[DarknightDK]

Subscribed. The X-Sabre DAC seems promising. 

 

[jronan2]

It sure does. I plan on getting the X-Sabre paired with a V200 for my TH900 when it hopefully releases in a few weeks. Still waiting on Project's review, really hope he can give maybe just a few impressions before the actual release. I'm really happy to see how well it was liked at last week's Austin TX meet. 

 

[jabbr]

Has onyone heard the Auralic Vega ( http://www.auralic.com/en/ ) and know how it compares to the X-Sabre ?
 
Those are the two on my short list with the Vega having impressive specifications.
 
-
Aleg

 

[sunninho]

Quote:

Has onyone heard the Auralic Vega ( http://www.auralic.com/en/ ) and know how it compares to the X-Sabre ?
 
Those are the two on my short list with the Vega having impressive specifications.
 
-
Aleg

 
For $3500 it better have impressive specs 

 

[zenki14]

Vega retail $3500?
It really looks nice but price is surely not nice..

 

[jabbr]

In the category of DSD-capable DACs it belongs to the lower end of the midrange regarding retail price: look here for a nice overview http://www.audiostream.com/content/dsd-ready-dacs-short-list
 
X-Sabre is the lower end of the low price range.

 

[preproman]

exaSound E20 mkII:
 
http://www.exasound.com/e20DAC/e20DACOverview.aspx
 
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/exasound-e20-dsd256-update-15221/

 

[jabbr]

I also checked out the exaSound e20, but exasound doesn't want to / can't provide a Kernel Streaming driver for it, only an ASIO driver, and for my software player setup I want to have at least a KS driver, so that in itself was sufficient for me to drop it of my short list, regardless of its possible qualities as a DAC.

 

[project86]

Funny that someone mentioned Auralic - I've been pairing the X-Sabre with the Auralic Taurus headphone amp (the dedicated version, not the newer Taurus Pre which has headphone capabilities as well) for the last week or so. It's quite a combo - extremely high resolution but not fatiguing, massing soundstage with pinpoint accuracy, and exceptional frequency extension all around. The Taurus is hyper-revealing - probably more than any of my other amps - in terms of telling you exactly what the DAC is doing, and the X-Sabre acquits itself very well. 
 
At this point I'd say the X-Sabre is better than the Audio GD Reference 7, Esoteric D70, Lavry DA10, Musical Fidelity M1, and a host of others that I've had over the past few years. I even think it's slightly better than the Yulong D18 which is quite an accomplishment. I'll have to listen more to see where it ranks among the Anedio D2, NuForce DAC-100, and Violectric V800, which are all very strong competitors.
 
Obviously each of these has its own character and when I say "I like the X-Sabre better" that doesn't apply universally. For some systems, the Audio GD Ref7 might still be a better fit, etc. 

 

[TubeDriver]

LOL. I don't have any skin in this, but consider the differences between your setups (sometimes it's good to stop and think about these things):

Amplifier differences:
Anax's S7 is tuned for his HD800 and his tastes with a specific set of tubes. His S7 is more liquid and does tend to take a little of the treble grain and edge of the HD800. The BHA-1 has a sharper leading edge (but in a suprisingly good way) compared than the S7.

Headphone differences:
Although your HD800 is among the most relaxed sounding of all of the HD800s I've measured, it still doesn't sound that different from the other HD800s. It's still an HD800. Anax's HD800 is not only modded, it's modded with his latest Anax mod v3 (or Rabid Dawg 2), which has not been released to the public. And that mod really turns the HD800 into something else

DAC variables:
I assume the PWD is running 2.10 or 2.20 of the firmware and not 2.02 or 2.03. The latest firmware can sound awful. I never post to manufacturers' forums, but I felt it was so awful (with Anax 1 mod HD800 + ECBA) that I actually had to give Paul at PS Audio my own two cents: 
http://www.psaudio.com/vanilla/discussion/3031/pwd-firmware-version-2.0.2/p5 (scroll down a little bit)


I think this easily accounts for your differences of opinion. I too would throw the PWD2 under the bus under the conditions which you auditioned it. It's not a forgiving DAC I would recommend for the brighter headphones, especially with firmware 2.10+. I am actually running 2.20 right now, but that's for speakers or the HE-500 (through a power amp), which are entirely different beasts.

Also, don't overlook what filter option was used. They make a subtle difference but that difference has a surprisingly large effect on the overall presentation. I don't hear any harshness but use speakers in my system. On the other hand, my speakers are 100+db horns so components with irritating highs are not something I can tolerate in my system. To my ears, in my system, the PWD2 sounds linear and balanced from top to bottom.

 

[Xymordos]

Very interesting, subscribed.

 

[TWIFOSP]

Maxvla and I a/bed the DA11 at the Austin meet last Saturday.  The DA11 sounded a tiny, and I mean tiny, bit warmer.  Which personally I think pairs better with my HD800s.  Other than that they were extremely close, and personally I think with the PIC controls, which I use frequently, the DA11 is still the superior dac for the money.  If you don't care about the image controls, or you have a requirement to play the 24 bit files, then the sabre is really good value for money in this tier.  I don't really think you can call one better than the other though, they are extremely close sounding.  
Quote:

At this point I'd say the X-Sabre is better than the Audio GD Reference 7, Esoteric D70, Lavry DA11, Musical Fidelity M1, and a host of others that I've had over the past few years. I even think it's slightly better than the Yulong D18 which is quite an accomplishment. I'll have to listen more to see where it ranks among the Anedio D2, NuForce DAC-100, and Violectric V800, which are all very strong competitors.
 

 

[project86]

Oops, I mis-typed that, I meant the DA10 which I used to have. I don't have experience with the DA11. 

 

[sunninho]

Quote:

It sure does. I plan on getting the X-Sabre paired with a V200 for my TH900 when it hopefully releases in a few weeks. Still waiting on Project's review, really hope he can give maybe just a few impressions before the actual release. I'm really happy to see how well it was liked at last week's Austin TX meet. 

 
Same here.  I'm looking forward to seeing how these two come together for my LCD2-2 and the soon to arrive TH900.  I have the integrated 24/96 DAC in my V200 so I'll be doing a comparison with the X-Sabre.

 

[sandslash]

How much has this thing got resemblance to the Benchmark DAC2, aren't they using a similar chip and quad stereo configuration? The CNC machined enclosure looks lovely.