[Roland68]

Would the SA1 work with planar headphones like the Dan Clark 2 Noir ?

Why shouldn't he? There is enough power.

 

[NPWS]

Hi everyone, my SA-1 just arrived today. any suggestion what's DAC would be the best pair on budget not more than $700? I have mojo right now, but I need new balance DAC for pairing with SA-1 to drive my oppo PM-1, Hifiman Edition X V2 and Senn HD 660S.
I've been reading the review for Ares 2 / Topping D70s / D90SE / Schiit Bifrost.
unfortunately I can't try the demo unit, because there's no local distributor in my country for those items.
thanks

 

[Roland68]

Hi everyone, my SA-1 just arrived today. any suggestion what's DAC would be the best pair on budget not more than $700? I have mojo right now, but I need new balance DAC for pairing with SA-1 to drive my oppo PM-1, Hifiman Edition X V2 and Senn HD 660S.
I've been reading the review for Ares 2 / Topping D70s / D90SE / Schiit Bifrost.
unfortunately I can't try the demo unit, because there's no local distributor in my country for those items.
thanks

If you can still get a Gustard A18 with MQA, I would suggest that too.
I had compared it with X16, D70, SMSL M400, Loxjie D50 and A18 without MQA and it was allowed to remain unambiguous. Of course, this has nothing to do with MQA, I suspect that either the XMOS 216 chip does a better job, or Gustard has improved something significantly between the two versions.

But I would also like to make a comparison with the D90SE topping.

 

[NPWS]

If you can still get a Gustard A18 with MQA, I would suggest that too.
I had compared it with X16, D70, SMSL M400, Loxjie D50 and A18 without MQA and it was allowed to remain unambiguous. Of course, this has nothing to do with MQA, I suspect that either the XMOS 216 chip does a better job, or Gustard has improved something significantly between the two versions.

But I would also like to make a comparison with the D90SE topping.

so sad, same with Gustard, no local distributor in my country.
but I found in my local second hand audio store, there's D70 without S and SMSL SU-9 MQA, is it a good choice to take D70? I never heard both of them before.
honestly I don't really need MQA decoder for now, maybe for futureproof it's okay.

 

[Roland68]

so sad, same with Gustard, no local distributor in my country.
but I found in my local second hand audio store, there's D70 without S and SMSL SU-9 MQA, is it a good choice to take D70? I never heard both of them before.
honestly I don't really need MQA decoder for now, maybe for futureproof it's okay.

It's also very difficult to find an MQA version. As I said, with the MQA version only applies to the A18 and does not refer to MQA files, I cannot say it for other devices. So far I haven't heard any advantage with MQA files over normal Flac's (only my personal experience).
The SU-9 had any problems with (harmonic?) Distortions on a channel, which could be fixed by a software update at support. But there is no way, not even from the firmware version, to tell whether it was done. Since it has only been known for a short time, a used device will not yet be the current version.

So I would take the D70, it also has a very good reputation.

 

[benteo87]

Will the sa1 pair well with the Ares 2 and he5se?

 

[Roland68]

Does anyone know how much K the potentiometer has in the SA-1?

 

[Pigeon X]

I just got my gustard x16 in and it sounds really good with sa1 so far. I don't have anything to compare with aside from a scarlet 2i2 and xduoo xd05 though. And it's very clearly better than those. Really clear and spacious sound overall. But the NOS mode is a bit of a head-scratcher.

 

[457139]

Hi everyone, my SA-1 just arrived today. any suggestion what's DAC would be the best pair on budget not more than $700? I have mojo right now, but I need new balance DAC for pairing with SA-1 to drive my oppo PM-1, Hifiman Edition X V2 and Senn HD 660S.
I've been reading the review for Ares 2 / Topping D70s / D90SE / Schiit Bifrost.
unfortunately I can't try the demo unit, because there's no local distributor in my country for those items.
thanks

I luv my Loxjie D50, so it gets my vote. Sounds amazin w the SA-1

 

[Roland68]

I luv my Loxjie D50, so it gets my vote. Sounds amazin w the SA-1

Have you compared the Loxjie D50 with other DACs?

 

[457139]

Have you compared the Loxjie D50 with other DACs?

Only to the Topping DX7 Pro and SMSL SU-9. It's beats both of them hands down. The main characteristics the D50 is bringing to the table is naturalness with nice note weight and preciseness/effortlessness in how it's positioning/layering instruments in the stage presentation. Oh and it gave me more headroom on the Atom and SA-1, as well as the ability to listen at lower volumes without sacrificing textures and dynamics

 

[NPWS]

It's also very difficult to find an MQA version. As I said, with the MQA version only applies to the A18 and does not refer to MQA files, I cannot say it for other devices. So far I haven't heard any advantage with MQA files over normal Flac's (only my personal experience).
The SU-9 had any problems with (harmonic?) Distortions on a channel, which could be fixed by a software update at support. But there is no way, not even from the firmware version, to tell whether it was done. Since it has only been known for a short time, a used device will not yet be the current version.

So I would take the D70, it also has a very good reputation.

thanks mate! still considering between D70 and DX7Pro, I found that DX7Pro $530 in my local audio store BNIB just old stock, is it good price?

I luv my Loxjie D50, so it gets my vote. Sounds amazin w the SA-1

thanks! I'll searching review for Loxjie D50

 

[Muataz]

Hi everyone, my SA-1 just arrived today. any suggestion what's DAC would be the best pair on budget not more than $700? I have mojo right now, but I need new balance DAC for pairing with SA-1 to drive my oppo PM-1, Hifiman Edition X V2 and Senn HD 660S.
I've been reading the review for Ares 2 / Topping D70s / D90SE / Schiit Bifrost.
unfortunately I can't try the demo unit, because there's no local distributor in my country for those items.
thanks

I think you should go for D70s cheaper and will done dac or you may jump for SDA-6 basic version.

 

[NPWS]

I think you should go for D70s cheaper and will done dac or you may jump for SDA-6 basic version.

way out of budget for SDA-6 for now.
is there anyone had trying this with schiit Gungnir with no multibit ?

 

[Stompy]

So I'm trying to decide if I want to keep this amp long term or sell it. So far I've only tested the SE output. I just wanted to quickly ask: does using the balanced output improve sound with the SA-1? Is it a significant difference? I know a lot of people said that was the case with Schiit amps and other balanced amps, including this one according to some. Any replies would be greatly appreciated.