Sabaj A20d 2022 Review (DAC & Headphone Amp)

[poxymoron]

Voted “fine” as in this age of excellently measuring devices at way beyond audibility as well as great price point, I want more of other features, like EQ, tone controls, dynamic loudness, service, support etc.

Don't we all, but at that price? Here's hoping.

 

[ex audiophile]

Headphone amp is cleaner than $3000 Benchmark HPA4 (just a bit less powerful though)

I hear you, but the Benchmark is made in America and these days I just can't bring myself to send money to China. Just me..

 

[Trell]

Don't we all, but at that price? Here's hoping.

For sure at a significantly higher price as this is expensive and difficult to implement.

 

[DonR]

Another good value SOTA Chinese DAC/amp. This is getting predictable.

 

[shrimp_dude]

Do these 2022 versions of the A10d, A20d dac/amps have relay volume control for perfect channel matching? It seems Sabaj does not advertise that component anymore. Was there a channel matching test done on this unit?

 

[djgras]

Hi. Perhaps you could help me:
- can I use it as a preamp with active speakers (Dynaudio Focus 110A) through RCA?
- How does it compare with the Topping equivalent? Topping A90 discrete? DX5 ? EX5 ? DX7 Pro ?
- I currently have a SOtM SDP1000 DAC/preamp: should I upgrade and why or have these devices not reached the same audio quality level yet?

6moons audio reviews: SOtM sDP-1000

Thanks and best regards

 

[Snoopy]

I hear you, but the Benchmark is made in America and these days I just can't bring myself to send money to China. Just me..

Some people might feel the same way about the U.S.

 

[Billy Budapest]

I hear you, but the Benchmark is made in America and these days I just can't bring myself to send money to China. Just me..

I guess you don’t own a cellphone or a PC, either.

 

[Thomas Savage]

Wow what value , with inflation out of control by next week this thing will cost less than 2 litres of sunflower oil .

How many taps dose it have tho ? More than a pub but less than a beer festival?

 

[Vovgan]

I hear you, but the Benchmark is made in America and these days I just can't bring myself to send money to China. Just me..

People in my part of the world may have the opposite preferences now, so I ordered one on Aliexpress with no remorse

 

[Owl]

While buying local is great, especially for new products, this design looks to be a refinement of an already proven product. There shouldn't be much risk.

 

[natna]

Wow! Great news!

It's amazing that the unballanced RCA output is top notch, and the toslink performance is equally high as usb!
A good match with some of us, that want to feed it with older music sources as Blurays, CD players, etc... that only have toslink/optical.
I'd also like to see some channel separation measurements for RCA OUT.

 

[Vovgan]

Headphone amplification is included and is output in both 1/4 and 4.4 mm. Note that the latter is not balanced and is simply there for compatibility (which I appreciated)

Chief, their materials say that it’s balanced:

 

[MZKM]

Chief, their materials say that it’s balanced:

Manual states single-ended, no mention of balanced.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZWyZjhDe5LxdGcr3L5GAx1Crh1Rwm1PX/view

Checked Aliexpress, only your Russian domain listing has that one, the US listing graphic still says balanced on the connector, but not “true balanced output” at the top:


Likely meaning a 4.4mm balanced cable; it’ll be same power as 1/4 in though.

 

[Azathoth]

Would be good upgrade for me, would live a nice all in one solution. And it's USB-C too! Could I plug it straight to my Android phone perchance?

 

[ex audiophile]

Some people might feel the same way about the U.S.

They're welcome to leave

 

[ex audiophile]

I guess you don’t own a cellphone or a PC, either.

when I have a choice I choose to support Americans. You're welcome to support whoever you wish

 

[ex audiophile]

People in my part of the world may have the opposite preferences now, so I ordered one on Aliexpress with no remorse

probably best not to start a discussion regarding the behavior of Russia.

 

[Lambda]

probably best not to start a discussion

Then why do you come to this tread and make 3 posts with political issues that have nothing to do with the product.

their materials say that it’s balanced:

it has a balanced connector and if you uses it you get less crosstalk between left and right channel.
Many low end audio interfaces also only have "impedance balanced" outputs.
So the hot side is driven and the cold side is referenced to local ground.

With cold and hot or low and high Driven you get more "power"/ signal and thereby possessively a small signal to noise benefit
This is often called "fully differential balanced" or only "true balanced".

 

[oldsysop]

The sound was dynamic, detailed and just a delight