SMSL DL200 the best ever value DAC/AMP?

[staticV3]

Will this power Beyerdynamic DT 880 - 600 ohm?

The DL200 can drive the DT880 600Ω to ~110dB SPL Peak.

That's about 8x my usual listening volume.

 

[hifime]

Is there a driver needed for USB 2.0 on a Mac? To output beyond 96KHz? Sounds weird, maybe it's badly translated.

I have a Mac m1 running Sonoma. With a C200, there's nothing special needed to output beyond 96hz.. Device automatically recognized. The DL200 looks to be almost identical in function.

 

[JIW]

Is there a driver needed for USB 2.0 on a Mac? To output beyond 96KHz? Sounds weird, maybe it's badly translated.

No. It works up to 768 kHz and 32 bits.

 

[Dexter_prog]

ended up returning the unit. I found sometimes it wouldn't be recognized in windows as an interface, nor in Roon. Also one time I only got output on the right channel.

Second time a SMSL product fails on me. Gotta stop buying these ultra-measurement devices, they do seem to in fact build them for Amir's measurements haha

 

[eric tee]

Understandably, the price also reflects the some quality beyond the technical measurements. I personally had two Topping devices die within about two years of purchase.

Unfortunately, acquisitions in terms of manufacturing are very limited these days. This is not only a "made in" issue. But the concentration of manufacturing out of the West. As well as the spread of disposable culture to everything material.

To the device in the title itself DL200... I've had zero problems with this. Very happy.
However, instead of the sampling rate, I would like to see the volume on the display. Unfortunately, this is not exchangeable. So, that is small minus to the device.

 

[eric tee]

I don't know if there is anything to generalize here, but I personally listen to the Sundara thru SL200 with about 50-60 volume and high gain.
I assume that is significantly higher than the volume at which I listen to my two speaker systems. In the latter, measured between 70-80dB.

Perhaps some members have measured experience of whether the material listened to varies significantly in volume along the speaker-headphone axis?

 

[wfujay]

Just hooked this thing up and coming from someone who has been perfectly content listening to audio primarily on my PC & JBL LSR305's with DAC duties handled by a Creative X-Fi Titanium HD....WOW what an insane improvement! I've loved the combo for the past 10 years and this DL200 has completely breathed new life into these speakers and is showing me things that I never even knew they were capable of. I knew it'd be an improvement but I didn't expect what I'm experiencing right now. It sounds like I have a new set of speakers that were 5x the price I paid for these, and if audio enjoyment can improve much beyond this point then holy hell I'm glad to be along for the ride.

 

[MbphotoX]

So far, it sounds to me as if the majority of issues people seem to have with SMSL (and Topping, etc.) products all lead back to these people relying on USB...

USB is the bane of any music lover. Why would you even resort to using it?!

I'm using the optical output and it works absolutely flawlessly.


That said, just like any DAC I've used so far, the DL200 does "pause" briefly when playing random lists on Tidal where the sampling rate changes. Which is truly a bit annoying. I suppose, that's the bane with modern hi-res streaming options where you get different "formats" all thrown in together, and there's really no way for the DAC to handle it without any issue.

 

[wfujay]

So far, it sounds to me as if the majority of issues people seem to have with SMSL (and Topping, etc.) products all lead back to these people relying on USB...

USB is the bane of any music lover. Why would you even resort to using it?!

I'm using the optical output and it works absolutely flawlessly.


That said, just like any DAC I've used so far, the DL200 does "pause" briefly when playing random lists on Tidal where the sampling rate changes. Which is truly a bit annoying. I suppose, that's the bane with modern hi-res streaming options where you get different "formats" all thrown in together, and there's really no way for the DAC to handle it without any issue.

What is the benefit of using the optical out vs usb? Aren't they both just passing the digital signal to the dac?

 

[Nutul]

What is the benefit of using the optical out vs usb? Aren't they both just passing the digital signal to the dac?

USB has a bigger bandwidth and allows everything up to 768kHz (and more...) while optical is limited to 96kHz (IIRC) but has the advantage of offering galvanic isolation, and hence rejecting every form of electrical noise that could leak in from the source device.

 

[nick_l44.1]

What is the benefit of using the optical out vs usb? Aren't they both just passing the digital signal to the dac?

You can think about optics if you need almost zero delays, much less than usb, where the delays are about several ms. Galvanic isolation does not matter for DL200. Optical cables are also insensitive to interference. But this also does not provide any advantages in the case of DL200. However, optical cables can be made very long without any problems.

 

[wfujay]

Can anyone recommend a headphone cable or adapter that converts my 3.5mm connections to 4.4mm that is safe for this DAC?

 

[staticV3]

Can anyone recommend a headphone cable or adapter that converts my 3.5mm connections to 4.4mm that is safe for this DAC?

All Differential->Single Ended adapters (4.4->3.5, 2.5->3.5, 4pin XLR->6.35, etc.) are dangerous and can potentially destroy the Headphone Amp they're connected to.

If you have headphones with a fixed 3.5mm or 6.35mm connection, then please just use the DL200's 6.35mm output.

You can safely convert 6.35 to 3.5mm and vice versa.

 

[MbphotoX]

What is the benefit of using the optical out vs usb? Aren't they both just passing the digital signal to the dac?

the advantage is incredibly simple:
you don't need any USB drivers..

USB is such a fucked-up connection that I refuse to use it whenever there are alternatives.

Optical allows me to connect my Motherboard to the DL200 without ANY issues whatsoever. No driver needed, no connection issues, nothing.

Everyone who has reported issues with SMSL devices has been using a USB connection. It's very apparent that it's simply the WRONG way to connect these devices.

USB has a bigger bandwidth and allows everything up to 768kHz (and more...) while optical is limited to 96kHz (IIRC) but has the advantage of offering galvanic isolation, and hence rejecting every form of electrical noise that could leak in from the source device.

that's very fancy, I suppose.. Although, optical does 24bit/192kHz max
Of course, it doesn't matter at all, since nobody can hear anything beyond 44kHz sampling rate anyways..

 

[nick_l44.1]

Can anyone recommend a headphone cable or adapter that converts my 3.5mm connections to 4.4mm that is safe for this DAC?

There is no reason for you to do this. DL200 does not have a balanced HPA. 6.3 and 4.4 mm output the same signal. It's easier to connect to 6.3 with a standard adapter. The balanced signal is present only on the TRS outputs.

 

[wfujay]

the advantage is incredibly simple:
you don't need any USB drivers..

USB is such a fucked-up connection that I refuse to use it whenever there are alternatives.

Optical allows me to connect my Motherboard to the DL200 without ANY issues whatsoever. No driver needed, no connection issues, nothing.

Everyone who has reported issues with SMSL devices has been using a USB connection. It's very apparent that it's simply the WRONG way to connect these devices.



that's very fancy, I suppose.. Although, optical does 24bit/192kHz max
Of course, it doesn't matter at all, since nobody can hear anything beyond 44kHz sampling rate anyways..

Good to know. I'm using USB currently with zero issues. I have no optical cables available but may order some if I start experiencing problems.

 

[wfujay]

There is no reason for you to do this. DL200 does not have a balanced HPA. 6.3 and 4.4 mm output the same signal. It's easier to connect to 6.3 with a standard adapter. The balanced signal is present only on the TRS outputs.

Are you sure? The website states otherwise.

 

[wfujay]

All Differential->Single Ended adapters (4.4->3.5, 2.5->3.5, 4pin XLR->6.35, etc.) are dangerous and can potentially destroy the Headphone Amp they're connected to.

If you have headphones with a fixed 3.5mm or 6.35mm connection, then please just use the DL200's 6.35mm output.

You can safely convert 6.35 to 3.5mm and vice versa.

Currently using Fidelio X1's with a fixed (detachable) 3.5mm connection. Would this adapter work for my current cable or is there a better option?

Sennheiser Push-on Adapter Jack 6.3s to Jack Socket 3.5mm

Adapter jack 6.3s - jack socket 3.5mm Adapter jack 6.3s - jack socket 3.5mm suitable for:EH 150, EH 250, EH 350, EH 1430, HD 201, HD 202, HD 207, HD 212 Pro, HD 33, HD 420, HD 420 SL, HD 425, HD 430, HD 437, HD 440 II, HD 442 II, HD 457, HD 477, HD 497, HD 50 TV, HD 60 TV, HD 62 TV, IS 410 TV...

audio46.com

And I'll be purchasing the HD660s2's soon - is there anything that I would need for those in advance?

 

[nick_l44.1]

Are you sure? The website states otherwise.
View attachment 365452

Absolutely. Only through the tip and the second ring of 4.4 jack does the signal pass through, the other two rings are simply grounded.

 

[wfujay]

Absolutely. Only through the tip and the second ring of 4.4 jack does the signal pass through, the other two rings are simply grounded.

Ok. That's confusing since the website states "4.4mm balanced headphone jack on the front panel".