Sabaj D5 - Owners' Thread

[georgek558]

My D5 drives a pair of HiFiMan HE400i's, the 2015 version. Comparing the key specs:

	Impedance​	Sensitivity​	FR​
HE400i (v2015)	35Ω​	93dB​	20Hz-35KHz​
Edition XS	18Ω​	92dB​	8Hz-50kHz​

From my experience I can just barely drive my HE400i's to full volume (for my ears at least) when using PEQ via the 1/4 headphone jack. If I really want ear-splitting levels I have to switch over to the XLR headphone out.

That said I don't know much about headphone specs, so I don't know if your Edition XS's -- because of the differences in impedance and sensitivity -- are somehow that much harder to drive than a pair of HE400i's. Or if the power required to drive these two is not that much different, then is there potentially an issue with your D5, your power source, your XLR cable, etc?

Obviously some of the best headphone amps that Amir has reviewed deliver significantly more power than the D5; it's not a standout amp in that regard. The Monoprice THX 887, for example, can drive 3.7 watts (50 Ohm load via XLR, on High gain). That's almost triple what the D5 can do for a 50 Ohm load via XLR.

View attachment 176554

ok thanks if buy amp can i use d5 as dac only

 

[RickSanchez]

ok thanks if buy amp can i use d5 as dac only

Yes, easily. If you go that route one consideration is to get an amp with balanced (XLR) inputs, and use XLR interconnects between the D5 and the headphone amp. You certainly don’t have to do this, but using balanced connections between the two devices can help resolve ground loop issues that might exist.

 

[georgek558]

Yes, easily. If you go that route one consideration is to get an amp with balanced (XLR) inputs, and use XLR interconnects between the D5 and the headphone amp. You certainly don’t have to do this, but using balanced connections between the two devices can help resolve ground loop issues that might exist.

thank you i will write if i will buy amp

 

[georgek558]

Btw can anyone tell me about d5 filters what each one of them do ?

 

[RickSanchez]

You may need to open a separate thread and/or research how reconstruction filters work in DACs. It is well beyond my technical expertise but there are many folks on ASR that can help. A couple places to start:

• (very technical): https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ital-audio-converters-dacs-fundamentals.1927/
• (super high-level summary): https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/dac-filters.29338/post-1025615

Some things to consider:

• For some (many?) of us the use of one filter vs. another would not make an audible difference. The audio content we're listening to may not have much -- if any -- energy above, say, 18kHz. And most people don't have "golden ears" where they can hear up to 20kHz, or anywhere close to that.
• To be safe you'll probably want to use a filter that is flat to 20kHz. Otherwise the drop off may be audible because it's in the audible band.
• Again, not my area of expertise but I believe the "best" filters are the ones that roll off to a level of ~90dB down by the 22.05kHz point.

For me personally I use the "Apodizing" filter (the one in dark blue below) because it seems to be the most accurate from a measurement perspective: mostly flat to 20kHz and then a steep rolloff to 22.05kHz. That said I can't hear the difference between the filters.

 

[Mr. Olinad]

Just circling back on the issue that @georgek558 was experiencing with the Sabaj D5. Turns out it was a blown fuse.

• Picture of the blown fuse
• Resolution

For anyone else that might run into this problem: the Sabaj D5 uses 0.5 Amp / 250V fuses.

Something so simple that sometimes we just forget it exists.
Any chance this unit was plugged on the 220V while set to 110V?

 

[RickSanchez]

Any chance this unit was plugged on the 220V while set to 110V?

Good question, I'll let @georgek558 answer that one.

 

[georgek558]

Something so simple that sometimes we just forget it exists.
Any chance this unit was plugged on the 220V while set to 110V?

No sadly its was 220 v when i unboxed d5 the fuse was blown form the start. IDK how blown fuse came out from the factory

 

[Rene Stanneveld]

Well i am happy with it. the D5 just replaced my AD18. Firmware is 1.4 on this unit.
Using the XMOS drivers from the M500 works perfectly.
Using 2 mono blocks i made with UcD250LP's on the XLR out's, sound way better then the AD18
Speakers i am using are the Yamaha NS-B330's
I Like the weight and size of this d5, would like to have firmware 1.6 with the 90 volume steps
Bought off Amazon.de from the EU warehouse, sold by Hifibooster
Witch i think is Sabaj's seller name on amazon since i got the link from their website.

 

[audiocox]

Good morning all,

I just noticed there was new Firmware 1.7 but no notes or explanation.
Has anyone updated?

http://www.sabaj.com.cn/en/services.asp?id=79

Thank you

 

[Megaken]

Good morning all,

I just noticed there was new Firmware 1.7 but no notes or explanation.
Has anyone updated?

http://www.sabaj.com.cn/en/services.asp?id=79

Thank you

it's been 5 months, I think most of us updated... no info though

 

[lordhumungous]

Is there anyway to switch inputs and not get a garbled sound when playing music . I have the D5 connected to a Mac mini but if I go from say usb to coax from another source ( Bluesound) I have to turn off the D5 and back on again to get it to work properly.

 

[Megaken]

Is there anyway to switch inputs and not get a garbled sound when playing music . I have the D5 connected to a Mac mini but if I go from say usb to coax from another source ( Bluesound) I have to turn off the D5 and back on again to get it to work properly.

are you on the latest firmware? I don't have that issue

 

[lordhumungous]

I am not on the latest firmware. Does the latest firmware resolve this issue?

 

[Megaken]

I am not on the latest firmware. Does the latest firmware resolve this issue?

it should, I would definitely try it.

 

[lordhumungous]

Will do . Thanks for the tip

 

[zythoun]

Did someone update to the last firmware? What are the modifications? Thanks

 

[qfreak]

I am a d5 user from Japan. Please excuse my poor English.
I would like to update the firmware, and I found a store that still sells the update tool.
But where can I get the firmware itself?
Right now, the support page only seems to have xmos drivers and manuals.

 

[qfreak]

I also asked sabaj official about this. But there is no reply at all.

 

[gvl]

@peterwen ?