Sabaj A20d Review (Balanced DAC)

[staticV3]

Now I'm more confused, so number 3 or 1 is not good filters?

Correct. PCM filters are supposed to prevent aliasing, which filters 1-4 are not very good at.

One Amirs picture it says the right filter and that it is number 3 as I can read it or am I misunderstood?

"Right" means right channel of the A20d with Filter 6, which is part of the 3rd measurement set in this graph. 1st set is Khadas Toneboard, 2nd set is A20d Filter 7 L+R, 3rd set is A20d Filter 6 L+R.

1 and 3 says fast roll of on 1 fast roll of linear phase 3 fast roll of minimum phase.

ESS could've called the filters "ultra fast roll-off" or "hyper fast roll-off" and they would've still performed poorly.
The name doesn't matter. The measurements do.

 

[TjindarSingh]

Correct. PCM filters are supposed to prevent aliasing, which filters 1-4 are not very good at.


"Right" means right channel of the A20d with Filter 6, which is part of the 3rd measurement set in this graph. 1st set is Khadas Toneboard, 2nd set is A20d Filter 7 L+R, 3rd set is A20d Filter 6 L+R.


ESS could've called the filters "ultra fast roll-off" or "hyper fast roll-off" and they would've still performed poorly.
The name doesn't matter. The measurements do.

The picture you linked to was for a topping not the sabaj a20d

 

[staticV3]

The picture you linked to was for a topping not the sabaj a20d

Doesn't matter. It uses the same DAC chip, therefore has the same PCM filter performance.

 

[TjindarSingh]

Same DAC chip, same PCM filter performance.

Wich filter then to choose?and why so many if they're bad?

 

[staticV3]

Wich filter then to choose?

As I said in my very first post, choose either 5, 6, or 7 if you want proper anti-aliasing.

Out of these three, filter 5 (Apodizing fast roll-off) has the flattest frequency response, but the worst anti-aliasing performance.
Still, it's a good trade-off, so I would choose it.
It's also the filter that the manufacturer has chosen as the default filter, so there's that.

 

[TjindarSingh]

As I said in my very first post, choose either 5, 6, or 7 if you want proper anti-aliasing.

Ok doesn't matter? Why so many alternatives if there's only one or two correct?

no 5 apodizing fast roll off Linear phase
no 6 hybrid, fast roll off minimum phase.

im really confused, thanks for you time

 

[Veri]

Why so many alternatives if there's only one or two correct?

Because it doesn't make a lot of sense to expose it to the end user. A lot of devices just set one as default. But letting the user decide might excite an "audiophile" who will play around with it for a bit (and most likely decide he can't hear anything changing, lol). So yeah it's mostly marketing, like accepting up to 384/768 khz rates is purely marketing...

 

[reasons]

Can anyone comment on this dac with its A20H amp companion? Will the 5v XLR into that A20H amp be a more powerful combo then a topping a90/d90 stack for susvara?

 

[staticV3]

Can anyone comment on this dac with its A20H amp companion? Will the 5v XLR into that A20H amp be a more powerful combo then a topping a90/d90 stack for susvara?

Very difficult to say without some testing by Amir, WolfX-700, tomchr, or Goldensound.
Unfortunately Sabaj's own specs are not reliable at all:

 

[ceausuc]

have you seen this 'review':

The ULTIMATE Hifiman Susvara Review - Soundnews

My Video Review: I’m publishing headphone reviews starting with 2009, but if I’m looking deeper into my past, I’m doing them for at least 20 years, always ranking every single headphone that passed through these hands, so I wouldn’t forget any of them. Back in 2009, Sennheiser was releasing the...

soundnews.net

SP400 outputs 12 Watts into 16 Ohm, a lot more than the Sabaj.

 

[reasons]

have you seen this 'review':

The ULTIMATE Hifiman Susvara Review - Soundnews

My Video Review: I’m publishing headphone reviews starting with 2009, but if I’m looking deeper into my past, I’m doing them for at least 20 years, always ranking every single headphone that passed through these hands, so I wouldn’t forget any of them. Back in 2009, Sennheiser was releasing the...

soundnews.net

SP400 outputs 12 Watts into 16 Ohm, a lot more than the Sabaj.

Only issue with the sp400 is the gain. It has the power but they held back the gain enough for it to be an issue.

 

[Chilli]

I think I figured out the series of problems here. When the Sabaj A20d is in full decoder mode it is incredibly slow. There is clicking and swapping in and out of modes. Truly ruins the experience. In renderer mode, the Sabaj behaves as expected and there is no switching. In the Tidal software, the "Passthrough MQA" option doesn't actually force the Sabaj into renderer mode.

Regardless, the full decoder mode of the Sabaj is annoyingly slow and probably a dealbreaker for me.

That's handy to know. Are the different modes important for quality of signal, or just what we are asking of the dac to perform? In other words, does using it in renderer mode make a real difference to normal use?

 

[Toku]

That's handy to know. Are the different modes important for quality of signal, or just what we are asking of the dac to perform? In other words, does using it in renderer mode make a real difference to normal use?

The MQA playback problem is common to all DACs on the market today, not just Sabaj.
If you know a DAC that can play MQA perfectly, please tell me the model name.

 

[Dodgexander]

Anyone else getting audio dropouts using the line outs (RCA)? Happens every 5-10 min or so.

 

[peterwen]

60% off Sale on Sabaj A20d, using es9038pro chip dac. And the price includes shipping. Be grateful to the customer.

Sabaj A20d MQA Desktop Hi-Res ES9038PRO DAC freeshipping - HiFi-express

Brand Name: Sabaj Type: Desktop DSD Sampling Frequencies: 2.8224 MHz (DSD64) DSD Sampling Frequencies: 5.6448 MHz (DSD128) DSD Sampling Frequencies: 11.2896 MHz (DSD256) DSD Sampling Frequencies:...

hifi-express.com

 

[DACslut]

60% off Sale on Sabaj A20d, using es9038pro chip dac. And the price includes shipping. Be grateful to the customer.

Sabaj A20d MQA Desktop Hi-Res ES9038PRO DAC freeshipping - HiFi-express

Brand Name: Sabaj Type: Desktop DSD Sampling Frequencies: 2.8224 MHz (DSD64) DSD Sampling Frequencies: 5.6448 MHz (DSD128) DSD Sampling Frequencies: 11.2896 MHz (DSD256) DSD Sampling Frequencies:...

hifi-express.com

Really nice price! I have the Sabaj D5 and was wondering if replacing it with the A20d would be an actual listening upgrade or more of a sideways or lateral upgrade? Taking aesthetics into consideration, it would certainly look good with the dual A20a's I've got configured as monoblocks. MQA is not a concern for me. Thanks!

 

[Kollin]

SABAJ A20d - $169.99

 

[Toku]

SABAJ A20d - $169.99

It is the stock sale price of the discontinued model.

 

[pickyAudiophile]

As it fitted my *rare* (2020 series) A20a nicely I grabbed one at sales price and so far I'm happy with it. Filter was set to #5. Thankfully due to both XLR and and RCA outputs one more option to perform once again a "subjective shootout" between dual Merus MA12070 build, as mentioned above, and MA5332MS build (SMSL A300), connected to (few years discontinued 2nd hand acquired) Elac FS 509 VX-JET towers.
Spent a lot of time with comparison and fair to say it's a very, very close call and I must admit in a blind A-B test with a helping hand who did the switchig I totally failed.
As we all know there is no benefit from dual 12070 at higher frequencies, but it's the bass and sub bass region where it has it's strenth over a single 12070 layout. Lowest registers from both Roskilde and Passau organ remained rock solid at elevated volume with both devices (upgraded A20a PSU board was implemented, so no clicking) . No differences detected in other frequency areas or highly audiophile terms like "spaciousness, airiness" or whatever. What strikes me most with the MA5532MS is the fact that it is supposedly easier to implement and just more straightforward over a dual 12070 and that's why I don't think we will see dual 12070 in future again.
However, the A20d at least to my ears is indistinguishable from other (later than 2019 released) DACs I already own with my hearing and mental capabilities. Not saying there is no difference, just indistinguishable to me. Other people may experience something different and I respect that.

 

[ITguyAR]

Available in November sometime.