Finally, if you're like me and have over the years had mainly boxy DACs, the physical appearance can be eye-catching while sporting a nice-sized, color LCD screen providing useful information at a glance, with a conveniently large volume control knob. Speaking of different masterings of music, there are indeed many albums where I think it's important for the audiophile to seek out the best version although I don't think it matters for Physicaldue to inherent limitations. I applaud Josh Mound and his "The Best Version Of..." work in this regard! An "auto-sleep" function might also be nice. For example, if there's no audio being played for 60 minutes, it would be nice for the machine to turn off by itself to save power. MQA is available...The 16-core XMOS will fully decode an MQA signal. We can see the standard impulse responses used in "rendering" to a higher resolution like 192kHz. T011bc: TL08: WASAPI EndPointVolume CH:2 PhysicalSpeakers:0x00000003 MixFormat CH:2 MixFormat Mask:0x00000003

Notice that I've turned on the "Peak" tracing as well to capture the highest values across the 8-average readings. Not unusual to see some 60Hz mains hum with harmonics getting into the measurements with unbalanced connections. We're basically looking at -110dB RCA and -120dB XLR noise floor and distortions otherwise.The Amp and DAC both have a remote which functions independently but look identical, need some tape on one of them. Other menu settings include the choice of 7 PCM filters, 4 DSD low-pass options (47/50/60/70kHz), the DPLL setting to fine-tuning jitter tolerance (level 5 default), and there's a switch for "SPDIF Mode" for "Normal" or "Processor" - the latter setting routes the S/PDIF interface data through the XMOS processor which allows MQA processing. Of note, there's also a headphone gain setting of LOW or HIGH (+8dB). While pure subjective folks can always claim that something sounds better than another (no limits to creative, flowery prose - whether they actually hear a difference or not is a matter of faith), I think objective folks need to come from the direction that at some point it doesn't really matter any more.

Okay, we're in the final stretch of my measurements/review series on the Sabaj A20d 2022 DAC. This time, let's finish with some measurements around DSD performance, the headphone amp output quality, and let's talk about subjective listening impressions before the final summary on my impressions of the device. (See Part I and Part II for earlier instalments in this review.) Sabaj A10d features x4 OPA1612 OP-AMPs (two for each DAC chip) and it can dish out around 1 watt of power into a 32-ohm load. The unit drives my Hifiman HE-R9 and Sennheiser 58X, easily without breaking a sweat. The unit does not get hot either. As for the output impedance, the values are perfectly fine. The XLR out has an impedance value of 100Ω and the HP outputs are nearly 0Ω. This means that it plays nicely with even the most sensitive IEMs out there on the market. The A20d 2023version boasts a preamp mode that enhances your audio output. With an output amplitude of up to 4.6Vrms through the XLR output and 2.3Vrms through the RCA output, you have the freedom to choose from three different output modes. Whether you prefer a fixed volume, variable volume control, or DSD pass-through, this device caters to your specific needs. High-Performance Headphone AMP I have a Topping DX7s since 4 or 5 years now, it sounds very good on headphone, good at a lesser degree on line ouput (so measurment don't show everything, otherwise line output should also be top notch, which isn't the case on this model), Topping is a good brand with good VFM, but their products have some minor flaws (ergonomy's not top -it's an euphemsism-, there is a very audible "ploc" at extinction - I hope this have been improved on recent models, but not sure). Very nice! The sideband anomalies due to jitter are at most around -140dB from the peak of the primary signal. As extreme as this test already is, the result here is even better than the S.M.S.L. DO100 DAC (-130dB below primary signal).

Sabaj

I just got one of these and after a couple hours of use I found it to be a more polished/complete product than the Topping D90SE. So much so it has permanently replaced my D90SE. Why? If I didn't already have a Lokius and Monoprice 887, I could very much get away with listening via the built in amp on high gain. I went to about 70 out of 99 max on the volume knob with the built in HPA and didn't hit any intolerable distortion. I missed my EQ too much to use this full time though. I think that's the next step in a DAC/AMP like this, built in hardware or software EQ/DSP. That would make this an absolute monster IMO. The A20D 2022 is much lighter than the X16 as well. I also quite like the design and choice of silver, along with the handles on the front of the case. With that, ladies and gents, I hope you're having a great Northern Hemisphere summer! And as always, enjoying the music...