$200-$500 Class D amps with digital inputs?

[Daniel7]

I wish there were more integrated amps in this price range.

We definitely see SMSL, etc. at ~$200 and below, but then nothing it seems until the NAD D3020 @ $500.

Have I missed anything?

Looking for class D with digital inputs & a remote.

 

[Matias]

TOPPING MX3s Desktop DAC/ Headphone Amp/ Power Amp

A system in a box The TOPPING MX3s is a comprehensive audio solution that combines a DAC, headphone amplifier, and power amplifier. With this versatile system, you can experience your favorite music and movies through a variety of devices, including in-ear monitors, full-sized headphones, and...

apos.audio

 

[Daniel7]

TOPPING MX3s Desktop DAC/ Headphone Amp/ Power Amp

A system in a box The TOPPING MX3s is a comprehensive audio solution that combines a DAC, headphone amplifier, and power amplifier. With this versatile system, you can experience your favorite music and movies through a variety of devices, including in-ear monitors, full-sized headphones, and...

apos.audio

This is my front-runner. Thanks for your post.

It still would be nice to see more amps in the range I posted. A little nicer, a little more power... but there's really nothing that I've been able to find.

 

[Daniel7]

OSD makes a couple of amps in this range, but they don't even publish THD specs and their CS didn't even know what that was when I asked.

Aside from that, I'm beginning to think that something like a DAC feeding an Emotiva A2M might be the only thing that represents a step up in quality and power over the sub-$200 digital amps on the market - and it doesn't have a remote.

I wonder where the RSL Speakers ia255.1 will fit in.

Am I missing anything here?

 

[Doodski]

SMSL SA300 comes to mind.

SA300

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

 

[Daniel7]

SMSL SA300 comes to mind.

SA300

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

I'm not certain it offers anything over some of the other sub $200 amps like the Topping or Loxjie. It's sits pretty snugly in the abundance of <$200 offerings, though it does seem like a decent unit at first glance.

 

[Doodski]

I'm not certain it offers anything over some of the other sub $200 amps like the Topping or Loxjie. It's sits pretty snugly in the abundance of <$200 offerings, though it does seem like a decent unit at first glance.

I don't think SMSL has had a bad review here @ ASR going off memory. It seems to be a solid brand with nice gear for the expense. So flip a coin this or the Topping.

Search results for query: smsl

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[ahofer]

I just want a roon-ready RME DAC with subwoofer EQ+purifi main amp all wrapped up in one.

 

[Doodski]

I just want a roon-ready RME DAC with subwoofer EQ+purifi main amp all wrapped up in one.

That sounds like premium pricing stuff.

 

[staticV3]

$200-$500 Class D amps with digital inputs?
Looking for class D with digital inputs & a remote.

Here's what I was able to find:

• Topping MX3s ($200)
• SMSL A300 ($200)
• SMSL AO200 ($240)
• Audiophonics TPA-S120 ($240)
• Dayton Audio WF150A ($250)
• Sabaj A30a ($500)

 

[Daniel7]

The Topping PA5 has some great performance.

At $350, I'm considering pairing it with a DAC that has balanced outputs as the PA5 has balanced inputs only.

Paired with the Topping E50 DAC I'd get a remote, but kind of blows my budget at over $550 total for both pieces. I'm wondering if there's a more budget DAC/preamp that does balanced outputs and has great performance for significantly less than the E50, and ideally comes with a remote.

 

[staticV3]

The Topping PA5 has some great performance.

Unfortunately it also has a design flaw which results in many, many broken PA5s. This has been acknowledged by the Amp's designer here, yet no fix has been offered.

Poll for Topping PA5 owners only please.

Poll for PA5 owners to report product defects. Discussion for any solutions. I think it would be useful to get a handle on some numbers to estimate just how wide spread the issues are. Addendum: Here is Topping's response to the PA5 issues...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Topping PA5 fix - D01 Module Replacement for everyone

Ive been working on the PA5 for a while now after mine died suddently, like many others https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/poll-for-topping-pa5-owners-only-please.33293/ Most of the PA5 units develop a crackling, hissing or just go a little silent or completely dead on...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I'm wondering if there's a more budget DAC/preamp that does balanced outputs and has great performance for significantly less than the E50, and ideally comes with a remote.

Least expensive DAC with volume, remote, and Bal out is the SMSL D-6 afaik.
It costs $30 less than the E50.

 

[Kegemusha]

Maybe this?

 

[JSmith]

Looking for class D with digital inputs & a remote.

Can you stretch the budget a little?

AUDIOPHONICS DA-S250NC Class D Integrated Amplifier NCore NC252MP DAC ES9038Q2M Bluetooth 2x250W 4 Ohm 32bit 768kHz DSD256 - Audiophonics

Versatile and powerful, we offer you with DA-S250NC a real integrated amplifier to which you can add speakers to enjoy your music in the best possible way...

www.audiophonics.fr

Audiophonics DA-S250NC DAC & Power Amp Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Audiophonics DA-S250NC class D amplifier (hypex NC252MP) and stereo DAC/Bluetooth. It was requested by a member and supplied by the company. It costs 582,50 € (tax excluded) (US$641). I really like the front panel display. It has large font and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

JSmith

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

Here's what I was able to find:

• Topping MX3s ($200)
• SMSL A300 ($200)
• SMSL AO200 ($240)
• Audiophonics TPA-S120 ($240)
• Dayton Audio WF150A ($250)
• Sabaj A30a ($500)

I have an experience with the Audiophonics TPA-S120. The amp was nicely built with a robust case and a good set of fairly high quality inputs and outputs.

However, in my case the amp was extremely noisy. By this I mean I could hear the speakers hissing over 3 meters away to my listening spot which I am not used to. I've owned a lot of amplifiers and the only one as noisy as this was a Tangent Ampster BT II. Two other amps I use regularly nowadays are NAD C315BEE, NAD C720BEE and a Audiophonics MPA-250NC xlr which all are silent as a library at night. Connecting my speakers to AP TPA-S120 was a bit of a shock when it comes to that.

Also there was a deficit in the software. Selecting USB-input did not work but one had to select BT-input to use USB-input, but at the same time to use BT-input selecting BT-input worked just fine and the amp paired with my Android phone with no issues. I did not try to feed signal to the amp at the same time from both inputs though as I was afraid what would happen.

Anyway I'm not sure if my amp was a deficit one when it comes to hissing but I was confirmed that there are issues with the "naming of inputs" at the manufacturers end. To me it seems that the problems goe a bit deeper than that but then again, I may be mistaken.

To be honest this experience keeps me far away from amps based on TPA3255 chips for a long time. Yes, yes, I know. It's all about the implementation. At least mainly.

Well, I shall stick to Hypex nCore or Purifi when it comes to D-class.

Edit: corrected a couple of typos