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Sabaj D5 - Owners' Thread

I'm about a couple years into the headphone audiophile scene. Here's my setup in question:

Macbook Pro > Sabaj D5 > Mjolnir Audio Exstata > RR1 Conquest

Regarding the D5, I have the input set to USB and the output set to XLR. I have the volume set to max, which is 40 on the display. My questions:
  • Is there a way to bypass the volume control and just have the signal go through the DAC and straight to my amp?
  • Should I not have the volume all the way up on the DAC at Max/40 if there is no way to bypass the volume control?
Everything sounds great so I'm assuming I'm doing everything OK but assumptions are dangerous when it comes to this equipment. Thank you!
 
Raejen said:
I'm about a couple years into the headphone audiophile scene. Here's my setup in question:

Macbook Pro > Sabaj D5 > Mjolnir Audio Exstata > RR1 Conquest

Regarding the D5, I have the input set to USB and the output set to XLR. I have the volume set to max, which is 40 on the display. My questions:
  • Is there a way to bypass the volume control and just have the signal go through the DAC and straight to my amp?
  • Should I not have the volume all the way up on the DAC at Max/40 if there is no way to bypass the volume control?
Everything sounds great so I'm assuming I'm doing everything OK but assumptions are dangerous when it comes to this equipment. Thank you!
Click to expand...
I've looked at the manual for the Sabaj and there doesn't seem to be a way to turn off the pre amp. Topping devices have an option in the menus to change the Line Out mode between Pre-Amp mode and DAC mode. Setting the volume to Max is the right thing to do when there is no option to bypass the Pre-Amp.
 
Does D5 work well with Focal Stellia headphones (35 ohm)? No background noise?
 
TC!! said:
I'll see if I can entice an owner over to answer this, @jruser can you let us know the difference?
Click to expand...

I can't say the differences between 1.3 and 1.4, but can talk about the jump from 1.2 to 1.4. v1.2 had two bugs, both revolving around putting the unit in standby:

1. Play a 44.1khz track (or multiple of 44.1), put it in standby, take it out of standby, and play a 48khz track (or multiple of 48). The 48khz track would play back at the wrong speed. Same would also happen if you played the 48khz track first and the 44.1khz track second. As far as I know, nobody else tested the issue, but Sabaj confirmed it. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-sabaj-d5-dac-amp.8337/page-16#post-220317

2. After coming out of standby, volume knob wouldn't work. This one was widely talked about.


Both issues were fixed going from v1.2 to v1.4.
 
Last edited:
I (and many others) would be interested in seeing an internal photo, if anyone happens to open theirs. We are interested in seeing what the heatsink looks like.
 
jruser said:
I (and many others) would be interested in seeing an internal photo, if anyone happens to open theirs. We are interested in seeing what the heatsink looks like.
Click to expand...

Not exactly what you need but it might be a start. (From the HiFi Express product page.)

9BF7940D-6D99-48B7-BBBB-1A057AFB21F1.jpeg
 
Just got a second D5 for my office, running firmware V1.4. I am running Tidal on PC and I am noticing that the sample rate indicator on the OLED screen does not change from displaying 44.1 kHz even though I am player Master level songs (96 kHz). Anybody else seeing the same?
 
AnalogDE said:
Just got a second D5 for my office, running firmware V1.4. I am running Tidal on PC and I am noticing that the sample rate indicator on the OLED screen does not change from displaying 44.1 kHz even though I am player Master level songs (96 kHz). Anybody else seeing the same?
Click to expand...

I realize I'm not answering your question, but out of curiousity: did your latest D5 ship with firmware v1.4 or did you have to upgrade the firmware yourself?
 
AnalogDE said:
Just got a second D5 for my office, running firmware V1.4. I am running Tidal on PC and I am noticing that the sample rate indicator on the OLED screen does not change from displaying 44.1 kHz even though I am player Master level songs (96 kHz). Anybody else seeing the same?
Click to expand...

You need to enable Exclusive mode withing Tidal, and preferably the force volume option as well. Those two options should get you into bit-perfect playback.
 
Question: Do I need to install the driver from Sabaj for Windows 10 ? Or is the default USB 2.0 Audio driver sufficient ?
 
is anyone up for doing an upgrade tool tour? sabaj has been slow about getting back to me.

oh, and after seeing the pcb, i'm curious what needs to warm up for performance to reach steady state as per the review: is it the ess chip or the output stages? heck, could it be the fpga clocking deal?

there is enough space for a small heatsink on the dac chip, but we have the measured performance without a heatsink, so i can't see this being an issue. obviously, had it been an issue, they had prepared to mount one.
 
Maybe earlier versions had a heatsink and later ones don't?
 
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