S.M.S.L M400 MQA Audio DAC, AK4499 Chip Full Balanced Hi-Res Decoder, APTX-HD Bluetooth 5.0, Support MQA decoding DSD512 32Bit/768kHz,Coaxial Optical HiFi Music USB DAC XMOS

Product Information

Besides this, you’ll find a Bluetooth antenna, a USB Type-B cable and a power cord to kick-start your listening experience. It has an output impedance close to zero so that damping factor wouldn’t be affected at all and at only 1. There’s not much in the way of either packaging or accessories: the DO400 comes in a simple cardboard box which contains the device itself, the remote, a USB to USB-B cable as well as a power cord. It stood shoulder to shoulder with my Benchmark HPA4 and it even outclassed it on several occasions, while costing about ~5 times cheaper. I’ve never quite understood the philosophy behind their SP200 and M200 bodies, or the meaning of tiny displays on integrated amplifiers as DA-8S, that should be used in the living room.

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While I attribute the majority of what I was hearing to the AMP-23R, the VMV D3 did absolutely nothing to hold back what the AMP-23R was capable of, so that tells me that VMV D3 has to be a fantastic sounding DAC on its own. The TI TPA6120A amp chips are the reason behind the massive output offered by the DO400, which goes up to an astounding 6 W at 16 Ω. All that power will mean nothing if there isn’t a wide bandwidth to deliver all that instantly to your precious headphones.The back is home to a lot of input and output connections: from left to right, we find two XLR and two RCA outputs, AES input (through a single XLR connector), I2S through an HDMI connector, the Bluetooth antenna, optical, coaxial and USB inputs, as well as the power input and the power switch. In my SH-9 review I was dreaming about an THX-888 amplifier that would have a higher capacitance and power output so that soundstage wouldn’t be limited in any way and it seems that I have found that amplifier.

HEADFONICS—SMSL M400 REVIEW

Followed by two AHB2 power amplifiers, I needed to lower the SPL, since there was too much music traveling around the apartment. When doing reviews for higher tiered DACs, generally it’s a race for cons and not for the pros as after a certain point, there is little to complain about, it’s more about system matching and personal preference than anything else.Connecting it to a clean sounding headphone amplifier as Benchmark HPA4 while driving a pair of ultra-sensitive IEMs didn’t elevate the noise floor, as FiiO FA9 sounded as if both units were turned off completely.

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microVolts at full power, very much in line with a Benchmark HPA4, I didn’t expect less and I’m glad to report that it works flawlessly with any headphone I tried it with, being it sensitive or not.All that was possible by using 9 relays for the headphone amp section and another 2 for its preamp section. Don’t get me wrong, I still head-banged with my rock and electronica albums, I still smiled carried away by that music, but it didn’t steal my attention, never strapping me still in the listening spot. When people are asking me what converters they should get for a bigger soundstage in their room paired with some bookshelf loudspeakers, I would probably suggest going with big R-2R converts that wouldn’t limit the air travel in any way.