SMSL H400

[Rover]

I was hoping the standby spec showing .5mw would mean when not in use it wouldn't be going full power. Anything in the menu for power management or standby mode? Strange that they put such a low power consumption for standby mode in the literature.

In standby mode, 0.5 watts was checked by the device.The H400 is in stable cold mode.The person confused the screen shutdown mode and the shutdown mode.

 

[Dunring]

In standby mode, 0.5 watts was checked by the device.The H400 is in stable cold mode.The person confused the screen shutdown mode and the shutdown mode.

Terrific, I have one coming in a couple of days, just made it through Customs. The H300 doesn't have that, on the sine wave UPS it shows 13 watts in standby and 25 watts under load. The A70Pro is like that, cool to the touch when not in use, unlike the A30Pro which is always warmed up. Have an SMSL DL100 DAC coming today and it's 5 volts so I'll probably keep both as a daily driver since I got them new with warranty doubled. Will be nice to have a 2 year plan to keep them and have peace of mind. The newer 50 ohm HE6SE are just so much fun when powered enough to do a -6 preamp reduction.

 

[jruser]

I wish this was available at some US based retailers

 

[staticV3]

I wish this was available at some US based retailers

SMSL H400 Headphone Amplifier

Discover the SMSL H400 Headphone Amplifier—a compact powerhouse with up to 15W per channel, three gain settings, fully balanced design, and remote control. Perfect for driving demanding headphones and doubling as a high-end preamp for your audio system. Sleek, efficient, and ready to transform...

apos.audio

 

[jruser]

Apos does a lot of drop shipping from overseas

 

[ChenHui]

Terrific, I have one coming in a couple of days, just made it through Customs. The H300 doesn't have that, on the sine wave UPS it shows 13 watts in standby and 25 watts under load. The A70Pro is like that, cool to the touch when not in use, unlike the A30Pro which is always warmed up. Have an SMSL DL100 DAC coming today and it's 5 volts so I'll probably keep both as a daily driver since I got them new with warranty doubled. Will be nice to have a 2 year plan to keep them and have peace of mind. The newer 50 ohm HE6SE are just so much fun when powered enough to do a -6 preamp reduction.

I look forward to your feedback on the H400. But aren't the two models you bought a bit ugly when stacked together?

 

[johny_2000]

Apos does a lot of drop shipping from overseas

True. Listed as reseller in the US, it is often shipped directly from warehouses in Asia to your home address.
And they won't do warranty repairs, so you'll have to ship it back overseas or eat the price of the device and move on to something else.

With brands such as SMSL, TOPPING, FiiO, MOONDROP, etc. which do not have customer service in North America, you are upfront accepting the lower cost of the devices and possible quality control issues as the price of the devices are from brands that have trustworthy quality, warranty and service centers are many times higher. Compare it to PS Audio, McIntosh, Benchmark, Bryston, Ank Audio Kits, Border Patrol, NAD.

 

[Dunring]

The H400 arrived today, and I've been using an A70Pro for the last week so have a good comparison. The sound is just as good at the A70Pro, I'd bet money nobody could pass a volume blind test between them. The menu is really simple and easy to use on the H400. It's got low, med, and high gain. On the Hifiman Deva Pro wired I use daily you can blow your ears off at the top of high gain. I've got several of the Hifiman He6se and will hook them up later with a steep preamp reduction to see how it sounds and also check temps under load with a laser thermometer. I've got a Sine wave UPS with a meter to check power consumption. The H300 I have doesn't have a standby mode and this one advertises it does, so I'll do research tonight.





This SMSL H400 is taking full aim at the A70Pro just like they did with the H300 to compete with the Topping A30Pro (I've got those also). The volume wheel is great if you're left handed and keep a stack on the right. Kind of annoying with the plugs all on the right and volume wheel in the middle though. It's got a new remote I've never seen before, it's the RC-8D. The display is very graphical but it's monochrome, not the usual color IPS. It's very easy to read at a distance though and not distracting at all. The gain stages are different for SE plugs, I'll try some sensitive IEMs tonight, but this sounds as quiet as the A70Pro and I'm sure it'll measure sky high. It just came in, so wanted to post in case anyone has specific questions on it. Can't wait to give it a good workout with the 68ohm and 50ohm HE6se tonight.

 

[Rover]

The H400 arrived today

Excellent discrete, fully balanced amplifier design.The design is also beautiful.

 

[PacketofCrisps]

How does the pre-amp work on this, is it just variable or can you also set it to fixed?

 

[Dunring]

How does the pre-amp work on this, is it just variable or can you also set it to fixed?

You can set it to max volume or adjust it with the remote or volume wheel.

 

[Dunring]

The H400 arrived today, and I've been using an A70Pro for the last week so have a good comparison. The sound is just as good at the A70Pro, I'd bet money nobody could pass a volume matched blind test between them. The menu is really simple and easy to use on the H400. It's got low, med, and high gain. On the Hifiman Deva Pro wired I use daily you can blow your ears off at the top of high gain. I've got several of the Hifiman He6se and will hook them up later with a steep preamp reduction to see how it sounds and also check temps under load with a laser thermometer. I've got a Sine wave UPS with a meter to check power consumption. The H300 I have doesn't have a standby mode and this one advertises it does, so I'll do research tonight.

View attachment 378437

View attachment 378439

This SMSL H400 is taking full aim at the A70Pro just like they did with the H300 to compete with the Topping A30Pro (I've got those also). The volume wheel is great if you're left handed and keep a stack on the right. Kind of annoying with the plugs all on the right and volume wheel in the middle though. It's got a new remote I've never seen before, it's the RC-8D. The display is very graphical but it's monochrome, not the usual color IPS. It's very easy to read at a distance though and not distracting at all. The gain stages are different for SE plugs, I'll try some sensitive IEMs tonight, but this sounds as quiet as the A70Pro and I'm sure it'll measure sky high. It just came in, so wanted to post in case anyone has specific questions on it. Can't wait to give it a good workout with the 68ohm and 50ohm HE6se tonight.

 

[Dunring]

I have the SP400 paired with M400. Is the H400 significantly better than the SP400 in your opinion ?... thanks.

I just sold an M400/SP400 stack last week and the H400 isn't better. It's got more top end, but the SP400 is really hard to beat when it's got a 5 volt DAC on it. I'm road testing the H400 with a DO300 DAC (5.2v) and it's great, but no reason to switch from an SP400 or especially the A70Pro I have to compare it with. The volume steps 1-100 in 1 percent steps unless you go into soft mode where it jumps more when you turn the wheel faster. It's transparent sounding and I'm in low volume at 80 percent with the Hifiman Deva Pro wired and a -6db preamp reduction to EQ and I'll probably never need middle gain for them. The Hifiman He6se (have the 68 ohm and 50 ohm versions) use medium gain, or high gain if you equalize with a big preamp reduction.
Even the box looks like the Topping A70Pro box (black with shiny coating), they were going full copycat. The display is a simple affair, not much to it really for options, but an amplifier shouldn't be as complex as the A70Pro menu is. The excellent thing is the thermals, it runs really cool despite all the power it's got. If you have an A30Pro or H300 in a too-warm room, that's a reason to upgrade. For the SP400/M400 the upgrade you might notice best is going to an optical fiber optic cable (I use the Fibbr). VR headsets have really brought the price down and they use USB C, just can't use adapters with them. I have a powered Yottamaster USB hub for it.

 

[RedEyeNinja]

I just sold an M400/SP400 stack last week and the H400 isn't better. It's got more top end, but the SP400 is really hard to beat when it's got a 5 volt DAC on it. I'm road testing the H400 with a DO300 DAC (5.2v) and it's great, but no reason to switch from an SP400 or especially the A70Pro I have to compare it with. The volume steps 1-100 in 1 percent steps unless you go into soft mode where it jumps more when you turn the wheel faster. It's transparent sounding and I'm in low volume at 80 percent with the Hifiman Deva Pro wired and a -6db preamp reduction to EQ and I'll probably never need middle gain for them. The Hifiman He6se (have the 68 ohm and 50 ohm versions) use medium gain, or high gain if you equalize with a big preamp reduction.
Even the box looks like the Topping A70Pro box (black with shiny coating), they were going full copycat. The display is a simple affair, not much to it really for options, but an amplifier shouldn't be as complex as the A70Pro menu is. The excellent thing is the thermals, it runs really cool despite all the power it's got. If you have an A30Pro or H300 in a too-warm room, that's a reason to upgrade. For the SP400/M400 the upgrade you might notice best is going to an optical fiber optic cable (I use the Fibbr). VR headsets have really brought the price down and they use USB C, just can't use adapters with them. I have a powered Yottamaster USB hub for it.

So all else being equal...the H400 delivers noticeably more poower to headphones than the SP400?

 

[Dunring]

So all else being equal...the H400 delivers noticeably more poower to headphones than the SP400?

It does, but it's whether the HE6SE is your white whale or not, and it runs out of power toward 600 ohm which is a problem for headphones like the Beyerdynamic T1 V2 which has a dramatic rise in the bass region. Also for those you're on single end with it with reduced gain. It's would be a specific use where you'd actually put the power to work. Medium gain is great on the H400, feels like it can handle anything. Just for a small real world example I'm using a Hifiman Deva Pro wired with a -6db preamp reduction. In medium gain I won't go over 60% volume at those settings. I just had the SP400 and this certainly doesn't sound any better, just has some more power under the hood.

 

[staticV3]

and it runs out of power toward 600 ohm which is a problem for headphones like the Beyerdynamic T1 V2 which has a dramatic rise in the bass region.

The T1 V2's impedance peak at 100Hz represents its Eigenfrequenz, so its natural oscillation frequency.

It's where the headphone requires the least amount of power to get loud.

That's what the impedance peak represents. Same voltage (=same SPL), but higher impedance = less current = less power.

That impedance peaks = points of high power/voltage requirements is a fundamental misunderstanding that even our host @amirm seems to have.

I've discussed it heavily in the HD490 Pro review thread, but still don't know why it is such a prevalent misconception...

 

[RedEyeNinja]

It does, but it's whether the HE6SE is your white whale or not, and it runs out of power toward 600 ohm which is a problem for headphones like the Beyerdynamic T1 V2 which has a dramatic rise in the bass region. Also for those you're on single end with it with reduced gain. It's would be a specific use where you'd actually put the power to work. Medium gain is great on the H400, feels like it can handle anything. Just for a small real world example I'm using a Hifiman Deva Pro wired with a -6db preamp reduction. In medium gain I won't go over 60% volume at those settings. I just had the SP400 and this certainly doesn't sound any better, just has some more power under the hood.

My use case for the H400 will be for driving a set of 25ohm open back planar magnetic drivers. With the SP400, I listen with high gain @ around 80 - 85/99, with 5.2V from a DO400 now.

Thanks for the review...hope to test it out myself sometime next week.

 

[RedEyeNinja]

I've got a chance to setup and spend some time with the H400 and I can say the unit is adequate in powering my SJY Audio Horizon @ 25ohm with high gain at 75% volume. Feeding the signal from my D0400, I can use one of the PCM filters without feeling anything is lacking.

Perhaps I should've preface all this with saying I'm a 46yo raver who likes to feel my music. A lifetime ago, I had a competition car audio system running horn dynamic drivers...so I'm no stranger to "too much" and in particular, fatiguing equipment.

I find the SMSL offering suits my preference for planar magnetic drivers for my headphones and IEMs. On a side note, now that I'm happy with H400 powering my headphones, I've gone back to the DO400 for powering my Z12 IEMs with high gain @ -35db.

 

[NexusOne]

I need an dac / amp for the TV with a dimmable / no display for dark rooms. I think I will take Smsl DO200Pro + H400 instead of the Smsl DO400. The last one is cheaper and all in one, but weaker and no hdmi arc. So do you think this Smsl combination should work well with a XS / HEK Stealth? Do you know other solutions? I think it is strong enough because your Audio Horizon is not the easiest headphone to drive. On Hifigo every 3 months the products are cheaper so you can get this combination on sale for about 750 €.

 

[RedEyeNinja]

I need an dac / amp for the TV with a dimmable / no display for dark rooms. I think I will take Smsl DO200Pro + H400 instead of the Smsl DO400. The last one is cheaper and all in one, but weaker and no hdmi arc. So do you think this Smsl combination should work well with a XS / HEK Stealth? Do you know other solutions? I think it is strong enough because your Audio Horizon is not the easiest headphone to drive. On Hifigo every 3 months the products are cheaper so you can get this combination on sale for about 750 €.

Tbf... I know nothing about xs or hek stealth. But on the topic of your upgrade and the continuous market churn, Esp by smsl and topping... I'd be interested to see if the do some sort of DO400 Pro with Cirrus chips that'd make all of us fomo again in 3 months. =)