DAC ESS Sabre 9018 Vs. Meridian 203

Somehow the most glorious DAC chips is only produced by Phillips on late 80's. Named it such as TDA series or SAA series like on this Meridian 203 DAC. They offering very musical sound and they are only 14 bit sampling. Unfortunately for those chips are already discontinued since long time ago. Right now, most consumer want the DAC that can support higher resolution. 24 bit is now very advance in my opinion. But somehow I think do the consumer drive the chip producer to make higher rate or the producer drive the market to consume higher rate music? Whatever it is, lets have some comparison between the old and new DAC here.

Before I jump into this DAC challenge, first of all, I can tell you that my good sounding DVD player from LG doesn't sound better than the Sony Playstation SCPH-1002. I keep listening from both player and conclude that this DVD sound quality is good among today DVD Player out there but if I compare to the PS1, it is different class in audio quality. This PS1 has become my reference audio player for years, so I know every single sound characteristic from it. Then, if this PS1 compare to those DAC, the ESS Sabre or Meridian, I can telling you that the PS1 don't have any chance to win. The PS1 sound moody and mid oriented, while every instruments seems mixed and blur. Sad to say that stand alone DAC like ESS Sabre and Meridian 203 are very good. So, in this test, I am still using the LG DVD player as a CD transport only. Digital output via the coaxial from the player is connected to the test equipment.

First of all, the Meridian 203 is launch to the market in early 90's. The price at that time is US$1,000. This DAC using dual SAA7321GP and the components inside are using high grade components such as Mylar caps and Nichicon Muse caps. I've using this DAC for couple of days and I love how it sound. It is musical, very analog, depth and sound stage is wide with the best separation for each instruments.

Different sound signature with the new DAC from Breeze Audio. It is made in China and using the latest DAC ESS Sabre 9018. This DAC is also using high grade components. I can spot many Sanyo Os-con near the DAC chip, the Elna Silmic all around the power supply, silver mica caps and many Wima caps. The board is also looks good to me.

The analog section are filled with four op-amps. They are installed on the socket and can be replaceable for better spec op-amps.

This DAC is standout for the components inside. Dual R-core transformer are very suitable for this kind application. With all of those components, it is worth to buy this DAC +plus shipping under US$500. But how does it sound?

I turn ON this DAC unit for the first time and the display telling you that it need to loading for a few second. Then it display the input selection and the data resolution at the first row. The second row display FIR (I don't know what is that, no manual included) and the position of included digital volume control. During this test I crank up the volume control to the max and let my passive attenuation do the volume control. I actually prefer DAC with no internal volume control. For me it is just like having extra circuit that I am not use it anyway. 

I played the same music when I test the Meridian such as: Ingram Washington - What a Difference a Day Make (image is courtesy of soundfidelity.co.uk) and Inger Marie Gundersen - Make This Moment (image bellow is courtesy of amazon.in).

My first impression of this DAC is excellence! The detail are very good! It make the music sound big and spacious. The high are airy and detail without edginess. That cannot make my ear fatigue for long listening session. The mid presentation are slightly forward compare to the Meridian. The overall sound is little bit thin but still acceptable. I find the background noise not as quiet as the Meridian and instruments separation are also not good enough. So this might be the minus point for this DAC.

I am going conclude based to my personal music taste and sound that I prefer in my stereo system. When listening to the music, I prefer music flew like calm water with smooth vocal presentation and quiet background. Based on that, I still prefer the old Meridian 203 to accompany me. The ESS Sabre DAC is good for live presentation. I can say it is very transparent and natural but little lack of warmth. The background noise is not as quiet as the Meridian and that is what my preferable in the music.

That's it for this test. Don't upset with the conclusion. I know the Meridian 203 is hard to obtain these day but the ESS Sabre 9018 is also good enough to produce good music. I also don't mind to have this ESS Sabre on my audio system and listen to it everyday if I never heard the Meridian before.

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