Link to my review and measurement index thread where one can also find a full review overview, more information about myself as well as my general-ish audio and review manifesto: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/956208/
I only give full stars. My ranking/scoring system does not necessarily follow the norm and is about as follows:
5 stars: The product is very good and received the "highly recommended" award from me.
4 stars: The product is very good and received the "recommended" award from me.
3 stars: The product is good/very good, but not outstanding/special enough to get any of my two awards. ["Thumbs Up"]
2 stars: The product is only about average or even somewhat below that and somewhat flawed/flawed in some areas. [neither "Thumbs Up" nor "Thumbs Down"]
1 star: The product is bad/severely flawed to outright bad. ["Thumbs Down"]
Sabaj Audio D1
Source:
Purchased at a discount for the purpose of a product review.
Miscellaneous:
Comes with a very nice case as well as a long micro USB to USB cable.
Looks nice as well; really good build quality. Small. Made of metal.
Has got a 3.5 mm headphone output as well as optical output.
Didn't require any additional drivers to be installed (Windows 7). Seems like the volume buttons work as multimedia buttons and control the PC's volume.
Sound:
Used with my Windows 7 laptop computer. Didn’t bother to run any tests with the DAC connected to my Windows 10 desktop computer.
Volume Control:
Two dedicated volume control buttons, which is very nice to see. Seems to be linked with the PC’s digital volume control since the volume control buttons work as multimedia buttons and therefore control the PC’s volume, just like when there are volume control buttons on the keyboard.
Very powerful. Too loud for me personally when using sensitive IEMs (Xiaomi Piston Colorful Starter Edition as an example, some inexpensive consumer in-ears) even when setting the system volume to 1%; I need to reduce the volume even further in foobar2000.
Hiss performance:
Strong hiss even with in-ears that are not near-extremely sensitive.
Frequency Response (no Load):
FR unloaded
Unfortunately one can see a roll-off towards the sub-bass (as well as some small but negligible channel imbalance). Too bad; this should definitely not happen on any modern device. That roll-off is not load-dependent.
Output Impedance:
FR loaded – Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10
The calculated output impedance should be around 0.2, 0.3 Ohms, which is an excellent value and suitable for all critical multi-BA in-ears.
Subjective Listening Impressions:
To me, the D1 sounds just like any audio device should sound and doesn't show any flaws other than obviously the bass roll-off and audible hiss even with less-than-very-sensitive in-ears.
May appear a bit “softer” sounding in the lows with in-ears (most likely due to the bad hiss performance), something that I do not perceive when using the D1 with full-sized headphones.
Conclusion:
Inexpensive, great design, high build quality. Low output impedance.
Bass roll-off regardless of load, which is something that should not happen nowadays; poor hiss performance.
I only give full stars. My ranking/scoring system does not necessarily follow the norm and is about as follows:
5 stars: The product is very good and received the "highly recommended" award from me.
4 stars: The product is very good and received the "recommended" award from me.
3 stars: The product is good/very good, but not outstanding/special enough to get any of my two awards. ["Thumbs Up"]
2 stars: The product is only about average or even somewhat below that and somewhat flawed/flawed in some areas. [neither "Thumbs Up" nor "Thumbs Down"]
1 star: The product is bad/severely flawed to outright bad. ["Thumbs Down"]
Sabaj Audio D1
Source:
Purchased at a discount for the purpose of a product review.
Miscellaneous:
Comes with a very nice case as well as a long micro USB to USB cable.
Looks nice as well; really good build quality. Small. Made of metal.
Has got a 3.5 mm headphone output as well as optical output.
Didn't require any additional drivers to be installed (Windows 7). Seems like the volume buttons work as multimedia buttons and control the PC's volume.
Sound:
Used with my Windows 7 laptop computer. Didn’t bother to run any tests with the DAC connected to my Windows 10 desktop computer.
Volume Control:
Two dedicated volume control buttons, which is very nice to see. Seems to be linked with the PC’s digital volume control since the volume control buttons work as multimedia buttons and therefore control the PC’s volume, just like when there are volume control buttons on the keyboard.
Very powerful. Too loud for me personally when using sensitive IEMs (Xiaomi Piston Colorful Starter Edition as an example, some inexpensive consumer in-ears) even when setting the system volume to 1%; I need to reduce the volume even further in foobar2000.
Hiss performance:
Strong hiss even with in-ears that are not near-extremely sensitive.
Frequency Response (no Load):
FR unloaded
Unfortunately one can see a roll-off towards the sub-bass (as well as some small but negligible channel imbalance). Too bad; this should definitely not happen on any modern device. That roll-off is not load-dependent.
Output Impedance:
FR loaded – Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10
The calculated output impedance should be around 0.2, 0.3 Ohms, which is an excellent value and suitable for all critical multi-BA in-ears.
Subjective Listening Impressions:
To me, the D1 sounds just like any audio device should sound and doesn't show any flaws other than obviously the bass roll-off and audible hiss even with less-than-very-sensitive in-ears.
May appear a bit “softer” sounding in the lows with in-ears (most likely due to the bad hiss performance), something that I do not perceive when using the D1 with full-sized headphones.
Conclusion:
Inexpensive, great design, high build quality. Low output impedance.
Bass roll-off regardless of load, which is something that should not happen nowadays; poor hiss performance.
