SMSL D1 - ROHM DAC for everyone

[amanieux]

No two things in the world are exactly same.
If you say that there is no difference between, AKM, ESS, Cirus and BurBrown. I would say that you have not listened enough or you don't have the passion of music.
You are desperately trying to convince me that there is no audible difference between devices [if all measurements are same]. But that's not true when it comes to Hifi.
Every DAC that I have owned has some sort of tonality/sound characteristics that make them apart.

very much my experience dac differences are true but very subtle ( to give you an idea changing tips on a iem give a more audible difference), so i would not spend more than 10-20% of my audio chain on the dac

 

[sabih]

very much my experience dac differences are true but very subtle ( to give you an idea changing tips on a iem give a more audible difference), so i would not spend more than 10-20% of my audio chain on the dac

100% agreed

 

[VientoB]

No two things in the world are exactly same.
If you say that there is no difference between, AKM, ESS, Cirus and BurBrown. I would say that you have not listened enough or you don't have the passion of music.
You are desperately trying to convince me that there is no audible difference between devices [if all measurements are same]. But that's not true when it comes to Hifi.
Every DAC that I have owned has some sort of tonality/sound characteristics that make them apart.

Then you do not understand the limit of human hearing. Yes our hearing has limits.

 

[Toku]

The D1 arrived and I am currently testing it in various ways. Before I can talk about the sound quality, I am confused by the strange behavior of the D1. I need some time to look into it.
When I am testing it with the USB input, it suddenly switches to another input.

 

[aagstn]

The D1 arrived and I am currently testing it in various ways. Before I can talk about the sound quality, I am confused by the strange behavior of the D1. I need some time to look into it.
When I am testing it with the USB input, it suddenly switches to another input.

Mine is arriving tomorrow, but this was the kind of stuff I was concerned about. I had no doubt it would sound the same as the SU-1, but I was concerned about it having quirks like this.

 

[kazuviking]

I am confused by the strange behavior of the D1. I need some time to look into it.
When I am testing it with the USB input, it suddenly switches to another input.

Now this is the thing i'm interested in when testing dacs.

 

[Toku]

This is an addendum to the operation status of the D1 I received.

I have simply replaced the SU-1 environment with the D1. It is connected to a PC via USB.

I try to turn the power button on and off, but there is no response. The power is always on.

There is no response when I press the input signal switch button.
The input indicator LED alternates between DSD/USB, DSD/OPT, and DSD/COAX, and there is no response when I press the input switch button. After it lights up several times, it switches to another input on its own.

The OPT input connector is loose and cannot be connected properly. It easily comes out.

When testing with the USB input, it suddenly switches to another input and playback stops.

I played PCM44.1kHz to PCM768kHz and DSD64 to DSD512 files randomly and continuously, and they played without any problems. I liked the sound quality, which I liked.
However, with DSD, there is a very slight pop noise when switching songs, but it is so small that it is not bothersome.
The above is the operating status of the D1 I purchased from the SMSL shop on Amazon Japan. I have concluded that the D1 I received is probably broken or has a problem with the firmware. If you are planning to purchase one, I recommend waiting for a while. Please make your decision based on reports from other people.

Strangely enough, a D1 sent by the company to a YouTuber friend in Italy a while ago is operating completely normally.

 

[Uncle Dubbs]

This is an addendum to the operation status of the D1 I received.

I have simply replaced the SU-1 environment with the D1. It is connected to a PC via USB.

I try to turn the power button on and off, but there is no response. The power is always on.

There is no response when I press the input signal switch button.
The input indicator LED alternates between DSD/USB, DSD/OPT, and DSD/COAX, and there is no response when I press the input switch button. After it lights up several times, it switches to another input on its own.

The OPT input connector is loose and cannot be connected properly. It easily comes out.

When testing with the USB input, it suddenly switches to another input and playback stops.

I played PCM44.1kHz to PCM768kHz and DSD64 to DSD512 files randomly and continuously, and they played without any problems. I liked the sound quality, which I liked.
However, with DSD, there is a very slight pop noise when switching songs, but it is so small that it is not bothersome.
The above is the operating status of the D1 I purchased from the SMSL shop on Amazon Japan. I have concluded that the D1 I received is probably broken or has a problem with the firmware. If you are planning to purchase one, I recommend waiting for a while. Please make your decision based on reports from other people.

Strangely enough, a D1 sent by the company to a YouTuber friend in Italy a while ago is operating completely normally.

Try a different usb port

 

[Toku]

Try a different usb port

I have checked all of these basic checks.
The device started running out of control just by connecting it to a USB-C power source.
I have already completed the return procedure to Amazon jp.

 

[kazuviking]

I try to turn the power button on and off, but there is no response. The power is always on.

Is it a normal button or capacitive touch button? I have a hate and love releationship witch capacitive buttons.

After it lights up several times, it switches to another input on its own.

Maybe there is an auto switch when no input is detected on the selected input.

When testing with the USB input, it suddenly switches to another input and playback stops.

100% fault of the loose usb port, i had this happen on some ultra budget chinese dacs with cheap build quality.

Strangely enough, a D1 sent by the company to a YouTuber friend in Italy a while ago is operating completely normally.

Can you send the review link?

The device started running out of control just by connecting it to a USB-C power source.

I smell a badly implemented circuit with massive ground loop issues. I have a feeling it doesn't have galvanic isolation on the usb.

Thanks for showing these issues.

 

[sabih]

How is the sound as compared to SU 1?

 

[Toku]

Is it a normal button or capacitive touch button? I have a hate and love releationship witch capacitive buttons.

Maybe there is an auto switch when no input is detected on the selected input.

100% fault of the loose usb port, i had this happen on some ultra budget chinese dacs with cheap build quality.

Can you send the review link?

I smell a badly implemented circuit with massive ground loop issues. I have a feeling it doesn't have galvanic isolation on the usb.

Thanks for showing these issues.

I am an engineer who worked in product development at a Japanese company. Of course, as an engineer, I understand the content of the question. I am testing the D1 based on that.

I think the D1 is a capacitive touch pad. That's why I tested it with my fingertips moistened.

I don't think there is a problem with the USB ground loop. The symptoms are the same even when only the 5V/2A iPad power adapter is connected to the D1.

However, I don't know if this symptom is a common problem for all products currently on sale, or if it is a problem that only occurs with my D. If you are interested in this problem, please buy one and test it yourself. The D1 is a very inexpensive product.

 

[Toku]

How is the sound as compared to SU 1?

The operation was unstable, so I was only able to check the sound quality for a short time. My impression at the time was that the sound had a low center of gravity and a somewhat heavy, solid feel. I like this sound. Like the SU-1, the sound quality is unbelievable for the price. The rest is just my preference.

 

[kazuviking]

please buy one and test it yourself

Ordered mine already but it will take 20-30 days to arrive.

 

[Toku]

Ordered mine already but it will take 20-30 days to arrive.

I hope you get a good product. My friend in Italy says the D1 he received works perfectly. I think you'll like the sound quality of the D1.

 

[kazuviking]

I think you'll like the sound quality of the D1.

Well currently i use a super cheap ES9018K2M dac. I use this as its super small and paired perfectly with the U3 while i was in UNI. My only major issue with this is the insane bass distortion it developed, replaced the opamps with opa1656 but nothing changed.
So its 100% gonna be an upgrade.

NVM: My order got cancelled for no reason. Well looks like my only choice is ali but then the D1 is over 100€ with VAT and the SU-1 is only 65€. Gonna wait for choice day and see if the D1 is worth it al all.

 

[Toku]

Well currently i use a super cheap ES9018K2M dac. I use this as its super small and paired perfectly with the U3 while i was in UNI. My only major issue with this is the insane bass distortion it developed, replaced the opamps with opa1656 but nothing changed.
So its 100% gonna be an upgrade.

NVM: My order got cancelled for no reason. Well looks like my only choice is ali but then the D1 is over 100€ with VAT and the SU-1 is only 65€. Gonna wait for choice day and see if the D1 is worth it al all.

Recent technological advances in DAC products have been great, and the difference in sound quality between low-end and high-end products is getting smaller and smaller. Therefore, my interest in DACs has shifted to low-end products. I think the change in sound quality from the DAC you are currently using is significant. However, since there are preferences for sound, I don't know if the D1 will be to your liking.

Unfortunately, the D1 that was delivered to me did not work properly, so I returned it to Amazon jp and reported the detailed symptoms to SMSL. However, since it is a product I am interested in, I plan to purchase it again after some time has passed.

 

[aagstn]

I have spent the day with the D1 and overall I'm happy with it, but will try to share my experience.

I tested it against an SMSL SU-1 and an SMSL RAW-MDA1. These are my two every day DACs and I'm pretty familiar with their quirks.

I tested the D1 USB output with a Raspberry PI 5 running MoOde Audio, a M4 Mac mini with Plexamp and IINA, and an Intel Nuc on Windows 11 with Plexamp and MusicBee. I installed no additional drivers.
I also tested the Optical and Coax output using an Oppo DV-980H as it is the most reliable CD player I have.

For USB playback I used several of my own audio CDs ripped to FLAC. For Hi-Res audio I used several of my SACDs ripped from a Sony Blu-ray Player to .dsf files, also to 24/88.2 FLAC for comparison. Blu-ray audio discs were ripped to 24/96 FLAC and 24/192 FLAC depending on the source quality on the blu-ray.

Let me get sound quality out of the way first. I have no way to test the sound output properly. I could not hear a difference between the D1, SU-1, or RAW-MDA1. All DACs sound the same to me and the D1 was no different. This was true of CD quality or hi-res audio. I listened with Seinheiser 6XX headphones and Klipsch 600M II speakers and everything sounded equal.

It hooks up like a standard DAC but has a separate power USB input and standard data USB input. I could not get it to work through just the data USB with the Pi 5. I ended up having to hook up a separate wall wart to power from the power USB. The odd thing is the instructions warn you not to give it too high a voltage but nowhere does it tell you the voltage it requires and it doesn't come with a wall wart.

On the Raspberry Pi I ran into some annoying quirks with the USB output. 16/44.1 was perfect. You could jump album to album or track to track seamlessly. However starting or skipping around DSD files had a slight delay and sometimes a quiet pop when starting an album or skipping a track. It was not consistent, but happened frequently. It also happened with 24 bit FLAC files. The easiest way to get a slight delay or slight pop was to setup a playlist of different types of tracks. Moving from 16/44.1 to 24/192 or a pure DSD file would cause the slight delay and sometimes a light pop. In fairness the RAW-MDA1 has always had this problem as well on Pi though it was slightly worse and more common with the D1. The SU-1 does not have this issue with my Pi5 and could jump through all the tracks with no delays or pops. Shout out as well to the Schiit Modi +. That unison USB thing they have has always worked flawlessly for me on every device including the Pi and I would love if other companies could have that consistency. Schiit DACs are more expensive though.

Edit 6/1: My initial Raspberry Pi results were using the USB 3.0 port. I tested it more today using the USB 2.0 port and had better results. The Pi powered the DAC just fine with no extra power USB needed and the very slight delay moving between hires files was gone. The small pops did not completely disappear. It is now in line with the RAW-MDA1 and has an occasional light pop when loading a hires album or switching between hires tracks. Not every time, but it is there. SMSL has never addressed this with the RAW-MDA1 so I would not expect an update for the D1. My Pi is in an Argon V5 case and has an NVME and other accessories to power so that may be why I was having quirkiness with the USB 3.0 in my testing.

All was not lost for the D1 though. The popping and delays were gone on the Mac and PC. On Mac and PC I could use just the data USB as those devices seemed to give it all the power it wanted. I played the same CD quality and hi res files on the Mac using Plexamp for FLAC and IINA for DSD and there were zero issues. You could skip between tracks, albums and bitrates and it played back smoothly. PC had the same story. Plexamp and MusicBee were tested and again I had no issues changing bitrates or playing back high res files. I can only assume there is some driver issue with the Pi causing the minor issues I ran into.

CD playback through optical and coax had no issues. You could skip through tracks just fine with no audio quirks.

Last thing I will touch on is the interface. It uses capacitive touch for input and I hate it. It mostly works but never as well as an actual button. The SU-1 has a physical button that turns it off and on and changes inputs. It is perfect. This has two separate touch sections that mostly work except when you don't touch it quite right and it ignores you. Minor, but annoying. I also don't understand the purpose of the DSD LED. It turns red when you turn it off and will flash green briefly when changing inputs. However, in none of my testing on Pi, PC, or Mac did it ever light up when playing a DSD file. Maybe my .dsf files aren't compatible with the light even though they played back.

It is worth noting this device does not support MQA for that one guy somewhere that has a bunch of MQA CDs.

I'm happy with the D1 for Mac, PC and CD player use. However, I cannot see buying one of these over an SU-1. The SU-1 is only $5 more, is more reliable in my testing with non PC and Mac USB ports and it has a physical button. It doesn't have a separate USB for power, but I have never needed it with the SU-1. I definitely don't recommend the D1 for use as a DAC with a Raspberry Pi 5.

 

[VientoB]

Recent technological advances in DAC products have been great, and the difference in sound quality between low-end and high-end products is getting smaller and smaller. Therefore, my interest in DACs has shifted to low-end products. I think the change in sound quality from the DAC you are currently using is significant. However, since there are preferences for sound, I don't know if the D1 will be to your liking.

Unfortunately, the D1 that was delivered to me did not work properly, so I returned it to Amazon jp and reported the detailed symptoms to SMSL. However, since it is a product I am interested in, I plan to purchase it again after some time has passed.

I recently listened to my 1996 Rotel CD player again and couldn't hear a difference compared to a modern DAC.

 

[kazuviking]

The SU-1 is only $5 more

So choice day arrived and its the opposite for me. With coupons and coins the SU-1 is 5€ cheaper than the D1. The D1 received a serious price decrease from over 100€ to only 70€.
EDIT: D1 is coming in 10 days hopefully. Ordered a bunch of uC cables to see when one will work properly.