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Buffalo DAC (ESS Sabre 9008)

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#2,022
Russ White said:
1) Dustin told me that the interface pins on the ES9008 and ES9018 are 5V tolerant, but I have never tested it. The comparator *should* be ok but I have never tried it. If you have TTL level SPDIF I would just not use the comparator anyway. 🙂

2) Yes, but I would edit the firmware, it's not ideal. 🙂

Cheers!
Russ
Click to expand...

Thanks Russ,
what is not ideal in that firmware the register settings or other things?
If it's the register settings which register is better to change with which value?

Thanks again

Ciao
Andrea
 
#2,023
Sorry Russ, if you can't answer my last question can you say me if a possible solution is to leave the orginal pic onboard (for correct setup of registers) and with a second pic change only the volume via i2c?
With the second pic can i change also the DPLL BW on the fly without the need for a reset?

Thanks
Andrea
 
#2,024
Russ I am very excited about Buf32sII and all the new possibilities but I clearly don't understand them. Could you point me to an explanation of same? For example what does Buf 32s II improve over I? What are the new analogue and digital power supply options, what are the benefits of each over the baseline (Buf32s and vintage early 2009 ps's)?
 
#2,029
theob said:
Thanks glt but should an owner of the Buf32s I replace ps's or the go the whole route of Buf32sII?
Click to expand...

If you are good in modding, you can try cutting the traces for the DAC analog supply and purchase the small PS daughter board. However, i don't think you will distinguish between the two. But that would be kind of risky because there are no schematics, and that is a real nice (and relatively expensive) board that you can potentially mess up. You can try selling it to DIY-challenged friends.

The Buf32s I has the added advantage of having the IVY in the same board, thus the routing and connections are optimized.

I think the real reason for Buf II was to 1- to satisfy people like us with the urge to tweak everything (thus we hang around in this diy board 🙂) and 2- to price it more competitively to reflect present market conditions.
 
#2,030
BrianDonegan said:
The actual XO is the same as the one on the Buff32.
Click to expand...

I see. When you mentioned the custom 20ppm XO, I thought it was new for Buff II. Do you know if it has better phase noise spec than the 25-50 ppm standard part?

A separate Q: There are reports of the ESS chip running "pretty warm". Would heatsinking (like those in the VGA chips) be beneficial?
 
#2,034
Question for Brian or others knowledgeable on Buf32s

I tried a bit of gooey damping compound on top of the Sabre Dac chip (none of it touches the lead outs) and it made a significant improvement in SQ. Is this practice safe, are there any risks like excessive heat?
 
#2,039
Are all Buffalo 1 ( ESS 9008 ) boards factory tested ?

Hi

Well, I took a closer look at my Buffalo Rev. 1.2 board and it seems,
as there are some pins of the ESS 9008 connected, bad soldering.
I state, maybe, cause even using a magnifying glass, I am not sure.

So, before assembling, my question ,are these factory tested ?

BR

Gary
 
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