SMSL DO100 Review (Stereo DAC)

[Graham849]

Not on the dac. This has to do with the source, possibly windows which resamples everything before sending it out.

Yes, you are correct. I use Jriver , xmos driver and DO100 set to USB2 to achieve USB direct output that DO100 displays.

 

[drake5000]

Okay now it's my turn to share some experience with this DAC. And unfortunately it wasn't the best.
I have three issues with it. I quickly compiled videos for two of them to better illustrate those issues.

1. When using Toslink (Optical) input, SMSL DO100 skips some audio (stutters) if playback starts after an idle period.

2. Optical / Toslink input is extremely loose. The connector sits unstable and shaky.

3. When switching sample rate, around 0.5s of audio is skipped, similar to the issue №1. My previous DAC (SMSL Sanskrit mk.II) also doesn't' have this issue.

Well, there you go. Just wanted people to know what kind of quirks they might get with this device.

 

[doug2761]

FTR, on a Win10 machine with the latest driver, I get flawless playback over USB. I can switch from all fromats without popping, clicking, or delays. Very happy with the overall performance.

The only pop I ever get is the initial switch from DSD to PCM that happens only if the unit is powered down and back up. I just leave it on and mute the display; treat it as an always-on appliance.

 

[doug2761]

I don't even get that on my Windows machine with driver. It is literally perfect. But, lots of popping when hooked to a Squeezebox Touch directly through USB.

Are you using the SMSL ASIO driver with Windows or configured with WASAPI? On Windows 10 with the ASIO driver or if connected to raspi, I get that initial pop. Haven't tried WASAPI.

On the SBT, I used to use one of those and the only popping I got with that was when I was sending it higher bit rate files over WiFi. Resolved when I hooked it up using ethernet but recall that I may have had problems when going above 192 kHz. I replaced the SBT with a raspi device with the raspi display and running Ropieee. I miss the SBT. That was a cool device.

 

[Vaejoviscarolinanus]

The SMSL DO 100 dac was on sale for Black Friday for @$181 . What a deal! I am not getting any sutter Or pop from the unit I have . Strange.

 

[oso]

A bit of a long shot but, does anyone know if it's possible to force the USB input to stay active even if a different one is selected? If I choose, e.g., optical, the USB device disappears from my computer, and I find that very annoying. My Topping E30 doesn't do that.

 

[doug2761]

A bit of a long shot but, does anyone know if it's possible to force the USB input to stay active even if a different one is selected? If I choose, e.g., optical, the USB device disappears from my computer, and I find that very annoying. My Topping E30 doesn't do that.

I own one and I don’t think it can be done. This is the same behavior as I have on another SMSL DAC so it might be how they do things.

 

[Bleib]

I own one and I don’t think it can be done. This is the same behavior as I have on another SMSL DAC so it might be how they do things.

I prefer it this way. Why not close down sections which are not even used.

 

[Tilata]

I was wondering if any of you could test below problem on Foobar:
If skipping from playing a 256DSD to a 64 DSD track there is a period of white noise randomly from either channel for couple of seconds.
No similar problem if switching from a DSD64 to DSD256 file.

 

[oso]

I prefer it this way. Why not close down sections which are not even used.

I often use different inputs for different programs (e.g. because ASIO is only supported over USB), but programs that use USB to communicate often need to be restarted if the device disappears, so I can't really switch quickly anymore.

 

[DeepSpace57]

Does DO100 have coloration modes like Crystal-2 or Tube-3?

 

[Barry_Sound]

Right now on sale at amazon.de! 2 hours to go.

 

[RasTTaII]

I got one of these on Amazon, it was 190€. I think it's the best DAC a could get for that price, at least regarding to connectivity and measurements.

 

[Tilata]

A bit of a long shot but, does anyone know if it's possible to force the USB input to stay active even if a different one is selected? If I choose, e.g., optical, the USB device disappears from my computer, and I find that very annoying. My Topping E30 doesn't do that.

It is actually a good thing about SMSL. When my Topping E50 is connected (but not switched on) it still locks Tidal (pass trough) so any other DAC gets only 44/48kHz stream other than the x1 unfolded 88/96kHz. ... not that I am really bothered about MQA anymore...

 

[Pulkass]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the SMSL DO100 stereo balanced DAC with Bluetooth. It was sent to me by Aoshida Audio and costs US 239.
View attachment 208131

Sorry about the fuzzy front panel picture. It looks better in person. The rotary control makes it nice to adjust volume. Back panel is the usual affair but with USB-C connector instead of the usual Type B:

View attachment 208132

Nice that AC adapter is built into the unit so you don't have to worry about a dongle. The usual SMSL remote control is provided.

SMSL DO100 Measurements
Let's start with our usual dashboard using XLR balanced out:
View attachment 208133
This is superb performance especially at this price, landing the DO100 nicely in our top 20 list of best DACs ever measured:

View attachment 208134

RCA output is just slightly worse:
View attachment 208135

Same shows up in dynamic range:

View attachment 208136

Multitone test shows the extremely low distortion:
View attachment 208137

We are talking 15 dB lower than threshold of hearing folks!

IMD distortion is excellent with ever so slight hint of "ESS IMD Hump:"
View attachment 208138

Jitter performance is superb across all three inputs -- something we don't always see:
View attachment 208139

Linearity is textbook perfect of course:
View attachment 208140

Seven different filters are provided:

View attachment 208141


Using the default filter 1, we get incredibly good performance in our wideband distortion measurement:
View attachment 208142

Conclusions
This is a flawless performance from SMSL. Every test is aced, leaving no room for any complaint whatsoever. When you consider that this state of the art performance is offered at relatively low cost, it is quite an achievement. There is no excuse left to not opt for full transparency folks.

It is my pleasure to recommend the SMSL DO100.

---------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

I bought this dac after your review. Last may l bought it. Actually l m trying to play Qobuz hi res 192 khz 24 bit files or identical files stored in my PC, but the DAC just won't play higher than 96 kHz!!! What could be the problem (?) I m connected via USB, the cable is 5+ metres using a cat 6 adapter, because a normal usb cable won't work at such distance. Is the length of the cable the real problem ???? Thanks.

 

[Graham849]

I bought this dac after your review. Last may l bought it. Actually l m trying to play Qobuz hi res 192 khz 24 bit files or identical files stored in my PC, but the DAC just won't play higher than 96 kHz!!! What could be the problem (?) I m connected via USB, the cable is 5+ metres using a cat 6 adapter, because a normal usb cable won't work at such distance. Is the length of the cable the real problem ???? Thanks.

Hi, I purchased mine in June, so hopefully same components inside.

I am using cable that came with DAC, and running SMSL USB XMOS driver v.5.40.0 in Windows 11.

DO100 is using U2.0 USB setting.
I can obtain via JRIVER 44, 48, 96, 176, 192, 352 and 705 Khz playback according to the DO100 screen. All files from the Blue Coast Collection Test CD 2.

Is it possible to test playback just using the OEM cable? This will eliminated the cable length.

Good luck, regards g

 

[Pulkass]

Hi, I purchased mine in June, so hopefully same components inside.

I am using cable that came with DAC, and running SMSL USB XMOS driver v.5.40.0 in Windows 11.

DO100 is using U2.0 USB setting.
I can obtain via JRIVER 44, 48, 96, 176, 192, 352 and 705 Khz playback according to the DO100 screen. All files from the Blue Coast Collection Test CD 2.

Is it possible to test playback just using the OEM cable? This will eliminated the cable length.

Good luck, regards g

Thanks for the attention, problem solved, my PC is far from the stereo system, I could not use a 5 metres USB cable, the DAC was not recognized, I bought last may, a 5 metres long cable utilizing cat 6, that worked, it seems not capable of higher frequencies, discovered a few days ago, strange, because I tried DSD some time ago and it worked, anyway I just connected the dac with a high quality 2 metres long usb cable, and 192 khz worked !!! So the problem is all in the cable, I bought now an extencion cable using optical fibres, 5 metres, let s see if it ll work !!!

 

[Snoopy]

I was wondering if any of you could test below problem on Foobar:
If skipping from playing a 256DSD to a 64 DSD track there is a period of white noise randomly from either channel for couple of seconds.
No similar problem if switching from a DSD64 to DSD256 file.

Why not avoid problems like this and just upsample everything to the same sampling rate..fit example 256DSD

 

[Pulkass]

Why not avoid problems like this and just upsample everything to the same sampling rate..fit example 256DSD

How ??? I listen mainly to Qobuz, with Tidal I don t have that problem because Tidal (less fidelity) goes to 88 khz max.

 

[rentaclaus]

Thanks for the attention, problem solved, my PC is far from the stereo system, I could not use a 5 metres USB cable, the DAC was not recognized, I bought last may, a 5 metres long cable utilizing cat 6, that worked, it seems not capable of higher frequencies, discovered a few days ago, strange, because I tried DSD some time ago and it worked, anyway I just connected the dac with a high quality 2 metres long usb cable, and 192 khz worked !!! So the problem is all in the cable, I bought now an extencion cable using optical fibres, 5 metres, let s see if it ll work !!!

better would be to use a short USB cable and a long XLR-cable using the symmetrical output