[adevriesc]

Preface
 
I'd like to say that A) the DAC is currently being shipped to me B) I plan to review it upon arrival [next week sometime if all goes well] C) HiFimeDIY's name is complete and utter BS - there is nothing DIY other than the people who designed prototypes of the product before it went to market D) I am a budget audiophile (oxymoron alert).
 
 
Product Line Reputation
 
I've seen a few folk bashing the first of HiFimeDIY's Sabre implementations (only uses the spec sheet, Chinese junk, low fi) and many that endorse it as a decent, smooth sounding solution to replace PC related integrated audio at a reasonable cost. The biggest technical gripe I could find was that it was synchronous, thus subject to jitter. Apparently they decided to fix that.
 
 
The New Unit
 
For $55 + S&H I picked up the "Sabre U2", a product that supposedly remedies the issues present in the last iteration by being asynchronous and "better" using some secret sauce. There are ASIO drivers available.
 
Basically, I want to see which group of people is right in regards to HiFimeDIY. Are their products smooth or horrid?
 
http://hifimediy.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=123
 
I'm waiting on the Sabre U2, a cMoyBB "18 Volt", and a pair of Samson SR850s.
 
 
(Pending) Review Methodology
 
I'll be reviewing with the following, the intent being a measure of whether the Sabre U2 (with and without amp) is really in a different league than integrated audio.
 
Headphones & IEMs:
Grado SR80i   -   widely considered a benchmark for budget sound. Mine are quarter modded and have the honor of being my first piece of decent quality sound equipment.
Samson SR850   -   based on the Superlux HD681, a common recommendation for those pursuing a budget soundstage and separation.
M-Audio Q40   -   not exactly cheap. Like a lesser DT770; tries to stay neutral through the mids and highs with (overwhelming at times but not muddy) bass power.
Panasonic RP-HTF600-S   -   known for decent and sub bassy sound on an extreme budget. When a track fits their sig, they sound solid. When it doesn't, they fall apart *completely*.
 
Thinksound Rain   -   just a flat out pleasant pair of IEMs for everyday listening... Warm, smooth sound, probably from the aesthetically pleasing wood driver chambers.
 
Amps:
JDS Labs cMoyBB v2.03   -   recommended alongside the PA2V2 as a stellar entry level amp.
Denon AVR-484   -   a relic from the bygone age of planetary scale 6.1 surround sound systems.
Realtek Integrated Audio   -   Gag. Hack. Cough.
 
Sources:
Sabre U2   -   no useful information is available. My aim is to fix that.
Realtek Integrated Audio   -   Hack. Cough. Gag.
 
All of the headphones, the DAC, and the amp will have at least 50 hours of burn in. I'll let the Samson-cMoy-Sabre chain burn in together. My cabling is generic. I will not have a USB isolator, though if problems crop up I will purchase one. Test tracks will be FLAC. I will be using the recommended ASIO drivers.
 
 
Last Words
 
Right now I'm looking for thoughts on a somewhat obscure company's new product. What do you all think?

 

[MiLKMAN]

I like mine. Compared to Realtek HD Audio - like night and day. Bigger soundstage, deeper and better bass, cleaner and brighter highs. It amplifies my Denon AH-D1001 and Fostex T-7 pretty well. At work in Windows XP ASIO drivers works fine, but at home in Windows 7 x64 I'm using WASAPI, because ASIO drivers works like crap. For 45€ there's a lot of DAC This years best purchase!

 

[adevriesc]

Thanks for the reply. It sounds like I made a good choice... Have you noticed any positive/negative quirks in your Sabre?

 

[MiLKMAN]

Negative - only ASIO thing, that I described above. Usually I surf in the 'Net, when I listen music. So I think there's a conflict between Adobe Flash and ASIO, where any of those programs doesn't release soundcard to the other. WASAPI works better in this situation. Or my home OS is dirty and needs reinstalling... This quirk doesn't bother me. U2 works like a charm, no problems with Redbook and HD tracks, SQ is better than with NuForce uDac 2 and ASUS Xonar D1 (both costs more than U2). Original HiFimeDIY's Sabre DAC had more problems because of the synchronous mode. With the Original I could listen music only in Redbook (16bit 44,1KHz) and I had BSODs occasionally, while watching movies.

 

[adevriesc]

First Impressions
 
Well, I am quite impressed. Even before the supposed burn in time, the DAC has proven itself capable of extending the soundstage and separation of my headphones. When the amp is added in, there is a huge increase (2.5x) in the sound quality. Overall audio quality has been improved by 4-5x compared to the laptop output. The notable sonic characteristics are clearer mids, sparkly highs, and tight controlled lows that were muddy or nonexistent before. Lastly, the amp extended the soundstage in all directions, increasing separation *more*. Back to listening.

 

[waynes world]

 The biggest technical gripe I could find was that it was synchronous, thus subject to jitter. Apparently they decided to fix that.

 
Now that there's a new U2 in town, I'm trying to learn what's wrong with the sabre dac that I have. Jitter apparently. What's that? Ok, from the link that you provided:
 

 Asynchronous transfer means that the timing of the data flow is controlled from the device (DAC) instead of from the computer. Computers are not the best to keep a steady clock so it is much preferred to use an external master clock. The Hifimediy Sabre U2 is clocked by a 27Mhz oscillator which is buffered by a low jitter PLL1705 as the master clock source.

 
Huh! I didn't even know that I had a problem. Ignorance was bliss lol!

 

[adevriesc]

Review Time!
 
Well, everything didn't go well. Life sucks at times. But here I am. Pictures will go up later - for now I'm just writing. I did all the burn in with white noise, then logged some hours listening as well.
 
 
DAC vs. Integrated
 
The DAC blows onboard audio out of the water. There is quite simply no good comparison between the two, so I won't bother putting much detail into my statements regarding that. Basically it has better bass extension, treble, mids, and a huge bump in detail.
 
It has a nice balance between smoothness and detail. Some may dislike this characteristic... I would put it right in the position of severely annoying both those who like extreme buttery goodness and those who adore hearing someone crunching on chips at stage right in the third row (the finger sucking noises must mean Doritos).
 
The unit functions well with WASAPI (perhaps other drivers as well).
 
According to my rule of absolute preferences, since it would irritate both extreme parties it must be a decent compromise.
 
The DAC will drive most consumer/prosumer/audiophile headphones with few decreases in sound quality. It will not drive 32 ohm+ 'phones well (in my opinion).
 
 
 
Sonic Impact - Headphones and IEMs
 
USB port > Sabre DAC > Generic Cable > cMoyBB 2.03 18v (Bass Boost OFF) > Tested Headphones
 
[size=small]Note that the cMoyBB amp is considered warm, and according to some listeners the bass is lacking in texture. I haven't noticed anything worth complaining about. I'm also using generic cables. The amp widens the soundstage and seems to blend well with the middle of the road sonic signature of the DAC.[/size]
 
[size=small]I'm not testing with other amplifiers at the moment - the cMoy is representative of what most people would use in conjunction with the U2.[/size]
 
[size=small]Grado SR80i - Smoothness is the operative word. It is such a strange balance of relaxation and clarity, especially where vocals are concerned, that I disliked it at first. With the attack speed of the headphones it can be sonically confusing. The notes come fast, but are adaptive to mellow and aggressive recordings. If the vocalist has any effects applied, they are extremely obvious. For example, if you run into a mix where the vocalist is placed forward and center in the soundstage, it sounds like they were placed there heavily... Reverb sounds like someone singing through a tunnel. It's not bad, just startling. It made me rethink the vocal mixes in most of my songs. The bass digs much lower, and sibilance is almost entirely annulled. Generic benefits include higher detail and widened soundstage. Overall, a great improvement to the Grados - I like it best with "in your head" vocal mixes, as it makes almost all singers sound amazing. I think this is the headphone affected most by the new setup.[/size]
 
[size=small]Samson SR850[/size][size=small] - Detail and soundstage are increased from stock, as well as bass response. Sibilance is reduced slightly as well... But it is still present in certain mixes. I feel like the headphones are reference or "honest" about sibilance and other errors/characteristics of the mix (if not neutral in all aspects). With this configuration they will separate a track into ribbons, and if one is tangled or stained it becomes glaringly obvious. Take the detail and soundstage of analytic headphones and add a slight warmth through sub bass rumble  - the SR850 is what you get. I listen to my Samsons most often because of the addictive detail and solid texture levels - even in the bass.[/size]
 
M-Audio Q40 - The headphones show their true colors... Most certainly not worth what I paid for use in this setup. Let me make one thing exceedingly clear: with proper amplification and proper output, these headphones are bass monsters that do what they can about detail elsewhere in the spectrum. A sound signature of ^-- with a fairly common but not deal breaking sibilant streak means they are what you want for rap and electronic music (if you care about things other than bass, but care about bass most). I can barely listen to them anymore, but plan on keeping them for the rare times I bring up bass centered songs. On the upside, they are comfy.
 
Panasonic RP-HTF600-S - These do about the same thing amped and sourced that they do unamped from integrated audio - volume is the biggest difference. They see the usual detail improvements in a lesser way, but start showing their limitations. Only small increases in the soundstage were present, and the songs that they fell apart on were mildly improved. Bass increased. They really don't appear to scale heavily with equipment - which is no problem. They're extreme budget phones that compete in a tier at least $30 higher than their asking price. Enjoy them from your iDevices and laptops with impunity. Just be warned - there is a chance my ears are missing improvements in sound quality that happen.
 
Thinksound Rain (IEM) - Uhm... They get even more honeyed and euphonic, but the soundstage widens a lot on the x axis. The y improves slightly, but the z is still a bit constrained. Somehow they do nothing exceptionally but they still come off as sweet sounding. I always scratch my head when I try to analyze them. Bass is a bit more rich and digs deeper. Small detail improvements are there. It's amusing, but I find them best for listening to metal. Woodies best for metal. Tell me you're laughing. Second place is acoustic guitar - for more obvious reasons.
 
Unamped
 
Without the amplifier (straight from the DAC) the IEMs lose some of the bass punch added by amplification, and a hint of sibilance rears. The sound is noticeably fuller with the amp. In fact, all of the headphones suffered losses when attached directly to the DAC - I feel as though it doesn't matter what they were exactly. Just note that there is an overall decrease in SQ, even in low impedance models.
 
 
 
Conclusion
 
The Sabre U2 competes out of its price range in sound quality. The build quality is passable. It needs an amp to shine - but the amp doesn't have to be perfect. Nor the cables.
 
A perfect budget buy if you are willing to shell out the cash for an entry level amp. The total price for the DAC and amp did not exceed $150 (U.S.).
 
Note that the price for both is way lower than a Dragonfly (~$200 last time I checked) and most comparable asynchronous DAC + amp setups. I'm getting a pair of Yamaha HPH-200 'phones, so if you want me to see how they act with my equipment, all you have to do is ask. In fact, ask anything else you'd like as well! Pictures will be up when they're up.

 

[plonter]

Any more thoughts on this dac ?  I also got myself the U2 , I was looking for budget dac so I can pass clean signal to my headphone amp.   
So far it sounds pretty good, especially for what it costs.    Before my current setup I pluged the headphones straight to the laptop's analog out.
you can see my current computer setup in my sig.      
I pretty much agree with the OP here.    the improvement are certainly there, more clarity,details,overall refined sound.   But nothing that blew me away.
 
I am surprised that this nice and extremely affordable dac don't get more attention here.  
 
anyway, I am really interested to hear others thoughts, and also to know how it compared to the audioquest dragonfly (as dac only).    

 

[Jakkal]

Do you guys use USB extension cable with this DAC? I want to move mine away from the computer, can someone suggest good USB extension?