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SMSL DL100 DAC and Headphone Amp Review

Rate this DAC & HP Amp

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 3 1.4%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 4 1.8%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 47 21.3%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 167 75.6%

  • Total voters
    221
I'd get something like this for $100 more if it had signal sensing for on/standby, trigger output, automatic input switching and CEC. Even just CEC that controls on/standby, volume and source switching with a trigger output would be enough. Without those features it adds yet another remote control to juggle in exchange for superb measured performance that is most likely inaudible compared to other products. The user manual and product documentation are inadequate, too: information is lacking about CEC and exactly how to use the different settings. Given reports on ASR about their quality control and product durability, this gets a "no thanks" from me.
 
As stated before, if DL100 doesn't have a low gain mode then it doesn't seem very competitive for iem users.
The volume control can apparently go down to -99dB, and since it appears to be digital + the DAC chip having automatic internal gain I don't think channel balance, noise or dynamic range would be an issue given the excellent measurements.
 
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Yeah don't get the hype for all the balanced things, do people really have that much interference at home? Personally I don't think I've ever been limited by my RCA cables.
Tbh I find these XLR equipped things limiting since they might be good and interesting overall but might not be compatible with "normal" hifi, for example I'm interested in getting the 3E TPA3255 amp board but then I need to swap out my MiniDSP 2x4HD as well since it doesn't have balanced outputs.
I ended up having a legitimate use for XLR in my system, since I am running a Purifi amp with headphones, and RCA introduces ground hum/buzz even with a passive preamp in-line and a USB isolator between my DAC and PC.

I will admit it's a pretty uncommon (and risky) setup, but I like being able to run a combination of normal headphones, AKG K1000, and electrostatic headphones via transformers all from the same amp.
 
Maybe a complete no go for IEM users......not sure how much volume range they'd have on the volume knob, very little I suppose!
I don't bother using low gain on my C200 when I have my IEMs connected (Tanchjim One or Truthear Crinacle Zero) and I find there is plenty of volume range in high gain. I normally have it set at around 50-60/99 when using the IEMs and at around 70-80/99 when using my HD560s.
I'm not sure how differently the DL100 would handle IEMs, but the power figures seem very similar to my C200, so I would expect it to be roughly the same.
Hope this helps.
 
The volume control can apparently go down to -99dB, and since it appears to be digital + the DAC chip having automatic internal gain I don't think channel balance, noise or dynamic range would be an issue given the excellent measurements.
Clearly I'm just speculating and the device could prove to be perfectly fine with iems, my only concern is about the eventuality of background hissing when non signal is playing. I don't know if the automatic gain setting with impedance sensing of the CS43131 is used here, halving the voltage that is feed into the OPA1612 amp stage under a certain ohm load, but in that case the unit should reach 3V at low ohms load instead of 6V, unless Amir used the extension cable "trick".
 
Clearly I'm just speculating and the device could prove to be perfectly fine with iems, my only concern is about the eventuality of background hissing when non signal is playing. I don't know if the automatic gain setting with impedance sensing of the CS43131 is used here, halving the voltage that is feed into the OPA1612 amp stage under a certain ohm load, but in that case the unit should reach 3V at low ohms load instead of 6V, unless Amir used the extension cable "trick".
We can already see that 50mV THD+N is about -80dB at any impedance, which is actually roughly 6db better than an Apple dongle, by my calculation (converting from ~0.02% @ 75uW @ 33 ohms from Amir's result)
 
We can already see that 50mV THD+N is about -80dB at any impedance, which is actually roughly 6db better than an Apple dongle, by my calculation (converting from ~0.02% @ 75uW @ 33 ohms from Amir's result)
It is probably the case, and is most likely good enough, anyway I'd like to have something around -90db, just as my Sabaj A10h in low gain mode (it is around -80db too in mid and high gain), and also my cheap CS43131 dongles.
 
Definitely not.

The HDMI input can only be connected to HDMI ARC outputs, like those on a modern TV or AVR.
I've been thinking about this quite a bit if I were to buy this gear. I have a bluray player and am thinking about connecting it to an hdmi extractor that clearly has hdmi audio output. Do you think this can then be connected to the hdmi arc of the dl100 ?
 
We can already see that 50mV THD+N is about -80dB at any impedance, which is actually roughly 6db better than an Apple dongle, by my calculation
The Apple dongle has about 91dB SINAD at 50mV:
2155 (1).png 2049.png
 
I've been thinking about this quite a bit if I were to buy this gear. I have a bluray player and am thinking about connecting it to an hdmi extractor that clearly has hdmi audio output. Do you think this can then be connected to the hdmi arc of the dl100 ?
Is the HDMI audio output labeled "ARC", or does the product page mention ARC?
 
Well it does say ARC in the product name and there's an ARC/eARC toggle.

Though even if doesn't work, you could just use the SPDIF outputs instead.
1724729322123.png


What about this one? It does say ARC . Really want to use the hdmi arc input...if it's spdif then other DACs will do :)
 
View attachment 388713

What about this one? It does say ARC . Really want to use the hdmi arc input...if it's spdif then other DACs will do :)
Looks good.

Though be aware that ARC does not automatically mean CEC support, so even though you may get audio, it is unlikely that you will be able to control volume with the BD Player remote, or have the DAC turn on+off with the BD Player.

Functionally, it'll likely be identical to SPDIF.
 
Dear @amirm: The most electronic you have checked lately had - for professional purposes - XLR features. Coincidence or not? In my humble opinion not all people are hot to change all the stuff to XLR.
This DAC also has RCA outputs, also with excellent fidelity as measured by Amir
 
Yeah don't get the hype for all the balanced things, do people really have that much interference at home? Personally I don't think I've ever been limited by my RCA cables.
In the home balanced is more about avoiding ground-related noise issues like hum from ground loops or 'computer noise' than interference rejection. These affect a minority of people, but for those people they are a real problem as demonstrated by the many threads started by people asking how to solve their noise issue.
 
And by the way, what is the "job to be done" of an HDMI ARC circuit or a Bluetooth circuit in a DAC? Is it precision, or is it convenience?
That's not an either/or question. Some require that functionality, some wouldn't use it at all and some might find it convenient as it's there.

ARC is essentially spdif/toslink over a different physical medium plus a side-channel for capability discovery and possibly for remote control. Discovery means the source will never send a format that the receiver can't handle, unlike spdif/toslink, but the signal itself is no better or worse.

Bluetooth is inherently lossy, but for those that need it the precision is the same whether it's implemented internally or externally. Internal is more convenient, at least until it needs an upgrade to a newer bluetooth version.
 
The Apple dongle has about 91dB SINAD at 50mV:
View attachment 388709 View attachment 388710
That looks like around the level is 27.5 dB below 3.5 V so around 150 mV not 50 mV. SNR is -10*log10(10^((THD+N)/10) - 10^(THD/10)) = 91.2 dB. The correction to 50 mV level is 20*log10(0.05) - (20*log10(3.5) - 27.5) = -9.4 dB so at 50 mV, SNR is 91.2 - 9.4 = 81.8 dB.
 
We can already see that 50mV THD+N is about -80dB at any impedance, which is actually roughly 6db better than an Apple dongle, by my calculation (converting from ~0.02% @ 75uW @ 33 ohms from Amir's result)

Amir measured the Apple dongle's SNR as 113 dB. For its 1 V output that corresponds to SNR of at least 113 - 26 = 87 dB at 50 mV.
1724760755624.png


At 300 Ohm, 50 mV is 8.33 uW which gives THD+N at around 0.0065% or -83.7 dB.
1724760955892.png


At 33 Ohm, 50 mV is 75.6 uW which gives THD+N of around 0.02 % or -74 dB.
1724761090750.png


So the noise of the apple dongle depends significantly on the load whereas the DL100's does not. At higher loads, the Apple dongle has less noise but at lower loads, it is noisier.
 
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The Apple dongle has about 91dB SINAD at 50mV:
View attachment 388709 View attachment 388710
If that's the case, then that's some very good performance as that is competitive even against dedicated headphone amps at that mV amount - like the JDS Labs Atom Amp is only 92dB SINAD at 50mv, and the best amps are only up to 95dB, so the Apple Dongle is extremely competitive at 50mv if that's correct.

Amir measured the Apple dongle's SNR as 113 dB. For its 1 V output that corresponds to SNR of at least 113 - 26 = 87 dB at 50 mV.
View attachment 388771

At 300 Ohm, 50 mV is 8.33 uW which gives THD+N at around 0.0065% or -83.7 dB.
View attachment 388772

At 33 Ohm, 50 mV is 75.6 uW which gives THD+N of around 0.02 % or -74 dB.
View attachment 388773

So the noise of the apple dongle depends significantly on the load whereas the DL100's does not. At higher loads, the Apple dongle has less noise but at lower loads, it is noisier.
Ah, you replied to Static too, well actually your calculation for 50mv SINAD is more along the lines of what I'd expect, so maybe it was premature to say Apple Dongle 50mv 92dB SINAD!
 
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