SMSL D300 Review (Balanced DAC)

[Nango]

ROhm used to make advanced audio power transistors in the 80s but since, they have been mostly known for their passive components. They make a bunch of standard audio opamps, too. Amazing to see them coming up with a very top of the line DAC out of nowhere.

Regarding other DAC makers, TI has the PCM1792 / 1794 which is good on noise but not stellar on harmonic distortion. It is expensive as a chip (about $14 in singles) and needs three external opamps per channel because it is current out. They have gotten out of the game of top DACs pretty much, as have AD. Cirrus had the CS4398 which was almost on par with the 1792 on HD but significantly worse on noise, but their recent CS43131 is a winner.

Dedicated "Mus-IC" site at https://micro.rohm.com/en/mus-ic/ .... very nice to see new player besides AKM and ESS coming into this business!!

 

[Katji]

^^^I thought so - same doc I got here: https://www.xmos.ai/download/Fundamentals-of-USB-Audio(1.0).pdf
There is more there about XMOS itself.

Wonder what the subjectivists will say about the "sound" of this DAC chip.

The story about it being designed for Classical music could cause a lot of reactions.
It's disturbing. Tell people for years that DACs are not "musical", there is no music flowing through cables and so on, and then this comes along.
So I suppose i should read those linked articles.

 

[Lambda]

Looks like the >300$ DACs have all become so good Differences in SINAD seems Negligible.
Maybe we need more demanding tests to see if they "brake apart" at some point.

120dB vs 123dB SINAD makes practically no difference.
But if one DAC starts clipping at 0dB and full volume(not all DACs get tested at full volume) this would make a difference.
Or if there is a Huge difference in IMD.
Or in Phase response at low high frequency.
Or if the Filter/oversampling clips or how mush inter sample over is ok before clipping.
All this is irrelevant if SINAD is low but if SINAD is >120dB SINAD is less relevant and this other factors shuld get a closer look.

 

[TK750]

This one or the smsl su-9n?

Just to give some feedback, I have had the SU-9n for about 3 weeks or so now and have been very pleased with it; impressive build quality, uses neutrik connectors and feels very solid. Cost me about £256 or $330 due to 11.11 and another discount. It measures better overall than this but I doubt you'd be able to notice any difference.

 

[NiagaraPete]

Very nice looking DAC.

 

[testp]

^^^I thought so - same doc I got here: https://www.xmos.ai/download/Fundamentals-of-USB-Audio(1.0).pdf
There is more there about XMOS itself.



The story about it being designed for Classical music could cause a lot of reactions.
It's disturbing. Tell people for years that DACs are not "musical", there is no music flowing through cables and so on, and then this comes along.
So I suppose i should read those linked articles.

no no, if "the page" says its musical, it must be...

 

[ishmeister]

£400 in UK (£399.99 inc VAT) with delivery early January if ordered from Amazon...

It was £280 recently, what happened?

 

[amirm]

Wait... 400$ and no remote?

It has a remote.

 

[dsnyder0cnn]

I wonder why the D300 exists. It's the same price as the SU-9n, which, at least objectively speaking, seems to be significantly better. In fact, in some ways, the $170 SU-6 looks better. I don't see any obvious feature differences either.

Seems like a step backwards. I guess they just got bored of ESS and wanted to give the ROHM chips a try?

 

[AudioTodd]

Looks kinda like a bargain when Mouser sells the eval board for $955!!!

 

[PeteL]

^^^I thought so - same doc I got here: https://www.xmos.ai/download/Fundamentals-of-USB-Audio(1.0).pdf
There is more there about XMOS itself.



The story about it being designed for Classical music could cause a lot of reactions.
It's disturbing. Tell people for years that DACs are not "musical", there is no music flowing through cables and so on, and then this comes along.
So I suppose i should read those linked articles.

Browsing trough it I don’t think they say “designed for classical music” But yeah they make the association somehow with many references to musical instruments. In the end it’s just marketing, I don’t see blatant lies, people sell their stuff how they can. I find the MUS-IC label somehow clever.

 

[Blew]

Is the firmware upgradable via USB so that we don't have to send the units to China to resolve audio issues like the one that plagued the M500?

 

[testp]

Just to give some feedback, I have had the SU-9n for about 3 weeks or so now and have been very pleased with it; impressive build quality, uses neutrik connectors and feels very solid. Cost me about £256 or $330 due to 11.11 and another discount. It measures better overall than this but I doubt you'd be able to notice any difference.

does the screen have differrent color options in menu?

 

[firedog]

So it will be interesting to see if it is competitive with ESS to give us another alternative in the market (with AKM out of business currently).

AKM announced they will back in business Q1 2022.

Update from Asahi Kasei Microdevices - The Return of Velvet Sound

Following the major fire that destroyed its semiconductor factory in Japan, Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) is back online and promises new announcements in January 2022. audioXpress received notice from Gaku Suzuki, General Manager for Digital Marketing HiFi ICs at AKM that the company's famed...

audioxpress.com

 

[Snoopy]

AKM announced they will back in businessQ1 2022.

Maybe worth it to wait with expensive purchases till AKM is back

 

[firedog]

Maybe worth it to wait with expensive purchases till AKM is back

I'm guessing there will be quite a lag between the time they are "back in business" and the time large quantities of new DAC chips are shipped. Maybe 2023 till we see readily available product.

 

[Snoopy]

I'm guessing there will be quite a lag between the time they are "back in business" and the time large quantities of new DAC chips are shipped. Maybe 2023 till we see readily available product.

True .. I'm not thinking about $300 - 400 DACs here. But if someone where to be looking for a "end game" DAC..

Akm engineers have probably been working on something new as well

 

[trl]

Seems like a step backwards. I guess they just got bored of ESS and wanted to give the ROHM chips a try?

Come on, it's their first DAC chip. Now really, it has a SINAD of 117dB, so very promissing.

Looking forward for the 2nd DAC chip coming from ROHM. If they'll be able to get closer to a SINAD of 120dB then we have a new competitor besides ESS and AKM (haven't seen any CIRRUS chips lately).

 

[Wuzel]

I wonder why the D300 exists. It's the same price as the SU-9n, which, at least objectively speaking, seems to be significantly better. In fact, in some ways, the $170 SU-6 looks better. I don't see any obvious feature differences either.

Seems like a step backwards. I guess they just got bored of ESS and wanted to give the ROHM chips a try?

Technically the ESS9038Pro outperform the Rhom Dac.

The ESS is a Multi Dac Arch (8Dacs in it) with endgame current driven output stage. (runs hot here, that's the reason for the temperature drift of this chip).

The Rohm is a PCM1792A style implementation with modified current driven output stage - not bad, but highly overpriced in my opinion.
Competitor is more the ESS9028/26Pro.

 

[Palex]

"A major manufacturer of semiconductor devices has started widespread sales of the BD34301EKV digital-to-analog conversion chip from the MUS-IC line, as well as the corresponding BD34301EKV-EVK-001 reference board. Previously, this chip was supplied exclusively to the Luxmann brand for its SACD/CD player D-10 X.

SACD player Luxman D-06u

The chip belongs to the highest class and provides a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 130 dB and THD+N is no worse than -115 dB.

It can be assumed that the company decided to take advantage of the shortage of AKM chips that arose due to a factory fire, and therefore deprived Luxman of an exclusive."