Abbas Psyche and Hermes

[LanschePlasmaGuy]

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

Awesome news John!!!!!

Thank you for the feedback and how the sound of your Psyche changes with different tubes etc.

I'm looking forward to similar experiments when my Psyche arrives and am looking forward to trying a range of 4v European tubes.

I love how my 2.3 SE sounds (in concert with the ABBAS tube usb/spdif which for me made a huge improvement to the sound of the ABBAS dac). With the double crown "Studer" chip and great sounding tubes the combination is wonderful in my system and interestingly doesn't irritate or show up issue like a cheaper dac usually would in a very revealing low compromise system unlike other dac's i've tried. So if you didn't want to continually strive for the best possible sound you could easilly just stop at even this setup.

With Artnets full size 3.2 you hear what you're missing with my little baby brother (much more weight and density of tone, much bigger soundstage , even more feeling to the music with greater emotional range and the sound has as much depth as the 2.3 SE but the sound comes out in a bubble from the speakers and swells in your room to almost touch your nose as you listen). Pretty addictive stuff! I can't wait to hear the Psyche which i'm assuming will be even more of this again! I can't wait to hear what the difference will be between something like the full sized 3.2 unit and the Psyche Signature.

These dac's certainly sound closer to the emotional response I get from my Idler turntable which I love so much.

Was it you who said that your Psyche was preferred in sound to your vinyl rig and preferred to all but your very best Reel to Reel tapes? (I thought i read that comment from someone at some stage).

Thank you for the insights and for the tweaks you are doing to get the best out of Abbas's wonderful dac's!

LPG

 

[JohnP]

Awesome news John!!!!!

Thank you for the feedback and how the sound of your Psyche changes with different tubes etc.

I'm looking forward to similar experiments when my Psyche arrives and am looking forward to trying a range of 4v European tubes.

I love how my 2.3 SE sounds (in concert with the ABBAS tube usb/spdif which for me made a huge improvement to the sound of the ABBAS dac). With the double crown "Studer" chip and great sounding tubes the combination is wonderful in my system and interestingly doesn't irritate or show up issue like a cheaper dac usually would in a very revealing low compromise system unlike other dac's i've tried. So if you didn't want to continually strive for the best possible sound you could easilly just stop at even this setup.

With Artnets full size 3.2 you hear what you're missing with my little baby brother (much more weight and density of tone, much bigger soundstage , even more feeling to the music with greater emotional range and the sound has as much depth as the 2.3 SE but the sound comes out in a bubble from the speakers and swells in your room to almost touch your nose as you listen). Pretty addictive stuff! I can't wait to hear the Psyche which i'm assuming will be even more of this again! I can't wait to hear what the difference will be between something like the full sized 3.2 unit and the Psyche Signature.

These dac's certainly sound closer to the emotional response I get from my Idler turntable which I love so much.

Was it you who said that your Psyche was preferred in sound to your vinyl rig and preferred to all but your very best Reel to Reel tapes? (I thought i read that comment from someone at some stage).

Thank you for the insights and for the tweaks you are doing to get the best out of Abbas's wonderful dac's!

LPG

Yes it was me who said I preferred my Psyche to my vinyl rig and preferred it to all but my best reel-to-reel tape.
I listen to mostly classical recordings. I attend about dozen or so orchestral concerts a year. What I hear with the Psyche is closer to what I hear at the concert hall than vinyl or most tapes.
It will be interesting to hear your impressions of the Psyche after you receive it.

John

 

[shashank]

hi, I ordered psyche se in March 2025. Abbas said 3-4 months for build. It may take longer I guess.

Anyone compared Abbas DAC to Abbas signature Phono preamp? I’ve signature preamp it’s quite good. It will be interesting to compare it with the DAC once I receive it.

 

[Artnet]

Hi @shashank congratulations on the purchase. I think you might see it in September as that has been indicated by Abbas for another buyer with a similar purchase date. My 3.2SE took 8 months, building in a war zone cant be easy so I would expect delays.
Hope to compare SE to Psyche soon.

 

[LanschePlasmaGuy]

hi, I ordered psyche se in March 2025. Abbas said 3-4 months for build. It may take longer I guess.

Anyone compared Abbas DAC to Abbas signature Phono preamp? I’ve signature preamp it’s quite good. It will be interesting to compare it with the DAC once I receive it.

What Artnet said. But just to add to that. I ordered my top of the range Psyche Signature in September and am not expecting it till around September (maybe a month earlier or month or two later). It's one guy who is making these beautiful pieces selling them at cents on the dollar in a warzone where he may have electricity and lighting one or two days per week.

I've never heard of anyone who has not received a dac from him in time so its just a matter of being patient. Good things come to those who wait.

LPG

 

[Paul49720]

I have posted ABBAS' photos of a nearly complete Hephaestus phono RIAA that will soon be sent to me in the UK. Perhaps some of its output stage architecture may be common to Psyche / Hermes. Posted under "Abbas phono". It has a separate PSU because the rebuilt transformer was too powerful for use directly onboard with tiny MC cartridge signals in proximity.

 

[gerihifi]

I have posted ABBAS' photos of a nearly complete Hephaestus phono RIAA that will soon be sent to me in the UK. Perhaps some of its output stage architecture may be common to Psyche / Hermes. Posted under "Abbas phono". It has a separate PSU because the rebuilt transformer was too powerful for use directly onboard with tiny MC cartridge signals in proximity.

Very, well made and great esoteric approach, awesome!
Hope you can soon test

Rgds
Gerald

 

[Nuforce]

I'm wondering if anyone has ever been able to compare one of the Abbas units with 6080 output tubes Vs a DHT lampizator like the Pacific ??

My still struggling to justify the pretty high cost of something like the Pacific and whilst certainly not cheap, the top of the line Hermes with 6080 looks fantastic.

 

[plasmod3]

Ahhh that's easy...the 2.1se which uses 6080 doesn't compare at all...Abbas has only delivered one unit of the Hermes and Psyche and that is a modified not a stock unit so literally no one can do what you ask of here....that's why I started this thread aot actually see how many has received the unit.

Abbas units are not compatible with high res material as well

 

[LanschePlasmaGuy]

Ahhh that's easy...the 2.1se which uses 6080 doesn't compare at all...Abbas has only delivered one unit of the Hermes and Psyche and that is a modified not a stock unit so literally no one can do what you ask of here....that's why I started this thread aot actually see how many has received the unit.

Abbas units are not compatible with high res material as well

I didn't think the 2.1 se uses a 6080 tube? Anyway I agree with Plasmod. There is no way a few thousand dollar 2.1 SE is going to compete with a $53,000 (in Australia) Pacific. It is a great dac though and crazy good value for money.

Now the Psyche Signature should be another entirely different kettle of fish entirely. JohnP a few posts up mentioned he preferred it to his lovely vinyl rig and all but the very best of his tapes with his reel to reel setup so if i was guessing i'd say it sounds pretty amaze-balls.

Amaze-balls is good.

ABBAS dac's don't come up for sale that often and when they do they get snapped up straight away. Most people who own them go a bit nutty over how much they love them so you can make your own conclusions from that.

I've heard Plasmod's highly modified top flight Lampizator and it sounds really wonderful. No idea what a Hermes Signature sounds like in comparison (or no comparison)? because only a couple have been finished so far.

Nuforce, why don't you try and buy a second hand ABBAS (one of the units made by him) to get an idea of it's flavour? You've posted tons of posts about the ABBAS and are obviously super curious about them. They're cheap to buy when they come up and you can make up your own mind. You may just become a crazy raving convert like some of us or they may not be for you and you can sell it easily at whatever price you paid for it because there are so many people looking for them.

I replaced a $50k in Aussie MSB Premier with Powerbase etc. with my ABBAS (admittedly with very nice tubes and the best TDA1541 you can buy) and I couldn't be happier. Now that is a crazy price disparity.

LPG

 

[plasmod3]

I didn't think the 2.1 se uses a 6080 tube? Anyway I agree with Plasmod. There is no way a few thousand dollar 2.1 SE is going to compete with a $53,000 (in Australia) Pacific. It is a great dac though and crazy good value for money.

Now the Hermes Signature should be another entirely different kettle of fish entirely. JohnP a few posts up mentioned he preferred it to his lovely vinyl rig and all but the very best of his tapes with his reel to reel setup so if i was guessing i'd say it sounds pretty amaze-balls.

Amaze-balls is good.

ABBAS dac's don't come up for sale that often and when they do they get snapped up straight away. Most people who own them go a bit nutty over how much they love them so you can make your own conclusions from that.

I've heard Plasmod's highly modified top flight Lampizator and it sounds really wonderful. No idea what a Hermes Signature sounds like in comparison (or no comparison)? because only a couple have been finished so far.

Nuforce, why don't you try and buy a second hand ABBAS (one of the units made by him) to get an idea of it's flavour? You've posted tons of posts about the ABBAS and are obviously super curious about them. They're cheap to buy when they come up and you can make up your own mind. You may just become a crazy raving convert like some of us or they may not be for you and you can sell it easily at whatever price you paid for it because there are so many people looking for them.

I replaced a $50k in Aussie MSB Premier with Powerbase etc. with my ABBAS (admittedly with very nice tubes and the best TDA1541 you can buy) and I couldn't be happier. Now that is a crazy price disparity.

LPG

Hi Brian, which was the model Stephen brought over? It uses the 6080 tube do you not remember? It was pretty much on par with a modified ank kit 5.1

 

[LanschePlasmaGuy]

Hi Brian, which was the model Stephen brought over? It uses the 6080 tube do you not remember? It was pretty much on par with a modified ank kit 5.1

Hi Ian. Ah ok. I thought you were talking about a different dac. The 2 series is a slimline chassis and Stephen brought over the full chassis (double the width of the 2 series) 3.2 SE.

You had done some major mods to your beautiful sounding ANK kit 5.1 including the outboard 211 (I think it was) rectifier unit along with other stuff and it sounded really fabulous.

Stephen and I had a very strong preference for the 3.2 SE which I think is telling as your ANK dac had been tweaked to suit your system and the 3.2 SE didn't have a long time to run in and was brought in cold. We didn't get to tube roll to maximise the sound for your system and we didn't move the speakers or do any other tweaks to best suit the sound signature of the 3.2 SE.

Regardless both were really beautiful and your system sounded great.

The Psyche Signature (which it should be given the huge price difference to the 3.2 SE) should be levels higher in sound quality again. Can't wait (though I am waiting alas).

LPG

 

[Artnet]

The Hermes Signature (which it should be given the huge price difference to the 3.2 SE) should be levels higher in sound quality again. Can't wait (though I am waiting alas).

Waiting for the Psyche alas, not the Hermes, just too many Abbas DAC's to be waiting for to ask the question how does the Abbas Hermes compare in sound of the Psyche.

Abbas units are not compatible with high res material as well

No they are not compatible but they may be preferable!? to me anyway.

Not compatible in that the approaches are very different. If I was interested in fracking my 0's and 1's, I would be looking to a non tube DAC such as a Grimm or a Weiss as a personal preference.
The comparison to the Lampizator is another creature again that I look forward to your comment on hopefully in the near future.

My still struggling to justify the pretty high cost of something like the Pacific and whilst certainly not cheap, the top of the line Hermes with 6080 looks fantastic.

Struggle no longer. If you were comparing the Horizon to the Hermes it might be.

Anyone with a Pacific in OZ willing for a friendly listen?

 

[LanschePlasmaGuy]

Waiting for the Psyche alas, not the Hermes, just too many Abbas DAC's to be waiting for to ask the question how does the Abbas Hermes compare in sound of the Psyche.



No they are not compatible but they may be preferable!? to me anyway.

Not compatible in that the approaches are very different. If I was interested in fracking my 0's and 1's, I would be looking to a non tube DAC such as a Grimm or a Weiss as a personal preference.
The comparison to the Lampizator is another creature again that I look forward to your comment on hopefully in the near future.



Struggle no longer. If you were comparing the Horizon to the Hermes it might be.

Anyone with a Pacific in OZ willing for a friendly listen?

Haha your right! Psyche signature (not Hermes). Have edited the corrections in my messages above.

Just too many dac's and different names.

With all the beautiful mods and upgrades youve done to your ANK Kit 5.1 Plasmod it should be called the two chassis ANK Kit 5.1 Soro Koguru Lapis Lazuli signature (mark 2). I love all these high end audio product names.

LPG

 

[plasmod3]

Hi Ian. Ah ok. I thought you were talking about a different dac. The 2 series is a slimline chassis and Stephen brought over the full chassis (double the width of the 2 series) 3.2 SE.

You had done some major mods to your beautiful sounding ANK kit 5.1 including the outboard 211 (I think it was) rectifier unit along with other stuff and it sounded really fabulous.

Stephen and I had a very strong preference for the 3.2 SE which I think is telling as your ANK dac had been tweaked to suit your system and the 3.2 SE didn't have a long time to run in and was brought in cold. We didn't get to tube roll to maximise the sound for your system and we didn't move the speakers or do any other tweaks to best suit the sound signature of the 3.2 SE.

Regardless both were really beautiful and your system sounded great.

The Psyche Signature (which it should be given the huge price difference to the 3.2 SE) should be levels higher in sound quality again. Can't wait (though I am waiting alas).

LPG

trhe difference between the ank and the abbas is in the pasrts - abbasuses nos parts and ank new parts but not the highest grade. switchacross the parts and viola it does sound pretty good and comparable to the abbas - if anyuthing i think a bit better as the abbas is all fully burnt in and the ank had new components in there for less than a week running 1-2 hours a day .

implementation of the chipset if pretty much the same - the tda has been out for decades and no one is going to come out with something revolutionary rather than mild evolutionary to be honest. at the end of the day it is the quality of the parts that mneasure up and abbas uses the nos parts which are good .

if you want a top dac go the horizon or pacific; abbas is great but there are compromises - for eg high res material cant be used and 2 ifsomething goes off - getting replacement parts will be a pain .

Brian since you listened to my horizon - it has had more upgrades now to the dac board - shinkoh resistors and black gate / kasei galore + implementation of an external clock as well . What you heard before has been evolved further - its fun working on electronics really enjoy it

 

[gerihifi]

Hi,

I've only some long time ago the Lampi GG1 and Baltic and I loved them. Afterward I went down the road with more modern Sigma-Delta like the Chord Dave and Weiss DAC 501. Currently, own Grimm Audio MU2 + Ideon Audio ION, but I'd never get rid of my Abbas 3.2SE (TDA1541) nor with his current model HERMES!

I know it is difficult for most DAC-chaser's, because you will rarely have the chance to compare it for yourself, but it is for me for sure a very, good and valid option in comparison with AN, SW1x and Lampi.

Attached my HERMES Signature with 6080 Tubes and PCM63-P.

Rgds
Gerald

 

[Nuforce]

Hi,

I've only some long time ago the Lampi GG1 and Baltic and I loved them. Afterward I went down the road with more modern Sigma-Delta like the Chord Dave and Weiss DAC 501. Currently, own Grimm Audio MU2 + Ideon Audio ION, but I'd never get rid of my Abbas 3.2SE (TDA1541) nor with his current model HERMES!

I know it is difficult for most DAC-chaser's, because you will rarely have the chance to compare it for yourself, but it is for me for sure a very, good and valid option in comparison with AN, SW1x and Lampi.

Attached my HERMES Signature with 6080 Tubes and PCM63-P.

Rgds
Gerald

That is awesome thank you. The 6080 is an exceptional DHT tube.