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Buffalo DAC (ESS Sabre 9008)

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Hi Russ,

I'm still enjoying my Buffalo Mk1 with one small caveat and I would grateful to find a fix for it.

There seems to be an auto mute function that is a bit slow to turn off - this means I rarely actually hear the first note of anything I play.

Is this topic covered somewhere already ? If so please could you direct me to it.

Otherwise, can you please advise me how to overcome this. I am happy just to turn off the mute function completely

thanks

mike
 
Keep an eye on the automute LED.

In my Buff-I's, the automute only engages upon bootup. As soon the DAC sees the first bit, it turns automute off and it newer lits that LED again. It takes a powercycle to lit the automute again.

Perhaps your problem is lock. What's your source ?
 
looks like ur right

I have a good lock and no mute

but when I open either foobar or XXhighend & begin to play I sometimes temporarily lose lock for a moment and invoke the mute.

perhaps this happens when the computer switches to WASAPI or similar.


But I also noticed this with an audiobook using audible manager from Audible.com it seemed to mute in the silences between words so I missed the begining of the next word

Perhaps these are two different phenomina

but either way I no longer think it's the DAC causing the problem.

thanks for the idea

mike
 
I have a quick question, and yes I've tried the Search function, and no I don't have time to trawl through the gazillion pages of this thread or the Legato thread:D

Will the Legato work with my original Buffalo DAC (currently I have Counterpoint I/V) and is it a worthwhile upgrade if it will work?

I am keen to get a BuffaloII but so far I've been unlucky so looking to maximise the older dac meanwhile.

Any one with an opinion, or even some hard fact?
 
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Joined 2007
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Any one with an opinion, or even some hard fact?

Hard fact? Good luck with that! :)
Legato is good enough that discussions of its performance tend to leave the realm of describing musical sounds and their metrics per se and enter the realm of describing musical emotions. Plus, as a discrete design it's very tweakable - if that's your cup of tea...
 
I have a quick question, and yes I've tried the Search function, and no I don't have time to trawl through the gazillion pages of this thread or the Legato thread:D

Will the Legato work with my original Buffalo DAC (currently I have Counterpoint I/V) and is it a worthwhile upgrade if it will work?

I am keen to get a BuffaloII but so far I've been unlucky so looking to maximise the older dac meanwhile.

Any one with an opinion, or even some hard fact?


The Legato will definitely work with Buffalo 1 as that is what I have. The Legato is excellent, admittedly I have tweaked it which improved it but they are a strong combination. Do you have the CCS mod for the Buffalo 1? If not, I can send you an etched PCB. It's more than worthwhile.


IMG_2208.jpg
 
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Hi Rich..

Do you mind picturing the connection between the dac and the legato? Did you manage to do it with the supplied stacking pins - I mean, the Buf-I misses the intermediate holes to supply the pins, as far as I remember.

My next move is to combine one of my Buf-I and a Legato + changing the home made CSS with a Trident - AND - when Russ releases it, the new power supply (to whatever it fits?) :cool:
 
Hi avr

I just used 5 standard 20mm long pin headers with 2.54mm pitch and removed pins 2 and 4. The sockets are extra deep type. As good as the terminal bocks are, they can be a pain in the ***! This way is much neater (for the supplied PCB standoff's with the buffalo, snip 3mm off the end of the pins or get longer standoff's):


IMG_2213.jpg



I really want to push my Buff 1 further - the trident is a good idea, do you think it would be much better than the CCS?

I would like to replace the clock with a PFM Flea and better regulation for VCC / VDD. Much like the job Leo did in post #7 in this thread:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/172388-buffalo-dac-original-vs-buffalo-ii.html
 
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The Legato will definitely work with Buffalo 1 as that is what I have. The Legato is excellent, admittedly I have tweaked it which improved it but they are a strong combination. Do you have the CCS mod for the Buffalo 1? If not, I can send you an etched PCB. It's more than worthwhile.


IMG_2208.jpg

Rich

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated. I never did get to the CCS mod, so that would be interesting to do also! I'll PM you. Thanks

Russ

Thanks for the speedy reply too! Much appreciated.

Mark
 
Hi avr

I really want to push my Buff 1 further - the trident is a good idea, do you think it would be much better than the CCS?

I would like to replace the clock with a PFM Flea and better regulation for VCC / VDD. Much like the job Leo did in post #7 in this thread:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/172388-buffalo-dac-original-vs-buffalo-ii.html

Thanks Rich, I got it.

I don't know, but I'll try it. As for power supplying the clock, a Trident more, why not ?
 
Hello Russ and all...

Good to see old Buffalo's still kicking!

While we're talking regulation, (still haven't done the CCS mod either, but intend to soon) I was going to build a hand wired one, thinking about your board, Rich, but guess getting it to the other side of the US might be a bit too much.

But Then....

I saw this the other day: LP5900 - Ultra Low Noise, 150mA Linear Regulator for RF/Analog Circuits Requires No Bypass Capacitor and wondered, would I be better off building the CCS/LED regulator or just putting this and a couple of caps in there instead? (heck, maybe then replace the current 3.3v regs, split off the clock supply, etc. These guys are pretty cheap...)

I tried doing a Spice model of the LED regulator, not sure I believe the results. I guess my models for the LED's don't have the noise data correct. So, think this reg might be an improvement?
 
Hi Jon

I don't mind sending you a board if you don't mind waiting a couple of weeks. I'll need get some press and peel printed to etch a few more. If you could paypal a few bucks towards postage that would be great. PM if your'e interested.

If Russ is reading this - Is it possible to use more of these CCS boards on the Buffalo 1.2, a bit like cheap Tridents?
 
The Legato will definitely work with Buffalo 1 as that is what I have. The Legato is excellent, admittedly I have tweaked it which improved it but they are a strong combination. Do you have the CCS mod for the Buffalo 1? If not, I can send you an etched PCB. It's more than worthwhile.


IMG_2208.jpg

Hi RichLund, just wondering where did you get Soviet ( USSR ) polyfluoroethylene capacitors ФТ-1 ? Also where can I get the schematics of CCS? Thanks.
 
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Awwww... they're not that small!! ;) You should try working with 0402 parts... (0.4 x 0.2mm) :eek:

Actually, I wouldn't even try the BGA (ball grid array) parts... you have to IR sweat solder them on, after VERY careful placement on just the right amount of solder paste...

The SC-70's I have hand soldered fairly often at work... about half of a SOIC-8 package. Not bad at all... :D Tiny soldering iron tips help. So does a microscope or other magnification, but I can still work with these bare-eyed... Of course, having a PC board with a pad layout is nearly mandatory, wiring point to point would be nearly impossible and rather fragile. There's a few companies out there that make SMT proto boards, or one could try to make ones own.

I will admit, I've been soldering things for 30yrs, and a lot of it SMT in more recent ones. So I'm conditioned to working with exceedingly tiny parts. Also, about the only benefit to being nearsighted is being able to focus much closer than most to what you're working on. Despite being 52 and losing some of that, I can still take off the glasses and get close enough to work with stuff this size.

But enough about me... :rolleyes: I'm waiting to hear what Russ and Brian think about a LP5900 vs the Green LED VREF source.
 
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