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Let’s talk about the layout. On the front, we have a 1.9-inch color TFT display, 2 buttons, and a volume knob with an extra button on the center. The screen shows information about the volume level, sample rate, and active input. The volume knob can also be used to navigate through the menus of the D1SE. However, you might find the remote control navigation tad simpler, compared to the volume knob navigation.
S.M.S.L M400 Digital to Analog Convertor (DAC) - SHENZHENAUDIO
With D1SE, aggressive music as heavy metal can be a little fatiguing after about an hour or so, while D2 sounded more organic, it put more life in those guitars, while gently smoothing out the ringing of the cymbals. What’s more interesting is that dynamics themselves were going higher on D2, easier reaching their peaks, releasing a higher engagement factor. While the family resemblance is quite big and both units have plenty of technicalities in common, D2 wanted to impress a lot more with music reproduction more than anything else. It took me and carried over my childhood memories when I was still listening to music through a cassette player. I’m not fond on using this word, but it was more musical and more organic sounding to me. Another striking difference was the bass output, D1SE felt immaculate when it comes to speed and decay, but D2 punched nicer and delivered a heftier bass output quantity wise. It was punchier and harder smalling in there, transforming regular electronica into something impactful and toe-tapping all the time. All their past doings that were tested around here as SU-8S, SU-9, M200 and M500 were decent to quite good, but D1SE presents its performance in a different light, as everything comes and goes away in a very effortless way. After digging a bit more and detaching a few ribbon cables, it seems that SMSL combined a few OPA op-amps with discrete components…how interesting. This isn’t exactly an op-amp based output stage, it’s more like a hybrid and it all comes together now. I get it why there is more air, why there’s more weight and fullness in my music, while completely bypassing all the listening fatigue. Those discrete components can be usually spotted in upper-class equipment and I’m glad we’re getting those at such an affordable price point.The SMSL DO400 is the first to use a new design which makes the screen “floating” and puts it on the corner in the left hand side of the front. This is quite a drastic change compared to previous models such as the DO300 or the DO200 MKII where the screen was in the centre or slightly off-centre. This seems to be a trend currently as Topping appears to be adopting the same type of design on their latest products. I have to say, and this is 100% down to personal preference, that I am personally not a super fan of this placement of the screen, as a more central position would make it easier to read it if you don’t have the device on the dead centre of your desk, but again others may find it to their liking so it’s really down to personal opinion (and also to where you place the unit on your desk!). Need to comment on the heat issue mentioned in the reviw “Firstly, the DAC gets warm compared to other DACs in my inventory”. At the heart of its digital processing, stays a powerful ES9038 PRO 8-channel DAC chip of ESS Technologies. This is their best and most premium converter. SMSL has plenty of experience with this chipset, as they used it in its predecessor (D1), in their M500 and SU-9 DACs. With an increase of power and current delivery, the windows toward music are widening considerably so the soundstage is improving on all axes, and from a cozy sounding SMSL SP200, to a much wider sounding SH-9, SP400 appears as the soundstage king especially via XLR input and output where the channel crosstalk is so much lower. I’m going as far as say that it feels extremely airy, so much so that it starts rivaling the sound of Flux Lab Acoustics FA-10 and to some degree feels bigger and airier compared to the excellent sounding Topping A90. The slight dry midrange and that emotionless sound of Drop THX-789 is nowhere to be found in here, as SP400 offered plenty of warmth with the right tunes, there was smoothness and I even had goose bumps all over my body for several times. There is one flaw that bothers me deeply, I will be mentioning in the third chapter so keep reading. More important than ever is how those micro-details are being provided to the listener. D1SE brings them forward in a natural way, appearing out of thin air and being pushed forward gently and softly. In my opinion, D1SE doesn’t offer very strong and outlined leading edges, like how most ESS-Sabre converters are doing. D1SE appears clean and detailed, but it’s never offensive, it never grabs your attention and it never shouts: Hey look, there’s another micro-detail hiding in there! It’s much gentler in here, mirroring a bit the sound of R2R converters by adding liquidity and a peace of mind so to speak. While there is indeed a delta-sigma modulator and it’s of-course an over-sampling DAC, it doesn’t sound like one. It was never aggressive when delivering musical information, offering softer leading edges and putting a higher accent on the whole musical experience. Hell, even ultra linear amplifiers and treble-oriented headphones worked outstanding with it, never being stressful or clinical sounding. Although there is as much treble information and it easily goes sky high past 16 kHz, there is no listening fatigue and no brightness whatsoever and it never appeared as boring and lifeless sounding to me.
SMSL D400ES DAC Review | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum SMSL D400ES DAC Review | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum
There isn’t much to say about them design wise, one is smaller and one is bigger, one has 6 Watts on tap and one is doubling that number, one has a preamp output and SH-9 doesn’t have it. SP400 is pretty much a dual-mono version of SH-9 and it costs twice as much too. Apart from that, their UI is the same, I/O is the same, they look almost the same too.
Packaging
The front also hosts the volume knob, which also acts as the power button and as the way to interact with the menus, as well as a status LED that turns on when the unit is turned off. There are also three headphone outputs: XLR and 4.4 mm, both balanced, and 6.3 mm, which is single-ended. As can be deduced from their names, these modes do have a slight impact on the color of the sound signature. Rich mode provides a smoother signature, where the upper midrange and highs are affected and trimmed the most. The tube mode provides an overall smoother sound but I felt like it hindered the detail retrieval capability of the DAC and didn’t like it very much due to this argument. I think if you’re aiming for a smoother sound, you’re better off with the Rich setting instead of the Tube setting. Lastly, the Crystal setting increases the upper mid sharpness and treble extension. This setting slightly increases the perceived clarity, resolution, and airiness.
SMSL DO300 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org SMSL DO300 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
Leave a Reply Cancel reply Did you like the review? Let me know! Please note that you should write in English, as comments in other languages will be deleted. Thank you!Headphone Amps: SMSL SP400, SMSL SH-9, Benchmark HPA4, SparkoS Labs Aries, Flux Lab Acoustics FCN-10, LittleDot MKIII SE This will be a much shorter chapter as pretty much all the newest DACs are already very impressive when it comes to repelling mains noise or any other type of noise. 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. Forget about a noise floor, as those were dead silent even at close to maximum power. Using it in my loudspeaker setup as a DAC and preamplifier combo, driving directly two AHB2 power amplifiers didn’t add grayness or hiss into the mix. KEF’s UNI-Q drivers are notorious for being sensitive to noise coming from downstream equipment, but again nothing could be heard even after approaching them closely. I’m glad that a passive or active power conditioner wasn’t even needed with such a unit, I’ve tried a Plixir Elite BAC400 and then a BAC1500 and it sounded absolutely the same with or without them.
S.M.S.L - Márkák - muzix.hu S.M.S.L - Márkák - muzix.hu
In terms of build quality, both are carved on CNC machines with very tight tolerance numbers, sharing a similar footprint, they look great and I find their build quality top-notch. Although I’ll give an edge to the D1SE, thanks to its metallic remote control, metal spikes and absorption pads that are way nicer to the plastic ones found on D90SE. PRE Mode – Volume Fixed or Variable, if you will be using it as a DAC only device, leave it at Fixed.In the end, you have the power of making it smoother, more tubey or you can go with the most transparent and detailed sound possible. It is really up to you to decide which sound tuning works better for your needs. While D90SE had a slight ringing in the treble, D1SE discarded all those nasty vibrations, pulling glare and putting more textures. Music went smoother, it poured naturally on D1SE, while all that was less impressive on the Topping creation. On the other hand, D90SE had a nicer driver control, leading edges were clearer and, on few occasions, it felt more resolving and transparent. The mids have a velvety timbre and at the same time, they are resolving and high-quality. Just like the bass region, the midrange also feels natural and realistic. Instruments such as guitars, flutes, piccolos, and pianos have a very organic and musical tone. The vocals are positioned in the center and blend in perfectly with the rest of the instruments. The coherency is top-notch and nothing feels out of place. Upper mids follow the same route as well, they are present with good energy, yet they never try to steal the show. I really love the dynamics of the midrange, the whole range is just delightful to listen to. High I can’t say a single bad word about its build quality, it is really well-made, it’s built at higher standards, it’s pretty small and cute, but at ~1.65 kilos (3.6 lbs) it feels solid and quite heavy. Its heavier case tells me that a bigger transformer is sitting in there and that thought alone makes me very excited. Thanks to its smaller case, you could easily place it in tight spaces, in a killer headphone or loudspeaker setup, you can hide it just below your TV, or on top of your gaming console or Blu-ray player – in this regard it’s versatile unit. Considering its outstanding build quality, feature set, top-class internal components and its different approach to music reproduction, SMSL D1SE fully justified our highest Gold Award! Congratulations to the team and I’m looking forward to what’s coming next!
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