SMSL DL200 the best ever value DAC/AMP?

[Bengt Bengtsson]

Yes, it dosen´t work. When I reconnect the cable it displays 000 until I release the knob it starts flashing 200 and nothing works
Thanks for the help!

I got it working again If anyone have the same issue you can try to update firmware. In this process you start without power just USB and when it starts you plug in the power. So it seems that it begins the update before it gets in to the flashing 200 loop.
I will write back if it stops again. Bur it has worked flawlessly for an hour.

 

[JIW]

I got it working again If anyone have the same issue you can try to update firmware. In this process you start without power just USB and when it starts you plug in the power. So it seems that it begins the update before it gets in to the flashing 200 loop.
I will write back if it stops again. Bur it has worked flawlessly for an hour.

Good to know. Did it start behaving badly after an attempted firmware update?

 

[Bengt Bengtsson]

Good to know. Did it start behaving badly after an attempted firmware update?

No, it just randomly died.

 

[Bengt Bengtsson]

No, it just randomly died.

Short happiness. Everything works as it should except the headphone out. When i try to switch to ho (headphones) i directly switches back to lo (line out). Line out and DAC works perfectly but I can't get it to stay at headphones

 

[Sokel]

Short happiness. Everything works as it should except the headphone out. When i try to switch to ho (headphones) i directly switches back to lo (line out). Line out and DAC works perfectly but I can't get it to stay at headphones

Does it has auto-sense for HPs?
Is there a chance something is stuck in it shorting it?

 

[Bengt Bengtsson]

Does it has auto-sense for HPs?
Is there a chance something is stuck in it shorting it?

No, unfortunately not. You hav to change it manually each time from the menu.

 

[Kurokuroe]

Some questions before my DL200 arrives:
Which filter should I use? I read that the filters were previously incorrectly labeled but new firmware fixed that, so depending how new stock my unit is I might have older labels, not going to bother updating the firmware since that seems like a pain just to get the labels fixed. Is there much difference between the filters? I'm mostly watching anime but sometimes game.
DPLL set to lowest, Windows volume 100%, 32bit and 44/48khz, correct? This is what I've done with ODAC2 until this day.
Cheers and thanks for all the information.

 

[Bleib]

No, unfortunately not. You hav to change it manually each time from the menu.

That's preferable. Old school would send the signal to the amp if headphones were accidentally detached

 

[paulg1]

I hope you like the SMSL DL200, mine has served me very well for these past 2 years. I did do the firmware update, and I use FL3 on my SMSL DL200. Works great, I haven't really experimented with the other filters. I keep Windows volume at 100% I use active speakers, and when using speakers, I keep the DL 200 volume at max. and attenuate level with the speaker volume control. With headphones, I still keep the Windows volume at 100% and attenuate with the DL200 volume control. I use Truthear Crinacle Zero Red IEMs, and the low gain setting on the DL200 drives them fine, in practice I never need the volume above 70 on the DL200 volume control.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

Some questions before my DL200 arrives:
Which filter should I use? I read that the filters were previously incorrectly labeled but new firmware fixed that, so depending how new stock my unit is I might have older labels, not going to bother updating the firmware since that seems like a pain just to get the labels fixed. Is there much difference between the filters? I'm mostly watching anime but sometimes game.
DPLL set to lowest, Windows volume 100%, 32bit and 44/48khz, correct? This is what I've done with ODAC2 until this day.
Cheers and thanks for all the information.

There's a thread on ASR about the mislabeled filters. At the end of the #1 message there's a TLDR list of which SMSL filter is which according to the manufacturer of the dac-chip. I believe I've used FL3 or FL4. Keeping the Windows vol at 100% is recommended, use the volume control on the dac. Not sure about the bit depth etc. though. I've set it at 24/96 as I'm using EQapo and it doesn't work if the bit depth or sampling rate changes from track to track, as it quite often does (at least when streaming music).

 

[Kurokuroe]

Got my DCA Aeon 2 Noire hooked up to DL200 now.
Volume is fairly quiet on Low Gain with these headphones, I find myself in the 85-90 range, is this okay or should I use High Gain?
Stock Windows drivers turn off the audio stream when no audio is playing so you lose first second of audio when it turns back on but installing the XMOS USB DAC drivers available on SMSL website fixes this as it enables the setting to have audio stream "Always On".
Drivers default to 32-bit/44.1, most of the media I listen to is 44.1 so that feels like the right choice and there's no harm in 32-bit, right? I don't have the golden sample ears so likely to not hear any difference with 24-bit but if there's no downside to it I'll leave it at that.
Set filter to 4 since in that other thread people recommended that too with 44.1.

Thanks once again!

 

[JIW]

Got my DCA Aeon 2 Noire hooked up to DL200 now.
Volume is fairly quiet on Low Gain with these headphones, I find myself in the 85-90 range, is this okay or should I use High Gain?
Stock Windows drivers turn off the audio stream when no audio is playing so you lose first second of audio when it turns back on but installing the XMOS USB DAC drivers available on SMSL website fixes this as it enables the setting to have audio stream "Always On".
Drivers default to 32-bit/44.1, most of the media I listen to is 44.1 so that feels like the right choice and there's no harm in 32-bit, right? I don't have the golden sample ears so likely to not hear any difference with 24-bit but if there's no downside to it I'll leave it at that.
Set filter to 4 since in that other thread people recommended that too with 44.1.

Thanks once again!

The Aeon 2 Noire has a sensitivity of 94-20*log10(0.353) = 103.04 dB at 1 V RMS or 0 dBV according to Amir's measurements. The DL200 in low gain has a maximum output of 2.5 V RMS or 8 dBV. 85-90 on the volume is -4.5 dB to -6.5 dB. Thus, SPLs at 0 dBFS are between 103+8-6.5 = 104.5 and 106.5 dB. That is pretty loud for most content. As long as you have enough volume in low gain, you don't need high gain.

 

[Ctom]

If I wanted to hook up an OTL headphone amp (like the Xduoo TA-66) to the DL200 would I just use the RCA out to RCA in of the TA-66? Or would there be any benefit to using the TRS balanced out?

 

[staticV3]

If I wanted to hook up an OTL headphone amp (like the Xduoo TA-66) to the DL200 would I just use the RCA out to RCA in of the TA-66? Or would there be any benefit to using the TRS balanced out?

RCA out can be connected to either RCA in or Balanced in.

Balanced out however requires a Balanced input on the receiving device.

 

[Ctom]

RCA out can be connected to either RCA in or Balanced in.

Balanced out however requires a Balanced input on the receiving device.

Ah ok thank you. So just a regular pair of RCA-RCA will do the job

 

[Ctom]

Quick question for anyone reading… How does the DL200 stack up to the competition these days? I’ve been informed by the internet (since I bought the TA-66 OTL tube amp) that I should be upgrading my DAC. But the DAC in the DL200 is supposed to be quite good, or at least it was a couple of years ago when I bought it.

Are people just full of it telling me my DAC is shite or should I actually look at something else to pair with my tube amp?

 

[Ctom]

Bonus pic

 

[Lambo1985]

Quick question for anyone reading… How does the DL200 stack up to the competition these days? I’ve been informed by the internet (since I bought the TA-66 OTL tube amp) that I should be upgrading my DAC. But the DAC in the DL200 is supposed to be quite good, or at least it was a couple of years ago when I bought it.

Are people just full of it telling me my DAC is shite or should I actually look at something else to pair with my tube amp?

If it was good a couple of years ago, why would it not be good, now? - Affordable top of the line DAC's have been on the market for the better part of the last 5 years or so. The DL200's DAC can be included in that list. At this point, if you want a different sound, you may need to degrade/downgrade to an R2R or something not as good. You're not going to hear much improvement going from one transparent DAC to the next. There may be subtle sonic differences between devices, but your tube amp and headphones/speakers will influence the sound way more. Are you happy with the way it sounds? - If no, try new headphones/speakers and play with an EQ.

 

[nick_l44.1]

How does the DL200 stack up to the competition these days?

The es9039q2m has such high potential that there’s practically no point in upgrading. However, the DL200 is not without its flaws. The main one is high-frequency distortion. You could try to address this, but the audible improvement is very, very small, and it’s very difficult to find devices with better quality. The e1da 9039s has a THD of -130 dB @10kHz, which is 15 dB lower, but it’s just a USB dongle. The Topping DX5II might turn out to be slightly better than the DL200, but I haven’t come across any precise measurements.

But with your tube amplifier (THD 0.08% = -62 dB vs. -124 dB/DL200), it really doesn’t make sense to consider an upgrade in this direction, at least for the purpose of improving sound quality.

 

[Ctom]

Thank you both for the replies and the reassurance. I’ll save my money for something else