Abbas Psyche and Hermes

[plasmod3]

Can i have a quick find out on who has ordered these and how many have received their dacs so far? Thank you

 

[JohnP]

I received my Psyche around November 10, 2024 and I’ve been enjoying it.

 

[plasmod3]

thanks John - hope more affirmatives on the forum When did you order your psyche John? does your run the normal tube complement or adapted?

 

[JohnP]

I ordered mine around the last week in January of 2024. Mine runs with the normal tube compliment except for the output tubes on the analog board. I use 6BL7s instead of 6080s. I chose them because I’m very familiar with them and I like their sound. Let me know if you have more questions.
John

 

[gerihifi]

God idea to start new, dedicated Thread for those Abbas fanboys/girls

I own the HERMES SIGNATURE 6080 (PCM63P-K) now for 4 months...

Here the original post:
- Unpacking: https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/abbas-dac-2-1-se.31754/page-52#post-1025776
- Review after 3.5months: https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/abbas-dac-2-1-se.31754/page-54#post-1046707

---
Conclusion:
-HERMES is getting better and better every week. My choice for forcing Abbas to add AES/EBU was not the best idea, because the SPDIF-Receicer on AES/EBU has issue with 192khz. Working fine with RCA.

- One of the biggest difference to the 3.2SE (TDA1541a) is using CD Transport to the HERMES RCA, this is really next level. It is so brutal, clean, depth of soundstage, instruments are perfectly placed...very close to Grimm MU2 and this for a vintage DAC no FPGA-fancyness !!! Of course it is also a PERFECT match with full-range speakes!

- I always encourage anyone: try a good cd transport and attach it to the Abbas DAC, you will be surprised! 44.1khz is sooooo overlooked by many audiophiles! Using my ACT/Stockfisch/The lost Recordings or ECM CD's Records, blows me away how good they sound and many times I avoid Qobuz streaming. Vinyl gone long time anyway .

Attached current setup (chain #2 smaller listening room):

Speakers: Cube Audio Lotus TQWT (one special build from the MUC Highend 2023) full-range, attached two active subwoofers with SB34NRXL75-8
AMP: Audio Note Meishu Tonmeister 300b Silver Signature with my beloved ELROG 300B-Molybden tubes
Cables: Sternklang speaker cable, Signal Projects, Audiomica, Luxman, Driade Flow, Tara Labs
Sources: PS Audio Directwave SACD Transport, Lumin U1
Network: PaulPang Quad-Switch and Muon Pro Ethernet Filter between Lumin

So I'm very, very happy owner and greatly appreciate Abbas work, with all those crazy war times he is still challenged now for years!!! I'll say: he plays easiley In the €20k DAC-range when properly matched!

Rgds
Gerald

 

[plasmod3]

so has anyone else actually received their dac? I too have placed an order but i cant get any sense or reply from the factory to tell me where my order is atm . and they were taking in new orders over xmas for other builds.

those caps do look rather wicked

 

[gerihifi]

Hi plasmod3,

my order: Jan 2024, delivered: 19. Dec 2024
At this time he was completely developing new HERMES/PSYCHE (mainly PCB & digital receivers)...

I remember that ~2months ago Abbas emailed all customers, including myself and was clearly stating that he is currently focusing on building until may and he has "limited access to E-Mail until then".

I even got all the sudden an very nice "HEMRES DAC manual" in feb 2025 in my post, never asked for and not paid anything for this extra parcel delivery. So don't worry, as I know personally, he is very, very slow in reading E-Mails, and also he is NOT reading them every day!

That's why he calls himself "Esoteric"...he doesn't like any online stuff and social media, he is a nerd - had some conversation about it with him
I was in a similar situation some years ago with my first order and it took some times (weeks) he finally responded ;-)

So be patient, as his production is a 1/2-man manufacture and no mass-china-production factory (that's always the drawback with small hifi-boutiques)! Also he takes testing of each of his component very serious! Even my DAC was postponed over 5 months delayed, as he was not satisfied with initial results.

Sorry, sounding like defending him, but I think he has some decent order pipepline to go through and never forget: he is closely living to the Kiev area, where daily bombing is "usual" and he mainly uses his power generator, as regular power outage happens!

Once he finished your order, he will provide very detailed whats happening next, including parcel tracking numbers - had never, ever any issues with that!

Rgds
Gerald

P.s.: be also patient with burn-in and don't get crazy right away with exchanging Abbas delivered tubes. He knows pretty good to match decent NOS tubes for his gear!

 

[LanschePlasmaGuy]

I ordered my Psyche Signature in I think mid September or thereabouts and have read that most builds take around a year which is what I'm expecting. Being in the middle of the most brutal war in Europe since WWII and given in an earlier email to me he mentioned often he has electricity twice a week I'm expecting anything from July - Dec (10 months to a year and 3 months). So still a while to go but I can't wait.

How often do you get the main (well respected with a track record of amazing builds) basically hand building your dac (with maybe one or two helpers) and using lots of premium vintage parts. If he was given the whole Kondo / Shindo (insert your brand here) mythical style write ups and had their margins the dacs would be a few multiples cost wise of what he charges.

Bitten by the Abbas bug with my first PCM based 4.1 then even more so with the TDA 1541 based 2.1 which in my multiple field coil horn and full range field coil based systems is a way better match than my previous up to $50k dacs and hit way above their weight sound wise. Artnets 3.2 signature I've heard in my system multiple times is just amazing. Prefer the more organic, rich and weighty sounds that these dacs have over the Dac's I've heard or owned that are more conventional high end in flavour / sound signature.

I'll have to try a Transport but really want to move away from spinning cd's (I have maybe a couple of thousand and many of them are original first pressings or acknowledged great sounding performances / recordings. You've given me something to think about around those little silver spinning discs Gerald.

I did find the Abbas tube / valve USB to Spdif converter was an absolute game changer over the regular coax connection. Also the 2.1 SE I have was radically improved in sound with some gun full strength tubes (it could have been the tubes that were in there were buggered or it could be the vintage acknowledged great sounding tubes were just better, I don't know). But when I first got the dac I thought it was ok and didn't think it was wow until the Abbas usb / spdif tube converter was in place and the tubes were changed (also my 1541 is from the batch that were the best ever made).

I'm just thankful that he is still willing and able to make these beautiful music making machines.

LPG

 

[JohnP]

so has anyone else actually received their dac? I too have placed an order but i cant get any sense or reply from the factory to tell me where my order is atm . and they were taking in new orders over xmas for other builds.

those caps do look rather wicked

I ordered my Psyche in January of 2024 and got it in November of 2024. It is excellent. The Pysche has three rectifiers, two on the digital board and one on the analog board. I replaced the 5U4 on the analog board with a mesh-plate Telefunken RGN 1064. Made a significant improvement. More 3D and open. Abbas said he likes the mesh-plate Telefunken RGN 2004 better than the mesh-plate Telefunken RGN 1064 so I’m going to use your adapter and give the mesh-plate Telefunken RGN 2004 a listen.
John

 

[gerihifi]

Dear all,

if you have not seen these two new article from Abbas, I highly recommended to get an Idea how much on ideas he ads in his products. He is a real nerd and a perfectionist at it's best!

Not sitting in front of an computer, getting latest PCB into his CAD program and adding new DAC chip(s) every 2y or uploads new FPGA (fancy filter) firmware, crazy r2r resistor-banks, new capacitor banks, two more external PSU ...as many highend DAC vendor do!!

https://www.abbasaudio.com/en/2025/03/31/evolution-of-my-dacs/

https://www.abbasaudio.com/en/2025/03/31/evolution-of-digital-devices/

..and I also can HIGHLY recommend his well-written FAQ! He is not a Marketing guy, but you will see his passion is clearly builtin in his amazing gear!

https://www.abbasaudio.com/en/faq/

Cheers
Gerald

 

[LanschePlasmaGuy]

Dear all,

if you have not seen these two new article from Abbas, I highly recommended to get an Idea how much on ideas he ads in his products. He is a real nerd and a perfectionist at it's best!

Not sitting in front of an computer, getting latest PCB into his CAD program and adding new DAC chip(s) every 2y or uploads new FPGA (fancy filter) firmware, crazy r2r resistor-banks, new capacitor banks, two more external PSU ...as many highend DAC vendor do!!

https://www.abbasaudio.com/en/2025/03/31/evolution-of-my-dacs/

https://www.abbasaudio.com/en/2025/03/31/evolution-of-digital-devices/

..and I also can HIGHLY recommend his well-written FAQ! He is not a Marketing guy, but you will see his passion is clearly builtin in his amazing gear!

https://www.abbasaudio.com/en/faq/

Cheers
Gerald

Hi Gerald.

I couldn't access these latest two articles when I clicked on your link. A "Bad Gateway" page came up with every other character of the bad gateway page in Cyrillic.

In JohnP's photos of the innards of his Psyche Signature above I couldn't see the handmade output caps either. Not sure where they are.

LPG

 

[Artnet]

In JohnP's photos of the innards of his Psyche Signature above I couldn't see the handmade output caps either. Not sure where they are.

LPG I think because of the choice of 6BL7 tube they are not used, @JohnP ?

 

[Artnet]

how much on ideas he ads in his products. He is a real nerd and a perfectionist at it's best!

This is a man with music in his soul a soldering iron in hand an a head full of genius for sure.

This extraordinary DAC is a 3.2 Signature. Amazing but obviously not a commercial proposition. I think only 2 where made but I only know of Abbas's, still a benchmark (!!) but also the beginning of something new IMO and the development of the Psyche for sure.



The long time for the evolution of the BB/AKM Hermes range has me really curious as you say Gerald a perfectionist.
From the early DAC 4.0 a large format PCM58 DAC with SS output and the 71A power stage (Wow I would love to hear that), it had several other iterations in its life span but then moved to the small form factor 4.1 (PCM58), DAC U (PCM63) etc



Whatever else has happened in the years of development to this point is hopefully expanded on his blog, and reflected in his beautiful product for years to come.
This is just all for point of interest and Abbas's articles definitely worth a read.
From my listening position its an exciting journey so far

 

[thedudeabides]

So if I understand correctly, the company is located in Kiev and they have frequent power outages because of the ongoing war with the Russians. And the owner does not respond to emails in a timely manner. And there is a substantial waiting period (numerous months) from initial order to receiving product. Correct? Does he require payment in advance and what is the price for his dac? And what does the product owner do if the equipment needs servicing? Thanks for the clarifications. Best.

 

[gerihifi]

Hi Gerald.

I couldn't access these latest two articles when I clicked on your link. A "Bad Gateway" page came up with every other character of the bad gateway page in Cyrillic.

In JohnP's photos of the innards of his Psyche Signature above I couldn't see the handmade output caps either. Not sure where they are.

LPG

Use Google Translate or paste url jnto chatgpt

 

[gerihifi]

So if I understand correctly, the company is located in Kiev and they have frequent power outages because of the ongoing war with the Russians. And the owner does not respond to emails in a timely manner. And there is a substantial waiting period (numerous months) from initial order to receiving product. Correct? Does he require payment in advance and what is the price for his dac? And what does the product owner do if the equipment needs servicing? Thanks for the clarifications. Best.

Keep calm, it is not Pachanko Labs style!!

All of us owning Abbas gear and I personally had now 3 pieces from him the last 4 years (yes, ordered in his worst war attacks), I can tell you: he is not a blender/seller as some of contenders!!

He is NOT the average "company" and he is NOT working with distributors too avoid all the hassle and preasure! He doesnt do any fancy facebook/insta posts of his gear, nor fancy YT-videos how extraodinary engineer he is, as some in the Industrie....they are 2 people, with even vanishing their own PCB, so you can imagine how much he spent's in his Workshop, instead in front of computer/social media!

Payment partially up front, of course as any manufacture! I always paid fully upfront and he even says:not needed and he will not proceed faster. Order by order ...

Thats why we always say: read his vita, read his article and than you will understand. He is NOT another DAC Ultrafi vendor, because market is overheated, he does it DAC design the same principles the last 10+y...you will find very, very rarely those kind of manufactures left in hifi Industrie, look around what currently happens!!

Rgds
Gerald

P.S.: I'm not an Abbas reseller, not getting any marketing money. I'm somone chasing the perfect digital chain for many years now and have a lot in the house and much more tested!

 

[Artnet]

it is not Pachanko Labs style!!

Ouch !!!

 

[JohnP]

Hi Gerald.

I couldn't access these latest two articles when I clicked on your link. A "Bad Gateway" page came up with every other character of the bad gateway page in Cyrillic.

In JohnP's photos of the innards of his Psyche Signature above I couldn't see the handmade output caps either. Not sure where they are.

LPG

The caps are the square, wooden looking blocks next to the the big transformers. He had to make these capacitors to deal with the higher voltage used with the 6BL7 output tubes.
Join

 

[thedudeabides]

Keep calm, it is not Pachanko Labs style!!

Hi Gerald,

I have no idea what or who Pachanko Labs is or what they do. Not trolling. No need to get upset or defensive. Just very curious and well intentioned. Amazing story. Sounds like a dedicated, talented artist. And I am quite calm. How about you? Best.

 

[JohnP]

I ordered my Psyche in January of 2024 and got it in November of 2024. It is excellent. The Pysche has three rectifiers, two on the digital board and one on the analog board. I replaced the 5U4 on the analog board with a mesh-plate Telefunken RGN 1064. Made a significant improvement. More 3D and open. Abbas said he likes the mesh-plate Telefunken RGN 2004 better than the mesh-plate Telefunken RGN 1064 so I’m going to use your adapter and give the mesh-plate Telefunken RGN 2004 a listen.
John

Update:
I replaced the Telefunken RGN 1064 with a Telefunken RGN 2004 using an adapter built by Plasmod3. It was a very nice improvement. The 2004 added more weight and authority to the music while maintaining the beautiful delicacy of the 1064.
John