Does the ESS Sabre Chip have a telltale sound?


Wondering if DACs using these chips share some sonic traits vs DACs using Wolfson and other chips, of if the biggest sonic traits of DACs are influenced by other components in the DAC?
camb

Showing 4 responses by camb

Stereophile measurements say the Simaudio 650D, which uses the E
SS Sabre chips, is pretty immune to jitter. Maybe Simaudio has other systems in play to handle jitter?

http://www.stereophile.com/content/simaudio-moon-evolution-650d-cd-player-measurements

What sampling output rate were you using with the off-ramp that you found worked well with the Sabre chip?
Sorry, typos make this a little confusing!

I'm trying to get opinions on whether the Sabre chips have specific sonic traits that influence the sound of the DACs that use these chips vs. other chips.
I find there is a noticeable difference in sound between the dac in my Meridian MS600 (which I believe uses XMOS chips) and my Simaudio 650D (which uses Sabre chips).

The Simaudio dac has deeper, more articulate bass, slightly more treble emphasis, more pinpoint imaging, greater articulation, a wider soundstage and more body.

The MS600 has more bloom at the expense of less focused images, is a bit more ethereal, and sounds a bit more "organic" in the way it presents the music as a whole rather than calling attention to any particular component.

I wonder how much of this difference is due to the sonic signature of the chip sets? Clearly the Simaudio 650D is a much better built component with a much better power supply (the MS600 uses a switching power supply) and chassis (the MS600 benefited from extensive vibration control from HRS products).