All about Abbas Audio tube-based gear.
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I’d like to open a new thread, as Abbas is such an amazing audio engineer and his DAC gear get’s very well-respected feedback. Short recap about Abbas:
- Graduated musician (based in Ukraine, Vasylkiv near Kiew)
- He started his audio engineering passion in 2006 &with his mentor Anatoly Markovich Likhnitsky
- Following design principles also from Anton Stepichev, Kondo and Sakuma
- One of his first own followers was Dr. Slava from SW1X Audio in UK, who tried to convince him to start at his company … he didn’t (yes, Slava copied some of his design & still does!)
- to much obsession of perfection and not commercialization!
There is a very interesting 2Y+ thread in WhatsBestForum concerning his DAC’s and especially one member called “Samsoum” does comparison (provides Videos) with Kassandra, APL DSD, Primaluna EVO …
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@driftingbunnies - it would be awesome, if you share your Abbas experience here, thx!
I ordered an DAC 3.2SE - model: DAC3.2SE + 6080 output stage, + 5Y3+ 5V4+ EZ81+ EF12+EZ11, TDA1541 - with his power cord, spdif & stereo rca.
So I’ll share my personal experience earliest end of dec, once he is finished (building process takes ~3 months for his more complex models) and running in my chain.
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Before getting my 2.3SE Signature, I had the .1SE that was going on the loaner tour from SBAF.
.1SE - Surprisingly very enjoyable little DAC. For a unit around the price of a Schiit BF2, I’d take the Abbas for its sound quality any day. One thing Abbas does well is bass no matter which model it is. One thing I’ve noticed for lower end DACs that I’ve tried is that bass impact and quality is normally a little lacking. It’s either too bloomy and lacks punch or just doesn’t really exist at all. The bass on the .1SE had just as much slam as my Rockna Wavedream XLR that I had right before it.
The biggest drawback on this unit was resolution when compared with higher end DACs. However, that didn’t really draw you away from enjoying the music. It has an engaging characteristic to it and female vocals sort of popped. Another drawback to the .1SE would be the soundstage. It’s a NOS DAC (like all Abbas DACs) and depending on the recording and gear paired with it, it can be too closed in. Overall though, the .1SE was a great little DAC and since it only has one tube in it, it’s a great way to get introduced to the Abbas sound without having to worry about tubes compared to the bigger models.
2.3 SE Signature - Many of the issues I had with the .1SE went away. The soundstage was a bit bigger and separation was better so the closed in feeling isn’t as bad. It’s definitely not going to be super wide or have insane separation like some OS DACs. However, I found that matching the Abbas with a Coda amp really helped fix any complaints I had with soundstage and separation though. The depth and balance was amazing when paired with the Coda so I think it might just be something to think about when finding a synergistic chain with Abbas.
The resolution was improved and the same bass and engagement is still present. Vocals were more nuanced and everything sounds cohesive and for a lack of a better term, musical. Even when I’m trying to dissect every little thing, I get drawn by how each element is connected to another as if the music is drawing me to enjoy everything as a whole. There was a recent report from the Schiit Audio show in Austin where Chord DAVE was compared with Abbas and apparently DAVE “crushed” Abbas. A few things that I’ve found is that Abbas isn’t going to be the dissection king when it comes to music (nor would I want it to be). So for the heavy metal that they used to demo the DACs in addition to the Schiit gear + DIY large woofer speakers that they had, I can see why DAVE would pull through and create that ultra unrealistic separation that helps you make sense of the wall of sound.
What I find Abbas really good at is musicality, engagement, impact, and vocals. From my discussion with others who have the 3.2 signature, the 3.2 has very similar characteristics but seems to be pickier when it comes to pairing and modding. The 2.3 is for the “sane” people 
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Hi guys, i m a happy owner of abbas dac 3.1 se since june 21.
Upgraded tubes , excellent power cord, sinxger su6 converter( tried su1 and d100 s topping, wich i still own).
Abbas coax cable .
I m evaluating another top notch dac now the apl dsd sr , i will drop all my impression notes on the last video !
I will soon make shootout between 2 dacs.
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Oh nice, have you tried changing any of the filters and DSD upsampling on the APL? What are you currently using there?
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@Samsoum - thanks a lot joining us, look forward for your great DAC live auditions!
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Have to say, even with legacy headphones and speakers, you can hear the quite different sound signature between APL & Abbas
As said in my YT comment:
APL is again exacter on each of the instrument, bigger soundstage, but some instruments are sounding not like a live concert, more perfection and for me personally immediate would say comes from a digital record (it is very similar what I experience with my Weiss 501 mkII). Abbas has more of these real concerts listening warmth, not modifying each instrument sounding 100% perfect. Of course, listening to JDFR, Felix Laband or Fils-Aime… i’d go for apl/weiss.
Would be interesting to get feedback from forum members with their very high-end headset gear, listening to those sound samples & difference - THX! - YT recording is not too bad for those kind of comparison.
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I would agree with that, I mean even in my own experience the DSD MR while very technically impressive is fairly colored and modifies the sound to fit it’s signature more, more relaxed and really overly sweetening and while making everything sound pleasing doesn’t really capture the sound of sounding real that well. Sounds like it’s trying to sound more “analog” than real. I really appreciated it’s technical abilities for the most part, but I don’t think I could live with that dac due to sounding overly colored and not as realistic as some of my other dacs I had on hand
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My 3.2SE is delivered in 2 weeks, after 8 months of build.
The DAC synergy, in my opinion is something for high efficiency speakers and tube amp’s. So comparing with Hugo and headsets…hmmm, wrong approach. As he said in his review, it is a complete different design
Also tube rolling is important and that’s not his expertise.
So some shared already their experience with the 3.2 in whatsbest forum…
Gerald
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…So here we go, after 8 months of waiting time and even this damn war, Abbas still follows his passion!
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Shipment was less than 8 days (German customs was ~170€, not bad at all)
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Abbas sent some information via Email, how to use the different Tubes (have some on spare)
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I got his cabling as well. Lovely wooden RCA plugs, but they are too big for usual AMPs. So I use it for my tube driver stage
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First Impression? …well, look at the pictures…just: wow
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First Listening? …very, very smooth (Vinyl-like), of course not that analytical than my Weiss 501-4ch…but DAC is running now for less than 4h
…will test it in my DIY-lovely chain in the next couple weeks…
So I’m really impressed about the build quality, have seen lot of commercial stuff. Yes, not saying Abbas is the only one, but if your look at his details, this is very, very impressive!! I’d even say it goes defintinely in the quality level of Audio Note!
Cheers from Germany!
Gerald
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…update after burning in 200+ hours:
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outstanding it is for me one of the best, harmonic longterm listening DACs I’ve listened to (unbeatable for Jazz, Classic, Vocals!!)
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Weiss DAC 501 mkII/4ch really only used for more analytic HiRes modern music listening
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Using Abbas DAC also for my CD Transport Cyrus CDi and external PSU, perfect match
Already ordered another one with PCM63-J… for my fullrange speakers
My DAC hunting is over and focus know on DIY 
Rgds
Gerald
–
Meet your HifiCommunity: https://hificouch.world
My setup id: hifi0001 / Hamburg, Vermany
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That second picture, you have never panned over to that side of the room. 
One could go through quite a number of hours listening time there.
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So many beautiful pieces in those photos.
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My DIY second room… pure DIY + Vintage
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So some updates on my HiFi (DAC) hidden-gem from Abbas Audio:
Living over +1.5y with the Abbas Audio 3.2 SE (TDA1541a) DAC, I can say with a lot of confidence after having some decent DAC’s tested the last 4y:
NEVER ever will this DAC leave my house again. Yes it needs some months to burn in/full potential, but his musicality is outstanding and plays much better as most R2R DAC’s I owned (even the Holo May KTE I rarely use anymore, just for USB & I2S).
So therefore, after 11 month waiting time and inspiring Abbas to develop a complete new (Vintage) DAC for me: a new beauty have received yesterday 
ABBAS AUDIO - HERMES DAC 6080 (PCM63K-J) with 1xRCA & 1xXLR analog output, 1x S/PDIF and 1x AES/EBU digital output
First impressions (yes, I’m fully Abbas-biased) :
- Outstanding build quality!
- His handmade capacitors - craftsmanship at its best!
- Front plate black granite (didn’t like the green marble)
- Delivered tubes I’ve replaced with:
- 2x 5U4GB Fiver, NOS O-GETTER LONG BOTTLE 1960
- 1x 5U4G Mullard, NOS (will try to use my new Crytone 5U4G later)
- 2x 6080 G.E.C. NOS UK NOS-NIB blackplate
- 1x E88CC Telefunken, Diamond Bottom ULM NOS
Have great christmas holidays, with a lot of relaxing music!
Gerald
P.S.: Abbas is for sure a tube-nerd and to see it’s totally madness of built details and research, you have to see his history, as well what else he plays around (field coils since years… RIAA, USB …) - use google translate, like his current field coils project: https://abbasaudio.listbb.ru/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2869
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Looks amazing! Congratulations!
Is this the signature version.
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Correct, Signature and the only one with his handmade caps, the other one for himself
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The granite front and handmade caps look crazy.
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