[rklein]

I thought I would go ahead and post here on the HiRez Music Circle as there seems to be quite alot of information here regarding new HiRez capable DAC offerings.(thanks to Ted  )  If you feel this belongs in the LAB Circle, please move it over there

As a few of you know, I planned on building a Buffalo III with the Legato I/V stage.  I also decided that if I was going to DIY, I wanted to also utilize Paul Hynes' High Performance Regs into this build(will be receiving these from Paul in a couple of weeks).

My enthusiasm for this build has somewhat waned with all of the new DAC offerings that are being made available.  In fact, I considered selling my Buffalo DAC III parts along with the PH regs and just buy one of the many commercial DACS that are currently on the market or soon to be on the market.

However, after reading some posts regarding SQ made by some DIY'ers that have built the B III, I have made the choice to complete this build.  Once completed, I will let Ted (if he is willing... ) to audition this DAC in his system and share his results with all of us.  If the B III doesn't stand tall next to the many quality DACS that Ted has heard, I am sure that there will be many people out there that would be very happy with a built B III with PH HP regs!!

Of course, if the B III sounds great in MY system, I would probably just keep it and by happy for the next couple of years no matter Ted's findings.  I just think it would be very interesting for AC members to have a comparison of a highly regarded DIY'd DAC and some fine commercial made DACS. 

Regards,

Randy

[ted_b]

"...Buffalo DACs won't you come out tonight!! "   

I'd be happy to compare!  I'm also getting the new Mytek stereo 192 DSD DAC (with preamp function) to test my every growing library of DSDIFF files. 

[earflappin]

Randy, this is a great idea!  Ted has listened to a large number of commercial SOTA DACs and would be an ideal person to benchmark the BIII.  The BIII sounds like a great DAC, but I have yet to come across a post where someone has compared it to currently available DACs.  I know Barrows on the CA forum has raved about his BIII build.

[Jon L]

Although there seems to be a new Sabre DAC coming to market every other day, the Buffalo guys really seem to be staying a step ahead of others every step of the way.  The Buffalo III digital design combined with the discrete analogue stages appears mighty tasty

It would be very interesting to compare Buffalo III to dual-Sabre Weiss DAC202 I am auditioning right now..

[ted_b]

The Mytek is a SABRE chip(s) and in DSD mode is sublime!  Amazing DSd DAC for $1695, with great PCM to boot.  I will write a review soon.  I get to Vegas a few days early for CES so will probably sequester myself in a hotel room one night and write it....depends how the Let It Ride table is treating me. 

[wisnon]

What other Dacs do you have and did you have Ted?

Have you ever heard the boutique Dacs like PDX, Lampizator or the KillerDac? What other tube Dacs/CD players have you heard.

The Mytek DAC playing DSD seems to be quite an illuminating experience. The bees knees, actually.

I am still in process of testing high quality RBCD verses hiRez PCM. Its hard to do over the holidays with limited play time and too many variables, ie 3 font ends, McAir, Modded SB Duet and CD/SACD player with all discrete SS output (no op amps) and multiple filters like minimum phase soft knee/apodising, etc. I also have 2 amps, modded SS with negative output impedence and stock PrimaLuna D2. Only my Heil speakers are "stable" an unchanging.

As an aside, in terms of DACs, it not so much about the chips used (the receiver chip can be more important than the Dac chip itself) its about the combination used and the operating points and parameters of the implementation. Part science and part art.