SMSL D300 Review (Balanced DAC)

[PoorishDecision]

If somehow you could listen to both that would be great. I've had smsl su-9 (not n) and topping DX5 subjective to me they sound the same neutral. On smsl su-9 you have sound colors so you can play a little, so it's more versatile on DX5 you have valve sound and transistor sound and they make a difference. I also had D300 but in my system (nad 316 bee v2 and q-Acoustics 3030i) I didn't like as much as the DX5.

I'd definitely listen to both of them if I could, it's just that the d300 has a feature I need. My system is a rotel and totem bookshelf speaker desktop system that can be a bit aggressive sounding in the high end on rough mixed albums, if I can mellow it out a bit that'd be a bonus.

 

[HappyMetalGuy]

Follow up...
Hi, I've had DX5 and SMSL M500 MKII (I think this is the same has Sabaj A20D but in a different outfit) and SMSL D300 . I've return the DX5 mainly because of user experience having to disconnect DX5 from the mains by power switch to access full menu option doesn't make sense to me. Sometimes when switching power on I get a message that is updating CPLD even if not connected to USB that's strange, even with the firmware 1.40. The M500 MKII as a better chip and some more options to play around with sound. I really liked the design on DX5.
After all I'm keeping M500 MKII around.
Now Purely Subjective.
As for sound I think (subjectively of course) their different the M500 as a more dimensional?!?! sound (voices a little forward) but between the speakers, DX5 seems more 2D sound but maybe wider. D300 for me was less clinical and less harsh.

 

[Jimster480]

I have an SMSL D300 and a Topping D90 (I know not a D30), both DACs measure superbly, but they do not sound alike. I connected them to the same amplifier, with the same brand and length interconnects. Both DACs where fed via USB by matching Raspberry Pi streamers running Ropieee. The content was provided via Roon and streamed to both devices simultaneously. The DACs where volume matched to .1 db; they were less than .5 db out of the box. In this configuration it was easy to switch sources quickly with very little interruption in sound and no change in the songs position and no pausing.

Now that is out of the way...

None of this is necessary as they sound very different. So different that I have no doubt even a bad YouTube recording would be enough to hear that they are different.

Try it. Go buy 2k in gear and give it a try.

So what did you hear? I think I will buy one to see how it "sounds different". I am quite an objective listener and love to disprove these things, so I will spend the money jut to "hear the difference" and write my thoughts on it.

 

[mtnmankeith]

I purchased the smsl d300 back in January of this year. Purchased it off Amazon. The seller was smsl factory store. Today I have no signal through the optical and the coax inputs. Tried other dac and they work fine. Tried different optical cables and still nothing. Contacted Kelly with smsl about getting it looked at for warranty work. No help what so ever. Smsl will not warrant their one year warranty. They want my to send it back to the seller. Which is the smsl factory store. There is no information on how to contact this store. Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix my problem or how to get warranty work done with smsl?

 

[Snoopy]

I purchased the smsl d300 back in January of this year. Purchased it off Amazon. The seller was smsl factory store. Today I have no signal through the optical and the coax inputs. Tried other dac and they work fine. Tried different optical cables and still nothing. Contacted Kelly with smsl about getting it looked at for warranty work. No help what so ever. Smsl will not warrant their one year warranty. They want my to send it back to the seller. Which is the smsl factory store. There is no information on how to contact this store. Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix my problem or how to get warranty work done with smsl?

I would just order a new one from Amazon and return the broken one and pretend it was the one you just ordered. (If Smsl does not warrant the one year warranty)

 

[Jimster480]

I would just order a new one from Amazon and return the broken one and pretend it was the one you just ordered. (If Smsl does not warrant the one year warranty)

Unfortunately what that does is actually just screw the amazon seller and most of the time they take the loss for it.
I have been on the receiving end of that on ebay a few times and it is bullshit to say the least.

 

[Benthegrate]

I purchased the smsl d300 back in January of this year. Purchased it off Amazon. The seller was smsl factory store. Today I have no signal through the optical and the coax inputs. Tried other dac and they work fine. Tried different optical cables and still nothing. Contacted Kelly with smsl about getting it looked at for warranty work. No help what so ever. Smsl will not warrant their one year warranty. They want my to send it back to the seller. Which is the smsl factory store. There is no information on how to contact this store. Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix my problem or how to get warranty work done with smsl?

Well nice to hear I’m not the only one with this problem. I continue trying to get service after several attempts. They did mention sending me a firmware update, but I haven’t received anything yet. I ended up buying a Topping D90 LE which I received today. Very pleased with the Topping and every aspect of sound quality has improved.

 

[Jimster480]

Well nice to hear I’m not the only one with this problem. I continue trying to get service after several attempts. They did mention sending me a firmware update, but I haven’t received anything yet. I ended up buying a Topping D90 LE which I received today. Very pleased with the Topping and every aspect of sound quality has improved.

So yours also died via the coax input?

 

[Benthegrate]

That’s right. At first I would power the unit off and on and that worked for a while. Then tried optical for a few days and it started screwing up as well. At the end, the digital inputs stopped working. I didn’t try USB as I don’t anything to try it with. Sad, as I really liked the sound.

 

[Snoopy]

I've never even tried other inputs expect the usb

 

[Jimster480]

I've never even tried other inputs expect the usb

And yours works fine?

 

[Snoopy]

And yours works fine?

The usb works absolutely fine. Zero issues.

 

[Jimster480]

The usb works absolutely fine. Zero issues.

It seems like most brands have been having issues with Spdif inputs. Whether Toslink or Coax.

 

[nsfgp]

That’s right. At first I would power the unit off and on and that worked for a while. Then tried optical for a few days and it started screwing up as well. At the end, the digital inputs stopped working. I didn’t try USB as I don’t anything to try it with. Sad, as I really liked the sound.

Try USB with a cellphone (USB OTG out will work)??

 

[Toku]

That’s right. At first I would power the unit off and on and that worked for a while. Then tried optical for a few days and it started screwing up as well. At the end, the digital inputs stopped working. I didn’t try USB as I don’t anything to try it with. Sad, as I really liked the sound.

There seems to be something hidden in the D300's S/PDIF (COAC/OPT) input.
Similar to you, Japanese users have also reported troubles that gradually become unusable.

 

[NikJi]

Interesting to see another DAC. Looking at their page, note that it was developed especially with classical music in mind , so be cautios throwing your extreme metal on it

ROHM "MUS-IC" web

"ROHM's first, most advanced MUS-ICTM series DAC chip enables expressive playback of classical music" [powerpoint]"

"How a High-Resolution D/A Converter Can Help Capture the Sound Quality of a Symphony Orchestra" [white paper]

So which of the measurements by Amir indicates or validates that? In other words, is it measurable?

 

[NikJi]

It seems like most brands have been having issues with Spdif inputs. Whether Toslink or Coax.

Almost like they want USB to be the defacto standard and want people to move away from last generation of connectors

 

[Snoopy]

Hi everyone, new member here (long time lurker) and a new owner of this DAC. Currently I am experiencing an issue playing DSD files at native sampling rates w ASIO, all I get is a bunch of static.

What you need is fixed volume mode (DAC) and as long as windows lets you adjust the volume through software, you won't get DSD.

Mine is in fixes mode and I don't use digital volume control through software (roon) and DSD512 works perfectly fine.

 

[Toku]

Almost like they want USB to be the defacto standard and want people to move away from last generation of connectors

DSD playback does not allow any changes to the original file. If you make any changes, playback will stop.
Therefore, the volume control on the PC side cannot be used.
ROHM's "BD34301EKV" DAC chip used in the D300 works with direct DSD playback, directly PWM converting the DSD signal and outputting it.
So the D300 can only play DSD in Vol Fixed mode.

 

[consocmap]

DSD playback does not allow any changes to the original file. If you make any changes, playback will stop.
Therefore, the volume control on the PC side cannot be used.
ROHM's "BD34301EKV" DAC chip used in the D300 works with direct DSD playback, directly PWM converting the DSD signal and outputting it.
So the D300 can only play DSD in Vol Fixed mode.

Hi, from my experience, the D300 can only play DSD converted to PCM, it can't play native DSD
I tried with the Audirvana and Colibri on my Mac Mini, both can't play DSD on DoP mode. If I switch to DoP on both app, there's only like crackling sound from the speakers.
Not sure if I misunderstand of mis-setup anything, but I can only play on DSP converted to PCM on both apps on Mac.