Singxer SA-1 Review (Balanced Headphone Amp)

[JohnYang1997]

Same amplifier, same test, different results. How this is explained?

Not same tests.

 

[tom.chen]

Not same tests.

We will design a better single-ended amp, better than your L30.
pls waiting ,and look a look.
HAHA

 

[JB5150]

In fact, I am the designer of SA-1 from Singxer.
I am very happy that everyone is interested in SA1.
The design ideas of SA1 are different from other manufacturers;

Far superior to the Topping and SMSL offerings.
Great build quality, it can be felt (and heard) simply using the SA-1 compared to "others" low grade parts, feel, and sound.
Congratulations on a great design and implementation!!

 

[raif71]

We will design a better single-ended amp, better than your L30.
pls waiting ,and look a look.
HAHA

Whatever but don't put the gain switch underneath

 

[Deleted member 31750]

Not same tests.

What is the difference?

 

[JohnYang1997]

We will design a better single-ended amp, better than your L30.
pls waiting ,and look a look.
HAHA

Sure.

 

[JohnYang1997]

What is the difference?

Not loaded vs 32ohm loaded.

 

[teoboss]

More details, from Singxer's Taobao：

Usage suggestions and precautions:
1. Based on the SA-1 is an amp with a fully balanced design concept, it has made the greatest optimization for total balance. Therefore, the recommended way to use it is: balanced input and balanced output, followed by single-ended input and balanced output.
2. If you need to use single-ended, it is recommended to use single-ended input; it is not recommended to use balanced input, single-ended output.
3. For high-sensitive headphones such as earplugs, high gain mode is not recommended.

as you know, are these "advice" general or model specific (just for the SA-1) ?
ie : about every amplifier if used with unbalanced headphone it is suggested to use the unbalanced input (even if balanced are possible)

thanks

 

[Χ Ξ Σ]

B.O.A.T. vs G.O.A.T.
Let's Roll!

 

[JohnYang1997]

as you know, are these "advice" general or model specific (just for the SA-1) ?
ie : about every amplifier if used with unbalanced headphone it is suggested to use the unbalanced input (even if balanced are possible)

thanks

Just SA-1.

 

[aandres_gm]

Far superior to the Topping and SMSL offerings.
Great build quality, it can be felt (and heard) simply using the SA-1 compared to "others" low grade parts, feel, and sound.
Congratulations on a great design and implementation!!

Quite the statement. I'm pretty sure the A90 measures slightly better SE.

 

[Deleted member 31750]

Not loaded vs 32ohm loaded.

And what is the difference of that? Just to understand which measurement is more reliable to display the amp’s performance

 

[JohnYang1997]

And what is the difference of that? Just to understand which measurement is more reliable to display the amp’s performance

No issue in real world listening level.
But performance wise, lower impedance load and when driving at higher power usually cause higher distortion and feedback can only do so much.
However best performing amps has so low distortion that the harmonics are always below the noise floor hence it looks like the distortion doesn't even change.
Amir's distortion vs power with 33ohm load shows the amp's ability to keep the distortion low with low impedance load. The new added distortion vs power with various load shows the dependency of distortion on different loads, some of which are even lower impedance of 12ohm and 16ohm.

 

[Deleted member 31750]

No issue in real world listening level.
But performance wise, lower impedance load and when driving at higher power usually cause higher distortion and feedback can only do so much.
However best performing amps has so low distortion that the harmonics are always below the noise floor hence it looks like the distortion doesn't even change.
Amir's distortion vs power with 33ohm load shows the amp's ability to keep the distortion low with low impedance load. The new added distortion vs power with various load shows the dependency of distortion on different loads, some of which are even lower impedance of 12ohm and 16ohm.

thanks for that. Really clear. So my understanding is that this amp will not perform as well with headphones with impedance below let’s say 20 ohm?

 

[TheTalbotHound]

@tom.chen Which opamp does the SA-1 use on its input stage?

 

[JohnYang1997]

thanks for that. Really clear. So my understanding is that this amp will not perform as well with headphones with impedance below let’s say 20 ohm?

With single ended output yes. Balanced output is quite good until high power.
Most other amps also exhibit this behavior just that this amp does some things remarkable which makes this issue more pronounced.

 

[pimy]

More details, from Singxer's Taobao：

Large balanced output power:
16Ω 10000mW
32Ω 5500mW
68Ω 3100mW
120Ω 2000mW
600Ω 380mW

Single-ended power: the corresponding balanced output power divided by four.

SA-1's Class A model:
Balanced 16 ohm load: below 500mw;
Balanced 32 ohm load: below 1000mw;
Balanced load of 68 ohms: below 3000mw;
Balance the load above 68 ohms: almost all power is Class A;

SA-1 headphone amplifier gains:
1. Single-ended input, single-ended output: low gain is 0db, high gain is 11db;
2. Single-ended input, balanced output: low gain is 6db, high gain is 17db;
3. Balanced input, single-ended output: low gain is -6db, high gain is 5db;
4. Balanced input, balanced output: low gain is 0db, high gain is 11db;

LOW-Z is low-impedance mode, HI-Z is high-impedance mode:
Low-impedance output impedance is 1.4 ohms (balanced) and 0.7 ohms (single-ended);
High-impedance output impedance is 11.4 ohms (balanced) and 10.7 ohms (single-ended);

At the front stage output, the single-ended impedance is 22.5 ohms, and the balanced impedance is 45 ohms.

Usage suggestions and precautions:
1. Based on the SA-1 is an amp with a fully balanced design concept, it has made the greatest optimization for total balance. Therefore, the recommended way to use it is: balanced input and balanced output, followed by single-ended input and balanced output.
2. If you need to use single-ended, it is recommended to use single-ended input; it is not recommended to use balanced input, single-ended output.
3. For high-sensitive headphones such as earplugs, high gain mode is not recommended.

Thank you for this information and congratulations for your amp very appreciated in several reviews

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

We will design a better single-ended amp, better than your L30.
pls waiting ,and look a look.
HAHA

Gentlemen, rev your soldering irons!

 

[zachery2006]

Gentlemen, rev your soldering irons!

This is called “internal convolution” in China now.

 

[sarumbear]

What are you talking about? Also don't get your logic.

Why the word “manufactured” is not used do you think?