HiFimeDIY Sabre USB DAC. 96khz/24bit - ES9023+TE7022 + USB to optical converter

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aashish351

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Hi Fellows,

Just had this delivered today from Eastern Audio, Shanghai in 6 days of ordering. It is a matchbox sized USB DAC with a 3.5mm output which is also an optical out. Do go through the link below for complete information.

HiFimeDIY Sabre USB DAC. 96khz/24bit - ES9023+TE7022 + USB to optical converter

It is a $50 delivered DAC which I ordered without expecting much, but I was in for a surprise. For 3K delivered, this is a nice, sweet sounding DAC. Initial impressions are - a definite improvement over laptop analog out, may not be able to beat the likes of arcam rdac, Cambridge dacmagic or similar, but certainly will give many $100 - $200 DACs like fiio, hrt a run for their money. And its portability is the main winner.

The sound compared to my Vortexbox's on-board HD Audio was more detailed with less sibilance and deeper bass. The speed of bass although better than onboard sound was not as fast and tight as I would have hoped, but I am going to run it for a few days and comment on that again.

It can serve as a decent alternative for expensive USB to SPDIF converters for people with older DACs without USB. The Sabre DAC certainly sounds much warmer and sweeter than the HRT which I had a few weeks ago, although the ultimate detail in HRT would be better. I don't know if things may change after a few days.

There are quite a few tweaks mentioned by its users in other forums. I will try and incorporate them as well for further assessment. In those reviews it compared favorably to the Objective DAC.

More to come...
 
Surprised that there are no follow up posts to this, I am about to order this to be delivered to my friend in US, expecting it by the end of January.
 
@shibashis

I have same and a happy sustomer.
I had earlier one good 200 $ NOS dac which I found too "Dry" for my taste.

Here I found sound much livelier although maybe missing some details.
In all a happy sustomer.

BTW resident "expert lister" Denom heard this at his place - Denom your comments please.

Good thing is for US$ 50 it is unbeatable ..

BTW I never liked HRT streamer ( Basic) , I heard that 2-3 places..

Enjoy your dac

- Hemant
 
shibashis said:
Surprised that there are no follow up posts to this, I am about to order this to be delivered to my friend in US, expecting it by the end of January.
Click to expand...
I dont own this exact model, but have their DAC ES9023 with external PSU. I think you will be pleasantly surprised with it - the sound quality is quite good. Do post your listening impressions when received :thumbsup:
 
hemantwaghe said:
@shibashis

I have same and a happy sustomer.
I had earlier one good 200 $ NOS dac which I found too "Dry" for my taste.

Here I found sound much livelier although maybe missing some details.
In all a happy sustomer.

BTW resident "expert lister" Denom heard this at his place - Denom your comments please.

Good thing is for US$ 50 it is unbeatable ..

BTW I never liked HRT streamer ( Basic) , I heard that 2-3 places..

Enjoy your dac

- Hemant
Click to expand...

Concur with Hemant on all counts. IIRC, it comes without casing, so you might want to get one made for it or order 1 separately.
 
Well then, I am waiting patiently. I will update my impressions once I get the chance to explore it. Positive opinions from you all is only stoking my appetite, too bad I will have to wait till the end of the month to have it, hoping it will be well worth the wait.
 
I just ordered the HiFimeDIY Sabre USB DAC. Digital to Audio Converter 96khz/24bit. That's the GBP25.99 one.

Primary purpose is for my wife to get sound out of our 10yr-old laptop, as its internal sound is faulty, and I figured this would be a quick and simple (and relatively inexpensive) way to get her able to use earphones again, at least.

I also ordered a USB isolator. Some time in the future, I'll get to play with these items :)
 
sound and music said:
Today I have placed an order for async version - U2. Will share my thoughts once I get it.
Click to expand...

We can compare our impressions then, I am expecting it on the 29th of January, patiently waiting for it. I am sure it will be quite an improvement over the Asus Xonar U3, or iPod touch's native DAC.
 
Glad that 3 members would be getting it in the next 10 days or so. Mine is shipped from China via HK Post.

Next month, my relative is bringing Dragonfly V2.0. I will have the option of returning DF if I don't like its sound quality.
 
Most of us would be surprised if the HiFiMeDIY beats the Dragonfly. It is haaard to put the price differences, etc, out of one's mind and, in practical terms, even harder for one person to do any sort of blind comparison.

But I've heard a modded HiFiMeDIY stand up very well against my own ODAC and other much more expensive DACs. Not tried, but I doubt that the headphone-out of a laptop could beat it.

The price is almost give-away: less than a fairly ordinary but half decent pair of ear buds. This puts the price/performance ratio at almost infinite! For portable use, it looks like a no-brainer. For non-portable use it is a gift to those with minimal budgets.

There are always going to be those with bigger demands, and bigger pockets, both for the taking out of cash and for the carrying around of kit. I don't suppose that HiFimeDIY is going to have any impact on sales of the Chord Hugo!
 
Thad and others

How did you place order?

What about the chances of getting stuck with customs when they are shipping by HKpost / USPS.
I am also keen to order; to reduce the clutter further in my secondary system.

Total cost incl. shipping?
 
Last edited:
I ordered on their site (The china one, I think) and paid by paypal in GBP.

====================================================
Description Unit price Qty Amount

HiFimeDIY Sabre USB DAC. Digital to Audio Converter 96khz/24bit (incl USB to optical converter feature)
Item Number 10000033/333 , USB receiver: TE7022 (in stock) 25.99 GBP 1 25.99 GBP

HiFimeDIY USB Isolator
Item Number 10000071 17.94 GBP 1 17.94 GBP

Shipping & Handling
5.38 GBP 1 5.38 GBP
Subtotal 49.31 GBP
Total 49.31 GBP
Payment 49.31 GBP

====================================================

Sorry, that's a mess, but even pasting it into CODE tags doesn't do any better. You can see the salient details.

I ordered delivery as registered from Hong Kong.

Customs is always wait and see. This is so small, and low value, that even if they look, I don't think they will take much notice. I hope. They ignored my ODAC.

to reduce the clutter further in my secondary system.
Click to expand...

But you are using quite a fancy DAC there, aren't you?

Whilst the ODAC has been found equal to much more expensive DACs, I'm not sure that HFMeDIY scores quite so well. Just, amazing for the price.

(PS... could do with a pair of cheap-but-not-horrible speakers for wife's laptop now.)
 
Last edited:
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