Abbas dac 2.1 se

[jespera]

Check the latest video! The difference is obvious! Please use headphones or car system!

Im slowly getting my ears around this.

The two last videos are not directly comparable as they seem to have been shot at quite different distance. Theres less reverb on the last kassandra video.

Anyways, fwiw, it seems to me that the abbas has a lighter tonal balance than the kassandra but it is also more open and detailed.

I got a similar conclusion when i compared my abbas 2.1se to the audio note dac 5. Also tda1541 versus ad1865. I clearly prefered the abbas in that comparison.

 

[charles1dad]

Im slowly getting my ears around this.

The two last videos are not directly comparable as they seem to have been shot at quite different distance. Theres less reverb on the last kassandra video.

Anyways, fwiw, it seems to me that the abbas has a lighter tonal balance than the kassandra but it is also more open and detailed.

I got a similar conclusion when i compared my abbas 2.1se to the audio note dac 5. Also tda1541 versus ad1865. I clearly prefered the abbas in that comparison.

When you actually contemplate these comparisons of DACs it’s really quite a remarkable outcome.

The mere fact that an older generation Abbas 2.1SE (Current series now 2.4) and 3.1SE (Currently 3.2) are genuinely sonically competitive with two DACs held in the uppermost levels of esteem.

Yes, undoubtedly subjective endeavor by default, but context is everything. A testament to what a very experienced designer’s musician trained ear and painstaking implementation can accomplish.
Charles

 

[Gjo]

Anyways, fwiw, it seems to me that the abbas has a lighter tonal balance than the kassandra but it is also more open and detailed.

This is a very helpful statement as I prefer weightier tonal balance (or, heavier in context with lighter), even at the expense of detail.

 

[jespera]

This is a very helpful statement as I prefer weightier tonal balance (or, heavier in context with lighter), even at the expense of detail.

This is a very helpful statement as I prefer weightier tonal balance (or, heavier in context with lighter), even at the expense of detail.

Normally i would too. But theres a balance to everything.

My comments in the above were refering to listening to samsoum’s videos . Ive not heard the kassandra in real life. You can listen for yourself. But bear in mind that youre listening to a phone recording of a pretty modern hifi sounding system.

Id characterise the abbas gear to be pretty neutral tonally. And musical. Speaking of nuances the 2.1se is ever so slightly to the light side of neutral and 3.2se the same itsybitsy little bit to the darker side.

Here im primarely refering to treble. Not the bass. Neither are shy in that department.

I think this is all in line with what id said ealier in my reviews of the 2.1se, 3.2se and 4.1se.

 

[jespera]

Heres a link to my videos if you want an alternative listen to abbas dacs.

https://youtube.com/channel/UCUK-OGCQ9xuVC8L51EcRTQQ

Fwiw and all that.

 

[Gjo]

My comments in the above were refering to listening to samsoum’s videos . Ive not heard the kassandra in real life.

Thanks for that clarification. It's hard for me to keep up with who has heard what in real life, and in videos/recordings.

I cannot evaluate high end audio components by watching or listening to videos over the internet (even using high quality headphones).

 

[charles1dad]

Thanks for that clarification. It's hard for me to keep up with who has heard what in real life, and in videos/recordings.

I cannot evaluate high end audio components by watching or listening to videos over the internet (even using high quality headphones).

Agreed. But sometimes that’s the only option available. How many listeners are in a position to hear in person the Kassandra Reference, Audio Note DAC5 , Rockna Wavedream Balanced or Lampi B7 MK II against an Abbas DAC? Not many.

@jespera and @Samsoum have at least directly heard the DACs and can offer some commentary. Again subjective impressions but what else is there?

I believe that it is fair to say that all of these DACs under discussion have been highly impressive sonically as reported by numerous listeners across various audio forums.

The fact that a “reasonably” cost DAC out of the Ukraine is such a formidable audio competitor is exceptionally noteworthy.
Charles

 

[Gjo]

@jespera and @Samsoum have at least directly heard the DACs and can offer some commentary.

Again, I admit I cannot keep up with who has heard what, and by what method. However, @jespera wrote a few posts earlier that his commentary on the Abbas and Kassandra DACs was based on watching/hearing @Samsoun's video.

 

[Samsoum]

Again, I admit I cannot keep up with who has heard what, and by what method. However, @jespera wrote a few posts earlier that his commentary on the Abbas and Kassandra DACs was based on watching/hearing @Samsoun's video.

Im slowly getting my ears around this.

The two last videos are not directly comparable as they seem to have been shot at quite different distance. Theres less reverb on the last kassandra video.

Anyways, fwiw, it seems to me that the abbas has a lighter tonal balance than the kassandra but it is also more open and detailed.

I got a similar conclusion when i compared my abbas 2.1se to the audio note dac 5. Also tda1541 versus ad1865. I clearly prefered the abbas in that comparison.

Hi,

The 2 last videos were also recorded at same spl from exactly same spot regarding the mic.

One of the video ( the kassandra one) was shooted with me and my friend inadvertently talking about spl level , so i removed that part.

I m still not very handy with editing using yt tools so i chose to publish the video in short.

No idea if that affected the sq of the video.

When you say the abbas is lighter in tonal balance what do you mean exactly?

Because i feel totally the opposite if i understood correctly what you mean.

The abbas have tendency to paint the music richer, to give it more color, more density kassandra is more neutral, closer to reality to my ears..

One song wasnt published ( recording was done for abbas dac only)track: *death row*, at some point there is an electrical guitar, on abbas it was so dense, so colorful, so intense , beatiful… i like it very mucch ; on kassandra still rich but less colorful, still with body and clear image and closer to reality to my ears.

Abbas sound is leaning towards tubey sound with dynamics , slam, soundstage , 3d , details , but cant match the resolution , clarity , transprency of kassandra,wich for instance is more ss and touch of bloom and musicality.

Abbas is crazy good for the money, and i m doing all the tweaks since i bought it to improve its clarity , resolution.

As i said earlier i m using the tung sol 5998 and i will try getting the western electric 421 wich are around 400 usd for a pair.also with these w.e tubes i need to remove the cover on the dac cause tubes are tall.

I m using a top notch su6 converter as i said before with abbas own spdif making it part of the abbas combo, but i will try spdif duelend full silver from aurealis.

To be clear , to my ears , kassandra is the better dac overal, but abbas is crazy good for the money, and make the music sound like hearing it thru vynil.
Soon i ll upload death row track played by the 3.1se

 

[charles1dad]

@Samsoum
“Abbas sound is leaning towards tubey sound with dynamics , slam, soundstage , 3d , details , but cant match the resolution , clarity , transprency of kassandra,wich for instance is more ss and touch of bloom and musicality.”

Very interesting insight. These are the specific areas Abbas said the 3.2SE improved upon the previous 3.1SE you have.

It’d be most enlightening to compare your 3.1SE with jespera’s 3.2SE.Abbas was quite adamant about the further refinements and sound quality advancement of the 3.2 series.

Now there’s continued changes with the current 3.2SE with regard to the rectifier in the 6080 analog output stage. This thread has been/is terrific!
Charles

 

[charles1dad]

Again, I admit I cannot keep up with who has heard what, and by what method. However, @jespera wrote a few posts earlier that his commentary on the Abbas and Kassandra DACs was based on watching/hearing @Samsoun's video.

I’ll clarify. Jespera has compared his 2.1SE directly to an Audio Note DAC and a LampiZator DAC. @Samsoum has directly compared his 3.1SE with Kassandra Reference, Rockna Wavedream and Primaluna EVO DACs respectively.

This is a long thread, but I am unaware of other posters who’ve made direct listening DAC comparisons. That’s why I cited those two.

 

[charles1dad]

@Samsoum
My reply to you in post # 413 contains a direct excerpt from Abbas. He is describing the 3.2 improvement compared to the 3.1SE.

He specifically talked of a direct connection between the 6080 tube and the transistor converter (That eliminated a previous used capacitor).

He then goes on to point out the areas of sonic improvement. Apparently eliminating that capacitor improved clarity (Which you’re seeking relative to the mighty Kassandra) spatial, bass and dynamic parameters. Quite an upgrade is his verdict.
Charles

 

[gerihifi]

The fact that a “reasonably” cost DAC out of the Ukraine is such a formidable audio competitor is exceptionally noteworthy.
Charles

As many serious DIY builders, Abbas has a build and passion quality which can't compared with industrialized DACs.

If you think about how much time he spents on getting right components, cabling and soldering quality. You would go in the direction of SWx1 and Lampizator top range pricing. Like seeing what he does with 3.2SE (€3.8k), you would have to pay for well known commercial brands at least €20k (minimum if quantity is less <30/anno). And even then, you would not get that many manual steps involved. Look in modern DACs, highly standardized and focus is on software/filtering techniques (NOT saying this is bad, but complete different philosophy).

 

[charles1dad]

As many serious DIY builders, Abbas has a build and passion quality which can't compared with industrialized DACs.

If you think about how much time he spents on getting right components, cabling and soldering quality. You would go in the direction of SWx1 and Lampizator top range pricing. Like seeing what he does with 3.2SE (€3.8k), you would have to pay for well known commercial brands at least €20k (minimum if quantity is less <30/anno). And even then, you would not get that many manual steps involved. Look in modern DACs, highly standardized and focus is on software/filtering techniques (NOT saying this is bad, but complete different philosophy).

Yes, this commitment, passion and approach is precisely what has drawn my attention and earned my deep admiration. Given the time it must require to evaluate multiple parts at each stage of the build, the asking price seems remarkably/surprisingly low.

I feel that this particular aspect is under appreciated. Furthermore, there’s the steady increments of continued improvement and refinement of already excellent and well conceived components.Much to admire going on here.
Charles

 

[Samsoum]

Yes, this commitment, passion and approach is precisely what has drawn my attention and earned my deep admiration. Given the time it must require to evaluate multiple parts at each stage of the build, the asking price seems remarkably/surprisingly low.

I feel that this particular aspect is under appreciated. Furthermore, there’s the steady increments of continued improvement and refinement of already excellent and well conceived components.Much to admire going on here.
Charles

I m going to have the apl dac( not sure wich model but i think one model below flagship ) tommorow.
It s going to stay for a week or so.
I m gonna record some videos and comparaisons on my system this time.
Do you like the videos seperate , or onevideo with 2 presentations?
Stay tuned folks!

 

[charles1dad]

@Samsoum
I appreciate (Assume others do as well) your time and effort to post videos. However I am also interested in reading your subjective opinions and listening impressions. Verbal/text feedback has much value for me.
Charles

 

[charles1dad]

“Do you like the videos seperate , or onevideo with 2 presentations?
Stay tuned folks!”

I prefer one video with two presentation format.
Charles

 

[Samsoum]

“Do you like the videos seperate , or onevideo with 2 presentations?
Stay tuned folks!”

I prefer one video with two presentation format.
Charles

Thks charles, i will do that , and include my impressions .
Please subscribe and like my videos , it will give me more enthusiasm doing this!
All the others also please subscribe and like , and let me knkw if you like my videos and what you prefer on the comments.

 

[charles1dad]

@Samsoum
I did hit your subscriber button and notification.
Charles

 

[gerihifi]

Thks charles, i will do that , and include my impressions .
Please subscribe and like my videos , it will give me more enthusiasm doing this!
All the others also please subscribe and like , and let me knkw if you like my videos and what you prefer on the comments.

Also from my side, really appreciated to share those infos and videos!! Thx a lot!!