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Twisted Pear Buffalo Sabre DAC - Page 18

post #256 of 1283
8/16/08 at 11:02pm
I'd recheck the resistor values both with your meter and by sight and also check the orientation of the parts vs. the schematic to make sure that you don't have something in backwards.
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post #257 of 1283
8/16/08 at 11:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnsonad View Post
Have a small problem with the LCBPS, I can't get the +/- below around 16 to 17 volts. The heat sinks are getting hot too. Pretty sure I soldered it together right. The little screws on the voltage regulator have hit their end and keep clicking without a drop in the voltage.
Probably the two voltage regulators are in the wrong positions and need to be swapped. Just happened here. Was getting some weird deva-vu for a minute there...
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post #258 of 1283
8/17/08 at 12:03am
R1-4 and R5-6 measure right on the board. My layout matches the one one the website. Could it be in the resistor pads U1-2? Is there a way to test them?
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post #259 of 1283
8/17/08 at 12:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianDonegan View Post
Probably the two voltage regulators are in the wrong positions and need to be swapped. Just happened here. Was getting some weird deva-vu for a minute there...
Thanks Brian, I'm not sure which goes on which side but I will swap them or attempt to without damaging them
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post #260 of 1283
8/17/08 at 9:18am
IC1: LM317
IC2: LM337
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post #261 of 1283
8/19/08 at 8:26am
My Buffalo is now 95% complete.......



Input switching between coax and optical inputs through the OTTO works great with the Buffalo re-locking in less than a second, followed by less than two seconds of very mild crackle. This is much more elegant a switchover than I had expected, and even better than I hoped for.

The power supply wiring to the TOSLINK module and OTTO are still temporary; I'm waiting to replace one of the LCBPS with two LCDPS. Any hints on how far away they are Brian? I also need to shorten the cable run to the IVY. Still need to wire up the balanced audio outs as well.

So far it sounds great. I will post more photos and impressions when it is 100% completed.
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post #262 of 1283
8/21/08 at 4:45am
I guess we'd all like to hear more detailed impressions on the sound.
Have You had any other DACs/sources to compare it to?
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post #263 of 1283
8/21/08 at 5:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nopietns View Post
I guess we'd all like to hear more detailed impressions on the sound.
Have you had any other DACs/sources to compare it with?
Is that directed at me?

In all honesty, I don't think that my ears or my audio memory are good enough to give accurate and reliable descriptions of sources. And I think I had already got pretty damn close to the limits of my best phones, which are Audio Technica AD900's. My only other good source is a Cambridge Audio 540Dv2 DVD player (but it still manages really good CD audio).

But even with all those things considered, soundstage from the Buffalo is ever-so-slightly wider, deeper and more defined than the 540. Much more detail as well...... almost too much compared to what I am used to. I can certainly hear more flaws in certain recordings. I might swap out the AD8610 in my amp for some OPA627 and see if it softens any.

Overall tone seems very good - I don't get the feeling that it is cold, or warm, or dark, or bright. Couldn't stand it if it was bright or cold - or worse, both at the same time! (hello MS-1 from iPod )

I actually cased the whole thing up for the first time last night, and gave it a really good run (~5 hours straight) using optical from my Xbox360. Playing a very good XBLA game called Braid (which actually has brilliant sound for a game) and the whole thing didn't skip a beat. The case got a fair bit warmer than I expected, so hopefully I don't have to un-case the whole thing and add more ventilation holes to the base
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post #264 of 1283
8/21/08 at 5:33am
Yes, it was directed at You.

Thanks for comparing it to the Cambridge Audio. The thing is that most of the discussions on this DIY kit focuses only on technical DIY-ishy things/details (measurements or sampling programs, frequencies etc.) and I haven't found a single proper review of this DAC/DIY kit that could help me to understand in which league/price category this DAC fits in.

Any comments on the PRaT and speed &attack?
And what did You use as a transport? The Xbox360 via optical?
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post #265 of 1283
8/21/08 at 5:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nopietns View Post
Any comments on the PRaT and speed &attack?
and what did You use as a transport? The Xbox?
PRaT is a useless term to me

It does slam hard in the bass, and treble spikes are enough to make you blink..... but realistically, the 'speed' aspects are not that much different from the 540 aside from the previously mentioned detail. I'm pretty sure that the phones are limiting here.

For music, the 540 has been doing transport duties over coax. The Xbox has so far been games only over optical.

Quote:
and I haven't found a single proper review of this DAC/DIY kit that could help me to understand in which league/price category this DAC fits in.
There aren't actually that many in the wild, comparatively speaking. I know lots have shipped in the last few weeks though..... so hang tight, builds will finish, and you'll have reviews galore to peruse.
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post #266 of 1283
8/21/08 at 3:03pm
I finished building my Buffalo Dac yesterday, I just have it temporarily cased for now. I am going from a X-meridian s/pdif out to the Buffalo/Ivy then to my Bijou tube amp and K701's.

I am running 8V to Va and Vd, but I noticed that IC1 on my LCDPS (LM 317) is getting really hot to the touch. I was wondering if this is normal, It is hooked up to Vd. The other side stays cool and there is no heat problems on my LCBPS.

This Dac sounds very good, I would say neutral is a good way to describe it. You can really hear the details but nothing is overemphasized, everything sounds very refined and controlled.

I am using Foobar for playing music and I have tried using Kernel streaming and Asio but for some reason I can't get anything over 48KHz S/pdif to work with the Buffalo. If I am playing a 24-bit/192KHz music file through foobar, it plays fine on the Buffalo if my Oxygen HD S/pdif digital out setting for my X-meridian is set at 44KHz or 48KHz. But If I set the S/pdif digital out to 192KHz, I can't get any sound.
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post #267 of 1283
8/21/08 at 3:46pm
AFAIK, the Va and Vd should be 6.6V and 6.0V respectively. That why your chip is getting hot....

Fran
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post #268 of 1283
8/21/08 at 4:29pm
Actually running it at 8V will make it run cooler as less voltage is being dropped across the reg. If you are concerned, measure the voltage across the 10R resistor in the PSU. Using I=V/R you can then work out how much current is being drawn through the PSU.
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post #269 of 1283
8/21/08 at 6:59pm
Thanks for the help guys, I measured 17.9V across 10R resistor. So 1.79 amps, is that too much current? I'm pretty sure Russ said we could run Va and Vd at 7-9 volts somewhere. Also I should mention I am using a Twisted Pear sold Avel Lindberg transformer and it's primaries are hooked up in parallel (blue and purple hooked together, grey and brown hooked together.
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post #270 of 1283
8/21/08 at 7:52pm
Can you measure the current directly (in line) between the PS and the Buffalo?

It's possible you have a short on the PSU causing the excessive current draw. A few pics of the top and bottom of the PSU would be helpful as well.
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