Fully balanced Buffalo II DAC with Tube-I-zator tube output.

[headrott]

I have finally pretty much completed my fully balanced Buffalo II DAC with the Tube-I-zator tube SRPP I/V stage output. The Tube-I-zator boards include Mundorf Silver/Oil caps, Texas Components TX2575 resistors and the Telefunken ECC88/6DJ8 tubes (thanks to Ben (strider) for these) in the output stage. It sounds absolutely phenominal! I cannot recommend others doing their own enough. You will be blow away by the clarity, soundstage, resolution, and both bass and trebble extension of this DAC. Amazing. I have included some pictures below if the DAC. Thanks for looking.

Greg

[headrott]

Ooops. Sorry about the large pictures. They weren't that big on the other sites I posted them.

Greg

[gimpod]

Nice job Greg Now maybe you can get onto your 3.1TL's (hint, hint)

[Toolfan66]

Very Nice!!!!! +1 what gimpod said..

[FTGV]

Nice work ,I bet it does sound good.I can't remember ever seeing a fully balanced tube ouput stage in a DAC.
I hope soon to get my mitts on an ESS Sabre eval board to try but it won't have those thermionic valve thingies at the output.

[headrott]

Nice job Greg Now maybe you can get onto your 3.1TL's (hint, hint)

I most certainly will Tony. I am pretty good at using the desoldering iron now as I needed it a few times for this project. So I think I can get the caps off the other boards. (As long sa I can get the glue off)

Greg

[WGDB]

Sweet.... I think you ought to have an engraved badge that says: "Acoustics by Buffalo~headrott" to place on the front and the engraved power ratings on the back.

[cokewithvanilla]

I most certainly will Tony. I am pretty good at using the desoldering iron now as I needed it a few times for this project. So I think I can get the caps off the other boards. (As long sa I can get the glue off)

Greg

what kinda desoldering thing you got? I'm so crappy at that. I used to use the solder sucker thing from radio shack... it never sucked anything up... then I said "screw this" and started using an air compressor... very messy... I need one of these... I'm gonna make one some day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8nX2yD96AM

[Toolfan66]

Greg,

Where did you get the chassis???

[jinjuku]

Sweet. Nice looking build. Very clean.

[strider]

Excellent work, Greg. Nice to see the tubes go in a project of that caliber. The Buffalo DAC is something I've had my eye on for a while, at some point I'd really like to build one as well.

Enjoy the sound!

[bikerboy]

Very nice Greg. I love the sound of my Buff II. I use the IvyIII for an output stage and like it better than the Legato. I havent seen any one use a balanced tube output so hats off to you for the great implimentation. Do you hear any tube rush or hiss during silent passages?

[RuSsMaN]

Where is the review?

[punk-roc]

Where is the review?

lol.. I was thinking something similar.. maybe its just for us to review his work =)

[cdy]

Nice. Love those tubes.

[gimpod]

I most certainly will Tony. I am pretty good at using the desoldering iron now as I needed it a few times for this project. So I think I can get the caps off the other boards. (As long as I can get the glue off)

Greg

Try this use rubbing alcohol to remove hot glue from nearly anything

Hope this helps.

[headrott]

Where is the review?

I guess you just gave one?

Greg

[headrott]

Greg,

Where did you get the chassis???

It's made by Bud Industries. I got mine from a place in Boise Idaho. They had the cheapest price I could find for it. I had to wait a little longer to get it though because it came directly from Bud Industries. If you are looking for different sizes try here: http://www.budind.com/view/Aluminum+...kmount+Chassis

The place I actually purchased mine from is here: http://www.aiconsol.com/rm-14212-bud.html

Actually, now looking at the price, it's about $10.00 more than I paid. So, you may be able to find it cheaper somewhere else. But it's a start. Hope that answers it for you Larry.

Greg

[Toolfan66]

Holy Crap!!! PDF prints and all!!!!! I can build that stuff all day long, the PDF's make it all that much easier..

Thanks for the link..

It's made by Bud Industries. I got mine from a place in Boise Idaho. They had the cheapest price I could find for it. I had to wait a little longer to get it though because it came directly from Bud Industries. If you are looking for different sizes try here: http://www.budind.com/view/Aluminum+...kmount+Chassis

The place I actually purchased mine from is here: http://www.aiconsol.com/rm-14212-bud.html

Actually, now looking at the price, it's about $10.00 more than I paid. So, you may be able to find it cheaper somewhere else. But it's a start. Hope that answers it for you Larry.

Greg

[headrott]

Very nice Greg. I love the sound of my Buff II. I use the IvyIII for an output stage and like it better than the Legato. I havent seen any one use a balanced tube output so hats off to you for the great implimentation. Do you hear any tube rush or hiss during silent passages?

The only way you can hear any noise is if you put your ear right up to the speaker and have the volume pretty loud. The DAC is pretty darn quiet. You absolutely cannot hear anything from the seated position while listening. As the components burn in, the sound is improving greatly! Those mundorf silver/oil caps along with the TX2575 resistors are very nice sounding.

Greg