SMSL DO100 PRO - HDMI ARC DAC

[V.b.]

DO100 Pro

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

Rotary knob, balanced, largish 7 segment display, decent specs.

It is as if Topping and SMSL are toying with us, one has PEQ, one has HDMI ARC.

V

 

[Snoopy]

Still interesting if the price is good hdmi eARC and usb support for game consoles.

 

[bungle]

It is as if Topping and SMSL are toying with us, one has PEQ, one has HDMI ARC.

And MiniDSP has them both (and more).

 

[Snoopy]

And MiniDSP has them both (and more).

At a higher price yeah

 

[V.b.]

Back image.

 

[Graham849]

Why "Supports MQA decoding and MQA-CD’ !

Non MQA compliance is why I like original.

 

[Graham849]

This I like

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

I think this misses a trick.

By definition, the HDMI signal has to go into the TV, then be sent over HDMI ACR to the DAC. And we all know TVs have lots of naughties going on inside before it passes audio out over HDMI ACR.

A simple pass through HDMI out would have solved that.

Instead of buying one of these, why not just shell out a few bob for an Amazon Basics audio extractor?

 

[V.b.]

"TVs have lots of naughties going on inside before it passes audio out over HDMI"

TVs also decode various proprietary codecs, switch a lot of sources, allow volume control over hdmi etc

V

 

[Mikig]

Handsome! but we are always there...
31 DACs and two pages of headphone amps... it goes around and around, input more or output less, the products are always the same...

I would advise SMSL to do something different: for example , a nice preHT, a good preamplifier, a good power amp, a good Streamer…..
I find it more interesting to cover more different needs than having a list of almost identical devices covering every price range available within 1000 euros…. .

 

[NexusOne]

My situation: TV + Bluray - Player, Apple TV and PS5.

My questions:

- I connect the DAC with the hdmi-arc-slot of the TV. So I should get the sound from the 3 devices (ATV, Player, PS5), too? Like the optical output?

- Theoretically HDMI Arc is better. But do you think there will be any differences which you can hear with a headphone or in practise it is the same quality in this case?

Optical vs HDMI: Which Is Better?

When it comes time to connect your soundbar to your TV, you'll want to ensure that you're getting the best possible experience.

www.rtings.com

 

[Roland68]

I think this misses a trick.

By definition, the HDMI signal has to go into the TV, then be sent over HDMI ACR to the DAC. And we all know TVs have lots of naughties going on inside before it passes audio out over HDMI ACR.

A simple pass through HDMI out would have solved that.

Instead of buying one of these, why not just shell out a few bob for an Amazon Basics audio extractor?

That's right, there's no other way.
The DAC receives the sound from the television via the return channel. And this also from every HDMI device that is currently active on the television.
A pass through doesn't help because the DAC would then not be able to output any sound from the television (antenna, SAT, cable, etc.).

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

That's right, there's no other way.
The DAC receives the sound from the television via the return channel. And this also from every HDMI device that is currently active on the television.
A pass through doesn't help because the DAC would then not be able to output any sound from the television (antenna, SAT, cable, etc.).

Actually, that’s exactly what HDMI ARC does.

If you have 3 HDMI inputs, they go out to the TV through the HDMI out, which has also HDMI ARC/eARC, which also acts as an extra input from the TV.

 

[Roland68]

Actually, that’s exactly what HDMI ARC does.

If you have 3 HDMI inputs, they go out to the TV through the HDMI out, which has also HDMI ARC/eARC, which also acts as an extra input from the TV.

I don't quite understand what you're getting at?
Would you like to have several HDMI slots on the DAC?

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

I don't quite understand what you're getting at?
Would you like to have several HDMI slots on the DAC?

No, totally separate discussion. I was only noting the misunderstanding you had as to how ARC/eARC works.

 

[The Me]

This I like View attachment 360502

I just received my DO100 Pro today and it does not have the 4V/5V switch.

 

[El Cheapo]

I just received my DO100 Pro today and it does not have the 4V/5V switch.

Does the HDMI ARC work well for volume control (using CEC)?

 

[The Me]

Does the HDMI ARC work well for volume control (using CEC)?

I haven't had a chance to try it out yet but I will tomorrow and report back for sure.

 

[Hemi-Demon]

$220 shipped. Is the HDMI licensing that expensive? I wonder if you can program a TV remote to control the power and volume on the SMSL? This would be awesome if it had a trigger output for external speaker amps.

 

[The Me]

Does the HDMI ARC work well for volume control (using CEC)?

So the HDMI ARC does work but is a bit finicky. It is mentioned by SMSL on their website that you may need to turn the DO100 Pro off and then on again to get it to work due to "the diversity of ARC interface protocols". This was the case for me and is not mentioned in the manual.

What I needed to do was set the DAC to ARC mode, turn the unit off with the switch on the back (not just putting it into standby), then turn it on again. As long as the DAC was left in ARC mode when put into standby it would work again as soon as I turned it on. If the input source is changed at any point then the off/on procedure must be performed again.

I was not able to get the DAC to synchronize with the power state of the TV. My TCL 55S425CA mentions in the menu that compatibility with this feature may vary. The mute and volume functions work fine and the TV automatically turns off its internal speakers when the DAC is running. It switches back to using the internal speakers when the DAC is turned off.

One thing I noticed is that the stream reports as being 44.1 kHz as opposed to 48 kHz when using an optical connection. The ARC connection appears to bypass some kind of upsampling that the TV is doing with its optical connection.