Buffalo III Build Thread

[dheming]

I've been wanting to build a Buffalo DAC for quite a few years now. I just finished building a new computer for my home studio and with the recent release of the B III it seemed like the time was right to finally go for it. For the output stage I decided to use transformers to keep it simple. After reading the "Buffalo II & Transformers" thread I went with Sowter 3603 with the OCC wire option. They took about a month from ordering to arriving at my door since they had to make them. I wanted to shock-isolate them a bit so I made a simple bracket from aluminum to hold them:







Next was playing with initial layout:





Then on to the back panel which always takes the most time in a build:









The XLR jacks are Amphenol and the RCA jacks are Vampire copper body. The toggle switches will reconfigure the secondaries for differential and single ended output:





And here is what I'm thinking for layout with all the boards I will be using:

[blackeye*_0]

Looking good! I got in my B3 order the other day, so I'll be watching this build very closely.

I like your layout- looks like you might be prepped for a power supply partition.
Nice.

[glt]

Very nice!. I can see how you started cutting the rectangular hole: 4 holes in the corners, but how did you cut across? And how about the small square hole for the toslink?

[adelias]

Looks to me like he used a nibbler.

[dheming]

Thanks guys. To cut the IEC hole I first drilled the corners as you said. Then I used a small 1/8" (3.2mm) square file to do this to the corners:



After that step I simply used the same little square file to "saw" sideways since you can't really fit a hacksaw blade in there. This is actually fairly easy to do in aluminum panels, it only took a few minutes. I loathe using this method in steel panels though.

Same deal for the square toslink hole. First I drilled a 3/8" (9.5mm) hole then used the little square file again to rough shape the corners. Then I used a big square file to true it up. Definitely helps to have calipers to precision measure and layout lines accurately.

[dheming]

Got some more case work done tonight. Just FTH of it I've decided to use all brass hardware on this build. First up was mounting the transformer bracket:







Next I made the power supply bulkhead. The only steel I had on hand that was tall enough to fill the case height was some 2" x 3" angle. It's 1/4" thick which is more that I wanted to go but meh:

[dheming]

Drilled and threaded 4x holes in the steel bulkhead:




Also notched the side panels to clear the bulkhead and drilled holes in chassis bottom to finally mount it:

[milen007]

Hi guys

may i know the total current draw of buffalo III dac with all trident reg?

Thanks
erwin

[PET-240]

So how does this go?

Thanks,

Drew.