Sabaj A20d 2023 DAC & HP Amp Review

[Gio]

It seems to me that this model drops in a very crowd market. Without real improvements (i.g. streamer + DAC) it is "useless".

 

[manisandher]

Since it is accepted that contents in the region 20-22.05 kHz will not meet the passband requirements, there is no reason not to allow some images to reflect into the 20-22.05 kHz band, and specify anti-imaging filter stop band at 24.1 kHz.

Did you actually read what I wrote?

Once more...

Images in a DAC due to a poor anti-imaging filter do not reflect back at Nyquist. They should be considered as HF distortion beyond Nyquist. In themselves audible? Probably not. But, they may cause problems for the DAC's output stage and for the amplifier after the DAC. They may also cause IMD <20kHz, which may well be audible.

Aliases in an ADC due to a poor anti-alias filter do reflect back at Nyquist and mix with the 'real' music signal. Clearly, this is to be avoided at all cost as the 'real' music signal can never be recovered.

The solution to both of these is to attenuate well between 20kHz and Nyquist. This is trivial to achieve nowadays, even at 44.1kHz sample rates. (Don't believe the hype around 'ringing' due to a brick-wall filter. My tests with 'real' music show that if it exists, it lies well below -200dB.)

Mani.

 

[Metronomy]

Voted fine 1 w to 33 is really little, at the same price I would take the Loxjie D40 Pro.

 

[F1308]

I've come to realize if the remote is not reliable, I'm absolutely not interested in the DAC. I wish ASR tested remote capability. When you sit 10 feet away on the couch and you can't get the DAC volume control to work easily with the remote - it's a junk product for me no matter what the SINAD measurement is. This is a problem with all the Topping DACs I purchased. Meanwhile, the RME ADI-2 remote works amazingly well.

Laptop+[DAC, if wished]+WinAmp+AmpWifi+Tablet or Smartphone as the controller...?

Ampwifi Winamp Remote - Apps on Google Play

Ampwifi - The Winamp remote control app

play.google.com

Downloads - Winamp

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www.winamp.com

 

[solderdude]

@amirm perhaps you could complete the measurements with some multitones for the 'sound color modes'.

I know that won't look well for this device compared to what it is capable off but for the sake of completeness and showing people what happens in these 'sound altering' modes actually happens to the signal.

 

[Chilli]

May I suggest, if you're having issues with the remote, you can use an app, such as smart remote, to use the IR in your phone instead. It's slightly better, but nothings perfect.
If you have an apple tv then you can program that too. I hate the apple tv remote much more, for other reasons.
The handles have been great to use to straighten the device on the shelf after every change to the system. I don't let these things annoy me, for such a reasonable price, I'm not complaining.
I'm not being defensive here, as an owner of a Sabaj device. Take it or leave it. It's all good.

 

[GiBo61]

It seems to me that this model drops in a very crowd market. Without real improvements (i.g. streamer + DAC) it is "useless".

Most markets are crowded (cars, food, clothes, etc.). It's nice to be able to choose among similar (but different) items. Furthermore competition stimulates innovation and helps keep prices low. Separate devices for streamer and DAC allow more flexibility and prevent obsolescence (streamers age faster than current DACs with Sinad > 120 db).

 

[ModDIY]

Thanks Sabaj for sending another product to Amir for review. Now could you please send the A30a to him, so that all the owners and fans of it on this forum can finally find out whether it is as good as we think it is?

Totally agree.

 

[Tovarich007]

They are actually. The customer for both DACs wants the best digital to analog converter they can get. The "use" is absolutely the same. This DAC matches and beats dCS (again, in this one common test) so the customer better pause and think about that. The marketing message around expensive DACs will carry them forward for a while longer but folks need to start to wonder where the story ends.

Of course, they 're all DACS but you can't write that use is definitely the same. DCS, Merging, Prism Sound, RME and others are mainly used in the professionnal domain (The DCS Rossini is indeed an overpriced high end product not intented for pros, but the ring DAC is also used in their pro models).

My reaction wasn't focused on pure performances, because they're all actually very good models, but on reliability, brand services and advises, upgrading, etc. This has a price too, so these expensive products used every day fduring a long time in studios can't be compared with Sabaj, SMSL, Topping and co.

I have a Topping DX7s since 4 or 5 years now, it sounds very good on headphone, good at a lesser degree on line ouput (so measurment don't show everything, otherwise line output should also be top notch, which isn't the case on this model), Topping is a good brand with good VFM, but their products have some minor flaws (ergonomy's not top -it's an euphemsism-, there is a very audible "ploc" at extinction - I hope this have been improved on recent models, but not sure).

You know, all this is way more important for me than a super SINAD measurement, as long as one can't hear diffrences below a threshold of noise and distorsion.

But, as I wrote in my previous post, I would appreciate a more precise answer from you about the first setting of this Sabaj, which was by far not as good as the others three setings. is it the default setting ? which causes its below average performance ?

 

[kokono]

I doubt it, but I'd like to know this, too. I have two 2022 A20d's, and both remotes are finicky and frustrating. Certainly the brand's weak link, in my experience.

Have you tried an universal remote, those have much better range. Or it's the receiver which is the culprit?

 

[ModDIY]

I doubt it, but I'd like to know this, too. I have two 2022 A20d's, and both remotes are finicky and frustrating. Certainly the brand's weak link, in my experience.

Ditto with my Sabaj A20a 2019.

On the other hand with the Sabaj A30a, the remote control is much better, probably due to better infrared.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Thanks for the review. It is a great performing DAC with an ok industrial design, but it does not compare to dCS.
I don't care it sounds the same.

If it sounds the same, then in what way does it not compare to dCS (other than the outrageous price)?

 

[Bmoze]

Have you tried an universal remote, those have much better range. Or it's the receiver which is the culprit?

I haven't tried a universal remote or app, but I might. My issue with the remote is that its not consistently responsive. You can push a button on the remote and sometimes it works first try, but most of the time I have to push it 2-3 times to get it to respond. Weird thing is, it works great at first, then it soon became less responsive. I asked Sabaj to replace one of my remotes because I thought it must be defective. They did. The new one worked as it should for about a week, then the same issue occurred. I've replaced the batteries to no effect. So, I'm not certain if it's the receiver or remote, but I suspect the remote.

 

[617]

Nice of them to include handles, I remember back in the 70s I was a roadie for Motörhead and I destroyed my back crating up headphone amp/dacs. Every night, Lemmy would ask for his Sennheiser HD650s to be bumped up the 11 and one of the Sabaj's would burn out, not just from the output levels, but from the cigarette ashes, beer and various fluids related to groupies, and it was up to me to swap in a back up. 4 solid years of chaos, rolling opamps under a concert stage with a flashlight in my mouth. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.

I never saw the dCs units; I heard that Sting and Steve Winwood liked them.

 

[polmuaddib]

If it sounds the same, then in what way does it not compare to dCS (other than the outrageous price)?

I edited my post so it's more specific to what aspect I was referring.

 

[student of history]

I searched the thread, but see no sign of crosstalk response. Just curious. Crosstalk is one of the most important tests, IMHO.

 

[amirm]

I searched the thread, but see no sign of crosstalk response. Just curious. Crosstalk is one of the most important tests, IMHO.

I don't run crosstalk tests on DACs. I don't think it is a source of concern. I will run it on a future DAC test to see if that assumption is wrong.

 

[Mike-48]

Trivial, I know, but what’s with all the random fonts on the unit. Looks like a school concert flyer.

To me, it's not trivial -- it's really ugly.

I like the aluminum finish, and I'm neutral on the handles, but the mismatched lettering would bother me every time I used this. Time to hire an experienced industrial designer and add a few bucks to the price.

 

[kokono]

Amir, can you please tell us which of the sound colors has the worst SINAD?

 

[ocinn]

Sabaj and SMSL (same company) are on an insane redemption arc. Absolutely killing it. Seems like every product they make in every pricerange is absolutely dominating the value metric. However, I feel like the SMSL C200 is the better value in this bracket.

Excited to see where they go nevertheless.

A30a, being a absolute state of the art Axign “power dac” with integrated bass management. Unbeatable for what it is.

A10/A20 have been killer values each revision. If they release a dac or amp with PEQ and bass management in these price ranges it’s game over. Implementing basic DSP in the digital domain is so trivial and cheap it’s just a matter of time. Rooting for them heavily.