Anthem AVM70 a Tale of Two DACs

[Cos]

I was aware that when I purchased my Anthem AVM70 early in the lifecycle that Anthem did make the move to ESS Sabre DACs from the AKM 4490 due to chip shortages and factory fire. I assumed that I beat that change, but I was mistaken. Not sure if its even a point of contention or a big deal. Anthem made the switch to The ESS Saber 9038 Q2M which seems like a pretty solid DAC.

The general consensus is that the AKM is superior than the ESS Saber, but would I even hear a difference?

I started to pull the data sheets of each DAC and realized outside of SNR, I have no idea what most of the specs mean or the differences LOL

On a side note for those looking to upgrade their Anthem AVM70 from 4k, to 8K, the upgrade makes it exactly the same as the newer 8K model, all ports are 8k 48/120hz compatible.

 

[PENG]

I was aware that when I purchased my Anthem AVM70 early in the lifecycle that Anthem did make the move to ESS Sabre DACs from the AKM 4490 due to chip shortages and factory fire. I assumed that I beat that change, but I was mistaken. Not sure if its even a point of contention or a big deal. Anthem made the switch to The ESS Saber 9038 Q2M which seems like a pretty solid DAC.

The general consensus is that the AKM is superior than the ESS Saber, but would I even hear a difference?

I started to pull the data sheets of each DAC and realized outside of SNR, I have no idea what most of the specs mean or the differences LOL

On a side note for those looking to upgrade their Anthem AVM70 from 4k, to 8K, the upgrade makes it exactly the same as the newer 8K model, all ports are 8k 48/120hz compatible.

Anthem told me it's the ES9038Q2M. I asked them about the ES9010K2M that can be seen right under the top cover, whether those are for zone2. He told me he had info on the z2 dac. Before that I asked the same question on that ES9010K2M and z2, that other rep told me it's the ES9038Q2M for everything, that rep is wrong as far as I am concerned because the 9010s are there for sure. Edit: I mean the rep is wrong in saying it is the 9038Q2M for everything, because there are two 9010K2M visible from the top, so I believe the AVM70 has at least 8 or 9 pieces of the 9038Q2M but also has 2 pieces of 9010K2M. My educated guess is that the 9010K2M are for either the 2 subouts, or Zone2/Streaming but that's just my guess.

Using two different DAC chips has been common practice, Yamaha, Denon/Marantz, Onkyo and I am sure others too, all use cheaper DAC chips for the secondary zones. Yamaha actually uses 3 different ones for their RX-A3000 series, ES9026Pro for the main 7 channels, ES9006 for the surround/height channels and the TI chip for Zone2/3.

The ES9038Q2M has better specs, and cost more than the AK4490. Audibly, I believe humans can't hear the difference, thoough many will say the can.

 

[Cos]

I will have to check mine, I got my from the service team and was told ES9038Q2M. Who knows, I also asked it they were the 40Gb/s or 48GB/s port and they were not clear on an answer, their reply was whatever the 2.1 spec is, is what they are. Not to concrete

 

[ban25]

I will have to check mine, I got my from the service team and was told ES9038Q2M. Who knows, I also asked it they were the 40Gb/s or 48GB/s port and they were not clear on an answer, their reply was whatever the 2.1 spec is, is what they are. Not to concrete

Unless it's the Analog Devices ADV7674 HDMI 2.1 chip that was announced last fall, it's 40 Gbps.

 

[Cos]

Here is the responses I got from Anthem

1. This upgrade does make the AVM70 exactly like the current 8k model yes. Nothing else different, just a swap of the HDMI 2.0 board for the HDMI 2.1 board.

2. Yes all ports are 8k / 4k/120 enabled

3. I have checked your serial number, and can verify you have the ESS DAC in your unit. Specifically:

AVM70: The ESS Saber 9038 Q2M

Hope this helps, they will call you when it's complete.

Regards,

I doubt it is the 9038, but will report when I get my unit back from 8K upgrade

 

[PENG]

I will have to check mine, I got my from the service team and was told ES9038Q2M. Who knows, I also asked it they were the 40Gb/s or 48GB/s port and they were not clear on an answer, their reply was whatever the 2.1 spec is, is what they are. Not to concrete

They have been consistently saying it's the ES9038Q2M, the AK4490 would be in the preproduction models and perhaps the first batch at launch time. They never said anything about the ES9010K2M, that's why I have to assume those were used for z2. The ES9010K2M is used in their AVRs including the MRX1140. It is nowhere near as good as the ES9038Q2M but is good enough for Marantz to use it in their AV8805 to replace the AK4490.

 

[PENG]

I doubt it is the 9038, but will report when I get my unit back from 8K upgrade

What do you mean by that? Didn't you say they told you it's the 9038Q2M? They told me the same, and I have no reason to doubt them in this specific case.

As you said, the 8K upgrade is to swap out the HDMI board, it has nothing to do with the DAC anyway.

 

[Cos]

I hope you are

What do you mean by that? Didn't you say they told you it's the 9038Q2M? They told me the same, and I have no reason to doubt them in this specific case.

As you said, the 8K upgrade is to swap out the HDMI board, it has nothing to do with the DAC anyway.

I misunderstood your comment. I thought that they went with the 9010 you stated was what you saw. That along with the fact I kept reading conflicting stories on which DACS were used.

As for the HDMI board upgade, no reason to doubt that. I think when I upgraded the AV8802 to the (A) there was a difference between units as the front panel HDMI wasn't upgraded on that unit.

 

[PENG]

I hope you are


I was misunderstood your comment. I thought that they went with the 9010 you stated was what you saw. That along with the fact I kept reading conflicting stories on which DACS were used.

As for the HDMI board upgade, no reason to doubt that. I think when I upgraded the AV8802 to the (A) there was a difference between units as the front panel HDMI wasn't upgraded on that unit.

Edit: I can see why you misunderstood, my post did sound confusing, I edited it for better clarity. To be clear, they told me the dac was the 9038Q2M and I don't doubt that. I saw the 9010K2M, but only 2 pieces so I think they must be for z2 and may be streaming as well, or for the 2 subouts. I read conflicting stories too on avsf, but I think the confusion came from the 9010K2M that are visible from the top, and whoever discovered that might have assumed that must be what the AVM70 has. But again, those can't be for the main 15 channels because there are only 2 pieces of them.

The 9038Q2M is also a 2 channel dac chip so there has to be at least 8, or 9 pieces of them. Those are not visible from the top, not even with the top cover removed. We just have to trust what Anthem told us, and be happy that it has the near flagship level ESS dacs that are rarely used in avrs and avps.

 

[lovinthehd]

I think all of you are dwelling on the chip a bit much

 

[Cos]

I think all of you are dwelling on the chip a bit much

What makes you say that.....

Excuse my lack of photo editing skills, but you get the point

 

[Danzilla31]

I think all of you are dwelling on the chip a bit much

That's what she said...

 

[lovinthehd]

That's what she said...

Even more so

 

[PENG]

I think all of you are dwelling on the chip a bit much

Because I don't like fake news, it takes all of us to minimize fake news rampant on the internet, actually the whole mass media.., unfortunately. In this case, it doesn't matter which chip it is for sound quality, just want to know if it is A, then don't say it is B especially if there is a big price and specs differential between the 2.

 

[curvetheory]

Anthem could make things so much easier if they simply listed complete specs like most gear manufacturers. No one spending north of $4K on an A/V processor should be trying to guess what DAC they have.

 

[PENG]

Anthem could make things so much easier if they simply listed complete specs like most gear manufacturers. No one spending north of $4K on an A/V processor should be trying to guess what DAC they have.

Or at least sell the service manuals to the public, though nowadays even D+M seems to have stopped selling it to the public, probably because of the internet forums that make it hard to enforce their patent rights policy.

If you email Anthem, they do tell you which DAC, but they never seem to have the full story, seemingly because their customer reps don't have all the information at their disposal. For example, as I mentioned before, they did confirm the ES9038Q2M for the 70 and 9038Pro for the 90, but they don't seem to know anything about the subwoofer channel DAC and the Zone2 DAC and that left me guessing that the lower grade ES9010K2M must be for either the sub, Z2, or both.

I can tell you the ADC is top notch, reference/flagship class for sure, SINAD of that piece is way better than the typical ones used by Yamaha, Denon/Marantz, yet they didn't even bother advertising that one.