HiFimeDIY Sabre USB DAC

S

spaceman

[H]F Junkie
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Jan 7, 2005
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For 50$ (DAC + shipment) it is very good deal. Got myself one and I am happy with it. DAC section of this little toy is better than DAC on Asus Xonar cards (Sabre chip is more detailed) and can compete with <150$ DACs.

E: Compared yesterday HiFimeDIY Sabre USB DAC with NuForce uDac 2. HiFimeDIY had more bass and was more vinyl-like analogue sounding.
 
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I also have one of these and it's great. Just hangs off the back of my computer and is nice and tiny.
 
interesting little piece, just ordered one out of curiosity, i will post my impressions when i receive it.
 
I picked one up a couple of weeks ago. The treble can be a little bright at times, but it's not overly rough or fatiguing. The bass isn't overbearing, but it definitely has more authority and weight than your standard onboard. Very clean sound overall, and a very inexpensive usb solution for a desktop or laptop. Only hiccup with this is a minor thing. Switching between applications (spotify, youtube, wmp ect.) the sound will occasionally become a garbled mess. Probably more of a driver issue than anything, and stopping/restarting playback fixes the issue.
 
glad i saw this thread as i have never heard of the product. for the price, i just may bite and check it out.

shadow_419 said:
Probably more of a driver issue than anything, and stopping/restarting playback fixes the issue.
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under the description posted in the link by OP, they list Windows drivers that you may install.
 
theBAYsics said:
glad i saw this thread as i have never heard of the product. for the price, i just may bite and check it out.



under the description posted in the link by OP, they list Windows drivers that you may install.
Click to expand...

I am running the supplied drivers btw.
 
Matthew Kane said:
Am the only one who thinks this DAC sucks donkeys balls?
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So far you are. The supplied drivers are not good or needed btw. You should just be able to plug it in and use it. I think the included drivers may cause issues.
 
Matthew Kane said:
Am the only one who thinks this DAC sucks donkeys balls?
Click to expand...

I'm wondering why you think that- because I'm also wondering how this would sound feeding my HD555's compared to an X-Fi Titanium. It looks like it has the perfect amount of amplification, and the only 'surround' game I play regularly is BF3, which does it's own (and very good) HRTF for headphones.
 
IdiotInCharge said:
I'm wondering why you think that- because I'm also wondering how this would sound feeding my HD555's compared to an X-Fi Titanium. It looks like it has the perfect amount of amplification, and the only 'surround' game I play regularly is BF3, which does it's own (and very good) HRTF for headphones.
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Just the way its designed.
 
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mine arrived this week.
Analog out is even better than i thought it would be.
nice little gadget for the money.
optical out seems a bit ghetto to me, but it seems to work.

cdrivi09jgz6g7kfq.jpg
 
It’s not bad, but I can’t say I’m impressed with the thing either, even at ~$42.

It’s at its worst using software level shifting for volume control, so I wouldn’t bother with it at all unless you were going to run it through an amp and keep your PC output set at 100% (by NO means is this issue unique to this unit).

While it has lower specs on paper, the HiFiMAN HM-101 ($39) sounds meaningfully better in my opinion (it, too, benefits from an amp for similar reasons). If you want an all-in one DAC/AMP then I think HeadRoom Total BitHead ($99) also does a better job.

I tried the HiFimeDIY DAC (not mine, fortunately) directly into several different sets of cans and my experiences can be summarized as follows:
  • Grado SR 60i/SR 80i – Not bad
  • AKG Q701 – Lacked dynamics, dull and lifeless
  • Sennheiser HD-650 – Yeah, whatever
  • HiFiMAN HE-500 – ROFL
  • Audeze LCD-2 – Oh dear …
Honestly, if you’re using any kind of decent headphones, you should consider making your minimum bar either a Schiit Modi/Magni combo or an O2/ODAC.
 
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