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Review and Measurements of Sabaj Da3 Dac compared to Dragonfly Black

DrBones666

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The first one is charge-only cable so don't use that. The second one (adapter) should work as I have used them in that context but without testing, I can't say it will for sure
Thankyou for your reply, i understand that the otg adapter is required as the type c connector on the da3 doesn't fully implement type c protocol and the adapter is required to 'force' the charge to the da3, i read that on a forum somewhere so could be wrong. The biggest problem im having though is choosing the right cable solution between my powerbank (type a), da3 (Type c but planning on using with above adapter) and mobile (micro usb) to ensure data transfer between the mobile and da3 e.g in the example of the first cable link i posted i would need data transmission between the micro usb connections, im guessing that data transmission will only be between the type a and the micro usb connections . I understand you haven't tested this setup but in your opinion which cable would you acquire to adhere to said criteria.
 
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amirm

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Adding the Sabaj Da3 balanced versus unbalanced performance:

index.php
 

WondrousHippo

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Hi Amir! Is there any chance we could get an output impedance measurement on the balanced output as well, please?
 

patient_ot

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Curious how the Sabaj DA3 and the SMSL IQ might differ measurement wise - IIRC they are almost the same product.
 

stunta

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I have the Sabaj D4 and it has filter and "color" settings. I flipped through them looking for "None" option and there isn't one! Now I don't know what the default is and I have no way to turn it off. This is stupid.
 
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amirm

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I have the Sabaj D4 and it has filter and "color" settings. I flipped through them looking for "None" option and there isn't one! Now I don't know what the default is and I have no way to turn it off. This is stupid.
That's really strange!
 

ttwenty

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Hi there. Welcome to the forum and thanks for the kind words. :)


I don't think so. Just read the manual and there is no such facility. You can always turn down the volume to line level (about 50%) and with it, reduce its power stage distortion.


Should work but you may have to make your own cable per answer from max.
Just ordered this DAC. I thought you were supposed to turn most of these portable dacs with built-in amp to 100% when driving another amp, eg. 100% is recommended for line level in the Dragonfly's manual. Is 50% closer to line level for this Sabaj one? Is this because it has dual chips? How is this measured?

The reason is I heard that this device resets the volume to 20 when you set it above 20. I heard this is annoying when you need at higher volumes. So it would be nice to be able to keep it at 50%.
 

Timbo2

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Just ordered this DAC. I thought you were supposed to turn most of these portable dacs with built-in amp to 100% when driving another amp, eg. 100% is recommended for line level in the Dragonfly's manual. Is 50% closer to line level for this Sabaj one? Is this because it has dual chips? How is this measured?

The reason is I heard that this device resets the volume to 20 when you set it above 20. I heard this is annoying when you need at higher volumes. So it would be nice to be able to keep it at 50%.

The general standard for line level voltage for 2Vrms. At 100% volume according the first chart the Sabaj outputs almost that voltage.

There is all kinds of discussion on volume attenuation - but realistically do whatever works for you is OK. But if you want to follow the rule of thumb you should use 100% volume on the DAC and use your volume control on your amplifier.
 

ttwenty

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I got this in the mail today. I had to set the volume to max to get enough voltage to adequately power my desktop amp (an O2). Otherwise, it's too quiet driving my HD600 even if I turn my amp's volume control all the way up. It's not too bad of a situation, since the DAC doesn't power off and reset the volume when I turn my desktop off. It's annoying that the DAC doesn't save the volume setting when it turns off though.
 
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airofu

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Just comparing the Sabaj Da3 DAC to the STX soundcard DAC review, it looks like the STX would be the better performer not considering price?
 

maxxevv

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There are some options on Aliexpress and eBay for 2.5mm TRRS to XLR, but if you're comfortable with soldering, then it might be faster and cheaper to do it yourself. Otherwise, you're gonna pay at least $40 for this adapter: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/ATA...R-Male-Cable-For-Astell-Kern/32822840419.html

I say I should learn to solder, but I struggled with twisting together the wires of Ethernet cables, so I'm just accepting my limitations. :)


Thanks for finding those! I found a few other options but 40 dollars was as cheap as they got. That Astell Kern player uses them which created somewhat of a market for them, but still quite niche so high prices.

Still 113 for the Sabaj itself and 40 dollar cable is quite a good price for a balanced dac setup assuming no strangeness happened when the balanced output was connected to an amp. When Massdrop has the Topping D50 for 200 its less of a good prospect given that you can just get it, have more input options and better performance but that is not always available.


Its been a while, but I managed to get their equivalent on Taobao for a fraction of the prices on Aliexpress.

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z09.2.0.0.f5432e8dv2QZXM&id=561979098644&_u=41u1q9kma40c
 

ttwenty

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Its been a while, but I managed to get their equivalent on Taobao for a fraction of the prices on Aliexpress.

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z09.2.0.0.f5432e8dv2QZXM&id=561979098644&_u=41u1q9kma40c
I have one of these cables connecting a balanced amp to the DA3. 2.5mm balanced provides no ground. It's designed for connecting from amp to headphones, NOT from DAC to amp. You may get grounding noise if this is the only cable between them. I connected the 3.5mm out of the DA3 with a single ended input on my amp to silence it. That's why this cable has a separate 3.5mm plug for ground (excuse the out of the world pricing of this particular one, just the one I found with a quick Google search that does this properly. Please nobody buy a $450 cable, especially not for a $100 dac, preferably never :)): https://doublehelixcables.com/produ...terconnect-for-ak240-ak380-ak300-ak320-ak120/

I did the same thing by using a separate cable from the DA3's 3.5mm single ended output to my amp. Any of the inputs will do, and you don't even need to connect both channels or any of the conductors except ground. This grounds the connection just as well.

Or... you can mod the Taobao one to add a separate 3.5mm grounding connector, or when making your cable you could wire it like the the one from the link above, with the ground on the 3 pin XLRs connected to the ground of a separate 3.5mm jack. Honestly making your own cable OR connecting the single ended output separately is probably the way to go.
 
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maxxevv

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You should tell Astell & Kern that though....
 

Warbles

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I have one of these cables connecting a balanced amp to the DA3. 2.5mm balanced provides no ground. It's designed for connecting from amp to headphones, NOT from DAC to amp. You may get grounding noise if this is the only cable between them. I connected the 3.5mm out of the DA3 with a single ended input on my amp to silence it. That's why this cable has a separate 3.5mm plug for ground (excuse the out of the world pricing of this particular one, just the one I found with a quick Google search that does this properly. Please nobody buy a $450 cable, especially not for a $100 dac, preferably never :)): https://doublehelixcables.com/produ...terconnect-for-ak240-ak380-ak300-ak320-ak120/

I did the same thing by using a separate cable from the DA3's 3.5mm single ended output to my amp. Any of the inputs will do, and you don't even need to connect both channels or any of the conductors except ground. This grounds the connection just as well.

Or... you can mod the Taobao one to add a separate 3.5mm grounding connector, or when making your cable you could wire it like the the one from the link above, with the ground on the 3 pin XLRs connected to the ground of a separate 3.5mm jack. Honestly making your own cable OR connecting the single ended output separately is probably the way to go.
Hope this is an appropriate enough place to put my question, which concerns my Sabaj DA3 that is now, very sadly, quite dead. As an audio ignoramus I used the wrong cable to connect the balanced output to a straight digital (Topping) amp.


My question is does anyone know if it would be at all possible to acquire a circuit diagram specific enough for an electronic engineer type to repair it? I understand that this is what would be required at the very least, and maybe even specialised.miniature tools as well?
 
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amirm

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My question is does anyone know if it would be at all possible to acquire a circuit diagram specific enough for an electronic engineer type to repair it?
Such a schematic does not exist. Even if it did, unless the failure is very simple to find, such products are beyond economic repair. Just one hour of labor is more than the cost of this unit.
 

Warbles

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Such a schematic does not exist. Even if it did, unless the failure is very simple to find, such products are beyond economic repair. Just one hour of labor is more than the cost of this unit.
Thanks for responding! But could you expand on what you claim here, a bit? Does not exist? Must not the manufacturer have such an IC code? The 'type' I invoked is in fact my German electronic engineer brother-in-law, who would surely do it for free, if indeed it were doable! But he also said the spaces between pins on the DA3 board were so small he'd need tools he does not even have to perform the operation! (Which rather recalls a question I've always wanted to ask - do the Chinese put these units together under constant magnification, or what?)
 

maxxevv

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The schematics are usually commercial confidential. So its never published as a public domain shared information. So they do not exist in the wild. You can try your luck asking them for it but you won't likely ever get a reply for it.

Most of these SMT components are machine mounted. Very, very rarely and its almost unheard of that companies actually will do it by hand. Its usually only in special cases of repairs or recall rectifications that they ever invoke a worker to do mount such components.
 
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amirm

amirm

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Thanks for responding! But could you expand on what you claim here, a bit? Does not exist? Must not the manufacturer have such an IC code? The 'type' I invoked is in fact my German electronic engineer brother-in-law, who would surely do it for free, if indeed it were doable! But he also said the spaces between pins on the DA3 board were so small he'd need tools he does not even have to perform the operation! (Which rather recalls a question I've always wanted to ask - do the Chinese put these units together under constant magnification, or what?)
Yes you would need magnification to see the parts and perform repair of surface mount devices (SMD). You can watch this video from Louis Rossmann who does a great job of repairing Apple products:

 
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