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Hifime Sabre 9018 USB DAC

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New Hifime Sabre 9018 DAC!

Background

The new Hifime Sabre 9018 DAC is a great sounding audiophile DAC at an unbelievable price. We have picked the most important features to include in this DAC be able to make a incredible sounding DAC at this low price. It comes in a new nice looking case which is still simple and keeps cost down.

Sound

The sound from the Sabre 9018 is very detailed with a great soundstage. The 9018 DAC chip is a high end chip and combined with the Sabre headphone driver makes a great sounding combo. The noise is very low and can be used with also the most sensitive headphones. It is tested to work and sound great with Audio Technica ath-m50 (38 ohm, 99dB), Sennheiser hd650 (300 ohm, 103 dB), IEM: JH Audio JH-13 (28 ohm, 116dB).

Compatibility

The Sabre 9018 works without drivers with all major systems and programs; Windows, MAC, Linux. iTunes, Spotify, and Android see compatibility list).

First USB type C DAC ! (optional)

The Sabre 9018 might also be available with USB type C plug if there is enough interest for this. It connects and works without adaptors with the new Macbook, the newest Google Nexus phones and other computers using the new USB type C plug. Go here to contribute to the type C plug crowdfunding campaign: 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/usb-type-c-dac-hifime-sabre-9018

Features

Sabre ES9018k2m DAC chip and SABRE9601 headphone and line out driverWorks and sound great with most headphone (including low impedance IEM and high impedance headphones) and all line level devices (preamps, amplifiers)Accepts 32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz and 96kHz inputs files @16 and 24 bit.Volume controlled by computer vol +/- keysUltra low noise regulator LP5907 with added noise reducing aluminium solid capacitors (NCC PSF series)Patented Time Domain Jitter Eliminator (by ESS Technologies)Optical outputNo drivers required! Optional Windows ASIO drivers available

Performance

122dB SNR 110dB THD+N: 2V rms @ 600 ohm load100dB THD+N: 30mW @ 32 ohm loadNo DC blocking capacitors on the outputPower usage: 40-80 mA depending on sample rate and volumeDimensions:5.5 x 3.5 x 1.8 cm (without cable)Weight 30g

32kHz to 96kHz resolution

The Sabre 9018 DAC can play any format (MP3, AIFF, FLAC etc) from CD quality up to high resolution 96kHz files. It does not support 196k or 384kHz natively, nor does it play DSD files. Why? Most people does not have 192/384/DSD files. You do not benefit from a 384kHz capable DAC when playing CD quality (or high resolution 96kHz) files. If you need a 192kHz/384kHz/DSD DAC then we have other options for you. We have intentionally omitted this for all of our customers that don’t play 384kHz/DSD so you can save and get a better sounding CD quality DAC. 

But I thought higher resolution is better??

If you have bough high resolution 192kHz/384kHz files then yes it is better to have a DAC capable of decoding 192/384 without downsampling. If you like most people play CD’s, FLAC, Apple lossless, MP3’s, iTunes, Spotify, Tidal high resolution etc then you will not benefit from a 192/384kHz capable DAC. 

The benefits of max 96/24 includes:

No drivers needed!Responds to system volume level in detailed 64 stepsIt works with the USB isolator to further reduce noise from the computer and improve clarity and sound qualityYou don’t pay extra for what you don’t need

More technical background

The most important parts in a DAC is:

DAC chipHeadphone/output driver (if any) Power supplyCircuit/implementation

We have chosen a great sounding and performing pair (ESS Sabre ES9018k2m DAC+SABRE9601 driver) and added DC noise filtering to improve the DC power quality from the USB port. There are great performing aluminum solid capacitors together with a new ultra low noise regulator (LP5907). We spent a long time designed and optimised the 4 layer PCB for the circuit in order to achieve the best performance and low ECM noise.

USB transfer mode

After careful experimentation we have chosen USB adaptive mode for this DAC. You can read more about the difference between synchronous, adaptive and async here: http://hifimediy.com/news/asynchronous-usb-audio–asynchronous-digital-to-analog-converters

Case

The Sabre 9018 is also our first DAC to use our new case. We have made a simple case at minimal added cost compared to the generic case we have been using before. 

Questions moved from reviews:

Oleg:

Nice… But, es9018 or 9018 k2m??

Hifime: This is ES9018k2m chip.

Mikhail

Looks good for such price! But when will it be available?

It will be available in January. We will have the electronics ready in mid December, but the new cases are still in production, and will be ready in January.

Comments from old comment system pasted below. Please add new comments at the bottom of this screen in the new commentsystem.

 

 

It’s nice because it seems to be reduced usb device current consumption.
Is it possible to work with iPhone (e.g. 4S)?
(Despite without compatibility list..)If possible, I would like to buy right now…

 

 

Description says Optical Out, but in the pictures it looks like it’s 3.5mm line out?

 

@Yoshi 

we haven’t tested 4S, it should depend on the software version. It worked with 5S and newest software. 

@lengc

It has both analog out and optical out from that same plug. Most people will use the analog out as that’s the main purpose of the DAC, however the optical out is a bonus feature that can be useful in same cases.

 

I’m sure you’ve done some testing with adaptive mode transfer, but surely this means the quality will depend to a degree on the USB host device used. I am aware that the 9018 design is great at removing jitter, but is it possible that it’s working well because of the test USB host you’re using. Have you tried comparing different types of USB host for overall quality? Many other implementations of adaptive mode don’t get close to asynchronous mode with a reasonable clock.

 

We have tested it with several USB hosts, keep in mind that it’s adaptive and not synchronous. With a low quality USB host the bigger problem you might face is the noisy USB power (which the USB isolator could help improve).

 

How does this DAC compare to the High Res version in terms of sound if 96 kHz files are used? Is it similar or is one of them superior?

 

When playing 96kHz files the most important difference between these DACs would be the output driver chip. They have a slight different sound signature.

 

Hi i read on your compare page this DAC running only 48kHz on android. Becouse android have this limitation .

but i found this player which promis more than 48kHz 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.extreamsd.usbaudioplayerpro

I now android api support only UAC1 which is 48kHz – https://source.android.com/devices/audio/usb.html but i would you ask for test with this player if is only 48kHz? Sometimes is android not only about supported API…

 

Yes, USB Audio player pro supports higher resolutions. This is useful if you have high resolution files you want to play.

USB audio player also enables USB audio on some phones that doesn’t natively work with USB DACs, so it’s a great and useful application.

 

“After careful experimentation we have chosen USB adaptive mode for this DAC.”

Was adaptive found to be superior, equal to, or inferior to asynchronous?

Did you test objectively, use a sampling device to re-digitize the analog output of the DAC?  Or did you test subjectively, by listening to playback?

How much more (or less) would asynchronous mode have cost?

How does adaptive mode work, exactly?

Is adaptive mode simply averaging across the last N frames?  If N equals 1, then that would seem to be the same as synchronous.  If N is greater than 1, how much greater?  Is N a constant?  Or is there some form of exponential decay, such that more recent frame times affect the current playback rate more than older frames?

Thanks!

 

It was done in listening tests, we found the difference is not very big. 

Here is an article with some explanation about adaptive mode. http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/KB/USB.html

Adaptive

In this mode the timing is generated by a separate clock.

A control circuit (sample rate guesser) measures the average rate of the data coming over the bus and adjusts the clock to match that. Since the clock is not directly derived from a bus signal it is far less sensitive to bus jitter than synchronous mode, but what is going on the bus still can affect it.  It’s still generated by a PLL that takes its control from the circuits that see the jitter on the bus. “

 

I own the 9018D and use it to drive a HD600. I experience slight background noise with the 9018D + popping sounds when play/pausing music. When looking into the new 9018 DAC it seems to be designed to address these issues. My question would be how the power output of the SABRE9601 compares to the MAX97220A? Is there more detail available about the output impedance and output power specifically? Also how does the volume control work with the SA9023? I own the asynchronous 9018 which only has the 8 volume steps.

Thank you for your time.

 

@Boris.

contact us regarding the 9018D, there is a fix for that noise.

The output power from the Sabre 9018 DAC is less than from 9018D, similar to the 9018 (http://hifimediy.com/9018-dac)

The volume level from ES9023 work in 64 steps, (same as the U2 DAC and others etc).

 

Quote “Responds to system volume level in detailed 64 steps” – how this works since it seems that 8  volume steps is some limitation in Savitech receiver.  What is the seceiver and volume handling approach.

Regarding: SABRE9601 it seems to have quite better specifications than MAX97220A (migh be less powerful though) so i am awaiting this to be released, i do not own high impedance headphones so i do not care much about handling of 600Ohm load. I don’t seem to find any detailed spec for sabre headphone amp other than it’s impressing specs.

It seems the volume is controlled in the dac : 

Sabre DAC Datasheet: The Missing Parts

 

Hi dear HIFIME,

pleas could you check your link to „Foobar plugin files for DSD playback here “ becouse allways redirect me to 404 page („The page you requested cannot be found.“).

http://hifimediy.com/DACs/ready-made-dacs/9018-dac

thanks

Best regards

Lubos

 

@Lubos

thanks for letting us know we have fixed this now.

(note that that is regarding the other 9018 DAC, not the Sabre 9018 that this thread is about.)

 

“Responds to system volume level in detailed 64 steps” : Could you please share more details on implementation ? Is this happening in the USB receiver and what receiver the DAC Uses ?

Also I do not seem to find any information about the output impedance of the sabre headphone amplifier. I just bought Asus Conar U7 and it seems to have somewhat hight output impedance of 15 Ohm which causes un optimal performance with 32 Ohm headphones.

Have you measured the stereo  crosstalk under load (32Ohm) figures ?  That is another parameter which seems to change under load.

 

@Chavdar

yes the volume control happens on USB level, the USB receiver is Savitech SA9023 (same as in our U2 dac). On mac you can use shift-alt-volume up/down to fine tune volume level if needed.

The output impedance is 4.7ohm

 

Just receive the DAC. My MAC with El Capitan 10.11.4 cannot recognise the DAC.

It works fine with my android phone.

Please advice.

Do I need to have a driver?

I cannot find any driver in the web site.

 

@Raymond

we think this is connected to the beta Mac OS X you’re running. We’ll assist you with this on private email. 

 

After disconnect my other DAC’s USB, it works now. That means I cannot 2 DAC at the same time even the DAC’s power is off.

 
Hello, I was a little confused by the Apple devices compatibility post. Does this work with iOS devices with only the CCK (no hub required)? I am using an iPhone 6S. Can you comment on battery drain? Thank you much.

 

 

I use a Hifime Sabre 9018 and Windows 7 and I can’t play short audio clips. It sounds like popping instead of playing the audio. Occurs the same when opening a folder, starting or ending playback, etc

It’s there any solution?

 

@diego

Do you use the ASIO driver? Try with native driver for those kind of sounds.

 

thank you for your quick reply.

It happends when using Windows 7 native drivers.

When installing the drivers supplied by Hifime for the Sabre 9018 (SaviAudioBravoHDSwPkg_HsDriverASIOiAP_20150703_v2p0p0p5.zip), the Savi Audio Bravo panel doesn’t detect the Hifime 9018 USB DAC nor any other device.

So I have 2 problems:

– Can’t play short audio clips nor windows brief sounds

– Savi Audio Bravo drivers doesn’t detect the DAC (and maybe the DAC couldn’t be used as an ASIO device)

 
What are the technical specifications for used toslink transmitter? Transmitting power (dBm), pulse width distortion (ns). Planning to use Sabre with a POF toslink cable 5m length. Have torx143 on the receiving side. Will I get a jitter?
 

@ Alexander, here are specs for the toslink:

image

 
When the S/PDIF output used instead of 3’5mm jack, does this DAC act just as passthrough? When I’m playing music (3’5mm and WASAPI exclusive mode in computer) and the file is multichannel or more than 24 bits or 96kHz I receive a message saying that the content couldn’t be played. Will it still happen when a S/PDIF cable is connected or will it let me play everything S/PDIF standard supports?

SPDIF output comes directly from the USB receiver chip, the DAC chip is not used in this case. However USB doesn’t support above 96/24, so that’s why it doesn’t work. 

The optical output does support Dolby DTS.

 
Hi everyone. I have little experience with audio equipments, so I wanted to ask you a question. I have bought the Hifime UAE23HD USB DAC (still on it’s way to my house). And I have a good old Phono/tape deck amplifier from the 1980’s. What I want to know is if it’s possible to use the headphone/optical (of the DAC) out as a Line Out to connect the DAC to the line in on the back of the old amplifier using a simple 3.5mm-to-RCA cable. Should it work without any problem? Thank you!
 
Yes, just be cautious with volume, you need to set the output volume with a digital mixer, i.e. from your computer you plug it into, adjust the main volume starting low, hearing it, then raising it. It’s likely to be good between 70% and 100%, adjust according to your taste.
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