Best Build Quality? Topping vs SMSL vs FiiO vs Sabaj?

[Joffy1780]

And no, if your question was about all Chinese manufacturers, then it would make sense to say 'which Chinese manufacturer has the best build quality' It would then be difficult to list them in a poll, obviously.

 

[Talisman]

These look great. Which model do you have. I am tempted by the A10d.

Topping I have E30, D10, Dx3pro+, they still go, but the first dx3pro+ had a freezing problem and went back to amazon, with the second it went fine. From smsl I had the DA9 amplifier, always returned to amazon for some strange blocks (I was forced to physically disconnect the power supply) of the fiio honestly only the little "taishan" which is an extremely cheap dac, it does its job but it is not certainly a valuable device.
I had the old A3 from Sabaj (which was not very powerful but very nice and functional) and I recently bought two A8s to use them in monoblock configuration, they have the same housing as the D10a, D10D, D20a etc etc and I find them really beautiful, solid, massive, a different sensation from the usual small class D amplifiers that seem to be made of light sheet metal.
Overall in my experience Sabaj was the best.

 

[Talisman]

And no, if your question was about all Chinese manufacturers, then it would make sense to say 'which Chinese manufacturer has the best build quality' It would then be difficult to list them in a poll, obviously.

I think the moderators don't even like those who keep hijacking the thread with a continuous OT, you had your say on the term used, now if you have nothing else to add on the topic, don't add anything else.
The moderators will intervene if they deem it necessary

 

[Joffy1780]

I think the moderators don't even like those who keep hijacking the thread with a continuous OT, you had your say on the term used, now if you have nothing else to add on the topic, don't add anything else.
The moderators will intervene if they deem it necessary

I'm replying to questions. I'm sure they will intervene if necessary, but thanks for the help.

 

[delta76]

Can you direct me to the forum rules? I don't see them as prominently displayed as on other forums.

As linked above https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/lets-avoid-the-term-chi-fi.18243/

 

[pacman]

FiiO is miles ahead

 

[unpluggged]

Umm, aren't S.M.S.L. and Sabaj the same manufacturer?

FiiO is miles ahead

I doubt it. My Fiio X3 II had a problem with its power system out of the box. It was not shutting down, rebooting instead, and in short time it developed a failure when the power was cutting after a couple of minutes, especially if I hit any button. I even replaced the battery, but it didn't help. Then I had an FA7 IEM that developed some weird resonance, especially on higher female voices (the replacement unit is fine, though).

The same is true for other similar brands. I have two S.M.S.L. AD18 amps. One of them occasionally stops outputting sound when connected to USB, and has to be reconnected. The other starts outputting some loud noise randomly. I also had a Cayin N3 DAP that stopped charging after a few months of use. The Shanling M3s is infamous for its skippy encoder. In fact, perhaps the only piece of audio electronics from China that never had any malfunctions in my possession is the Khadas Tone Board.

 

[fpitas]

Because I'm naturally cautious, I'd open any of them and make sure nothing was floating around in there etc. All of these are low cost, and quality control is costly.

 

[Berwhale]

I own (or have owned) kit from Topping, Fiio and SMSL. My experience is that Topping and Fiio are on par in terms of build quality with SMSL a little behind (the one SMSL unit I owned failed which may have influenced this very subjective opinion). I do like the look of the newer Sabaj units like the A20d, but I have no need to change my Topping/ShenzhenAudio EX5.

 

[Misguided]

I was looking at the FIIO K7 but there’s no review on here yet.

I think the Topping is probably best or the SMSL. I recently bought the HO100 and it’s very nice, the SMSL C200 looks like a good all in one unit.

I did read somewhere about the Sabaj having some issues, reports of radio signals in the background of the audio. I believe it was something to do with the casing.

 

[NiagaraPete]

No difference

 

[TonyJZX]

i feel like this thread is very hard to quantify and its all just "feelings" on this side

1stly you can count out topping... this place has a LOT of animosity towards this company for obvious reasons

2ndly these companies do pretty different things at different price points eg. SMSL do dacs from $80 to over $1,000 so of course you're gonna get variations

3rdly some companies like to do 'themes' on how they build things... to me Sabaj is famous for that kind of silver alloy extruded case w/ faux grab handles and of course and that seems to be a lot more aesthetic than the stamped sheet steel other companies do... but does it carry over to circuitry

4thly some companies have specialties... Fiio does portable gear mainly so that's a different kettle to others here

I also feel like some companies outsource a particular product line to some 3rd party OEM... because some models seem completely different in design firmware build to their general stuff

so there's a lot going on behind "chinese hi-fi" that we're not privy to

 

[A Surfer]

I personally am very sure that the inception of the term "Chi-fi" was absolutely meant to be derogatory. Initially, I only noticed it used by people who didn't like being told their Western produced/designed, or made in Japan devices were being bettered and often out-performed, for significantly less money from the burgeoning Chinese Hi-Fi industry. From that camp of people came comments about you can save your money with your cheap Chi-fi crap, and it was clearly meant to insinuate that somehow the gear being designed and produced by Chinese companies was inferior simply because it was Chinese. So yes, I personally never like to see people use the term regardless of what they believe.

I am willing to bet a forensic audit of Internet audio sites would be able to determine when the term was first coined and I have no doubt the deliberately insulting nature of it would be made clear in that analysis of first users. I am not saying that some people have since used it without deliberate intent to slander or insult, but that doesn't mean that we should allow it to become entrenched in our audio vernacular unchallenged either.

 

[Snoopy]

I'm surprised Singxer didn't get mentioned.
Still, proud owners of the SA-1 headphone amp

Definitely hope they release a updated DAC with the AKM 4499EX chip. Something similar to the Gustard A26.

But I have no issues with my smsl d300 DAC , phenomenal DAC if you use DSD upsampling at the source to avoid sample rate switching.

And the SP400 headphone amp.

 

[Zanzou]

Question... build quality include how well it handles static shock? I just got (and returned) the FiiO K7. Was using the 4.4mm balanced output with the HD660s. Sounded great (in my uneducated opinion, this was my first DAC, and first balanced output-- replacing a Magni 3) for about 5 days, and then one day I couldn't get it to turn on. I suspect static electricity, but I'm not sure. Just kinda bummed it died that soon, but also relieved I could just return to Amazon in the return window and not deal with warranty.

So just to close-- a general question: do people worry about static and take precautions (similar to when building a PC, you ground yourself before touching components)?

Or are certain types of balanced plugs prone to trouble? I'm grasping at stuff here, but in the Schiit manual for the Magnius I just got to replace the K7, it says you need to make sure the pins in the balanced XLR out are not shorted to each other, and "bad things happen" if they are.

 

[cubanmetalguy]

That is ridiculous. It's a great portmanteau like "Japanimation" and there is nothing derogatory about it. Are we allowed to say "Chinese Hi-Fi"?

Totally agree. I don't feel at all offended when I hear Latin music, Latin food or Latin whatever. We use Chinese food, Italian or French food regularly. We speak about Japanese, German cars. What's the issue with Chi-Fi? It is just short for HiFi equipment coming out of China, which is good, as it refers to products that have been getting better in both quality and performance, even surpassing products form renowned brands, for reasonable prices. Geez, wokism is getting everywhere.

 

[A Surfer]

Totally agree. I don't feel at all offended when I hear Latin music, Latin food or Latin whatever. We use Chinese food, Italian or French food regularly. We speak about Japanese, German cars. What's the issue with Chi-Fi? It is just short for HiFi equipment coming out of China, which is good, as it refers to products that have been getting better in both quality and performance, even surpassing products form renowned brands, for reasonable prices. Geez, wokism is getting everywhere.

The issue is, and you may feel otherwise, but the term Chi-fi originated as a slur and an insult, meaning cheap, disposable audio equipment. At the worst possible interpretation it is also quite possible to see it as an insult about Chinese people and the goods they produce. It isn't a helpful term.

 

[Doodski]

The issue is, and you may feel otherwise, but the term Chi-fi originated as a slur and an insult, meaning cheap, disposable audio equipment. At the worst possible interpretation it is also quite possible to see it as an insult about Chinese people and the goods they produce. It isn't a helpful term.

Hopefully there are peeps on the other side reciprocating and I am sure there are. I agree the foundation of the word is as a slur.

 

[cestmoi]

Fiio K5 Pro (AKM), SMSL SH-8s, and Sabaj A10d here.

My rank is: (1) Sabaj; (2)SMSL; (3) Fiio.

 

[ronniebear]

From the build quality standpoint, what are users' perspectives on Douk Audio, Fosi Audio and Aiyima products?