Sabaj A20d Review (Balanced DAC)

[Narnian]

Available in November sometime.

Which is sad. I am debating about getting this as I would like to try an external DAC of some sort to see if I can hear and difference.

However at this price and performance is there anything better available at this time with balanced outputs?

 

[pickyAudiophile]

However at this price and performance is there anything better available at this time with balanced outputs?

Schiit Modius ist too expensive? At USD 169 there are actually no alternatives. Topping E50 next best on price chart.
You may wait for November 11 "Single's Day" sales with an expected ~20% off at many stores.

 

[Narnian]

Schiit Modius ist too expensive? At USD 169 there are actually no alternatives. Topping E50 next best on price chart.
You may wait for November 11 "Single's Day" sales with an expected ~20% off at many stores.

Good idea. It was more the features of the Sabaj over the Modius. But $100 savings is still savings.

What I should do is get a basic SMSL (etc) DAC off of Amazon or the Modi from Schiit and see if there is any improvement since I will be using just the RCA outputs for a while anyway. Maybe that will be all I need and if I can discern any improvement. If not back it goes and I am done. If I can I will look to get one with more features.

 

[Roland68]

Which is sad. I am debating about getting this as I would like to try an external DAC of some sort to see if I can hear and difference.

However at this price and performance is there anything better available at this time with balanced outputs?

Both in terms of the ES9038PRO chip and the balanced input, there is no alternative to the Sabaj A20d at this price. All other Dac's are twice as expensive. Even the very good E50 costs significantly more.
In addition, the A20d is in the top field of the measured DAC's at ASR.

 

[Narnian]

Both in terms of the ES9038PRO chip and the balanced input, there is no alternative to the Sabaj A20d at this price. All other Dac's are twice as expensive. Even the very good E50 costs significantly more.
In addition, the A20d is in the top field of the measured DAC's at ASR.

At the current $169 price the older Sabaj A20D on Amazon, coupled with a return policy until the end of January makes this a no-brainer to try.

https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-ES9038PRO-Flagship-Decoder-Optical/dp/B094CRT2LS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pb_opt?ie=UTF8,

 

[frito]

Just got mine last night. Hoping to use it for DSD over DoP. However, mine has TONS of background noise. Not hiss, but varying noises that change a bit as you run through the inputs. Anybody else experience this? Probably will exchange it, unless this is normal.

 

[Narnian]

Just got mine last night. Hoping to use it for DSD over DoP. However, mine has TONS of background noise. Not hiss, but varying noises that change a bit as you run through the inputs. Anybody else experience this? Probably will exchange it, unless this is normal.

I got mine a few days ago and turned the volume up all the way and then turned the Aiyima A07 amp I connected up but could not hear anything out of the speakers. Check the cables, especially of you are using the RCA and not the balanced XLR.

 

[frito]

I got mine a few days ago and turned the volume up all the way and then turned the Aiyima A07 amp I connected up but could not hear anything out of the speakers. Check the cables, especially of you are using the RCA and not the balanced XLR.

Defiantly not using balanced, but I did swap to a different pair of RCA's. No change. I've never had a problem with anything outside of interference with phono stage cables and such. I'm thinking I got a bad one. It's like faint locusts, the sound. Like non-fill on a record, but locusts instead of the "whoosh". Thanks for you suggestions. No balanced inputs for me here, though.

 

[Dunring]

Defiantly not using balanced, but I did swap to a different pair of RCA's. No change. I've never had a problem with anything outside of interference with phono stage cables and such. I'm thinking I got a bad one. It's like faint locusts, the sound. Like non-fill on a record, but locusts instead of the "whoosh". Thanks for you suggestions. No balanced inputs for me here, though.

Try checking the power supply where it connects. The number only side should face the back of the brick where there's nothing printed. The other side of the plug has numbers and letters, it should be facing the side of the brick with the stamped writing. I accidentally plugged in an A20H amp the wrong way and it sounded terrible. Then by chance I switched it around on another unit and sounded wonderful. Now I mark them with a dot using silver sharpie on each side to avoid it. It's not mentioned in the manual that it's got a polarity to it. It didn't damage the amp, but it did sound weird/defective when reversed.

 

[Narnian]

I shared this over at the Denon X3800H review thread but it has some relevance here.
============================]
Well I have spent the last few hours listening to my 3800H with the following test combinations with several songs.

1. Tidal->WIIM->(optical)->3800H->Revel M105
2. Tidal->WIIM->(optical)->Sabaj A20D DAC->(analog)->3800H->Revel M105
3. Tidal->3800H (HEOS)->Revel M105
4. Tidal->WIIM->(optical)->Sabaj A20D DAC->(analog)->Aiyima A07 amp->Revel M105

And the winner is … a 4-way tie. I cannot tell the difference. I played the songs through to get an overall feel as well as selected individual instruments and compared snippets to see if the bass through cymbals and voices sounded any different.

So my hopes of a better DAC helping to mitigate my hearing loss are dashed.

 

[frito]

I should probably follow up on my "noise" problem. Turned out the problem noise was from a connected Sony BR player. Never thought it could be the problem since the noise was happening while it wasn't even powered on. Disconnected the player from the Sabaj and the noise was instantly gone.