Sabaj A30a announced

[Toku]

Is my thinking correct?
I connect my computer to the Sabaj on usb-c and by turning on Hi-res audio, the Sabaj A30a detects the high resolution-that's how it should work, according to me.
In other DACs it seems to be like this.... @Toku what's it like?

Yes, it is exactly the same as using a general DAC.
I installed the ASIO driver on my PC and play DSD/PCM in ASIO Native mode.
The ASIO driver is the same as the ASIO driver supplied by SMSL and can be used in common. If you already have SMSL's ASIO driver installed, use it.

I use TuneBrowser and foober2000 made in Japan for my PC player.
With this, PCM44.1kHz to PCM768kHz and DSD64 to DSD512 can be played smoothly.
It also appears correctly on the A30a display.

 

[m8kbv]

Yes, it is exactly the same as using a general DAC.
I installed the ASIO driver on my PC and play DSD/PCM in ASIO Native mode.
The ASIO driver is the same as the ASIO driver supplied by SMSL and can be used in common. If you already have SMSL's ASIO driver installed, use it.

I use TuneBrowser and foober2000 made in Japan for my PC player.
With this, PCM44.1kHz to PCM768kHz and DSD64 to DSD512 can be played smoothly.
It also appears correctly on the A30a display.

I have macOS alone, I don't see ASIO drivers for mac. I'll hook up to a PC today or do a volumio on a miniPC and see....

 

[Zek]

I don't see ASIO drivers for mac

You don't need any drivers for MacOS, the only thing is that DSD files will be played as DoP (see settings in the audio player), but on the DAC display it shows as proper DSD.

 

[Toku]

That's a huge, mind-blowing dilemma with these 16 bits - 44.1 kHz for people caught somewhere in between rationality and audiophilia I must say. Could I ever be happy with it? "Not really" any time I started a high-res track (whatever the "true" quality was). Speaking for myself only.

I would also like to know the details of the internal processing steps, but they are not published. Even if it's a black box specification, I don't care if the actual processing is 44.1kHz because the sound quality and product quality are good.

 

[PeterOo]

I would also like to know the details of the internal processing steps, but they are not published. Even if it's a black box specification, I don't care if the actual processing is 44.1kHz because the sound quality and product quality are good.

The Axign specs state a dynamic range of 115 or 124 dB. And an option for HIRES with 40kHz bandwidth.
The chip itself does not seem limitedto 16 bit 44.1kHz samplerate.

Are people not mistaking a 22 kHz low pass filter for evidence of internal 44.1 kHz samplerate?

 

[voodooless]

The Axign specs state a dynamic range of 115 or 124 dB. And an option for HIRES with 40kHz bandwidth.
The chip itself does not seem limitedto 16 bit 44.1kHz samplerate.

Where are the 16 bits suddenly comming from? Nobody said anything about 16 bits…

Are people not mistaking a 22 kHz low pass filter for evidence of internal 44.1 kHz samplerate?

Why would there be the higher sample rate if you would apply a 22 kHz low pass?

 

[Zek]

Why would there be the higher sample rate if you would apply a 22 kHz low pass?

What does sample rate have to do with frequency response?

 

[voodooless]

What does sample rate have to do with frequency response?

Well, it dictates the maximum frequency one can encode. If you low pass it half way, you just as well can throw half the samples away. They have no value.

 

[PeterOo]

Where are the 16 bits suddenly comming from? Nobody said anything about 16 bits…

I understood that was what pickyaudiophile suggested in post 178. There were some earlier questions by maty asking if it converted everything to 44.1/16 . My sincerest apologies if I misinterpreted.

Why would there be the higher sample rate if you would apply a 22 kHz low pass?

More the other way around. You state in post 175 that other products using the [axign] tech run internally at 44.1 kHz. Showing amir’s picture of the VMV A2 with a brick wall at 22 kHz.
I followed most Axign threads here but I cannot remember any ‘evidence’ of internal processing at 44.1(ksamples). So my interpretation was that people interpreted the FR limited to 22 kHz as evidence of internal processing at 44.1. Please explain if there is other evidence.

To my understanding there is advantage to processing at higher than 44.1 sampling rate even if the frequency content is limited to 22 kHz. e.g oversampling of 44.1/16 CD.

 

[voodooless]

I understood that was what pickyaudiophile suggested in post 178. There were some earlier questions by maty asking if it converted everything to 44.1/16 . My sincerest apologies if I misinterpreted.

Yeah, I’ve seen those. I still have no idea why the 16 bit was mentioned though.. that wouldn’t make a lot of sense.

So my interpretation was that people interpreted the FR limited to 22 kHz as evidence of internal processing at 44.1.

Precisely. Occam’s razor seems to suggest that.

Please explain if there is other evidence.

Not yet. I did have a datasheet of the chip once, but it’s deleted now, and no longer freely available, and I remember too little of it to conclude more. We’ll need to wait for some more in-depth measurements to confirm.

To my understanding there is advantage to processing at higher than 44.1 sampling rate even if the frequency content is limited to 22 kHz. e.g oversampling of 44.1/16 CD.

Personally I’d like to see at least 48 kHz to be in the safe side.

 

[Toku]

Regarding the content that everyone is discussing, I also researched and understood in advance before purchasing the A30a.
Anyway, there is no disclosure of a clear process, so I can only speculate.

My A30a has been running for 20 hours straight and has no symptoms like before. It seems to be fine for the time being.
However, the heat generation of the housing of A30a is amazing. I hesitate to use it in the summer season in Japan. It's as hot as AIYIMA A07 connected to 48V power supply. Is STMicro's STA516BE the cause of this fever?
I envy the cool behavior of the AO200. But the sound quality of A30a is good! .

 

[Toku]

From the frequency characteristics of SA400 and VMV A2 measured by amirm, it is clear that there are parts that are processed at 44.1kHz internally.
This graph represents the F characteristics of a CD player that I have seen in the past.
Personally, I would have liked it to be processed at 48kHz instead of 44.1kHz. 48kHz/24bit is acceptable to me.

If you look closely at the A30a and SMSL SA400/VMV A2, only the VMV A2 has the H-Res representation and stickers attached.
HP's A30a and SA400 descriptions don't mention Hi-Res at all. The Hi-Res sticker is not affixed to the actual product.
This may also be related to internal processing.

 

[Toku]

Today I received the results of the investigation on the A30a that I returned to Sabaj, China.
--------------------------------------
Hello, the A30a that came back has been checked by the laboratory, because the copper column for heat dissipation of the A30a is not installed to the end, resulting in the chip not touching the heat sink.

It may be due to the lack of solid welding in production, and then the loose copper column caused by long-distance transportation. We will pay more attention to this problem in the subsequent production.
Thank you very much.
terribly sorry.

你好，回来的A30a经过实验室检查，是由于该A30a的散热的铜柱没有装到底, 导致芯片没有接触到散热器。

可能是由于生产中没有焊牢固，然后长途的运输导致的铜柱松了，我们会在后面的生产中更注重这样问题。
非常感谢你。
非常抱歉。
--------------------------------------
I was very excited to receive this email.
I don't think there is any other Chinese audio manufacturer that is so close to users and seriously investigates problems.
It was a lot of trouble to convey the information accurately, but I like Sabaj more and more.

Also, when I exchanged emails with Sabaj, I used Chinese as much as possible so that the content could be conveyed accurately and reliably.

 

[WILL]

Toku you have got all the broken pieces from Sabaj.

 

[roog]

Today I received the results of the investigation on the A30a that I returned to Sabaj, China.
--------------------------------------
Hello, the A30a that came back has been checked by the laboratory, because the copper column for heat dissipation of the A30a is not installed to the end, resulting in the chip not touching the heat sink.

It may be due to the lack of solid welding in production, and then the loose copper column caused by long-distance transportation. We will pay more attention to this problem in the subsequent production.
Thank you very much.
terribly sorry.

你好，回来的A30a经过实验室检查，是由于该A30a的散热的铜柱没有装到底, 导致芯片没有接触到散热器。

可能是由于生产中没有焊牢固，然后长途的运输导致的铜柱松了，我们会在后面的生产中更注重这样问题。
非常感谢你。
非常抱歉。
--------------------------------------
I was very excited to receive this email.
I don't think there is any other Chinese audio manufacturer that is so close to users and seriously investigates problems.
It was a lot of trouble to convey the information accurately, but I like Sabaj more and more.

Also, when I exchanged emails with Sabaj, I used Chinese as much as possible so that the content could be conveyed accurately and reliably.

It’s great that you received a considered response.
thank you for conveying the feed back To us

 

[Toku]

Toku you have got all the broken pieces from Sabaj.

Yes, it is.
The items I got from Sabaj that had issues are A20a, A8, A20a 2022 and A30a.
Sabaj responded sensitively to my report and took immediate action.
Both were just after the release, so they should have been able to respond quickly.

 

[PeterOo]

Precisely. Occam’s razor seems to suggest that.

I see. We just have a different application of Occam’s razor to explain the missing frequency content above 20 kHz.
I can imagine a digital feedback loop might benefit from there being no target signal above 22 KHz (that no human can hear anyway), just noise and error signals.
but I quit my electrical engineering study after 9 months, so that is nothing more than intuition.

Not yet. I did have a datasheet of the chip once, but it’s deleted now, and no longer freely available, and I remember too little of it to conclude more.

Do you mean the product brief? That is still available at manualzz.com

 

[voodooless]

Do you mean the product brief? That is still available at manualzz.com

No, I had much more than that.

 

[Johannesthalos]

because the copper column for heat dissipation of the A30a is not installed to the end, resulting in the chip not touching the heat sink.

Maybe with your newly sent A30a there is also a problem with the copper not being attached 100%. Maybe this is why it is getting so hot?

 

[antcollinet]

Maybe with your newly sent A30a there is also a problem with the copper not being attached 100%. Maybe this is why it is getting so hot?

That would just result in the device overheating. The total heat into the case would be the same so it would get just as hot (thermal runaway excepted - but then it would break)