And sounds like you like the D5 with your Senns, which is good. I have a pair of 660s, but also recently splurged on an Audeze LCD-X (the $1,200 package sans travel case seemed a non-insane price to me) so I'd be curious to hear from anyone who tries the D5 with planars as well --
Can someone explain how the I2S input works? If trying to connect to the D5's I2S input from a PC, will you need a USB audio bridge like the Singxer SU-1 ?
Does the I2S input provide any advantages over coax/optical/usb?
I almost ordered the D5 today. I'm a bit hesitant as there are absolutely no actual analyzer measurements, even from Sabaj. There are so many technically bad implementations of the apparently difficult to work with 9038Pro DAC. I own the RME ADI-2 DAC anyway so I definitely have no need for the D5. I just want it. Primarily out of curiosity with the flagship 9038Pro and I'd like a DAC I could feed from my Gustard U16 interface using the I2s interface.
PolloLoco also mentioned that the XLR line out were variable and not fixed. Has anyone who owns this DAC confirmed that this behavior is completely unchangeable. Is there a menu setting to change it?
If you have rme adi2 don't waste your time and money. They are not that different dithering and the rme had way better features. Their sound is similar.
If you have rme adi2 don't waste your time and money. They are not that different dithering and the rme had way better features. Their sound is similar.
Well if I wanted to save time and money I'd have quit coming to this site ages ago.
I forged ahead and clicked the buy button earlier today anyway. I've got a month to return it if I just can't live with some aspect of it. Besides I'm just using cash from other equipment I've sold off in this hobby. I like doing subjective comparisons on various equipment anyway. I've become fairly picky about new equipment purchases over the last year or so however sometimes a piece of gear just checks all the right boxes and its....
Can someone explain how the I2S input works? If trying to connect to the D5's I2S input from a PC, will you need a USB audio bridge like the Singxer SU-1 ?
Does the I2S input provide any advantages over coax/optical/usb?
sandman2575, yes you would need a USB digital audio interface like the Singxer SU-1 to connect to the Sabaj D5 using the I2S port.
As for advantages, some claim that sound quality can often be improved by using a USB interface before the DAC, that's debatable. Its my understanding that the I2S interface was designed as a way to send data across different boards using a cable inside DACs with a separated, modular board layout. It was never really intended as way to connect equipment externally.
I'm not sure I hear any definitive sound improvement when using my Gustard U16 with the various DACs I own. I've only ever connected them using Coax, Optical or AES connections. I just took delivery of my Sabaj D5 and I'll be attempting to connect to it via I2S later tonight. The drawback to I2S is that there is no set pin-out standard for the HDMI cable interface most often used with I2S these days. My Gustard U16 supports about 5 different configurations however due to the difference in how manufacturers label the pins I'm not sure the U16 and D5 will work together using I2S. I'll find out later when I get home.
The big advantage for me when using a USB interface is that I can load one driver on my Windows machine and feed digital audio to several different DACs and I dont' have to mess with changing the audio device in my software just to use a different DAC. It Makes things more seamless and easy. Also with an I2S interface you are not bandwidth limited like Coax and Optical are. You can generally send audio with higher data rates beyond 192khz through I2S, as long as the receiving DAC supports them. However the USB interface on most newer DACs provides this same type of high bandwidth connectivity anyway.
After several hours of listening I can confirm that, to these ears, the sound quality of the Sabaj D5 is essentially equal the RME ADI-2 DAC. This is not to suggest that the Sabaj is equal to a $1000+ DAC but that in general we've reached a point where well implemented DAC topologies are essentially transparent to one another. I suspect $200 range DACs like the SMSL SU-8 and Topping D50 sound the same for the most part. I do feel that there are some subtle differences in the overall sound signature between the RME and Sabaj when using their built in headphone amps. The RME seems to exhibit a bit more upper range clarity and sparkle compared to the Sabaj. The RME has significantly more power to drive headphones. The Sabaj has sufficient drive capability however when using my HE-560s I've found that on some quieter content I have to turn it up past 75% (volume scale is from 0-40) to get a decently authoritative level of amplification. The balanced output is definitely more powerful than single ended as it should be. That balanced output does seem to provided a bit more separation and space compared to the single ended headphone output. These are subjective observations however as I have no equipment nor the particular expertise to perform such objective tests. If you did not need or want all the DSP features and additional headphone output power of the RME I'd say that you'd not lack in any appreciable way selecting the Sabaj at less than half the price.
Considering that the 9030pro has 8 DACs internally it is completely overkill for a stereo DAC configuration anyway. Much less two of them. I get that some consider true balanced to have two completely independent signal paths from start to finish. If that is what someone is looking for and they have the cash for the outlay that's fine however all that extra money ends up just buying bragging rights for the owner. I guess all these headphones and boxes of gear are just bragging rights to someone. I know people who would think all I've spent on headphones, DACs, and AMPs is ludicrous but I'm small time compared to those with deep pockets and a penchant for for esoteric wares.
Case in point being that the RME uses a much cheaper AK4490EQ DAC and it sounds fantastic and the Sabaj sounds equal despite using a more high end DAC chip. Some might argue that a better implementation of the 9038pro would yield an increase in sound quality however I doubt it. Again I think we are reaching a point where when even low cost modern DAC chips are well implemented the sound quality is more or less equal across the board.
I have never heard a benefit from dual DACs. I could be wrong but to me sounds lmore like mumbo jumbo because i hear big differences between different implementations and different chip manufacturer but no difference between single dac or dual dac models from the same design. IMO dont waste money on chasing dual DAC chip designs.
I have never heard a benefit from dual DACs. I could be wrong but to me sounds lmore like mumbo jumbo because i hear big differences between different implementations and different chip manufacturer but no difference between single dac or dual dac models from the same design. IMO dont waste money on chasing dual DAC chip designs.
Unfortunately while listening to my Sabaj D5 this evening it suddenly started outputting noise and within a minute or two of trying to diagnose what was going on it shut down. I was unable to revive the unit and it smells of burned electronics. The area around the internal power supply was quite hot. Unfortunately it is going back and I've requested a refund as it sounds no better/different than my RME ADI-2 DAC. Hopefully this is just a bad unit and not a sign of poor QC from Sabaj.
It is a nice sounding unit and is very capable. I'd not want to deter anyone from purchasing one however make sure you have a favorable return policy if you choose to do so.
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