Sabre DACs sounding a bit boring?

I liked the Hifime so much I then modified it to use Lifepo4 battery power and added a Crystek clock. It sounds insanely good now.
That clock mod sounds appealing, pretty simple procedure.

Looking on mouser I couldnt find a 80MHz Crystek TCXO, did you use a different type of clock on the basis that any high quality XO will be better than a cheap TCXO?
 
That clock mod sounds appealing, pretty simple procedure.

Looking on mouser I couldnt find a 80MHz Crystek TCXO, did you use a different type of clock on the basis that any high quality XO will be better than a cheap TCXO?

Sorry I was referring to the USB receiver clocks, not the DAC clock. The Hifime board is multilayered so I am hesitant to try and remove that clock, especially if they used lead free solder which is a PITA to deal with. The USB (SA9227) receiver clocks however are pretty easy since they are surface mounted, but you will need to use wire to connect from the board to the crystek pads (I have the crystek flipped on its back).
 
But that is HOW they work. So that soft clip, not the hard clip is what tube people like.

Uh. No. People do not listen to tubes to hear them clip. They do not sound 'analog' because they clip. The 'clip' is not the reason why tubes amps have a following. To say that is just flat out bizarre.

Please. Stop.
 
http://sound.whsites.net/articles/soft-clip.htm

http://www.tonestack.net/articles/guitar-amps/tube-vs-solid-state.html

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/52471-what-exactly-soft-clipping.html

here ya go - it is true - so little you know. It is NOT exclusive to tubes but it is a characteristic of tube sound. You can simulate with SS but why would you?

You said it. It is A charachteristic, it is not THE characteristic. The soft clipping allows you to play louder than with an equivalent SS. What you are implying is that say, a vocal playing at 72db, with a speaker and tube amp that has headroom of say 100db. You're saying that 'soft clipping' is why that vocal would sound so appealing, even though it is WELL below the threshold?
 
but it is a characteristic of tube sound.
Only when clipped. Isn't this a discussion about DACs? What DACs are so poorly designed that their I/V stage overdrives the analog stage that follows? Every one of your links refers to power amplifiers:

"There is no doubt that valve amps tend towards having a relatively gradual transition into distortion, and even when clipping there are fewer high frequency harmonics generated. By way of comparison, transistor amps generally use a lot of feedback, and in common with all amps using feedback, the onset of clipping is sudden and 'hard'."

"Tube guitar amplifiers are surrounded by a huge mystery even nowadays." [Why are you even talking about guitar amps anyway?]

"Soft clipping is a very important aspect of tube sound especially for guitar amplifiers, although a Hi-fi amplifier should not normally ever be driven into clipping."


That's like saying fuel cutouts is a characteristic of high revving engines. Only when you run them past redline.

Sheesh!
 
Only when clipped. Isn't this a discussion about DACs? What DACs are so poorly designed that their I/V stage overdrives the analog stage that follows? Every one of your links refers to power amplifiers:

"There is no doubt that valve amps tend towards having a relatively gradual transition into distortion, and even when clipping there are fewer high frequency harmonics generated. By way of comparison, transistor amps generally use a lot of feedback, and in common with all amps using feedback, the onset of clipping is sudden and 'hard'."

"Tube guitar amplifiers are surrounded by a huge mystery even nowadays." [Why are you even talking about guitar amps anyway?]

"Soft clipping is a very important aspect of tube sound especially for guitar amplifiers, although a Hi-fi amplifier should not normally ever be driven into clipping."


That's like saying fuel cutouts is a characteristic of high revving engines. Only when you run them past redline.

Sheesh!

Exactly. Anyway, back to DACs...
 
EVERY tube DAC I have heard sounds like shit and they seem to have very high background noise. That includes the high dollar lampizator DAC's.

Why have a tube on a digital end? Just get a well designed DAC.
Hey Botrytis! It's been a while! I'd have to disagree with you about the lampi DAC. My buddy around the corner from me has had every Lampizator DAC and now has the new one the Pacific and none of them have had noise. Nothing but pure bliss from those DAC's.
 
My ODAC rev. b (ONLY when using external power supply instead of USB power) definitely performs like a ~$120 DAC but it sounds really great, from the bass to treble its very pleasing.

I bought the Hifime UDA9038pro, a budget DAC using Sabre 9038 Pro, and it outperforms the ODAC in seperation and detail but its painfully boring. the sound is very clean and detailed but lacks the 'body' and 'energy' of the ODAC, Music sounds very emotionless and distant and I think it is a drawback of this Sabre DAC as the ODAC simply sounds more realistic/live even with poorer detail retrieval, seperation and imaging/soundstage

The ODAC uses a Burr Brown chip (PCM1502), could those impressions be down to going from a Burr Brown to Sabre DAC? Or perhaps its a poorly implemented DAC and I should look for a different Sabre DAC?

edit: after the intial impressions with this DAC the sound has grown on me. it just has far better range in its abilities, poor recordings sound poorer, good recordings sound better. its far more interesting to listen to. where the ODAC adds the same colouration to everything.

I think you've nailed down perfectly the sabre sound signature. I myself wish I could have listenned to one before spending my money.. To understand exactly what ppl mean in their reviews.
Because so many reviews you know, talk about a clear clean sound etc. etc. But imo they always miss out on this lack of ''fullness'' to the sound.

How I hear it, is that sabre removes any sort of roll off from highs and lows, and even mids actually all spectrum, in order to 'feel' more clean; but it is done at the expense of removing entirely many many sounds and intricacies which do come out in other players that have a less clean sound to them, that's because those other players allow for all sounds to come out even if imperfect. Which in my opinion is without discussion insanely better.

In the end: sabre sounds off and robotic. I don't recommend at all. Hope that helps someone in their own purchase.

Cheers.
 
How I hear it, is that sabre removes any sort of roll off from highs and lows, and even mids actually all spectrum, in order to 'feel' more clean
Cheers.

To be fair, you're basically saying that Sabre dacs provide a full frequency response - which is what a dac should do. Sabre dacs only sound as good as the companies that design around them. There are most certainly ESS/Sabre that sound warmer they're just harder to find because most companies simply plop the chip in a standard build and sell them at low cost. But if you want cheap and 'full' or 'warm' then Burr Brown is the way to go. But there's no free lunch. There will be trade-offs.

If you want not so cheap and real body and texture then look at R2R.
 
To be fair, you're basically saying that Sabre dacs provide a full frequency response - which is what a dac should do. Sabre dacs only sound as good as the companies that design around them. There are most certainly ESS/Sabre that sound warmer they're just harder to find because most companies simply plop the chip in a standard build and sell them at low cost. But if you want cheap and 'full' or 'warm' then Burr Brown is the way to go. But there's no free lunch. There will be trade-offs.

If you want not so cheap and real body and texture then look at R2R.

I mean what I was trying to describe is a lack of retrieval of all sounds recorded within any frequency range, as in someone offering you two bouquet of flowers, both have the same number of flowers, but one has more kinds and colors than the other, or maybe the other is like fully spray painted in white. Yeah anyways, it's always good to learn different sound signatures and products, so one can make better choices next time around..

I do agree Burr Brown has a very good retrieval, natural and full. I've had a really good experience with that system. I didn't even realise my current DAC was Burr Brown lol.
 
Last edited:
I've only owned two Sabre DACs and to be fair they were budget DACs. They were a Topping D50s and a Schiit Modi 3E. I sold both of them after a few weeks use.
 
Back
Top Bottom