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Review and Measurements of Sabaj D5 DAC & Amp

zym1010

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NemoReborn

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I don’t know if I am doing the right thing without authorization. But since China is now a holiday and they will not answer me, I spread it at my own risk. Link
p.s Sorry for the clumsy language, I translate through Google translite.


wow ... thats seems legit ... .. . . . or not.
 

zym1010

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zym1010

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I have to admit this chi fi sound pretty good. But I almost send it back to amazon alteay just because if this ....
yeah... actually Sabaj people are pretty nice but seems that they are doing themselves a disservice by making firmware updates so secretive.
 

NemoReborn

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yeah... actually Sabaj people are pretty nice but seems that they are doing themselves a disservice by making firmware updates so secretive.

I found the patch here and the software but i dont figure how to use it
 

jruser

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My firmware update tool is out for delivery today. Has anyone gotten theirs yet and done the update?
 

zym1010

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My firmware update tool is out for delivery today. Has anyone gotten theirs yet and done the update?
I've done it. Smooth process.
 

Harry1973

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I should be receiving the tool this week. However, I think I will wait on installation. Mine is working 100% right, no issues at all (used for a month now.)
 

Enkay25

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Mine is also in transit.

But absolutely working fine with the current one. No issues at al.....of the 'konb'.:)
 

NemoReborn

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hi guys , question regarding the unit ... i using RCA out to another amp ( jds labs atom Or emotiva basx a-100 )

the output is not fixed ( line out ) the knob still controlling the sound ... and when the sound is maxed out on the sabaj d5 , i can hear distortion on the 2 other amp.

what sound i set the sabaj's volume at when i use the dac only ... this is stupid tho .. should be fixed ... line out !?!?!
 

Harry1973

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hi guys , question regarding the unit ... i using RCA out to another amp ( jds labs atom Or emotiva basx a-100 )

the output is not fixed ( line out ) the knob still controlling the sound ... and when the sound is maxed out on the sabaj d5 , i can hear distortion on the 2 other amp.

what sound i set the sabaj's volume at when i use the dac only ... this is stupid tho .. should be fixed ... line out !?!?!
Volume of 40 gives you 2v line out rca signal which is very typical level as a line out to a preamp (or preamp section of integrated amp).
 

NemoReborn

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Volume of 40 gives you 2v line out rca signal which is very typical level as a line out to a preamp (or preamp section of integrated amp).

Aight. Another thing i noticed is. Even if the sabaj is setup at SE phone out , i can hear music out of the rca line out ...

my atom is plugged into this rca out , so if i plug my headphone to the atom and i turn the volume to max , i can hear quiet music with lot of distortion... even if sabaj is still set to SE phone...
 

Harry1973

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Hmm.. I dont use headphones so I am not guessing anything. Anyways, please use "line" mode of Sabaj (volume goes then to 40). Rca out from back of sabaj to your other amp. Plug headphones to your other amp. Dont touch sabaj. And control the volume on your other amp to set listening volume. Should work fine. If not, wait for some ones better instructions.
 

NemoReborn

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Not nearly as good as 789 (of course) and even below JDS labs Atom.
See Amir's first post and comments in the headphone measurement section.
More suited for low impedance headphones, less suited for high impedance headphones.
See the headphone out as an added bonus, not as one of its main features.
How audible differences will be at 'normal listening levels' remains to be seen.
Subjectively the 789 will make a huge differences. Objectively when staying within the max. current and voltage limits of the amplifier section of the D5 it won't make much, if any, difference.


I used the sabaj d5 headphone amp SE v my jds atom. So far , sound the sane

headohone used is dt1990

Edit : jesus i cant type on this phone ...
 
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solderdude

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The Atom, however, can play 6dB louder compared to SE d5 and equally loud as the balanced d5.

Of course, when you listen at normal listening levels you would not reach the voltage limit of d5.
This would be peak levels of 119dB so average power would be a pretty loud 100dB or about 90 Phon with music.
 

NemoReborn

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The Atom, however, can play 6dB louder compared to SE d5 and equally loud as the balanced d5.

Of course, when you listen at normal listening levels you would not reach the voltage limit of d5.
This would be peak levels of 119dB so average power would be a pretty loud 100dB or about 90 Phon with music.

With my Dt1990 , i never go over 30 on the sabaj SE output.
So far for me , these beyer and d5 sound awsome. Probably same as my topping d50/jds atom tho. But yes the new toy factor and the fully balanced xlr capability makes me love the Sabaj more. Ohhhh and the remote to ! :)
 

cinstance

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I did the upgrade to 1.4 with no issues. Can confirm it fixed the volume knob issue and the clock/sample rate issue.
Thanks! Would you please share the update procedure? I received the tool yesterday but there is no instruction on how to proceed.
 
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