Loaner: abbasaudio DAC0.1 SE

Discussion in 'Closed Loaners' started by k4rstar, Nov 5, 2020.

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  1. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    I am offering up for loaner one of my personal DACs from Ukranian manufacturer abbasaudio. it is a NOS DAC based around the TDA1543 chipset. the unique appeal of this DAC is the use of germanium transistors for I/U conversion, followed by a 6DJ8 triode for the output buffer. as of writing this, it can be purchased on eBay for about $800 USD.

    some additional information about the DAC here. pictures of the unit below:

    DSC00408 (1)-min.JPG DSC00410 (1)-min.JPG DSC00411-min.JPG

    below are the rules to join and participate in the loaner:
    • be an established member with a history of contributions on the site
    • be curious about NOS DACs and willing to try something new
    • loaner is open for participants from the US and Canada
    • as the DAC only has a coaxial S/PDIF input, you must have a digital transport that will suffice for proper evaluation of the DAC
    • briefly share your thoughts on the DAC in the Delta-Sigma sucks thread. you do not have to write a 2000 word essay or talk about the bass, mids and highs. I would rather you share your gut feeling after using the DAC to listen to your favorite music, and how this feeling compares to other DACs you own or are familiar with
    • if I think of more, I will add it here
    below is shipping information:
    • as a US participant, you may be asked to send the DAC back to me in Canada
    • as a Canadian participant, you may be asked to send the DAC to a participant in the US
    • US participants please use FedEx/UPS with $800 USD insurance
    • Canadian participants may use Canada Post, but only with Xpresspost parcels and $1000 CAD insurance
    once you have read and agreed to the above, please reply to this thread to express interest. include your state/province, your digital transport, current DACs (if any).

    I will leave a week or so to gather interest and then prepare a list of participants. I am thinking to limit the loaner to 4 - 5 people only but we will see. this is my personal device I purchased with my own funds and I want to ensure I receive it back in one piece.

    tour list:
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2021
  2. Gazny

    Gazny MOT: ETA Audio

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    Would love to hear this. I would rock it with my EITR into my 2ch where I spend most of my time.
     
  3. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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  4. ChaChaRealSmooth

    ChaChaRealSmooth SBAF's Mr. Bean

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    Question: NOS as in non-oversampling or vintage chips? If it's the former no thanks, if the latter then I'm down to hear it.
     
  5. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    um, both. but you should be open-minded :) this DAC is not really metrum/sonnet school of sound
     
  6. sheldaze

    sheldaze Friend

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    Extremely interested, but perhaps my mind is too open - I use D/S, FPGA (yeah, I know - still D/S), NOS and OS through the course of a weekend listen. My only blocker is the first two weeks of December - I will be available for dedicated listening starting mid-December.
     
  7. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    no such thing in audio! but you are definitely in!
     
  8. ChaChaRealSmooth

    ChaChaRealSmooth SBAF's Mr. Bean

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    I'll give it a chance. Not exactly experienced in NOS anyhow and will be interesting.
     
  9. loadexfa

    loadexfa MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    I am interested, very curious to explore NOS variations. I'm in the SF Bay Area and have a Pi2AES for transport.
     
  10. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    @loadexfa you are in

    i'll take 1 more US participant or 2 more Canucks
     
  11. dubharmonic

    dubharmonic Friend

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    I'm curious too. I've been mostly using Schiit multibit for the last 4 years, D/S before that. I've never (knowingly) heard a NOS DAC! I have an Eitr and a Pi2AES.
     
  12. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    ok, original post is updated with the tour list. @dubharmonic you are up first due to geographic proximity to me. please PM me your address, I will send it to you sometime in the next 2 weeks to kick things off.

    @sheldaze I put you last so you get it past mid-december and I trust you the most to send it back to me :D

    CA dudes I put you in the order of sign up but if something else works better logistically please let me know.

    @rlow if you want to try it once there are some more impressions let me know and I will add you to the end.
     
  13. loadexfa

    loadexfa MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    I forgot to ask, is there a warmup period we should be aware of when evaluating? I assume the evaluation period is one week like usual?
     
  14. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    it sounds best 15 minutes from power on. yes, one week per person
     
  15. loadexfa

    loadexfa MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    Wow much shorter than my Gungnir, thanks!
     
  16. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Hey, thanks. I was hesitating more from the timing than anything. If you can put me at the end for now, that’s cool. Thanks.
     
  17. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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  18. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    unfortunately I didn't follow my own advice and used USPS, the DAC has been stuck in a Chicago USPS facility since Nov. 19th.

    I am hoping it's not lost, and apologize for the delay to everyone who signed up for the tour.

    added @Claritas to the end of the list assuming the DAC is recovered.

    please send thoughts & prayers.
     
  19. skem

    skem Friend

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    Well, since this has not gotten underway, let me add that I have the Abbas DAC 2.1, a TDA1541 chip with solid-state I/V stage that has been custom modified by me after conversations with Abbas. I’d be happy to add it to the tour BUT it is *not* in a case. I can mount it on a wood plank but it will involve exposed electronics. Is anybody interested?

    if everyone is interested, we can just send it around in parallel.
     
  20. loadexfa

    loadexfa MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    I'd be interested in comparing the two Abbas DACs, thank you for offering! Hopefully the USPS gets the original loaner out soon, that's really f-ed of them to hold or lose track of it.
     
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