Abbas dac 2.1 se

[charles1dad]

@gerihifi
Thanks for the feedback concerning the Magna Mano Ultra (MK III) player. It has minuscule coverage in the USA compared with Europe. I’m also looking at Aurender and the just released Innuos Pulse network player.

These are more expensive alternatives. I’ll just take my time and get it sorted out. I’m determined to get high resolution yet a natural sound quality via audio streaming.

I feel very confident with regard to CD spinning in my system.
Charles

 

[charles1dad]

@treitz3
I appreciate your input. So, your system is Wi-Fi wireless but you connect the mesh router via LAN cable to your Auralic streamer? This is what I am leaning toward doing. What is the length of your cable between the mesh router and streamer?
Charles

 

[Artnet]

Lumin U2 Mini

Is simple and easy have heard 2 in separate systems of course and was impressed. The real test what it does in your own. The Ferrum Hypsos will need to read some on that looks interesting!


For wireless i would explore the Auralic from what i have read and plenty of happy users.

I will stay Pi4 and wired for simplicity in exploring and learning about.

The Holo audio RED is another Pi based server to have a look at only, just into production and not enough listener reviews yet for me to get excited about.

 

[Artnet]

one of the switches is also abbas valve clocked.

That sounds interesting!! any more details on this implementation?

Might have to ask Abbas about that.

 

[charles1dad]

Lumin snd Bricasti network player are two I need to explore. So many seemingly good audio streaming choices.
Charles

 

[treitz3]

@treitz3
I appreciate your input. So, your system is Wi-Fi wireless but you connect the mesh router via LAN cable to your Auralic streamer? This is what I am leaning toward doing. What is the length of your cable between the mesh router and streamer?
Charles

1.5 meter.

Tom

 

[jespera]

That sounds interesting!! any more details on this implementation?

Might have to ask Abbas about that.

I think i have posted this link before.

The guy has good ears so his observations can be trusted. His digital supply chain is getting pretty complex though.

Master Clock for your EtherREGEN

audiophilestyle.com

 

[charles1dad]

I think i have posted this link before.

The guy has good ears so his observations can be trusted. His digital supply chain is getting pretty complex though.

Master Clock for your EtherREGEN

audiophilestyle.com

Thanks for the link. I’ll read it. Has this person given consideration to acquiring an Abbas DAC?
Charles

 

[jespera]

Thanks for the link. I’ll read it. Has this person given consideration to acquiring an Abbas DAC?
Charles

Hes a card carrying member of one of the factions of the cult of audio note. So hardly.

But he does make comments about abbas dacs in the thread and fearing the temptations …

 

[charles1dad]

@jespera
I read the provided link. As a diehard Audio Note user your friend was genuinely flattering about the Abbas components and their sonic performance.
Charles

 

[Artnet]

I think i have posted this link before.

So you have. Good to refresh thank you

 

[cal3713]

There is a Pi based network player streamer, Magna Mano Ultra MK III from the Netherlands. Are you by chance familiar with it? It received a very positive YouTube review from Hans Beekhuyzen.

Hi Charles, I had the older MK2 version for a couple years and like the sound (it was my reference source), but kept running into problems with the software. I eventually bought a Bricasti M5 and couldn't really tell a difference between the two. Unfortunately I only got a few weeks of comparison before I had to pack everything up when I sold my house in Denver and moved to Panamá, so I can't make any hard recommendations. I decided not to resell either, though, thinking it's never bad to have two streamers in the house, even if one's overkill for a couple bedroom speakers or something.

 

[russtafarian]

I’m now a member of the Abbas DAC club. A month ago I’d never heard of Abbas.

I’ve chased digital playback trends for nearly 40 years. I bought my first CD player in 1984, added an EAD DAC in the ‘90s, jumped on the SACD/DVD-Audio bandwagon in the ‘00s, and have used hi-rez music servers/streamers for the past ten years.

I’ve always preferred vinyl for immersive listening but kept chasing digital, hoping it would catch up. At some point 120db of dynamic range and point oh oh oh oh oh oh distortion has got to sound better than dragging a rock through plastic, right?

My buddy Ron Resnick is ramping up his new system now that his listening room is ready to go. He ordered a Lampizator DAC a while back and was told to expect it in early 2023. He then bought a used Abbas DAC 2.3SE to hold him over until the Lampizator arrives. The Lampizator showed up the day before the Abbas.

I asked Ron if I could hear the Abbas DAC before he resold it, so he brought it over last week. After the first ten seconds of music, I knew I was going to buy it. After a relaxed, extended listening session, I wrote him a check.

I’ve used ESS based DACs for the past ten years (Benchmark DAC2, Oppo BPD-105D, LH Labs Geek Pulse). With a good linear power supply, the Geek Pulse sounds the best to me. But it still doesn’t sound right. To quote Frank Zappa, “the beat goes on, and I’m so wrong”.

The Abbas DAC sounds right. It’s not as quiet or resolving as the ESS DACs, but music ebbs and flows with nuance and inflection that other DACs just miss.

End of review. You can skip the rest if you're not into the digital tech stuff.

My digital playback system is as follows. An old Macbook set up in a closet runs Roon Core 1.8. A USB drive with ripped FLAC/DSF files is attached to the Mac. MacBook USB output connects to a LANrover transmitter box. The PS Audio LANrover is a two box USB reclocker/extender. Fifty feet of CAT7 network cable connect the LANrover transmitter in the closet to the LANrover receiver at my equipment rack. LANrover receiver USB output connects to a Sonore UltraDigital USB/SPDIF converter. In Roon, the UltraDigital is configured to downsample hi-rez files to 24/48 PCM. A Nordost SPDIF cable connects the UltraDigital SPDIF output to the Abbas DAC.

I did run into one playback glitch with the Abbas DAC. Fortunately it showed up pretty quickly and I was able to find a solution before I finalized the purchase. On a few familiar tracks I heard distortion that I have not hear from other DACs. The distortion is consistent whether playing the file from the network drive or streaming the track from Qobuz. Adjusting Roon/DSP Engine/Headroom Management to -4db fixed the issue.

Apparently, the SPDIF receiver in the Abbas DAC is susceptible to sample rate clipping. This is not surprising given that music files come in multiple formats and resolutions and must be sample rate converted to 24/48 PCM and transmitted as coax SPDIF to the Abbas DAC. In my experience, the clipping doesn’t happen very often, but it does happen. Roon has headroom management. Jriver has clip protection. Other playback platforms likely have a similar adjustment to fix the issue.

Russ

Update 12/31/22

Yesterday I relistened to the tracks that I initially heard distortion on when I first got the DAC. No distortion now, even with Roon headroom management turned off.

Hmmm… The distortion was definitely there when we first fired up the DAC. Ron heard it too. My guess (and this is definitely a guess) is that the tube clock needs to warm up and stabilize before the SPDIF receiver will consistently lock to the digital stream.

Hopefully this helps others who may run into this issue.

 

[charles1dad]

@russtafarian
Congratulations!!
I’ll choose every time the audio component that preserves the “ebb and flow “ of music. Also the “nuances and inflections”. To me this is the true essential stuff that matters musically and emotionally. Far more crucial than hyper detail presentations,
This is why you say that the Abbas “sounds right “.
Charles

 

[charles1dad]

@cal3713
I’m finding very good user/owner feedback regarding the new Mano Ultra MK III which now has an external LPS (Farad). People are reporting that it really sounds fabulous.

They offer 4 different OS options. Which do you have? And I wonder if that has been corrected with the newest version of the streamer? I’m encouraged that you are impressed with its sound quality. I know that you have good ears. I’m very intrigued.
Charles

 

[charles1dad]

Hi Russ,
Quick question.
If your other DACs are missing the nuance lnflections /ebb and flow, what makes them more resolved? Why aren’t they capable of retrieving/retaining this? This would seem to suggest they are less resolved.
Charles

 

[jespera]

I’m now a member of the Abbas DAC club. A month ago I’d never heard of Abbas.

I’ve chased digital playback trends for nearly 40 years. I bought my first CD player in 1984, added an EAD DAC in the ‘90s, jumped on the SACD/DVD-Audio bandwagon in the ‘00s, and have used hi-rez music servers/streamers for the past ten years.

I’ve always preferred vinyl for immersive listening but kept chasing digital, hoping it would catch up. At some point 120db of dynamic range and point oh oh oh oh oh oh distortion has got to sound better than dragging a rock through plastic, right?

My buddy Ron Resnick is ramping up his new system now that his listening room is ready to go. He ordered a Lampizator DAC a while back and was told to expect it in early 2023. He then bought a used Abbas DAC 2.3SE to hold him over until the Lampizator arrives. The Lampizator showed up the day before the Abbas.

I asked Ron if I could hear the Abbas DAC before he resold it, so he brought it over last week. After the first ten seconds of music, I knew I was going to buy it. After a relaxed, extended listening session, I wrote him a check.

I’ve used ESS based DACs for the past ten years (Benchmark DAC2, Oppo BPD-105D, LH Labs Geek Pulse). With a good linear power supply, the Geek Pulse sounds the best to me. But it still doesn’t sound right. To quote Frank Zappa, “the beat goes on, and I’m so wrong”.

The Abbas DAC sounds right. It’s not as quiet or resolving as the ESS DACs, but music ebbs and flows with nuance and inflection that other DACs just miss.

End of review. You can skip the rest if you're not into the digital tech stuff.

My digital playback system is as follows. An old Macbook set up in a closet runs Roon Core 1.8. A USB drive with ripped FLAC/DSF files is attached to the Mac. MacBook USB output connects to a LANrover transmitter box. The PS Audio LANrover is a two box USB reclocker/extender. Fifty feet of CAT7 network cable connect the LANrover transmitter in the closet to the LANrover receiver at my equipment rack. LANrover receiver USB output connects to a Sonore UltraDigital USB/SPDIF converter. In Roon, the UltraDigital is configured to downsample hi-rez files to 24/48 PCM. A Nordost SPDIF cable connects the UltraDigital SPDIF output to the Abbas DAC.

I did run into one playback glitch with the Abbas DAC. Fortunately it showed up pretty quickly and I was able to find a solution before I finalized the purchase. On a few familiar tracks I heard distortion that I have not hear from other DACs. The distortion is consistent whether playing the file from the network drive or streaming the track from Qobuz. Adjusting Roon/DSP Engine/Headroom Management to -4db fixed the issue.

Apparently, the SPDIF receiver in the Abbas DAC is susceptible to sample rate clipping. This is not surprising given that music files come in multiple formats and resolutions and must be sample rate converted to 24/48 PCM and transmitted as coax SPDIF to the Abbas DAC. In my experience, the clipping doesn’t happen very often, but it does happen. Roon has headroom management. Jriver has clip protection. Other playback platforms likely have a similar adjustment to fix the issue.

Russ

Welcome and thank you for the review.

Did you guys compare with the lampi dac?
It would be a rookie mistake not to.

Can you give examples from quboz of the distortion problems?

Another abbas user reported about something similar — but i couldnt reproduce and thought, if anything, it was the recording that was the problem.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I am very happy that you are enjoying the Abbas, Russ!

 

[djsina2]

Yeah, why not compare the $2500 Abbas with the $50k Horizon? (Assuming Ron got a Horizon).

 

[russtafarian]

Hi Russ,
Quick question.
If your other DACs are missing the nuance lnflections /ebb and flow, what makes them more resolved? Why aren’t they capable of retrieving/retaining this? This would seem to suggest they are less resolved.
Charles

If there's a discrepancy here, it's likely due to my limited ability to describe what I hear. I'll try again, but if this doesn't help you, just chalk it up to me being a dumb-ass who can't use his words.

With the ESS DAC I hear lots of bright sparkly little details popping out all over the place, fighting for my attention. Consciously I perceive this as increased resolution. It sounds bigger and more exciting! I suspect that some of what I'm hearing are artifacts that confuse my mind at a subliminal level. I'm hearing music, but it's not flowing into my bones the way I want it to.

With the Abbas DAC I get less of that sparkly detail, but what I do hear punches through my conscious awareness and goes straight to the heart.

Less artifacts. More music.