Buffalo III - SE

[lhquam]

I guess I do not understand the implications of BrianDonegan's statement:
"You do not need the Metronome with the Buffalo, unless you are using an older source with less than 64fs PCM (such as the CD-Pro transport). How is the SqueezeBox-3 S/PDIF output characterized?

Originally Posted by LeonvB

What leads you to that conclusion? I'm quite puzzled why you would think that...

[lhquam]

I examined the S/PDIF output from my SqueezeBox-3 Classis with an oscilloscope. With idle output I see "mostly" a square wave with an approximately 700ns period with means a frequency of 1.428 MHz. That is approximately 32 times the 44.1kHz sample rate output from the SqueezeBox. When I play music, I see transitions at twice that frequency, ie. 350ns between negative pulse transitions. Does that mean the output is 64fs and does not require using the Metronome?

[barrows]

You do not need the metronome with the Buffalo-III, in fact, using it would be redundant, and would likely result in worse performance. The Buffalo-III includes its own (better) masterclock and upsampler, and it upsamples to a much higher rate than the metronome is capable of.
There will be no problem running the SPDIF output of your Squeezbox directly into the Buffalo-IIISE, in fact, this approach will result in the best perfromance possible from an SPDIF source.

[lhquam]

Thank you, that is (part of) the answer I was looking for. I have been trying to understand the 64fs part of the response fromBrianDonegan: "You do not need the Metronome with the Buffalo, unless you are using an older source with less than 64fs PCM (such as the CD-Pro transport)."

Originally Posted by barrows

You do not need the metronome with the Buffalo-III, in fact, using it would be redundant, and would likely result in worse performance. The Buffalo-III includes its own (better) masterclock and upsampler, and it upsamples to a much higher rate than the metronome is capable of.
There will be no problem running the SPDIF output of your Squeezbox directly into the Buffalo-IIISE, in fact, this approach will result in the best perfromance possible from an SPDIF source.

[barrows]

Was talking about I2S, not SPDIF. The Buffalo-IIISE is ready to go for any SPDIF source. In fact, it is easier to use than the Opus because the Buffalo-IIISE automatically switches its filters and upsampling to suit any incoming sample rate from 44.1 to 384.
So, you do not need a metronome, and for best performance, just run a single SPDIF input directly to the board. If you want to add USB, this will be easy to do as well when TPA releases their (long awaited) asynchronous USB receiver-to accommodate a single SPDIF and the USB receiver (which will output I2S to the Buffalo) you do not need any additional input board, you just need the I/V stage and power supplies to suit...

[LeonvB]

Originally Posted by lhquam

I guess I do not understand the implications of BrianDonegan's statement:
"You do not need the Metronome with the Buffalo, unless you are using an older source with less than 64fs PCM (such as the CD-Pro transport). How is the SqueezeBox-3 S/PDIF output characterized?

There is no problem using S/PDIF with the BIIISE. In fact, it's easier and cheaper to do with the BIIISE than with the BIII.

There are some gaps in the BIIISE configuration, like how to get AES/EBU input or how to cheaply get 3-4 S/PDIF inputs (the classic Receiver/Mux is $129) but perhaps modules that offer this functionality will be introduced later on.

[ijscobar]

Originally Posted by ijscobar

Having an Opus with Metronome, is a Buffalo III SE a big step forward?

Trying to open a Paypal account seems to take a couple of days. In the meantime a short answer to my question would be appreciated.

I also have a WavIO board (WaveIO | Luckit). I guess it is no problem connecting that for USB input...

[barrows]

Originally Posted by ijscobar

Trying to open a Paypal account seems to take a couple of days. In the meantime a short answer to my question would be appreciated.

I also have a WavIO board (WaveIO | Luckit). I guess it is no problem connecting that for USB input...

But only you can determine how big a step up the B-III will be. Additionally, how you do your build will have some impact on the sound quality.
Yes, the WaveIO will be very easy to hook up, especially with the B-IIISE, as you can use u.fl cables for the I2S lines.

[ijscobar]

Well, I was planning a set up with an Ivy en two Placids. I know it 's difficult to discribe the differences, personally I hope the step up is as big as the financial differences between the Opus and Buffalo

[manudrz]

Hi
I use an IDE drive (pc) as a source for my cd, which I added a 75ohm transformer sc947-02 to convert the TTL-out to "real" SPDIF-out. If I understand correctly, the SPDIF-in is converted by the Buffalo so I think removing my sc947-02 and connect directly the drive and the dac in TTL level, is it okay?
My drive is a asus E818A4 with a dedicated psu