SMSL D1 - ROHM DAC for everyone

[Roland68]

I bought my D1 from Taobao directly. So far, no issue on Front panel or sound yet. QC looks good so far.

Also, you guys can see my unit revision. I have no idea is this the latest or............????

This should indeed be the latest firmware; mine is 55.14.

Does anyone have firmware 55.15 for me?

 

[oldpainless]

Does anyone have firmware 55.15 for me?

+1, if at all pretty please.

 

[Svend P]

Yes indeed! The sound really blown me away too.

All DACs sound the same unless broken by design

How can DAC's have a SOUND SIGNATURE if they measure as transparent?

I know there are people out there that think cables affect sound, which is much worse, but there really is no response to something like that, but just to smile and nod. But what about people who talk about DACS as if they were headphone drivers or speakers, and talk about the SOUNDSTAGE...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[oldpainless]

All DACs sound the same unless broken by design

How can DAC's have a SOUND SIGNATURE if they measure as transparent?

I know there are people out there that think cables affect sound, which is much worse, but there really is no response to something like that, but just to smile and nod. But what about people who talk about DACS as if they were headphone drivers or speakers, and talk about the SOUNDSTAGE...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Yeah, been waiting for that....I'll be keeping this dac, because I like the sound.

 

[Svend P]

I'll be keeping this dac, because I like the sound.

Then the good news is you'll like almost every DAC in existence

 

[oldpainless]

Then the good news is you'll like almost every DAC in existence

Ok, you win...well done. Anyways, in other news.....

 

[gozaine]

will the d1 be better than ps 200?

 

[Roland68]

will the d1 be better than ps 200?

Define "better".

 

[stemag]

If anyone tries this mod, feedback would be nice, it will also help other D1 users with this problem.

After the firmware upgrade, the touch buttons worked fine. However, on rare occasions, pressing on the metal chassis with more than one finger, still resulted in unwanted switching.

After applying a piece of tape to the front of the two springs as described by @Roland68, the problem no longer occurs.

The mod proposed by @Roland68 is really the ultimate solution to the problem of touch buttons and I feel confident that after applying it, no firmware upgrade is required. I highly recommend it. It is very simple, the only problem being you need a T6 torx screwdriver.

 

[tlkw79]

I went back and checked Taobao then found out can't find D1 anymore. I think I am considering lucky.....

 

[Bleib]

I just went with a SU1, seems to sound great. Only gripes are the way too bright led and no separate power plug. Since my mac mini is putting out usb power in standby thats not much of an issue.

This is why I always recommend PS200 first. Plus it also has BT

 

[Murat gunel]

I isolated its springs and it works perfectly. Now he has no defects. Completely trouble-free. Everything is as it should be. He doesn't change it on his own. It doesn't change when you touch the safe. It's all fixed, it's perfect.

 

[amanieux]

All DACs sound the same unless broken by design

How can DAC's have a SOUND SIGNATURE if they measure as transparent?

I know there are people out there that think cables affect sound, which is much worse, but there really is no response to something like that, but just to smile and nod. But what about people who talk about DACS as if they were headphone drivers or speakers, and talk about the SOUNDSTAGE...

www.audiosciencereview.com

in theory they should sound the same but in practice they do sound slightly different, the emphasis is on slightly because changing eartips on your iem changes more the sound than changing dacs

 

[amanieux]

Thank you for the welcome.

I remember another member mentioning it in this thread (the member has connections to a youtube reviewer).

Re the problem, maybe it's just random then, or maybe Amazon have different manufacturing batches?

Yeah, it's a lovely sounding DAC, at any money (I've tried various ESS and AKM dac's) and, I'll be keeping this one.

happy you found a dac that match your subjective taste as we all have different tastes, a reviewer had a dac where you could only switch the dac chip in the dac/preamp combo and he did prefer akm over rohm and ess :

 

[oldpainless]

happy you found a dac that match your subjective taste as we all have different tastes,

Amen to that.

 

[Roland68]

Update and workaround for the "touch sensor" problem with the SMSL D1 Rohm DAC.

To put it simply, SMSL has incorporated three physical errors out of ignorance.
- The plexiglass/plastic plate glued into the aluminum front panel is not sufficiently insulated from the aluminum.
- SMSL uses so-called touch springs (spring touch sensors) in the D1. But they really overdid it and used springs that were too large, presumably designed for much thicker material.
- Even worse, they installed these springs incorrectly, or used the wrong springs for this type of installation. In any case, the mounting base was also used to transmit the capacitive energy, instead of using the contact provided on the touch spring.

All three issues cascade together to cause excessive capacitive energy transfer.

Simple solution:
- Open the device and remove the four Torx screws (T6) on the back.
- Carefully pull out the circuit board (don't worry, there's no ribbon cable).
- Now stick a piece of thin, transparent adhesive tape, approximately 19x19 or 20x20mm in size, to the front of both springs. It should extend evenly all the way around.
- Now carefully push the circuit board back in, making sure it sits in the guide of the aluminum housing.
- Screw it back in place, but only tighten the screws slightly by hand.

After this modification, the device no longer responds at all when I touch the housing. This accidental switching or turning off is also gone, as is the skipping of inputs.
Now my D1 can be used as expected.

If anyone tries this mod, feedback would be nice, it will also help other D1 users with this problem.

In post #132, I described the Tesafilm mod for the SMSL D1.
Here's the picture.
Don't forget to fold the adhesive film behind the plastic part for the front LEDs before you push the board back into the case!

 

[Roland68]

Update Touch Mod!

If the Tesafilm Mod was too mundane for you, there's the PETG Touch Mod.
3D printed from PETG, which simply clips onto the spring.
D1 PETG Touch Mod STL file
It's printed with PETG and a 0.4 mm or 0.2 mm nozzle. Make sure that only one layer of 0.2 mm is printed in the slicer for the surface.
The clip is first placed over the end of the spring and then clipped on with light pressure. You may need to gently push the last part of the spring in with your fingernail.

It worked perfectly for me right away.

 

[wiz2596]

Important note regarding the USB and power connectors on the D1!
Unfortunately, these connectors are too close together, with a center-to-center distance of only 6.55 mm, so not all USB cables will fit if both connectors are needed. This only applies when connected via USB.

The original cable has a 6.3 mm thick connector housing, but only one cable is included. Two Lindy USB 2.0 cables from the Anthra Line unfortunately don't fit because the connector housing is 7.5 mm thick. All my other USB cables with USB-C connectors also have connector housings that are at least 6.9 mm thick, including the metal housings that are now commonly used, such as most cables on Amazon.


With USB 2.0 cables, you can safely reduce the thickness of the connector housings with a file or cutter. I would advise against this with other cables with USB-C connectors, as there are ICs and circuit boards inside the connectors that could be damaged.

Do I need a power adapter when connected to USB input? wouldn't the dac just operate with one usb input as su-1?

 

[tlkw79]

Do I need a power adapter when connected to USB input? wouldn't the dac just operate with one usb input as su-1?

You do not need external power source when connect D1 with USB input only. Just make sure your USB input is clean or filtered. I believe the power input only use it when you connect D1 with optical or coaxial.

 

[kazuviking]

I believe the power input only use it when you connect D1 with optical or coaxial.

It switches when you use USB as well. There is a 5-7 second delay before it switches to the AUX power. There is a slight crackle when it does.