This is a review and measurements of the SMSL DS20 balanced, portable (battery operated) DAC and headphone amplifier. It was sent to me by Aoshida Audio and costs US $190.
I am usually not a fan of transparent covers on electronics but this one is so well done that I approve!
The enclosure is very solidly built metal which while heavy, oozes feeling of quality as does the glass cover. The white LEDS in the middle nicely show the current volume. Others indicate charging, USB class, etc.
Nice to see (true) balanced and unbalanced headphone jacks:
While the multi-mode power button takes some getting used to, the rocker volume control is buttery smooth. It does have rather large steps though.
The entire back of the unit is magnetic and rather strong too as it kept sticking to my metal bench! It is made so that you can attach your phone to it. So you can put aside your rubber band!
In the interest of time, what you are about to see is abbreviated set of measurements, focused on balanced 4.4mm output. Company documents that the 3.5mm jack outputs half the voltage which means you get quarter of the measured power you see below.
SMSL DS20 Measurements
As noted, the volume control is rather coarse, jumping from 3.8 to 4.5 volts. I like to see 4 volts but gave the benefit of doubt and tested at 4.5 volts:
This is shockingly good and quite unexpected! We are talking very competent desktop class performance:
Likewise, dynamic range at 4.5 volt is superb for this class:
But not the 50 millivolt output:
So highly sensitive IEMs may expose some noise.
Key for portable devices is amount of power and we have quite a bit of it here for this class:
This is well above what you get out of a dongle and you have a battery here to boot.
Conclusions
The SMSL DS20 turns in impressively good numbers for a portable DAC and headphone amplifier. The former aspect, is desktop class though the latter can be outdone with desktop amps. But not with dongles. So if you have any worries of draining the battery on your phone while enjoying music, the DS20 makes an excellent option.
I am happy to recommend the SMSL DS20.
------------
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 am usually not a fan of transparent covers on electronics but this one is so well done that I approve!
The enclosure is very solidly built metal which while heavy, oozes feeling of quality as does the glass cover. The white LEDS in the middle nicely show the current volume. Others indicate charging, USB class, etc.Nice to see (true) balanced and unbalanced headphone jacks:
While the multi-mode power button takes some getting used to, the rocker volume control is buttery smooth. It does have rather large steps though.
The entire back of the unit is magnetic and rather strong too as it kept sticking to my metal bench! It is made so that you can attach your phone to it. So you can put aside your rubber band!
In the interest of time, what you are about to see is abbreviated set of measurements, focused on balanced 4.4mm output. Company documents that the 3.5mm jack outputs half the voltage which means you get quarter of the measured power you see below.
SMSL DS20 Measurements
As noted, the volume control is rather coarse, jumping from 3.8 to 4.5 volts. I like to see 4 volts but gave the benefit of doubt and tested at 4.5 volts:
This is shockingly good and quite unexpected! We are talking very competent desktop class performance:
Likewise, dynamic range at 4.5 volt is superb for this class:
But not the 50 millivolt output:
So highly sensitive IEMs may expose some noise.
Key for portable devices is amount of power and we have quite a bit of it here for this class:
This is well above what you get out of a dongle and you have a battery here to boot.
Conclusions
The SMSL DS20 turns in impressively good numbers for a portable DAC and headphone amplifier. The former aspect, is desktop class though the latter can be outdone with desktop amps. But not with dongles. So if you have any worries of draining the battery on your phone while enjoying music, the DS20 makes an excellent option.
I am happy to recommend the SMSL DS20.
------------
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/
