[kingoftown1]

I really need to try some other form of connection to see if it is the Audinst causing all my problems, because having dropouts every couple minutes will absolutely drive me insane

 
Just did one of the obvious troubleshooting fixes I forgot about earlier...trying a different outlet.  No drops so far, and the sound is wonderful.  Hopefully it stays that way, or I might have to up my budget and grab a W4S DAC1.  Although the M-DAC is a beautiful looking unit and I'm sure it sounds nice...

 

[airman]

I have the Oppo BDP-95 which has the ES9018 DAC and the clarity, soundstage and detail that I'm getting is unreal. Check out my review here. http://www.head-fi.org/products/oppo-bdp-95-universal-blu-ray-player/reviews/6336  I'm so impressed with the Oppo that now I'm seriously thinking of getting an ES9018 based DAC for my other digital sources. I have a old Laserdisc player and about 1000 discs, I know what you thinking " LASERDISC!" but the fact is that there are some laserdisc that I have that I can't get on DVD and sound wise they still sound pretty good under the right conditions of course, it's still a 16bit digital source and also I have an AppleTV that as you all know has a toslink out and I thought that the D18 would be the ticket. At $699 the price is about right and all the reviews look good however I been looking at another dac that I saw on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/Valab-WM8741-24bit-192k-USB-DAC-Dual-WM8741-Balanced-XLR-Output-Silver-Face-/270926844448?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f147f9220  This dac, the Valeb WM8741 looks pretty good spec wise although there little information that I get on this dac other than the ebay web site so I'm putting it out there. How does this dac stack up against the D18. The Valeb's manufacturer seems to know his business so please give your opinions
 
Thanks

 

[Somnambulist]

If you're a fan of the Sabre sound, I'd stick with it IMO, I was super impressed with the D18.

 

[strannik]

I'm guessing you found the D18 to be a worthwhile upgrade to your D100? I've got a D100 myself which I think sounds awesome, leaves me wondering whether or not to take a plunge and upgrade to D18.
 
Quote:

If you're a fan of the Sabre sound, I'd stick with it IMO, I was super impressed with the D18.

 

 

[airman]

I'm beginning to understand that not all Saber32 ES9018 DAC's sound the same. I was looking the Wyerd4sound DAC that goes for $1400 and by all accounts, it has it's own sound signature but also looking around, where else are you going to get a Sabre32 ES9018 based DAC for $699. The next Sabre32 ES9018 based Dac up is the Audiolab M-Dac going for about $950 so if the  D-18 is as good or better then $699 for the D-18 is a bargaIn. I was going to settle for a DacMagic but this ES9018 has got me hooked on it's sound after listening to the BDP-95, although i'm telling my self not to expect the same thing from the D-18 as I'm getting for the BDP-95 because the BDP-95 has a customized analog output board as I understand. But this Valab WM8741 or X-Dac as it's called on the back of the unit looks pretty good spec wise with 2 Wolfson WM8741 Dac's in a dual mono configuration, it's just that I can't find any user feedback on it but $315 + shipping isn't bad. Any comments?
P.S. By the way, how does the D-18 stack up against the M-DAC?

 

[kingoftown1]

I'm probably about to jinx myself, but I haven't had a dropout all day.  I'll probably still grab a v-link or something on payday to replace the Audinst, but I'm definitely enjoying the D18 right now.  It's also really showing me how much my Fostex scales over the HD600.  I might just be having a blast.

 

[Somnambulist]

Absolutely. Obviously I've discovered that due to some rather tragic voltage-related circumstances the D18 won't play nice with me, but it'll be fine for your side of the pond. I think if you buy it from from the Amerian seller you're able to return it if you're not happy, so you can compare the two devices to see what you prefer. I think the review by Project 86 hits the nail on the head regarding this DAC. 
 
Quote:

I'm guessing you found the D18 to be a worthwhile upgrade to your D100? I've got a D100 myself which I think sounds awesome, leaves me wondering whether or not to take a plunge and upgrade to D18.
 


 

 

 

[DrTone]

Stopped at Grant Fidelity today and I have the Sabre d18 home for a trial.
 
Doing a quick input switch back and forth from my rega dac, I can say that vocals and instruments pop more on the d18.  Slightly larger sound stage that is a little more forward on the d18.  Rega seems ever so slightly veiled and compressed in comparison.  The Yulong sure is smooth overall.
 
I can only think the d18 would be better with a nice set of Morrow balanced interconnects, which the rega is supporting right now, unbalanced of course.
 
Can't wait for it to get a few more hours on it the Rega is well broken in.

 

[DrTone]

The new fuse(s) provided with the D18 is going to be a Siba slow blow, I have to assume Ceramic.  .5 amp and/or 1 amp.
 
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=5518553&postcount=31

 

[ale79]

Hello,
Did anyone manage to A/B the D18 and the Audiolab Mdac? I'm very keen on these Dacs as I'd like to upgrade from my Hotaudio dac WOW, but as I'm not able to demo them where I live I'm looking for help.
I don't care for the pre/headphone amp functions I'm only interested in the dac performance. I'd be using USB from my mac, so pricewise d18+hiface 2 or Audiolab Mdac would be roughly the same.
Thanks for your help!

 

[estreeter]

Still no sign of the 'matching' A-18 headphone amp ? Stole this from the Grant Fidelity site.
 
Yulong is demonstrating his new flagship A-18 headphone amp matching Sabre D-18.
 

 

[project86]

Quote:

Still no sign of the 'matching' A-18 headphone amp ? Stole this from the Grant Fidelity site.
 
Yulong is demonstrating his new flagship A-18 headphone amp matching Sabre D-18.
 
 

I lurk around the Erji.net Yulong subforum when I have time (using Goodl Chrome for translation, so it's really just surface level info at best). From my limited understanding, the A-18 is pretty much complete but they are doing final tuning on the sound sig. I think they even sent demo unit(s) around to senior members to get feedback. It sounds more like a "swap capacitors for different brand" type of minor tuning that they are doing at this point rather than any significant design changes. 
 
If I'm understanding it correctly - this amp is a beast. The price also reflects that, going for something like $1200-1400. But I could be wrong. Based on parts and design I don't think I am though.... this is truly a statement amp in ever sense of the word. 
 
I'll add it to my list of amps to check out, along with the new Bryston and a few others. 
 

 

[ttan98]

Hi,
 
I am not sure whether this query has been asked before, I peruse this thread over the last 10 or more posts.
 
The Yulong Sabre has been taken off Ebay, none for sale at this point in time. Could it be related to the power transformer problem they are experiencing at the moment?
Anyone has any idea?

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

I lurk around the Erji.net Yulong subforum when I have time (using Goodl Chrome for translation, so it's really just surface level info at best). From my limited understanding, the A-18 is pretty much complete but they are doing final tuning on the sound sig. I think they even sent demo unit(s) around to senior members to get feedback. It sounds more like a "swap capacitors for different brand" type of minor tuning that they are doing at this point rather than any significant design changes. 
 
If I'm understanding it correctly - this amp is a beast. The price also reflects that, going for something like $1200-1400. But I could be wrong. Based on parts and design I don't think I am though.... this is truly a statement amp in ever sense of the word. 
 
I'll add it to my list of amps to check out, along with the new Bryston and a few others. 
 

 
Interesting, esp the price. Several Chinese audio designers are clearly looking to move into higher end product, even if its still cheap compared to most gear with a more prestigious badge. I suspect that they aspire to the level currently occupied by companies like Opera Consonance - designed and manufactured in China, but aimed at audiophiles with several thousand to spend on a single component. 
 
(Yulong created his own cutprice competition when he agreed to build the TubeDAC-11 for Grant Fidelity : I'm not sure if he has an equivalent product under his own brand. Interesting times.) 
 

 

[kingoftown1]

Quote:

Hi,
 
I am not sure whether this query has been asked before, I peruse this thread over the last 10 or more posts.
 
The Yulong Sabre has been taken off Ebay, none for sale at this point in time. Could it be related to the power transformer problem they are experiencing at the moment?
Anyone has any idea?

it's still listed on Grant Fidelity.  Maybe check erji for any mention of a rework.