Review and Measurements of Sabaj D5 DAC & Amp

[AnalogDE]

It could stream buffering...

When I didn't have exclusive mode set I did not get the sampling rate changes (I think it's fixed in the OS settings) and I wouldn't see any update on the display on the D5 -- and I didn't get much of a delay after hitting play button.

After setting exclusive mode it seems to take a bit of time figuring out the sample rate when the music starts...

It cycles thru 192 kHz -> actual sampling rate everytime. It takes about a second.. it's a little annoying!

 

[AnalogDE]

When I didn't have exclusive mode set I did not get the sampling rate changes (I think it's fixed in the OS settings) and I wouldn't see any update on the display on the D5 -- and I didn't get much of a delay after hitting play button.

After setting exclusive mode it seems to take a bit of time figuring out the sample rate when the music starts...

It cycles thru 192 kHz -> actual sampling rate everytime. It takes about a second.. it's a little annoying!

Ok I downloaded Amarra and it seems to handle playback a little bit better. It doesn't look as good as the Tidal desktop app though :/

I don't want to pay $99 for the license for this thing to fix this little issue. Does someone have a cheaper solution?

 

[marco07]

Oh yeahhhhhhh...3hr listening session on the first night, glorious

 

[maty]

You are very welcome!

I just listened to some Brahms string quartets and switching among various filters. Here is what I can tell you:
1) fast vs slow: fast is much brighter, very obvious and most people should be able to tell them apart by blind listening
2) linear vs minimum: very hard to discern much difference. Minimum seems to be slightly warmer but less transparent in the slow settings, but I could barely tell any difference between the two fast settings.

My favorite is slow linear for this music. The two fast settings are too bright to my taste. Slow minimum is a bit on the sloppy side which I think is too much. Slow linear is the Goldilocks.

Slow and minimum phase is my taste. My second system is very clear, as soon as I change something that affects my Windows optimization to play multimedia, the sound becomes fatigued. Perhaps that compensates for the less transparency. I have no problem to differentiate between minimal and linear, and even between an intermediate one. Moreover, between different bandwidths in the intermediate.

The important thing is that now you can squeeze the very good headphone amplifier you have (and preamp, at least vs Sabaj preamp) without having made an excessive expense. The DAC (chip) was its age and was the weak link.

And thank you again!

 

[maty]

One question more, to Brahms lovers.

Do you know the year of the original recording, of the master? If it was from a streaming it will be difficult to know. With the name of the album and the performers it will be easy to find it on discogs.

 

[maty]

@Sabaj

Perhaps it would be a good idea to include in the new firmware the option that only works as a DAC, disabling the headphone amplifier and the preamp. Maybe even disable standby when it works only as a DAC.

Resized, cleared & optimized

 

[Veri]

Resized, cleared & optimized

View attachment 32790

Looks really blurry rather than optimized, PS matty can you try gathering your thoughts instead of triple posting? Seriously clutters up the thread.

 

[solderdude]

Perhaps it would be a good idea to include in the new firmware the option that only works as a DAC, disabling the headphone amplifier and the preamp. Maybe even disable standby when it works only as a DAC.

Why would this be a good idea ?

 

[maty]

Why would this be a good idea ?

As a complete system, it has been more than a year since my choice is the most expensive RME ADI-2 DAC. If I have not bought it yet it is because I want a new amplifier that is able to take full advantage of the quality of the DAC and the preamp (I am not very interested in headphones, I find the big ones uncomfortable).

But, with what the Sabaj D5 costs (with the current discount), it is very tempting just like DAC with my modded AVR Marantz SR4500. I fear that the new PURIFI 1ET400A modules just sound spectacular and not get excited, so I will not be among the first to buy them (if the price is reasonable) and build the amplifier, it will not be ... BTW, if so, would ensure that the SMPS were not those of Hypex and its cheap electrolytic capacitors of 85ºC.

Depending of the board design (the original photograph is half small and of low quality so I have been able to do little more), in addition to the comfort, the sound may be improved, although it seems difficult after the excellent measurements made Amirm of the DAC.

 

[solderdude]

That does not answer the question why one would want to disable the pre-amp/head-amp feature.

 

[Veri]

As in, what is the benefit

 

[maty]

Noise. An example, the good AVR. With Pure Direct the good recordings sound better. In addition, the AVR audio processing electronics usually incorporate are of poor quality, and generally reduce the output bandwidth to only 20 kHz to -3 dB -> worse sound with music.

The Sabaj D5 has only one transformer for all three sections, perhaps if it only works for the DAC, it improves the sound, although it seems difficult because of the measurements and the good design of the board (what I can see).

 

[solderdude]

The Sabaj D5 has only one transformer for all three sections, perhaps if it only works for the DAC, it improves the sound, although it seems difficult because of the measurements and the good design of the board (what I can see).

The power supply and transformer are layed out WITH the headphone section included so there is no 'perhaps'.

I don't see why there would be less noise in the DAC section when you would disconnect the signal to the headphone amp section.

 

[Veri]

The power supply and transformer are layed out WITH the headphone section included so there is no 'perhaps'.

I don't see why there would be less noise in the DAC section when you would disconnect the signal to the headphone amp section.

From my experience having a headphone output tends to actually lower possibility for grounding issues. Not sure why but perhaps the extra pathway or extra care is at the very least not detrimental, as seen in the dashboard performance can hardly improve further...

 

[maty]

And the preamp section? In principle it would be the most interesting thing to disable.

 

[solderdude]

And the preamp section? In principle it would be the most interesting thing to disable.

Why ?

 

[maty]

To remove it from the DAC audio signal path -> speakers amplifier.

 

[solderdude]

I don't get what you mean by that.

 

[maty]

If we can ignore the preamp (which seems not a wonder) we will have a less source of noise and interference.

In any case, the interesting thing was to reduce energy consumption by disabling the two sections, especially the amplifier, and thus having the excuse of disabling the standby imposed by the regulation in the EU. Understandable with speaker amplifiers and, perhaps, with headphones amps, but not so much with DACs.

They say it sounds better when the wonderful ESS chip has been running for 30 minutes, when it reaches the optimum operating temperature. If after a while without a signal the standby is activated, it will cool down and will not sound as good for a while, which would force it to send some inaudible signal, just enough so that the standby is not activated.

 

[SIY]

Why ?

Because he never, ever, ever tries to demonstrate that anything he ever claims is actually audible and not imaginary.