Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
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 A20d 2023version features a sleek and functional design. All wired input ports support DSD transmission, and the coaxial and optical fiber inputs support DoP64. The rear placement of the interfaces ensures easy wiring and minimizes interference from other devices. MQA-CD Support and High-Spec Bluetooth Yeah, MQA is still floating around. I don't mind capturing a few of those impulse responses depending on how much detail I want to achieve with a product review just to see if there has been evolution in some of what MQA is doing under the hood. And yeah, sometimes we see that the MQA feature might actually have unintended effects like that "Processor" mode which users should be aware of.
It is my belief that modern DACs these days like the Sabaj A20d 2022, based on my listening and technical explorations, have significantlyexceeded the potential resolving ability of human hearing already. However, to be true to the spirit of scientific empiricism, I remain open to evidence to the contrary with controlled blinded listening tests. I think he did a good job on that! Maybe he can spend more time on DSP room correction in time as well. (Discussions about the room here: http://archimago.blogspot.com/2020/08/summer-musings-soundroom-speaker-layout.html)You know, all this is way more important for me than a super SINAD measurement, as long as one can't hear diffrences below a threshold of noise and distorsion.
If you look at the front panel in the topmost picture, note both 4.4mm and 1/4" headphone outputs to the right. The 4.4mm headphone output is not balanced, rather, it's provided as a convenience for the user. Specs for the headphone stage look quite good - almost0Ω impedance, with output power up to 1W into 32Ω and 2W into 16Ω, and a claimed THD+N down to -120dB (output level and load unspecified).However I want to also use this to power my Klipsch The Fives on my computer. My setup is used for everything, not just music but video games and movies too. 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.)
For me, benchmark numbers these days of around -120dB THD+N and dynamic range around say 125dB are so impressive that I don't think manufacturers or consumers need desire more. I think it would be more impressive now to achieve "THD+N -120dB with excellent linear sharp filter and +3dB intersample overhead" than say "THD+N -125dB" only. The jitter performance of this DAC is exemplary. The DPLL setting might be helpful for compatibility if you connect an extremely jittery device to the DAC. Relaxing DPLL to >5 might help in those cases. bits resolution is really not much to ask of modern DACs these days and the graphs basically look like they're layered on top of each other with minuscule variations. Notice that the only mentionable difference is that DACs do have slight frequency response variations, but even this is less than 1dB difference up at 20kHz (and often this is a reflection of the filter selected).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.
Tip: If I were to use this DAC on the desktop with both headphones and speakers, I would make sure to program the remote Fn button to toggle between headphone and line out since there's no dedicated button on the front. Otherwise one would need to take a few steps within the menu system. Yes, the headphone volume is controlled and remembered by the device independently of the line-level output.] I played with the DPLL menu setting a bit; supposedly lower values could improve jitter performance, and larger number improves compatibility. I did not see any significant difference with the Squeezebox Touch so just kept the setting at the default of 5 for the remainder of my tests.A simple system like this with balanced out from the Sabaj to a little Class D Hypex nCore amp would I bet provide higher fidelity than many very expensive "High End" products out there! Add good speakers of course, a Raspberry Pi streamer, set up a computer server somewhere on your home network, and you're good to go with a very high performance "Type 2" computer audio system! From there, enjoy the music, upgrade speakers when you can, add room treatments as needed. Good to avoid contracting audiophilia nervosa whenever possible, friends. ;-) Nice color LCD screen, a good size to see volume setting, and other useful data shown.There is a "Dimming" setting which I typically will leave off (ie. screen on all the time). Currently what this setting does is to turn off the screen after a set number of seconds of inactivity. Maybe it would be good to set a brightness value for dimming (eg. lowest brightness intensity) instead of just turn off the screen completely since there's no power LED to let the user know it's still on. Koss Porta Pro with Yaxi Pads, Hifiman HE400SE with 2.5mm balanced cables, AKG K371, Drop x Sennheiser HD6xx (ZMF perforated suede Earpads) with 2.5mm balanced cables, Audeze LCD-XC 2021 with 2.5mm balanced cables , Sony MH755 with cable extender (got it from a Sony SBH24), Moondrop Chu, Tanchjim Zero, 7hz Salnotes Zero with 2.5mm balanced cables, Truthear x Crinacle Zero with 2.5mm balanced cables, Etymotic ER2XR with 2.5mm balanced cables, 7hz Timeless with 2.5mm balanced cables, Moondrop Aria Snow Edition with 2.5mm balanced cables, Moondrop x Crinacle Blessing 2 Dusk with 2.5mm balanced cables, Moondrop Variations with 2.5mm balanced cables, Sony IER-M9 with 2.5mm balanced cables , Apple Airpods Pro, Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro, CCA BTX AptX Adaptive Bluetooth IEM Ear Hook Module Finally, with the passing of Olivia Newton-John lately, I thought I'd revisit her album Physical (1981, first release DR13). Ah yes, the early days of aerobics, "athletic" fashion, leggings, lycra and leotards... That looks good overall. For the most part DSD performance is close to the PCM 192kHz from which the test signal was sourced. DSD64 as usual tends to be more noisy with ultrasonic content from noise shaping.
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