simply not possible.

 

[fff0]

Hi Russ,

Is the packaged B32S shown on the website to make a complete ready to play standalone DAC, other than adding a suitable transformer?

# Buffalo DAC + Power Supply Combination [1] Buffalo DAC Module (Assembled and Tested)
# [1] Low-Current Dual Power Supply Kit
# [1] Low-Current Bi-Polar Power Supply Kit

Any general recommendation for a transformer spec?
As per your website's tx, 2 of them ?

 

[rjbaldwin]

Hi Russ,
Is the packaged B32S shown on the website to make a complete ready to play standalone DAC, other than adding a suitable transformer?
# Buffalo DAC + Power Supply Combination [1] Buffalo DAC Module (Assembled and Tested)
# [1] Low-Current Dual Power Supply Kit
# [1] Low-Current Bi-Polar Power Supply Kit
Any general recommendation for a transformer spec?
As per your website's tx, 2 of them ?

Well, you will need the supporting hardware and stuff to connect it up and stuff to put it in. You will need two transformers if using the two power supplies. I guess you could probably get away with a 9v for the digital side / LCDPS, (Russ/Brian correct me if I'm wrong here for the Bufallo32s,) but much depends on what else you are connecting to this power supply. You would need the 15v for the LCBPS for the analogue side I think.

 

[BrianDonegan]

I have updated the Buffalo page with the times for the pre-orders of the 32s. There was also a small adjustment to the pricing.

Basically, at 8PM (20:00) Friday April 17th (Eastern Standard Time) I will enable pre-orders of half of the available DACs. The second half will go on sale 12 hours later, on Saturday morning at 8AM (0800).

If you to the the page and see the buttons enabled, there are still DACs available.

To simplify things, I have added the count-down timer again.

 

[Nielsio]

I have updated the Buffalo page with the times for the pre-orders of the 32s. There was also a small adjustment to the pricing.

Basically, at 8PM (20:00) Friday April 17th (Eastern Standard Time) I will enable pre-orders of half of the available DACs. The second half will go on sale 12 hours later, on Saturday morning at 8AM (0800).

If you to the the page and see the buttons enabled, there are still DACs available.

To simplify things, I have added the count-down timer again.

What are the differences/advantages of the 'Dual-Mono Power Supply Combination'?

 

[Russ White]

What are the differences/advantages of the 'Dual-Mono Power Supply Combination'?

Just that each analog channel will have its own separate supply. So you will get slightly better channel separation and present each PS with a lighter load. It's not likely a big difference, but we know some will want to try it and some have asked us to have the option, so it's there. Simple as that.

Cheers!
Russ

 

[hybride]

What is the ETA for the 'tweak' version of the Buffalo32?

weeks, months?

 

[muizel]

Is the sound of the Buffalo 32 much better.

Dear Brian and Russ,

A question, because you can compare and I don't. Is the sound of the Buffalo 32 so much better that it is justified to do the investment of swapping the "old" Buffalo with IVY for the new one ? I mean what is your own opinion and did you do an A/B comparison.


Thanks René.

 

[hybride]

good question.

I have a fully tweaked Bufallo 1.2 and use a own I/V. Very happy, but if it can be better, i go for it.

Will the new Sabre chip (with better clock and circuitboard enchangements) give better sound on its own?

 

[avr300]

I have updated the Buffalo page with the times for the pre-orders of the 32s. There was also a small adjustment to the pricing.

Basically, at 8PM (20:00) Friday April 17th (Eastern Standard Time) I will enable pre-orders of half of the available DACs. The second half will go on sale 12 hours later, on Saturday morning at 8AM (0800).

If you to the the page and see the buttons enabled, there are still DACs available.

To simplify things, I have added the count-down timer again.

If they are gone in seconds, will there be a 2. run ?

 

[BrianDonegan]

If they are gone in seconds, will there be a 2. run ?

Absolutely.

 

[jkeny]

Hi Jkenny,

1) Yes it is high, sure you can run it SE, but you will loose a lot of DNR.
2) No. Its 187R. OR 357. But really you choose the value based on the output you desire.
3) The old fashioned way. Just take one output and GND. But you will need to deal with the AVCC/2 offset not matter what you do.
4) not touching this one.

Cheers!
Russ

Sorry, Russ, I didn't see your reply - thank you for the info!
AVCC/2 is 1.66V, I think? I will be biasing the DAC connection to the IV with this voltage.

 

[woodturner-fran]

Good lord lads, I reckon they sold out in about 15 secs!

 

[MrMajestic]

What the heck, I refreshed, saw the add to cart button for a fraction of a second and then sold out. Something wrong? Cant have sold out out that fast, I didn't have a chance to click the button.