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2 new Dacs SMSL D400ES vs D400EX

sthaus

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Hi everyone,
There are 2 new interesting model of SMSL DACs : (sharing a same chasis, a copy from Sabaj A20d/30 design but slim ver)

- SMSL D400ES Audio DAC MQA MQA-CD Hires ES9039MSPRO 11OPA1612A XU316 DSD512 Bluetooth AES I2S 32bit/768kHz With Remote Control
- SMSL D400EX AUDIO DAC 1*AK4191 2*AK4499EX OPA1612A LME49720 XU316 MQA-CD DSD512


is there anyone check them out ?
 

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gjm

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Looks like the EX may be a teensy tiny bit 'better' than the SU10.

1667802788746.png


Other than that... Nice to see the AK4499EX in use.
 

gjm

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It’s pricey than ESS 9039Pro .. and not sure of any different than AK4499 before ?
The AK4499EX used in the D400EX is the latest chip from AKM, and this DAC uses two of them, along with the 'also latest' 4191. These are the latest (greatest?) chips from AKM.

The D400EX is the same price as the Topping D90SE which uses the ESS9038Pro.

I am unqualified to say if one or the other is a better DAC in any way.
 
OP
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sthaus

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“When used in conjunction with the AK4191 the AK4499EX is the ideal analog conversion solution for playback of ultra-high-resolution sound sources: up to 1536kHz sample rate, 64-bit PCM; or 44.8MHz sample rate DSD”
(https://www.akm.com/eu/en/about-us/news/2022/20220420-ak4499ex/)

What it mean that it could up to 1536kHz ?? Really .. and 64-bit PCM .. double DSD 44.8Mhz vs AK4499eq 32-bits 4 channels
 

staticV3

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There's a thread on these already:
 

Snoopy

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“When used in conjunction with the AK4191 the AK4499EX is the ideal analog conversion solution for playback of ultra-high-resolution sound sources: up to 1536kHz sample rate, 64-bit PCM; or 44.8MHz sample rate DSD”
(https://www.akm.com/eu/en/about-us/news/2022/20220420-ak4499ex/)

What it mean that it could up to 1536kHz ?? Really .. and 64-bit PCM .. double DSD 44.8Mhz vs AK4499eq 32-bits 4 channels
It could. But Smsl didn't implement that. So pcm 768khz and DSD512 is all U get
 
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sthaus

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It could. But Smsl didn't implement that. So pcm 768khz and DSD512 is all U get
Not sure why they did it in purpose, I hope they update the firmware later on .. coz if their competitors like Topping or Sabaj used the same hardware but max the PCM/DSD output like ... then .... !!!! ^^" or we might wait a little bit then
 

Palladium

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The AK4499EX used in the D400EX is the latest chip from AKM, and this DAC uses two of them, along with the 'also latest' 4191. These are the latest (greatest?) chips from AKM.

The D400EX is the same price as the Topping D90SE which uses the ESS9038Pro.

I am unqualified to say if one or the other is a better DAC in any way.

Both are pointlessly overkill products. I wouldn't overthink this.
 

HiFindingnemo

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Can we just edit your post to say 99% of all products posted to and reviewed on audiosciencereview are pointlessly overkill? I mean why are DACs and solid state amps even being reviewed still? Identifying defects sure, but taking QC out of the picture, aren't they all the same in real world applications?
 

BR52

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Can we just edit your post to say 99% of all products posted to and reviewed on audiosciencereview are pointlessly overkill? I mean why are DACs and solid state amps even being reviewed still? Identifying defects sure, but taking QC out of the picture, aren't they all the same in real world applications?
It seems you start trolling here as well.
 

HiFindingnemo

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It's not a troll if it's the truth... maybe if you read as much as possible and learn you'll realize all the DACs reviewed here sound identical and the discussion is pointless (sorry, THAT is a troll)
 

JeffGB

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Even if there is a slight difference in subjective "warmth" or "coolness" between AKM, ESS, and CS converters, which has not been proven afaik, these DACs have reached a point that features and small things like "does it click when driving a power amp with no volume control when the sampling frequency changes" are the major differences. I notice the noise level is a couple of db lower but the distortion is actually higher than SMSL DO100 which is a fraction of the price.
 

Veri

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[...] these DACs have reached a point that features and small things like "does it click when driving a power amp with no volume control when the sampling frequency changes" are the major differences. I notice the noise level is a couple of db lower but the distortion is actually higher than SMSL DO100 which is a fraction of the price.
Agreeing with this, it's all about features and user experience today no? Once we are already looking at products maintaining 120dB SINAD, who cares if there is some extra dB of it in the latest ESS9039Pro? It's a great thing to have so much headroom in your components, since it is "overkill" yes, but it's already plenty no?

It's still nice to see the achievements of these latest and greatest but no one will claim night and day transparency or something lol.
 
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