And me, too... I have a pretty elaborate setup for active 4-way speakers with miniSHARC, Cronus, and a bunch of other TPA boards, all assembled, waiting for the new 8-channel DAC. And now, with the 8-channel Buffalo-III apparently discontinued, I'm kind of stuck...
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How does a typical DIY-build of Buffalo III-SE-Pro 9038 measure (SNR, THD+N, crosstalk)? Can it get close to a Benchmark Dac3 performance for a "normal" build?
well...
No one has posted any measurements yet... Got to get one into the hands of someone with an AP. Certainly it should measure quite well, if someone does a good build and layout job.
Subjective sound quality of my Buff PRO (9038)/Mercury build certainly is better than anything I have heard at less than $10K retail.
No one has posted any measurements yet... Got to get one into the hands of someone with an AP. Certainly it should measure quite well, if someone does a good build and layout job.
Subjective sound quality of my Buff PRO (9038)/Mercury build certainly is better than anything I have heard at less than $10K retail.
I can not find any measurements when searching the web.
I hope it is me just not finding it, or did you all buy it without knowing how it measures?
I hope it is me just not finding it, or did you all buy it without knowing how it measures?
Mercury would be most interesting for me, because I am interested in the coming 8-channel dac.
But any would do, just to see what kind of end-result performance can be realised with the TPA-stuff.
But any would do, just to see what kind of end-result performance can be realised with the TPA-stuff.
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I don't know if you can find that, almost everyone has unique setup, ps, I/V, regs... Maybe Russ & Brian have a "reference full TP" DAC and then can give numbers, don't you guys?
I don't have access to an AP (they cost about $30K) - but ESS measured the IVY circuit + ES9018(B32 in this case) for us. B-II,III etc are all using the same DAC (ES9018).
-117db THD+N and ~129db DNR(stereo)
That output stage was identical in function to the IVY-III. Mercury is also very similar.
I have measured (on PC using sound cards) all of my modules - but those measurements are limited by the capability of the sound card ADC etc. I don't consider them very accurate - just a sanity check.
Also note that for any balanced output DAC you need a fully differential ADC on the test instrument in order to measure it accurately. The balanced output will always be superior to the SE output - but measuring differential signals by the difference of 2 SE channels is not ideal - because single ended each channel will have its own errors. That's why I would love to have an AP. If anyone wants to donate one let me know. 🙂
-117db THD+N and ~129db DNR(stereo)
That output stage was identical in function to the IVY-III. Mercury is also very similar.
I have measured (on PC using sound cards) all of my modules - but those measurements are limited by the capability of the sound card ADC etc. I don't consider them very accurate - just a sanity check.
Also note that for any balanced output DAC you need a fully differential ADC on the test instrument in order to measure it accurately. The balanced output will always be superior to the SE output - but measuring differential signals by the difference of 2 SE channels is not ideal - because single ended each channel will have its own errors. That's why I would love to have an AP. If anyone wants to donate one let me know. 🙂
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Thanks, nice figures!
And crosstalk?
A large spike at 1KHz in that diagram, something to worry about?
And crosstalk?
A large spike at 1KHz in that diagram, something to worry about?
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