SMSL DO200 MKII DAC Review

[mocenigo]

I am sure PCM with much higher quality than CD, will sound about same as DSD. If this is what you mean, then I agree completely. In fact, I think the music should never be resampled. When I was recording lyrics and guitar i Cubase with a Lynx L22 PCI card, I could hear how the quality deteriorated quickly as soon as I resampled the music from the original file format 24bit/192kHz.

No, 16/44,1 is fine as a transport mechanism.
Apparently, you must have used a bad resampling algorithm.

 

[MusicNBeer]

No, 16/44,1 is fine as a transport mechanism.
Apparently, you must have used a bad resampling algorithm.

Exactly, a resampling algorithm can get as accurate as the developer wishes. With 24 bit masters, resampling accuracy error can easily get below 16-bit resolution, meaning perfect playback once dither is applied and stream is truncated to 16 bits.

 

[Guddu]

Thank you @amirm for review.
Do you have smsl AO200 (original or mkii) review in line?

 

[newbaudio847]

Just bought this unit, 95 dollar discount at checkout from Amazon. I like it!

 

[Thx1326]

I am replying in general to all of the previous posts. First I can't believe that there is such a differential in the dependence upon written, machine measured specifications.... most of which the human ear could never hear. Any DAC of the same model and manufacturer will sound exactly the same unless it has some kind of defect in the manufacturing process. In general... ESS is more bright and sounds more digital like - the sound that tube lovers and vinyl listeners try to avoid. Burr Brown and Cirrus Logic in general have a softer sound. AKM seem to hold the place of top dog currently in that they are smoother with extended high end giving good detail and depth without the digital harshness... thus resulting in that accurate analogue sound... what we are all really looking for. Afterall, our hearing system and mental processing is still more analogue than digital. What causes these different pieces of equipment and models to sound different are the components (op-amps, type of capacitors, type of resistors, internal signal routing, noise suppression, etc. But there are caveats to all of these.... usually the use of good op-amps helps to offer a cleaner signal with less noise. Most of the time, the better rated DAC's have more op-amps but there is a point of no return. I would think that anything over 11 is overkill and non beneficial. Yet one of the better DAC's out there, the Topping E70 Velvet, has no op-amps.... hmmmm... what's up with that?

Specs should be used as guide, a road map to compare the DAC's in your budget, then there are the features you want... the display, the knob, inputs/outputs, etc. I would definately NOT want anytype of DSP EQ going on and would rather see the cost put into the implementation of the DAC and its circuitry. Any equalization should be done outside of the DAC in an analogue fashion. The only exception to this would be some of the Filter and Sound Color settings... all of which can be defeated and are usually a feature of the actual DAC chip rather than adding another DSP circuit. By experimenting with the various filters and slope settings you can taylor the detail, punch and detail and then "soften it a bit by sitting one of the "tube" emulations which usually will allow you to dial in the perfect sound for YOUR system, YOUR room enviroment and most importantly YOUR ears. Once you learn this procedure... with a little patience... you can match the performance of DAC's costing 2x or 3x that are sitting in "audiophile" systems with all the tone controls bypassed and all settings at neutral....because their systems are "flat". Yuk!... and yeah, I have perfect 20-20K hearing and a room that has no standing waves and no parallel surfaces and perfect sound distribution from my perfectly balanced speakers with perfect dispersion as I set in the perfect listening position....in my dreams!

The point of this rant.... quit looking for and paying for things (specs) you can't hear. Quit listening to the equipment and listen to YOUR music.

Enjoy the music!

 

[LtMandella]

Just before I read your rant, I played some music from files on my computer, using Jriver. I had completely forgotten that I had set the Jriver DSP to upsample all to DSD 2X.
But I sure as heck instantly noticed when I started playing the tracks, that it sounded really smooth and sweet, much more enjoyable than what I had been hearing lately with non upsampled digital playback from foobar.
Oh yeah, then I remembered that in Jriver I had setup upsampling to DSD.
I know. I know. You are going to tell me I could not possibly have heard what I did. Right?

 

[Jimster480]

I am replying in general to all of the previous posts. First I can't believe that there is such a differential in the dependence upon written, machine measured specifications.... most of which the human ear could never hear. Any DAC of the same model and manufacturer will sound exactly the same unless it has some kind of defect in the manufacturing process. In general... ESS is more bright and sounds more digital like - the sound that tube lovers and vinyl listeners try to avoid. Burr Brown and Cirrus Logic in general have a softer sound. AKM seem to hold the place of top dog currently in that they are smoother with extended high end giving good detail and depth without the digital harshness... thus resulting in that accurate analogue sound... what we are all really looking for. Afterall, our hearing system and mental processing is still more analogue than digital. What causes these different pieces of equipment and models to sound different are the components (op-amps, type of capacitors, type of resistors, internal signal routing, noise suppression, etc. But there are caveats to all of these.... usually the use of good op-amps helps to offer a cleaner signal with less noise. Most of the time, the better rated DAC's have more op-amps but there is a point of no return. I would think that anything over 11 is overkill and non beneficial. Yet one of the better DAC's out there, the Topping E70 Velvet, has no op-amps.... hmmmm... what's up with that?

Specs should be used as guide, a road map to compare the DAC's in your budget, then there are the features you want... the display, the knob, inputs/outputs, etc. I would definately NOT want anytype of DSP EQ going on and would rather see the cost put into the implementation of the DAC and its circuitry. Any equalization should be done outside of the DAC in an analogue fashion. The only exception to this would be some of the Filter and Sound Color settings... all of which can be defeated and are usually a feature of the actual DAC chip rather than adding another DSP circuit. By experimenting with the various filters and slope settings you can taylor the detail, punch and detail and then "soften it a bit by sitting one of the "tube" emulations which usually will allow you to dial in the perfect sound for YOUR system, YOUR room enviroment and most importantly YOUR ears. Once you learn this procedure... with a little patience... you can match the performance of DAC's costing 2x or 3x that are sitting in "audiophile" systems with all the tone controls bypassed and all settings at neutral....because their systems are "flat". Yuk!... and yeah, I have perfect 20-20K hearing and a room that has no standing waves and no parallel surfaces and perfect sound distribution from my perfectly balanced speakers with perfect dispersion as I set in the perfect listening position....in my dreams!

The point of this rant.... quit looking for and paying for things (specs) you can't hear. Quit listening to the equipment and listen to YOUR music.

Enjoy the music!

Interesting rant.
I don't hear a difference between the different DAC brands... The filters matter more than anything else.

 

[Thx1326]

I'm pretty certain you probably did hear a difference. It is all dependent upon how the DSP handles the up-sampling and how it is processed by the particular DAC. DSD files don't follow the same rules as PCM or FLAC. The DSP could have built in algorithms to automatically massage the freq response curves when the signal is being upconverted to the DSD format. It may sound better but at the same time, it may not be a true reproduction of the original signal. But again, that's ok. It's your system, your ears and this is a positive experience. Someone else might not hear the same results but that shouldn't matter to YOU.

It's just a shame that DSD files are so huge. Most of my music is in native 24bit/48khz native format... and it sounds just fine.

And most importantly....you ARE enjoying YOUR music.

 

[Thx1326]

Interesting rant.
I don't hear a difference between the different DAC brands... The filters matter more than anything else.

That's interesting. Given that everything is set to a neutral position as far as the DAC settings in the same system, and the recording is one of high quality, it is usually fairly easy to distinguish between ESS and AKM chipsets of the same caliber. The other brands may be much more difficult as they are more subtle. Personally, I prefer AKM but your milage may vary. And if I got the right deal on an ESS unit with the features I want, I would not hesitate to go for it as I can always fine tune the sound via other components and settings in my system.

 

[Bernard23]

Mostly agree, except for EQ. Always EQ in the digital domain where you have sufficient bits not to introduce unwanted artefacts. Analogue tone controls are the work of the devil.

 

[Rewind]

Something else to consider other than DAC chips manufacturer is the implementation of the circuit. How clean, powerful and separated is the power supply? Do you use an impedance buffer to help match the impedances of your source, DAC, preamplifier? Am I missing something?

 

[Thx1326]

Mostly agree, except for EQ. Always EQ in the digital domain where you have sufficient bits not to introduce unwanted artefacts. Analogue tone controls are the work of the devil.

We will agree to disagree... good clean analogue control is what my ears are tuned for... don't care much for listening to digital 0's and 01's. A bit harsh on my tweeters!!!

 

[Bernard23]

We will agree to disagree... good clean analogue control is what my ears are tuned for... don't care much for listening to digital 0's and 01's. A bit harsh on my tweeters!!!

Not sure I've ever heard 1s and 0s, and my digital sources are far smoother than any analogue source I've owned.

 

[Thx1326]

Not sure I've ever heard 1s and 0s, and my digital sources are far smoother than any analogue source I've o

Smoothness is in the ear of the beholder....and it's not the source but what's between the source and your ears that matters. As far as which is smoother.... look at the wave form of a digital signal and see the tiny steps that form the curve of the wave.... not present in the analog wave...just a smooth beautiful curve. Simplified example for visual purposes.

 

[Bernard23]

Smoothness is in the ear of the beholder....and it's not the source but what's between the source and your ears that matters. As far as which is smoother.... look at the wave form of a digital signal and see the tiny steps that form the curve of the wave.... not present in the analog wave...just a smooth beautiful curve. Simplified example for visual purposes.

Well I'd argue smoothness here is in the eye of the beholder. Our friends Nyquist and Shannon spent a not inconsiderable effort demonstrating that at 44khz we can perfectly reconstruct an upper audible threshold frequency. Very few humans have the ability to hear above that frequency. The brain and our sensory systems are not continuously analogue, we operate on a, sampling rate too.

 

[respice finem]

While we're at it

 

[Thx1326]

While we're at it

While our ear and/or brain may not be able to "hear" the stairsteps, that does not mean they are not there... it is the nature of a digital stream. In an analogue wave, there are no steps as the wave form is continuous. Again not saying that everyone or anyone can hear it and/or the difference... it just is what it is. In some (not all) material... on my system ... I can usually hear this "smoothness" difference between ESS and AKM dac's in good units with good circuitry. Some of my friends prefer the ESS over the AKM... some the other way around... very subjective. It's why some people love violin and to others it's like fingernails on a chalkboard. The important thing is that YOU enjoy what you are listening to.

 

[respice finem]

While our ear and/or brain may not be able to "hear" the stairsteps, that does not mean they are not there...

The oscilloscope is also deaf? (or rather blind)

 

[Thx1326]

The oscilloscope is also deaf? (or rather blind)

Sorry... but I don't read,write or hear oscilloscope.

 

[Bernard23]

While our ear and/or brain may not be able to "hear" the stairsteps, that does not mean they are not there... it is the nature of a digital stream. In an analogue wave, there are no steps as the wave form is continuous. Again not saying that everyone or anyone can hear it and/or the difference... it just is what it is. In some (not all) material... on my system ... I can usually hear this "smoothness" difference between ESS and AKM dac's in good units with good circuitry. Some of my friends prefer the ESS over the AKM... some the other way around... very subjective. It's why some people love violin and to others it's like fingernails on a chalkboard. The important thing is that YOU enjoy what you are listening to.

They are there, you just can't hear it. However, if you think you can, and prepared to spend ££ that's OK. Don't expect others to agree though, because it's not how physics works.