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Are there any non DIY DACs that use the SABRE32 chip? - Page 2

post #16 of 28
3/30/10 at 2:23pm
Yeah, no one ever said uDAC and HDP uses the same DAC. Not sure where anyone may have heard that one from. Only a select few actually know what DAC is used in the HDP at all in the first place... they've never made it public. It may not even be any sort of Sabre chip at all.
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post #17 of 28
3/30/10 at 4:47pm
As great as the Sabre DAC is, I've been getting reports that it can sound lifeless. Case in point, a friend owns a Buffalo24 DAC and after several months of ownership he is on the fence of selling it because he finds that that thing is kinda dead-sounding. According to him it's like the notes and instruments are all there but they don't gel together. It's paired with a balanced Beta22 in case anyone is wondering.

Granted, I could be talking nonsense since it's the 24-bit version and not the flagship 32-bit one.
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post #18 of 28
3/30/10 at 7:34pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by weibby View Post
may i troll nuforce fanboys and ask whats so great about the sabre dac?
If uDac and HDP uses the same dac yet sound so different, does it really matter its sabre dac?
Cause their specs are out of this world.. 135 dynamic range, -120THD, etc... I know spec & real world use don't always add up, but I'm very impressed with the SABRE32 the more I listen to it.. Like theres no noise floor.. The artist are just suspended in black.. Sweetens the mid range..
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post #19 of 28
3/31/10 at 7:31am
hmm i was under the assumption that they used the ESS SABRE32
but anyway it proves my point anyhow that sabre is just like any dac.
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post #20 of 28
3/31/10 at 7:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kool bubba ice View Post
Cause their specs are out of this world.. 135 dynamic range, -120THD, etc... I know spec & real world use don't always add up, but I'm very impressed with the SABRE32 the more I listen to it.. Like theres no noise floor.. The artist are just suspended in black.. Sweetens the mid range..
Interesting, thanks for sharing!
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post #21 of 28
3/31/10 at 3:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rurika View Post
Eastern Electric - MiniMax DAC.
Yep. I've got this DAC and its pretty badassed, especially for the money. ESS 9018 and can be toggled between tube output and solid state (i.e. not just a buffer).

Killer DAC and very musical.
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post #22 of 28
3/31/10 at 10:07pm
Thread Starter 
I know HR uses a Different SABRE dac chip then the oppo83se.. Not sure if it's better or not..
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post #23 of 28
4/1/10 at 1:35am
I just got oneplustwo's buffalo 32s build, and after an hour of listening, I've disconnected the DAC1 and boxed it up. I'm impressed but time will tell as I continue to get more time under the belt. I find it difficult to listen the CD3000 however, and I might have to fool around with the gain on the dac itself.
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post #24 of 28
4/1/10 at 1:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kool bubba ice View Post
I know HR uses a Different SABRE dac chip then the oppo83se.. Not sure if it's better or not..
It's ESS9008 which is 24bit. The Sabre32 ESS9018 is superior.
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post #25 of 28
4/1/10 at 3:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kool bubba ice View Post
Cause their specs are out of this world.. 135 dynamic range, -120THD, etc... I know spec & real world use don't always add up, but I'm very impressed with the SABRE32 the more I listen to it.. Like theres no noise floor.. The artist are just suspended in black.. Sweetens the mid range..
the only way to get that dynamic range is to take one of the 8 channel ones and run it in mono mode(the 9018 is 135 the 9008 is 134) so far i dont think anyone has done that yet
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post #26 of 28
4/2/10 at 2:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lil' Knight View Post
Wrong. The uDAC doesn't use the Sabre32.

For commercial DACs, take a look at the Wavelength Denominator
That Denominator looks awesome, but I was under the false impression from Wavelength's site that it's priced at $1,500. Then I realised that's for the dac MODULE, which is an upgrade option for the Crimson, priced at $7500...
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post #27 of 28
4/2/10 at 9:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoupRKnowva View Post
the only way to get that dynamic range is to take one of the 8 channel ones and run it in mono mode(the 9018 is 135 the 9008 is 134)
we need 150dB SNR DAC's anyway, they'll show up eventually...then 175, and 200.

200dB SNR will be sweeet.
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post #28 of 28
4/2/10 at 10:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by leeperry View Post
we need 150dB SNR DAC's anyway, they'll show up eventually...then 175, and 200.

200dB SNR will be sweeet.
maybe if i had a 4ohm speaker with like 150dB/W sensitivity i could tell
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