SMSL D400 Pro Balanced DAC Review

[jimboaz]

SMSL sales strategy ....... throw 1000 bombs at a target ... only one needs to needs to hit.

I think you could put Sony in the same club

 

[jimboaz]

SMSL DO300EX is cheaper and same DAC chip and same-ish performance looking at SMSL published measurements​

And you get a headphone amp, along with both XLR & RCA lineouts can be used as a preamp if needed for a power amp or powered speakers.

 

[jimboaz]

NOTICE: Please stay on topic. This is an Official Review Thread. Keep your posts rooted in the Product and or the Test Bench results.

Multiple off topic posts deleted and a thread ban issued.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Right I jumped to the end and thought I wasn't in a dac review thread......bored people?

 

[Sokel]

They fear the Chinese stuff will be as good or better then the $50-100k stuff they peddle... Like the $600 Topping Preamp compared to the$16K Pass Labs.... The reviewer couldn't tell the difference so he bought the Topping though...actually 3 of them !!!

They don't fear some a specific country or people and they have a pretty good market in China too as far as I know.
A REALLY good one and the strange thing is that cheap gear help this market as people actually listen to decent sound and then buy according to their style,pocket,etc.
That,applies to anything.
And then comes comfort and peace of mind,you want something with good,reliable record to put behind your (at least) 5 digit speakers.

I think you could put Sony in the same club

SONY has a DAC?

 

[Roland68]

They don't fear some a specific country or people and they have a pretty good market in China too as far as I know.
A REALLY good one and the strange thing is that cheap gear help this market as people actually listen to decent sound and then buy according to their style,pocket,etc.
That,applies to anything.
And then comes comfort and peace of mind,you want something with good,reliable record to put behind your (at least) 5 digit speakers.


SONY has a DAC?

Sony had the DAC of all DACs, the DSC-88 Digital Signal Checker, an A/D D/A audio tester, which for a very long time was the reference and standard in many development laboratories and HiFi workshops for CD players, DAT, etc.

It would be interesting if Amirm would test such a device.
I will compare mine with current DACs in the near future.

 

[Roland68]

They fear the Chinese stuff will be as good or better then the $50-100k stuff they peddle... Like the $600 Topping Preamp compared to the$16K Pass Labs.... The reviewer couldn't tell the difference so he bought the Topping though...actually 3 of them !!!

I think you could put Sony in the same club

This has always been the problem with HiFi magazines.
The income comes from advertising and you don't bite the hand that feeds you.
That's why these magazines don't test these cheap but very good devices, such as the SMSL D400 Pro.

This led to a controversy, especially in the Sony case.
The CD/SACD/DVD player DVP-NS900V from Sony at the time for around DM 1000 / € 500, i.e. the same price range as the D400 Pro, was so good that it outclassed many devices in the 5x price range at the time has.
In order not to lose advertisers, a large magazine invented a new class of devices for this player, which was also well tested but not compared with other players.

 

[Lasker]

Regarding the sound color function It is funny and enjoable expecially the option number two imho. I ignote how It work

 

[rocksteady]

I followed to their site and I found they are making a cd-player. Would we like to see it measured?

PL200

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

Where's the loading tray? Ah, convoluted top loading, of course. Sigh...

 

[David_M]

How different is this D400 from the Do400 DAC?

 

[Rover]

How different is this D400 from the Do400 DAC?

400 PRO is the main board configuration from the expensive series EX\ES. The 400Do is the main board configuration from the budget DL series.

 

[Count Dacula]

Alien Technology

 

[pseudoid]

Having alot of money and wasting it are two different things.

Notice that here, at ASR reviews, although price is given, the merits/performance of the hardware take the front of the stage and normally are graded with less-ish emphasis on cost.

Yes. But as long as they don't waste mine...

It is worth attempting to practice both and often:
DSOP$ (Don't spend other people's money)
DSOPt (Don't spend other people's time)

 

[Lambo1985]

I recently picked up a DL300. Aside from having headphone outs and lacking AES, it seems to be the exact same specs as the D400 Pro. Can anyone advise or confirm this? - I’m wondering if the standalone DAC D400 Pro offers better output performance/quality for the higher price tag.

 

[starcat]

Would it be possible to connect a Raspberry Pi (say running Ropieee as a roon Endpoint) via HDMI to the D400?

 

[staticV3]

Would it be possible to connect a Raspberry Pi (say running Ropieee as a roon Endpoint) via HDMI to the D400?

Yes, using an appropriate Pi Hat (PI2AES for example).

 

[Kiko1974]

Regarding the sound color function It is funny and enjoable expecially the option number two imho. I ignote how It work

I think Sound Color on this chipset works playing with oversampling and how Delta/Sigma data is modulated.
Sound Colors 1 and 2 work with a 128x oversampling, making the AK

Regarding the sound color function It is funny and enjoable expecially the option number two imho. I ignote how It work

I think Sound Color on this chipset works playing with oversampling and how Delta/Sigma data is modulated.
Sound Colors 1 and 2 work with a 128x oversampling, making the AK4499 work at 5.6 MHz, the same as DSD 128. Sound Colors 3 and 4 get the AK4499 work at 11.2 MHz, that's 256 oversampling, the same as DSD 256.
I personaly prefer sound color 1 either with PCM and DSD, but sometimes I use sound color 3 with some Rock music as It retains the punch and bass of sound color 1 but gets a little more presence to vocals, but not all Rock albums need that.

 

[Jimster480]

I think Sound Color on this chipset works playing with oversampling and how Delta/Sigma data is modulated.
Sound Colors 1 and 2 work with a 128x oversampling, making the AK

I think Sound Color on this chipset works playing with oversampling and how Delta/Sigma data is modulated.
Sound Colors 1 and 2 work with a 128x oversampling, making the AK4499 work at 5.6 MHz, the same as DSD 128. Sound Colors 3 and 4 get the AK4499 work at 11.2 MHz, that's 256 oversampling, the same as DSD 256.
I personaly prefer sound color 1 either with PCM and DSD, but sometimes I use sound color 3 with some Rock music as It retains the punch and bass of sound color 1 but gets a little more presence to vocals, but not all Rock albums need that.

I would be really surprised if it did anything that was actually "colored" in a verifiable way similar to any chipset. Since I haven't been able to detect such "coloring" myself.

 

[Kiko1974]

I would be really surprised if it did anything that was actually "colored" in a verifiable way similar to any chipset. Since I haven't been able to detect such "coloring" myself.

Actually It does on my set up. With well recorded Rock music Sound Color 4 kills the punch and kick of drums, either with DSD 64 and HiRez 96/24 and 192/24. I haven't tested it with red book resolution.

 

[jody2k]

Not to bring this topick back up but there are some significant differences between the SMSL DO300EX and SMSL D400 Pro in architecture.

The D400 Pro is using a "CK-03 clock" processing Circuit to reduce clock jitter where the DO300EX does not, well I can't find any of that on the site of SMSL-audio.com.

For example the gustard A26 is using a similar technology with their "K2 clock" and this is their explenation: "K2 Clock In order to provide an accurate clock signal, the A26 features the ultra-low noise K2 module. This ensures that the DAC is able to achieve a very low jitter level for the most transparent sound possible."

Also the D400 Pro is using 5 peices of ""high-end"" dual op amps where the the SMSL DO300EX does not, or I can't find any info on their website about this.

The SMSL DO300EX does have a headphone amplifier though where the D400 pro does not.

Edit: Another difference I found is in the power supply of the DAC's. The DO300EX is using a single power supply where the D400 Pro is using a dual one. Also seems like another type of ultra noise power supply system.

Not saying the D400 Pro sounds better or worse but it might sound different than the DO300EX, and it might sound closer to the Gustard A26 than the DO300EX does.
Haven't heard both this is just info I found on the website of smsl.

 

[JSmith]

it might sound different

That's not very likely.


JSmith