SMSL D12 DAC & Headphone Amp Review

[Tangband]

I prefer a red or blue PCB but black is popular for some reason. If the yellow marked section is for buffers and the red section is for muting then what is the green section for?
View attachment 300312

You have the same green section in SMSL su1.
Edit: the SMSL D6 has it also, on that PCB is says ”mute”. It seems that maybe the red section is something different ?

 

[Doodski]

You have the same green section in SMSL su1.
View attachment 300361

Interesting SMSL is using what appears to be identical circuitry in multiple models and the red section is seemingly missing. I'm more curious now. LoL.

 

[audiofun]

I prefer a red or blue PCB but black is popular for some reason. If the yellow marked section is for buffers and the red section is for muting then what is the green section for?
View attachment 300312

you're all wrong. yellow is the output buffer. red is the headphone amp. green is the muting IC.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I would think with a really efficient phone like an LCD-X, this might be all anyone would need. Needless to say a steal for those kind of phones.

Could also use this as a starter and add a much more powerful headphone amp later as budget allows.

 

[pseudoid]

...A year ago performance at this level for this price would have been a 10 out of 10 and topped the charts. Amazing that we can get this level of sophistication at such a low price. Thanks Amir, you have been an incredible force upon the Audio device market.

Thanx @amirm and thank you "Moore's Law".. for not being dead yet!

 

[PeteL]

This might be compatible with the ps5 because of the uac1 switch. Something small like the shanling up5 with uac1/uac2 mode is working for me now, but this with 2 volts will be a great upgrade to power an active speakers.

Sure should, I agree, but @amirm this would have been a great opportunity to have comparison measurments, especially for J-Test but others as well, it's not that often that a product allow that easily to hot switch seamlessly from asynchronous to synchronous. It could be quite informative and interesting.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

A review by Amir of a budget DAC-amp from SMSL to compare to Amir’s review of Topping’s budget DAC-amp, the DX1…

…hang on, I’ll get back to you with the link to that in a minute…

…erm…

 

[Extreme_Boky]

Interesting SMSL is using what appears to be identical circuitry in multiple models and the red section is seemingly missing. I'm more curious now. LoL.
View attachment 300362

Green: either a differential to single-end buffer, or just a buffer after that discrete gain/filter stage (red)

The PCB uses noisy buck converters... this is most likely why one channel is noisier than the other. I think that's be left channel.

 

[feromir]

The PCB uses noisy buck converters... this is most likely why one channel is noisier than the other. I think that's be left channel.

Made to the low price.

 

[Veri]

New SMSL DL200 ES9039Q2M DAC & Headphone Amplifier..

SMSL DL200 DAC ES9039Q2M Headphone Amplifier XMOS XU316 Bluetooth 5.1 LDAC 32bit 768kHz DSD512 MQA-CD - Audiophonics

The SMSL DL200 is a high-performance DAC featuring an ES9039Q2M chip, an XMOS XU316 USB interface and a Qualcomm Bluetooth receiver chip. The DL200 can decode up to PCM 32bit 768kHz, DSD512 and DoP64.

www.audiophonics.fr

 

[fuzzy_logic]

Is the rear output fixed or variable, or do you have the option of either?

 

[pseudoid]

The PCB uses noisy buck converters...

What else would you expect just for a buck?

 

[unibomber]

If this is connected to android, can you control the volume with android? Or you need to use the dial or remote?

 

[staticV3]

If this is connected to android, can you control the volume with android? Or you need to use the dial or remote?

You can always control the volume with Android.

It's only with iOS or macOS that, depending on which USB DAC you use, the default volume control may be disabled.

 

[unibomber]

You can always control the volume with Android.

It's only with iOS or macOS that, depending on which USB DAC you use, the default volume control may be disabled.

Im using a DAC in my car and I have issues controlling the volume unless it's the preamp volume software controller.

I have tried JDs labs atom, topping e30ii and a smsl su1. I can't get it to do the volume when using neutron or uapp. It always does the internal DAC volume instead

 

[staticV3]

Im using a DAC in my car and I have issues controlling the volume unless it's the preamp volume software controller.

I have tried JDs labs atom, topping e30ii and a smsl su1. I can't get it to do the volume when using neutron or uapp. It always does the internal DAC volume instead

Neutron and UAPP are special cases in that they completely bypass the Android OS, including Android's default volume control.

If you use UAPP or Neutron, then the default Android volume will not work regardless of what DAC you use.

If however you use regular Apps like YouTube, Spotify, ... that use the default Android audio pipeline, then the default Android volume control will keep working, regardless of what USB DAC you use.

 

[pseudoid]

If you use UAPP or Neutron, then the default Android volume will not work regardless of what DAC you use.
If however you use regular Apps like YouTube, Spotify, ... that use the default Android audio pipeline, then the default Android volume control will keep working, regardless of what USB DAC you use.

You seem to be in the know, @staticV3;
Have any of the phones (iPhone/Android) ever been tested here for sound quality?

 

[staticV3]

You seem to be in the know, @staticV3;
Have any of the phones (iPhone/Android) ever been tested here for sound quality?

Here are those that I remember:

Review and Measurements of LG G5 Hi-Fi Plus DAC/Amp

This is a review and detailed measurements of a bare board LG G5 Hi-Fi Plus DAC and headphone amplifier. As the name indicates, it is an accessory piece for the LG phones to increase performance. However, it seems that it is available as bare board which is sold in Asia for as little as US...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Review and Audio Measurement of LG G7 ThinQ Smartphone

This is the review and measurements of the audio performance of LG G7 ThinQ smartphone. It was purchased by my son a couple of weeks ago. It retails for USD $750. Its claim to fame is inclusion of an ESS quad (four paralleled) DACs ES9218P with integrated headphone amplifier. There are...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Sony Xperia 5 IV Audio Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Sony Xperia 5 IV high-end smartphone audio performance. I purchased it recently for US $799 but I see normal price of $998. I went through extensive search for a month to find a replacement for my aging Samsung S8+. I wanted a phone with analog...

www.audiosciencereview.com

More phones have been tested on 0dB and on RAA.

 

[unibomber]

Well i figured out you can reroute the DAC audio using xposed modules on a rooted headunit but it doesn't exsist for my unit. However the d12 does work perfectly with the power dial. I'm just having issues getting the USB DAC being recognized by android so I can use it on Poweramp. So I'll stick to UAPP

 

[unibomber]

Does anyone know the torx size for this unit? I want to add a small fan for this unit since I use it in my car. It seems to overheat and it makes a huge loud noise that won't go away unit it cools off.