Alright, looks like my passion for smsl was killed. I had so much hope
It all started when I wanted to connect my new projector that don't have optical out (such a shame) to my stereo system. I found that Bluetooth is not so terrible anymore with LDAC and tried do100.
The box did it job flawlessly, I also got another one (d6s) to replace a built in dac in tv receiver setup.
I tried the new box (d6s) as a DAC in the stereo system just for giggles and I was shocked how good it was!
I built the system when I was like 10 years younger and hear components much better, so I decided, ok, I am older and this 140 eur box just blew away my 5k dac over Bluetooth
. Imagine what a 500 eur version will do! Gonna sell old dac for a nice pile of cash and live a happy life with smsl. I did a swift blind test with one song and started to look for a replacement.
Well, today I did a proper test with various material. DO300ex sucks (over Bluetooth, with normalized volume) in: voice details, hi-hats, overall sound richness, it sounded like a stripped out version.
I actually liked d6s more. It had similar issues, but in smaller magnitude. Not killing my old DAC, but being quite close.
I may do a proper test with the same USB source, however, my excitement for new DACs died out except for the d6s. So cheap and so good! However, not replacing my old DAC, yet, maybe when I get older haha
Ps: old dac has a Wolfson chip