Can the Buffalo DAC compete with Hi-End DACs?

[ting.mike]

Just curious if anyone has ever compared the Buffalo DAC with some $2000++DACs.. How good is the Buffalo, really?

 

[ting.mike]

No one on the high-end forum has heard of the Buffalo?

 

[GuyDebord]

I heard it in tk3's home while I was auditioning his o2/ges combo, It sounded ok, it was very difficult to listen because his room conditions were a bit noisy (computer fan sounded like a jet plane). I would love to do some comparisons with my dacs, maybe i contact him for this... but thats all I can say about it now. Another thing is that I have always been skeptical of usb as digital link (asynchronous or not) since I first heard the dac1 through usb, spidf sounded much better... I wish that his buffalo had firewire or spidf, however im open to be surprised...

 

[johnwmclean]

What you talking about? The Buffalo Sabre32 is a high end DAC. It's the same as saying is a Beta22 a high end amplifier.

 

[nattonrice]

What John said.
To all intents and purposes it is high-end.

 

[johnwmclean]

The McIntosh MCD500 uses an ESS ES9018 chip. $6500 MSRP.
Is that high end enough for you

 

[nattonrice]

@@

How bout no.

 

[GuyDebord]

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnwmclean /img/forum/go_quote.gif The McIntosh MCD500 uses an ESS ES9018 chip. $6500 MSRP. Is that high end enough for you

common!

chips dont make a dac high end, its the hardware and software implementation that set apart the kids from the grownups. You cannot simply talk about a dac in regards to a chip!

 

[Kees]

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnwmclean /img/forum/go_quote.gif The McIntosh MCD500 uses an ESS ES9018 chip. $6500 MSRP. Is that high end enough for you

The question was: is it better than Buffalo DAC?

 

[ting.mike]

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnwmclean /img/forum/go_quote.gif What you talking about? The Buffalo Sabre32 is a high end DAC. It's the same as saying is a Beta22 a high end amplifier.

Not saying anything John.. I wouldn't have posted it in a "high end forum" if I don't think it's a high-end product.

now, a real comparison by people who has heard it? The closest I get is johnwmclean saying his Cambridge 840C lost the battle to the Buffalo..

 

[johnwmclean]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuyDebord /img/forum/go_quote.gif common! chips dont make a dac high end, its the hardware and software implementation that set apart the kids from the grownups. You cannot simply talk about a dac in regards to a chip!

ting.mikes question being does the buffalo compete with high end dacs, I thought it would be relevant to mention that a high end company has enough faith to utilize the same chip in one of their high end models. Of course I realize this is only a part of the implementation as you've mentioned.

 

[atothex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnwmclean /img/forum/go_quote.gif ting.mikes question being does the buffalo compete with high end dacs, I thought it would be relevant to mention that a high end company has enough faith to utilize the same chip in one of their high end models. Of course I realize this is only a part of the implementation as you've mentioned.

Guy is right in this case. Chip is a rather small part of the equation. As is price. $6500 for a DAC doesn't mean anything to me, and it shouldn't mean anything to you either. That said, the ESS chips have pretty awesome specs, so they're probably high end chips.

 

[Sherwood]

I've listened to NaamanF's Buffalo32 against my Electrocompaniet ECD-1, and I thought it was so good that I sold the Electro.

I couldn't build my own, however, so I bought a Peachtree Nova. The DAC portion alone sounds better than my Electrocompaniet. More resolving, more detailed, and more engaging. I'm a big fan of ESS stuff.

 

[GuyDebord]

so is the peachtree nova dac section a buffalo32?

 

[Sherwood]

No, alas, it's a 9006 chip and a proprietary implementation. It borrows a few elements from Scott Nixon designs, since it adapts the Decco's DAC section somewhat.

I never had the Nova and the Buffalo32 in front of me at the same time, so I can't reliably compare the two. My memory comparison is very favorable, however.