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Sabaj A30a announced

I disagree, the scheme in A2 is a simplification of processing for marketing purposes. We can speculate what we want...

Right... So we need A2 pictures to confirm ))
We now that VMV is the higher-end brand in SMSL lineup. The A2 is more expensive because of the design and the VMV tag
 
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The respective diagrams give us an idea about the implementation of the PCB

A30A on top, A2 Bottom
Not really. VMV's marketing material just cribbed the diagram from Axign. For the Sabaj, they drew their own diagram.

From what I've seen of the PCBs (look back through this thread), they are pretty similar. The differences we know about are that the A2 and A30a have their power supply on different sides, and that the A2 has a shared sub out / coaxial in while the A30a has separate sockets.

By the way, I pasted a full-ish view of the A30a's PCB in this post and you can see some details of the A2 PCB around the power amp and ADC on Aoshida's site.
 
Not really. VMV's marketing material just cribbed the diagram from Axign. For the Sabaj, they drew their own diagram.

From what I've seen of the PCBs (look back through this thread), they are pretty similar. The differences we know about are that the A2 and A30a have their power supply on different sides, and that the A2 has a shared sub out / coaxial in while the A30a has separate sockets.

By the way, I pasted a full-ish view of the A30a's PCB in this post and you can see some details of the A2 PCB around the power amp and ADC on Aoshida's site.

I saw it. Any idea about the Bluetooth chipset inside the A30A btw ?
 
I saw it. Any idea about the Bluetooth chipset inside the A30A btw ?
Based on Sabaj's specifications (Qualcomm, supporting LDAC and apt-X HD), an educated guess says it's probably the QCC51xx series, possibly the QCC5125. Unfortunately, while the nice PCB photo on Sabaj's website shows the Bluetooth module in the front left corner, it doesn't have enough detail to make out the chip.
 
Based on Sabaj's specifications (Qualcomm, supporting LDAC and apt-X HD), an educated guess says it's probably the QCC51xx series, possibly the QCC5125. Unfortunately, while the nice PCB photo on Sabaj's website shows the Bluetooth module in the front left corner, it doesn't have enough detail to make out the chip.

This is what I supposed to.... I wrote to Sabaj but never got any answer....
 
Important! If you want to open the Sabaj A30a, don't try to remove the bottom panel! They will damage or destroy your device! The first thing to do is to remove the lid!
To open it, you must first unscrew the feet and then use a long 2mm Allen key to unscrew the screws from the cover through the holes in the base plate.
Never remove the screws from the base plate! Finally, remove the screw for the cover from the back.
The lid has a spigot both at the back and at the front.
You have to lift the lid on the back, only there and only about 10-20°. That's a bit difficult and needs patience, since there is a large thermal pad between the power supply and the lid. Then pull off the cover to the rear.

Here are a few quick pictures taken with my cell phone.
@ohnonotagain You were absolutely correct

IMG_0681.jpeg
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IMG_0684.jpeg

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IMG_0687.jpeg
 
It's really a shame that Sabaj and SMSL have not installed an i2s interface on these devices.
The Axign AX5689 supports i2s, 32 bit and 768 kHz.

Does anyone know what the "SWITCH" above the ARM processor in the middle picture is for?
 
It's really a shame that Sabaj and SMSL have not installed an i2s interface on these devices.
The Axign AX5689 supports i2s, 32 bit and 768 kHz.
What would be the point?
Does anyone know what the "SWITCH" above the ARM processor in the middle picture is for?
Who knows… looks like it may be connected to the BOOT0 pin. Possibly to sideload firmware.
 
What would be the point?

Who knows… looks like it may be connected to the BOOT0 pin. Possibly to sideload firmware.
All incoming signals in the A30a, including the analog ones, are converted to i2s for the AX5689.
i2s is the original signal that is generated in many source devices and ultimately also processed in the DAC chips and by the AX5689.
Many of my source devices (CD players, SACD players, MAC, media players, etc.) output i2s over LVDS directly. Why convert a signal when you can transmit it directly?
It is also ideal for connecting future devices, including DDC, with the maximum resolution.
But that's just my personal opinion and experience.
 
All incoming signals in the A30a, including the analog ones, are converted to i2s for the AX5689.
i2s is the original signal that is generated in many source devices and ultimately also processed in the DAC chips and by the AX5689.
Many of my source devices (CD players, SACD players, MAC, media players, etc.) output i2s over LVDS directly. Why convert a signal when you can transmit it directly?
It is also ideal for connecting future devices, including DDC, with the maximum resolution.
But that's just my personal opinion and experience.
I2S should stay inside of devices. It’s not made for device to device interfacing. There is no standardization, it often misuses HDMI connectors and cables. Not a good idea imho.
 
I2S should stay inside of devices. It’s not made for device to device interfacing. There is no standardization, it often misuses HDMI connectors and cables. Not a good idea imho.
LVDS works very well everywhere, in our monitors, computers, notebooks, TVs and no one notices. But also anywhere in this world in data transmission, data storage machines and production control etc.
It is one of the most widespread industry standards and the standard when it comes to transmitting inter IC connections over short cable routes without loss and interference.
The question is, why should I convert a signal to USB, SPDIF or AES and then convert it back again when I can transmit it directly using a much more proven standard.
With LVDS you can transmit several GBit/s absolutely interference and loss-free via current HDMI cables, with i2s it is underchallenged.

I don't think many people realize how dependent we are on something as trivial as LVDS in today's world and how well it works.
I have professional experience with LVDS for over 20 years, so I know what it can do. But I'm just providing info and experience here, nobody has to follow it, use it, or agree with me.
 
LVDS works very well everywhere, in our monitors, computers, notebooks, TVs and no one notices. But also anywhere in this world in data transmission, data storage machines and production control etc.
LVDS is not part of the I2S standard and is shoehorned on top of it to make longer range transmission possible.
It is one of the most widespread industry standards and the standard when it comes to transmitting inter IC connections over short cable routes without loss and interference.
There is nothing wrong with LVDS. The problem is that there is no standard here for I2S. There are at least 4 wiring schemes out there, and the usage of HDMI connectors is an issue. It’s just a total mess.
The question is, why should I convert a signal to USB, SPDIF or AES and then convert it back again when I can transmit it directly using a much more proven standard.
There is often no “there and back again”. For USB, there is no I2S first: it goes from software stack over device driver to USB packets. No I2S involved at all. SPDIF is more varied and will depend on the hardware implementation. And in many cases also no I2S needs to be involved.

But make it an official standard, and I’ll think about it.
 
LVDS is not part of the I2S standard and is shoehorned on top of it to make longer range transmission possible.

There is nothing wrong with LVDS. The problem is that there is no standard here for I2S. There are at least 4 wiring schemes out there, and the usage of HDMI connectors is an issue. It’s just a total mess.

There is often no “there and back again”. For USB, there is no I2S first: it goes from software stack over device driver to USB packets. No I2S involved at all. SPDIF is more varied and will depend on the hardware implementation. And in many cases also no I2S needs to be involved.

But make it an official standard, and I’ll think about it.
LVDS is always based on the physical layer, so cables and connectors are not specified.
You are of course right about USB, it is only converted to i2s in the DAC.
I usually bypass USB altogether and grab the i2s signal via a PCI card or HDMI audio, but in the end everything is always converted to i2s, including SPDIF, which is based on i2s.
There are now also DAC chips into which you can feed SPDIF, but internally they also convert back to i2s.
But in the end it doesn't matter, everything works.

And if the A30a convinces me in the next few weeks, maybe I'll teach it i2s over LVDS.
 
LVDS is always based on the physical layer, so cables and connectors are not specified.
That is obviously not the point. HDMI for instance, is a full standard for interconnecting audio and video. LVDS is only a small part of it. It defines, connectors, cables, protocols, data speeds, pinouts, and everything else. I2S has none of these things defined for use as in interconnect.

I2S stands for Inter-IC Sound. And as Wikipedia correctly states:
It is used to communicate PCM audio data between integrated circuits in an electronic device.
It also states this regarding the use of I2S as in interconnect technology:
There is no standard interconnecting cable for this application
And that is the whole issue here. Obligatory XKCD:
standards_2x.png

But in the end it doesn't matter, everything works.
Exactly. The things that are already there work just fine. No need to use something extra.

And if you want another example why all this is a bad idea:

 
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Originally announced on this forum in July 2022,
55 pages, and over a year later,
There's still no ASR review, I don't get it, but there's no shortage of DAC reviews, even from Sabaj's 2023 update.

By all accounts it seems a great value for money amplifier, nice build quality, and it looks fine, with most owners praising its sound.
Could SABAJ or someone send a sample to Amir, for test, please.
 
Originally announced on this forum in July 2022,
55 pages, and over a year later,
There's still no ASR review, I don't get it, but there's no shortage of DAC reviews, even from Sabaj's 2023 update.

By all accounts it seems a great value for money amplifier, nice build quality, and it looks fine, with most owners praising its sound.
Could SABAJ or someone send a sample to Amir, for test, please.
The A30a is an amplifier with almost the same configuration as the SMSL VMV A2 and is a very excellent product. I think further improvements have been made based on SMSL VMV A2.
I am also very disappointed that this excellent amp has not yet been measured by amirm.
However, we do have measurement results for SMSL VMV A2, which is the base, so we can use this as a reference to some extent. However, there seems to be a problem with the analog input of A2, so it cannot be used as a reference.

 
Originally announced on this forum in July 2022,
55 pages, and over a year later,
There's still no ASR review, I don't get it, but there's no shortage of DAC reviews, even from Sabaj's 2023 update.

By all accounts it seems a great value for money amplifier, nice build quality, and it looks fine, with most owners praising its sound.
Could SABAJ or someone send a sample to Amir, for test, please.

It appears like manufacturers like Topping, SMSL are sending their products for review which have excellent measurements rather than every new product.
Perhaps they just are using using ASR for their selective benefits.

If they can send their DACs, then why cannot they send their amps as well!!!
 
It appears like manufacturers like Topping, SMSL are sending their products for review which have excellent measurements rather than every new product.
Perhaps they just are using using ASR for their selective benefits.

If they can send their DACs, then why cannot they send their amps as well!!!
Absolutely agree. I've been saying this for a long time. These companies do not fail to have any DAC with excellent performance tested but they are careful not to send amplifiers that probably do not have such good measurements, as proof of this, when some amplifier is measured (because it was sent by a user) the measurements are often poor (for example smsl A300)
 
Absolutely agree. I've been saying this for a long time. These companies do not fail to have any DAC with excellent performance tested but they are careful not to send amplifiers that probably do not have such good measurements, as proof of this, when some amplifier is measured (because it was sent by a user) the measurements are often poor (for example smsl A300)

Look at Topping
PA5, PA7, LA90 and all their further releases, which at least measured fine
But non of combo units like MX3s, MX5 etc.

SMSL
DO200 DACs and more in such series
but not amplifiers of the same series like AO200, etc.

Sabaj haven't sent much stuff anyway.
 
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