[colour97]

Saber D8 is an upgrade version of DA8. They shares similar design and with these upgrades: Two  50W toroidal transformers supply clean powers to Digital and Analogue circuits separately; Full size case which is matching A8 fully balanced headphone amplifier; and lots of through hole components that increased the freedom of sound directed part selection. 

Initially we built this machine trying to achieve best possible quality of ess9018 for our own use, so we measured, we listened, we compared, and we tuned it for many years. As result, music flows from this unit effortlessly. 

The DA chip is ESS9018, and AD797*5 are used for IV conversion and LPF, then OPA1632*2 for buffer and preamp. Two Nuvotem toroidal transformers supplies the power into LT1129/LT3021 regulations, and quality film caps from Wima, Vishay, Ero and TPC are applied for filtering and decoupling.

All functions are controlled by software operating system. 2.4 inch color LED display shows the status. Dimming is enabled after 5 seconds with no operation. The unit automatic saves user settings. User friendly interface provides control for 5 different filter mode and inverse phase to produce different styles. 80 steps volume adjustment for pre amplifier output to connect to powered speakers. Under pure DAC mode direct connect to power amplifier provides even better quality sounds. It bypasses the volume control circuit  to work as a pure DAC.

Multi-stage digital buffer and shaping circuit can optimize the quality of digital signal. Low phase-noise high-precision crystal oscillator as master clock, bandwidth-auto-set DPLL, switchable jitter eliminator are used to lock and optimized bad signal before decoding. Signals of high quality can be by-passed to obtain better performance.

There is an upgrade available for a even more precise clock and clock power. Please contact before buy should you need this option.

Before using ,it's better to warm up for at least 20 minutes. precise clock needs to warm up  stable

Technical  Specifications :
USB Input format support: PCM 16-32bit 44.1Khz 48Khz 88.2Khz 96Khz 176.4Khz 192Khz 352.8Khz 384Khz 。DSD64,DSD128 
Operating system support Mac OSX  Linux with UAC2 compliant kernel.KS/Wasapi/WDM/ASIO Drivers for MS OS XP to Win8 32-64bit 。
Inputs: Optical, Coaxial, AES/EBU:16-24Bit,44.1-192KHZ。
SNR: -130dB
Dynamic Range: >125dB
THD+N: 0.0005% 
Frequency Response: 20-30KHz-0.2dB 
Crosstalk -135dB
balancedOutput level:4.2V
Power consumption: <50W
size: 435*350*75mm
weight: 7Kg
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
bought my denon da-s1 few months ago. this is denon ex-flagship. but only take 44.1/16bit.
i need dac that can read 24/192 and dsd. 
this new dac price is  with  clock version. 
let me burn in for 1-2 weeks, then will give some impressions
when  comparing with  prism sound ada8,
dcs elgar ,
and denon da-s1 . 

 

[slingshot80]

I have been very happy with the DA-8. (I had to send the first one back and they sent me a new one.) The sound is very very good, main issue that  I notice is some sibilance on certain songs.  I have been wondering what this guy could do if he upgraded the parts and doubled the price. Well it sounds like I can find out.  I'm also interested in the new ExaSound e22 that was released recently,seems to have similar specs. Its $1,000 more compared to the D8 with the upgraded clock. 

 

 

[colour97]

give me few more days , still under burn-in .
 
i owned da 8 long time ago.
 
at this moment,  dont expect d8 it has 9018 sound signature. or any elder brother of da8 signature.
 
it is not the current 9018 sound we heard . it tends to more analysis.

 

[colour97]

After burn-in for 2 weeks time, it is time to give initial impression.
let's start the cons to save your time to read the following.
it is very spacious inside. spacious enough to put 3-4 packs of marlboro inside.  if you are interested in loaded capacitors and electronic compenonts,
it is not your choice. forget it and go to find something else.
no I2S input, no input SPDIF to take dsd, no clock in/out.
no headphone jet. not good for head-fier.
so so pre-amp quality. 
 
before i made the decision to purchase it, my main target originally was to get dcs elgar plus to play dsd.
above cons is also my concern. 
then i spent 6 hours 2 ways traffic time to go to yulong factory to have an audition ,to see why he has gut to
quote this offer for a 7 kg door stopper.
After audition, i agree yulong does focus at the design to product good sonic presentation. 100 M Clock i am not sure if this makes d8 very precise, accurate and control. 

the signature of d8:
it's chip is es9018. now in the market most of dsd dac are using es9018. it has typical 9018 sound signature.
tend to warm . 
 
d8 i feel still retains a little  slightly 9018 sound signature. 
it tends to high resolution. super micro details. clear separation. 
treble -extend out ,  refined transparent .  
mid - clarity, well balance,
bass quality - lower mid regions are clear, and extent out. 
control - control all treble, mid , bass very tight.  won't let it out of line. 
background - not too black . not at the bright side. 
soundstage - airiness, good depth and width.
dynamic - from lowest to highest, no lagging. and do it again. and do it again, performance is smooth without muddy and mess . 
 
Computer setup:
-----------------
- replace hard drive to SSD plextor m6s 128 g

- windows 8.1 and jriver. (setting memory play)
- i prefer jriver because it has native dsd option. 
 
its usb board  is usings Amanero, the same as DA8.
I have make comparsion between hard drive and ssd playback.
 
hard drive playblack - harsh, noisy. not a good choice for playback.
 
ssd (memory play) - much more quiet, crystal clear treble , tight body.   i have owned some 
usb dac , and d8 is the best to playback dsd.
 
Mozart: Violin concerto in D major - Allegro 2L 24BIT/352.8kHz playback, 
i can only say, STUNNING. above impression all i can find in this digital file.
 
Conclusion:
Yulong factory is using dcs degas plus and prismsound ADA8.
and i am using denon ex flagship da-s1 ( 93 price was 780,000 yen).
 
d8 in my personal opinion its performance is better than dcs degas (no clock) in all department.
More refines. More extension. 
at the very beginning, i wanted to get a 2nd hand degas , and finally i took d8 back home.
 
i feel d8 soundstage, all asepct is close to prismsound, prismsound is slightly better.
micro texture, for sure, prismsound is outstanding.
 
da-s1 is not the same league. much better than above 3 items in all department. da-s1 at 90's was aiming
to make a flagship without considering the cost. but only take cd, dsd or 24/352 at 90's should look like UFO.
D8  does  recording playback , bad is bad, good is good. and very sensitive to cable.