Veri
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I'd just put it to FL1, really. Or use FL5/6 if you wanna follow the YouTuber. Just set and forget..
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SMSL DL200 the best ever value DAC/AMP?
- Thread starter nerdemoji
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hoverdonkey
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I'd just put it to FL1, really. Or use FL5/6 if you wanna follow the YouTuber. Just set and forget..
Done! Thank you!
The SU-1 is more clinical and the DL200 a bit warmer. Detail/stereo image is great. You will only hear the difference if you switch this in short succession. Both sound very nice. A big advantage is also the remote control, where you have to turn off the SU-1 by pressing the button, you can easily do this with the DL200 from your listening position.
Interesting observation
I received the DL 200 yesterday and have been listening to it late into the night, and most of today. I am really loving it; the sound is a step up from the Topping DX3 Pro+ I had to return. I guess now it was a Godsend that Aoshida sent me the returned Topping that had a busted display. I would have kept the Topping otherwise and never tried the DL 200. The Topping is nice, but it did have that sterile, or clinical sound that I heard others describe. It definitely has a more treble forward sound. I thought that was just some audio snobs being nitpicky, but I had the same take aways. I like the Toppings amber display a little better than the DL 200"s white led; and how the Topping remembers your volume level when switching inputs. I also think the Topping would turn on/off with my computer unlike the SMSL. The Topping never seriously impress me at the get-go. I guess I was expecting more from my first stand-alone unit. I was coming from a LG G8 ThinQ that has an ESS Sabre 9218P quad DAC, and a 2Vrms amp built in. I had to put the Topping in high gain to see any improvement, but mainly it was just more power available which was nice. I was going to keep the Topping mainly because I wanted to switch between my headphones and active speakers without having to unplug them from my laptop. The extra power was nice, but not enough of an improvement. Once I sent it back due to the faulty display, I was really wavering if I really needed or wanted a desktop unit.
I loved the DL 200 right from the get-go when I plugged in to it with my Beyer DT 770 Pro 250's. It didn't sound as harsh as the Topping. It really shines when you set the filter to FL 6 as suggested in the video posted in this thread. I could actually hear a difference in most of the filters, especially through FL 4 - FL 7. With FL 6 it sounds fuller, with good mids and punchy bass. I listen to mainly classic rock and 80's metal. On poorly recorded tracks the Topping was just so grating that I couldn't listen for long durations without getting fatigued. On the DL 200 they sound really good, even poorly recorded ones. Also, Marshall amps sound like Marshall amps!!! You get that sweet growl, and they have this nice, juicy tone that any guitarist would lust after on a recording. I'm sure it has to do with the better mid presentation. Vocals just sound better, they have texture and life, I hear more nuances. The treble is really nice, I hear more sparkle than I have ever before. Acoustic guitars have shimmer, and pianos have airiness. I think the DL 200's amp section is more resolving also. I notice things in songs I hadn't noticed before. Each instrument has more space, weight, and separation. It's not just width of soundstage but also height which I didn't notice on the Topping. Bass sounds punchier and has better slam; transitions in songs have the impact they should. I could actually just sit there and listen to each song all the way through, because it sounded so good, instead of changing songs so quickly to find something that justifies your purchase. For me being A.D.D that's a big thing. It felt so good to just listen to music and enjoy it. These are my observations; I know they aren't very scientific like a lot of others on here. No, I didn't have both the Topping and SMSL together at the same time to adjust the settings and levels. What I do know is that I'm getting better enjoyment from my music and playlist on the DL 200. I don't regret my purchase at all, and I'm not about to give it up or send it back. First thing I did when I woke up this morning was jump right back on it excitedly.
I loved the DL 200 right from the get-go when I plugged in to it with my Beyer DT 770 Pro 250's. It didn't sound as harsh as the Topping. It really shines when you set the filter to FL 6 as suggested in the video posted in this thread. I could actually hear a difference in most of the filters, especially through FL 4 - FL 7. With FL 6 it sounds fuller, with good mids and punchy bass. I listen to mainly classic rock and 80's metal. On poorly recorded tracks the Topping was just so grating that I couldn't listen for long durations without getting fatigued. On the DL 200 they sound really good, even poorly recorded ones. Also, Marshall amps sound like Marshall amps!!! You get that sweet growl, and they have this nice, juicy tone that any guitarist would lust after on a recording. I'm sure it has to do with the better mid presentation. Vocals just sound better, they have texture and life, I hear more nuances. The treble is really nice, I hear more sparkle than I have ever before. Acoustic guitars have shimmer, and pianos have airiness. I think the DL 200's amp section is more resolving also. I notice things in songs I hadn't noticed before. Each instrument has more space, weight, and separation. It's not just width of soundstage but also height which I didn't notice on the Topping. Bass sounds punchier and has better slam; transitions in songs have the impact they should. I could actually just sit there and listen to each song all the way through, because it sounded so good, instead of changing songs so quickly to find something that justifies your purchase. For me being A.D.D that's a big thing. It felt so good to just listen to music and enjoy it. These are my observations; I know they aren't very scientific like a lot of others on here. No, I didn't have both the Topping and SMSL together at the same time to adjust the settings and levels. What I do know is that I'm getting better enjoyment from my music and playlist on the DL 200. I don't regret my purchase at all, and I'm not about to give it up or send it back. First thing I did when I woke up this morning was jump right back on it excitedly.
Veri
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You realise these filters affect high frequencies? Not the mids nor the bass.. sounds a bit like new toy syndrome, honestly.
Lol... I said it was a non scientific review. I described what I heard the best I could. If I had new toy syndrome it would of been with the Topping I returned a few weeks ago. I didn't even share a review of it at that time. I could of easily replaced it with another one. I left my review to help others who maybe interested in this product, especially from the prospective of a former DX3 Pro+ owner. I'm sorry you found no value in it, thanks for your honesty.
Irrespective of how the equipment behaves, this is what matters at the end of the day! Enjoy
hoverdonkey
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If I understand this graph correctly (from the SMSL product page (here)), filters FL1, FL2, FL4 look flat beyond 20kHz, whilst FL3, FL5 & FL6 all look like they drop-off from 18kHz. I am guessing this means that only those of us young or lucky enough to be able to hear this high need to worry about the filter setting?
According to this source, that would be teenagers. I comfortably admit that I am comfortably beyond this age. According to those samples I can just about hear 15kHz... at VERY high volume [hang on... I'd better check that I turned it down... phew, I hadn't!]
Perhaps SMSL could release special edition versions of their DACS for us oldies that only go up to 15kHz... and only charge 3/4 of the price?
According to this source, that would be teenagers. I comfortably admit that I am comfortably beyond this age. According to those samples I can just about hear 15kHz... at VERY high volume [hang on... I'd better check that I turned it down... phew, I hadn't!]
Perhaps SMSL could release special edition versions of their DACS for us oldies that only go up to 15kHz... and only charge 3/4 of the price?
I can hear till about 18-19 kHz at 37 (tested a few weeks ago and just now tested again) and I couldn't really hear a difference, but I might give it another shot since everything is perfectly set up now and the DL200 should be done burning in.
AnalogSteph
Major Contributor
Nah, all the options are built into the DAC chip already, they don't cost anything extra...
See ES9039Q2M datasheet, table 19.Unfortunately the filter labels in the above graph seem to be all messed up. If FL6 looks as shown, that has to be a slow rolloff filter (which is quite obviously is), while FL7 is a fast rolloff job. Meanwhile, FL3 has to be an apodizing filter (which is a job that reaches stopband at fs/2), while FL2 is a "regular" fast rolloff job.
Usually the best compromise between passband ripple, high frequency extension, suppression of aliasing components and phase linearity is provided by a traditional linear phase fast rolloff filter. If I'm not mistaken, that's what ESS calls linear phase fast rolloff low ripple, and I think that's FL1, so the advice that you could just stick with FL1 would be correct.
You can also upsample to your heart's content in software and use one of the slow rolloff options. I think FL6 is linear phase slow (which is what I would probably use), and FL5 is either minimum phase or minimum phase low dispersion.
Hello, Quick question, I am looking for a new Dac/Amp combo. After searching and reading a lot I’ve found these one :
- Sabaj A10D 2022 (200€)
- SMSL DL200 2023 (185€)
- SMSL AL200 2023 (240€)
What would you choose between these 3 ? The AL200 seems to be the best with an EQ integrated ?
Thanks for the help
- Sabaj A10D 2022 (200€)
- SMSL DL200 2023 (185€)
- SMSL AL200 2023 (240€)
What would you choose between these 3 ? The AL200 seems to be the best with an EQ integrated ?
Thanks for the help
frabor
Active Member
Not 100% comparable. The Al200 has a power amp also, the other two are only have a headphone amp.Hello, Quick question, I am looking for a new Dac/Amp combo. After searching and reading a lot I’ve found these one :
- Sabaj A10D 2022 (200€)
- SMSL DL200 2023 (185€)
- SMSL AL200 2023 (240€)
What would you choose between these 3 ? The AL200 seems to be the best with an EQ integrated ?
Thanks for the help
Hmm okey, but like from what I understand from your message, the AL200 would be the best one between the three since it has an integrated amp too and a DSP with EQ Profile + different filters
frabor
Active Member
Better is in the eye of the beholder. If you are going to use the amp, yes, it has some unique functionality absent from the rest.
The Al200 is really closer to a receiver than to a DAC: line input, Bluetooth input, usb and optical input; all you need is to get some speakers (optimally 4R) , but....
NO LINE OUT.
So, if you want a traditional dac to connect to your amplifier, the AL200 will not do. If all you want to do is headphones, any of the three will do. If you want to connect to an amp, it has to be either
- Sabaj A10D 2022 (200€)
- SMSL DL200 2023 (185€)
Both superb units, the Sabaj is a tested one, looks good and does it all (120 dB sinad, unbalanced 2V and full size xlr balanced 4V, BT, remote, usb , optical and coax). The SMSL is a newer and untested.
Since it seems that you like the Al200 the most:
The manual is not very clear on specs or there is any measurement chart (English's at the end).
In the specs sheet of the amp you can see that it is very clear that you get 60-80 Wpc before the thing gets crazy
And the dsp eq , according to their SMSL, looks clean.
These are the claimed specs
And with that THD+N, it is about sinad -88dB, too optimistic
t
The Al200 is really closer to a receiver than to a DAC: line input, Bluetooth input, usb and optical input; all you need is to get some speakers (optimally 4R) , but....
NO LINE OUT.
So, if you want a traditional dac to connect to your amplifier, the AL200 will not do. If all you want to do is headphones, any of the three will do. If you want to connect to an amp, it has to be either
- Sabaj A10D 2022 (200€)
- SMSL DL200 2023 (185€)
Both superb units, the Sabaj is a tested one, looks good and does it all (120 dB sinad, unbalanced 2V and full size xlr balanced 4V, BT, remote, usb , optical and coax). The SMSL is a newer and untested.
Since it seems that you like the Al200 the most:
The manual is not very clear on specs or there is any measurement chart (English's at the end).
In the specs sheet of the amp you can see that it is very clear that you get 60-80 Wpc before the thing gets crazy
And the dsp eq , according to their SMSL, looks clean.
These are the claimed specs
And with that THD+N, it is about sinad -88dB, too optimistic
t
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SMSL DL200 is a very good Dac and headphone amp very good too. The SMSL AL200 is a quality power amp with a dac but whose smsl gives no indication which in general is very bad sign of quality. It will therefore be necessary to choose according to the use you make a listening to the quality headphones; DL200, or power your speakers with the AL200 but with poor quality decoding. The ideal combo would then be DL200 + AL200.
Thanks to both of you.
So basically the DL200 and Sabaj A10D seems to be a DAC, but both having an headphone amp. The A10D review tells that It can drive almost every headphone between 32 and 300 ohm?
For the DL200 it looks to be the same, users reviews are really positive about this one.
The AL200 has an integrated Dac but like you said there is no measurements in the manual for the Dac. I have a behringer UMC202HD audio interface, I could use the Dac of this one and then plug it to the line in or the AL200?
Hey My Friend,
cheapaudioman did a YouTube review of the AL200, and he really liked it. He found the headphone amp struggled with Dan Clark Aeon's, but those are 13 Ohm headphones. It drove the Hifiman XS with no problem. He really praised the amp section, and liked most of the eq settings. Check it out, I think he did a good job on the review.
Like the others above said, it comes down to your use. If your primary use is to drive speakers, than its a no brainer for the AL200. If your wanting a headphone amp or DAC than the other two are your better options.
I have the DL200 and really enjoy it. I bought it because of reading this thread. The new ESS Sabre ES9039Q2M sealed the deal. I was really excited after reading up on it through the link in this thread. My purpose was for a quality DAC and headphone amp, and later on add an amp to drive speakers when I upgrade. I love that I no longer have to unplug my computer speakers to plug in my headphones. The extra power in the headphone amp is icing on the cake.
Good luck and let us know which one you choose, and your thoughts.
