SMSL RAW-MDA 1 DAC & Headphone Amp Review

[miero]

It is possible that this "popping" is caused by ES9039 DAC family. I read that there are other DACs having this issue, such as Topping D90 III.

 

[staticV3]

It is possible that this "popping" is caused by ES9039 DAC family. I read that there are other DACs having this issue, such as Topping D90 III.

Numerous reports of pop noises on both ESS and AKM DACs of various generations suggest that this is a firmware issue and not tied to any particular DAC chip.

 

[miero]

If there were a simple and easy solution, why wouldn't DAC manufacturers just go ahead and fix it?

 

[staticV3]

If there were a simple and easy solution, why wouldn't DAC manufacturers just go ahead and fix it?

Who said it was easy?

Good programmers are expensive and hard to justify for brands like Topping and SMSL to keep on their payroll.

Whenever programming is involved, they use the most barebones solutions possible.

 

[miero]

Maybe they could open sources of their firmware, for example release just a minimum version that can be compiled and flashed to the device and which works with an USB input. I'm sure that volunteers will improve it.

 

[Esprit]

with AK4499EX today

I didn't understand, the DAC uses ES9039Q2M

 

[staticV3]

I didn't understand, the DAC uses ES9039Q2M

RAW-MDA1 uses ES9039Q2M.

Grovkalle was talking about the RAW-DAC1, which uses AK4499EX.

 

[Esprit]

I looked on the site and it is a different DAC than the one tested here.

 

[john100a]

Hi all,
I ordered the raw-mda1 and had it for 3 days and have severe problems with clock sync.

I use the DAC connected via usb to a MacBook pro (M1 Pro). I already applied the newest firmware from September 24 2024

1. I do hear pops (only on the left channel) every time I change the track. BTW this gets you constant frequent pops when you browse YouTube videos. Every time you hover over a clip it pops.
2. I have severe problems with Roon. I do hear pops as well when I change albums but the more severe problem is that after some time (even idle time) the Roon client cannot sync to the SMSL clock and skips songs until an error message occurs. To get out of the loop you have to restart the Roon client OR restart the DAC. This somehow syncs the clocks again.
3. When playing MQA coded audio it works and the DAC is displaying the correct MQA mode but it is not communicated back to the Roon client. So Roon is unaware that the DAC did a full MQA decode.

With this it is impossible to use the DAC with Roon on a Mac. (I didn't test it with a PC so far).
This is what Roon support was telling me:

Thank you for your report. The particular class of error you’ve indicated, “Too Many Errors,” indicates an issue between RAATServer and the endpoint currently engaged in playback.
We’ve pulled diagnostic logging and can only see examples of this failure with the SMSL DAC connected via USB.
In some cases, the SMSL DAC fails to synchronize any clocks with RAATServer. Is this device firmware attempting to serve as the lead clock in your setup? Please share a screenshot of the Audio Midi Setup tool under Applications → Utilities on this Mac.
In other cases, the SMSL instructs RAATServer to tear down the stream when receiving MQA files from Tidal.

Without a firmware update this is unfortunately not usable with Roon and totally annoying via usb due to the constant pops on the left channel

Same exact issues I have with my unit. My firmware is also updated. However mine is on the right channel (the pops).

I use a windows 10 pc.

I noticed that everytime there's "extra load" on my PC, such as previewing a youtube video or loading a web page, those click will occur. It even occurs while skipping forward in youtube videos, but in spotify it does not do that.

So is this a hardware issue and we're doomed, or can this be remedied down the line with another update?

 

[miero]

Can you check if this is happening also if the DAC is connected to a smartphone?

@john100a: for Windows are you using a driver from SMSL?
- https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/downlist/id/11.html

 

[frgmnt]

Same exact issues I have with my unit. My firmware is also updated. However mine is on the right channel (the pops).

I use a windows 10 pc.

I noticed that everytime there's "extra load" on my PC, such as previewing a youtube video or loading a web page, those click will occur. It even occurs while skipping forward in youtube videos, but in spotify it does not do that.

So is this a hardware issue and we're doomed, or can this be remedied down the line with another update?

I'm still waiting for someone that has this unit to confirm that they don't experience this issue at all. If so, this might sadly be a hardware issue for you which may or may not be remedied with a firmware update.

Where did you get your unit from? I'm still considering getting this from Shenzhen's Amazon store so I can easily replace the unit along with an extended protection plan. I've never had an issue come up with any of my past DAC/amps, but I keep seeing reports of people's Chi-Fi units developing problems. There seems to be plenty of people with no problems so that's why I'm willing to take a chance.

 

[miero]

I ordered from shenzhenaudio. And as I said, I observe two pops on both channels during playback startup (opening device), playback stop (closing device), which implies also pops on bitrate change, because the audio device has to be stopped and reopenned. But I'm not sure if in that case there are 2 or 4 pops.

 

[frgmnt]

Hoping to see that somebody with the unit not having any pops. None of my DAC/amps in the past had these issues, so I'd feel like I would be downgrading if I had to settle with pops every now and then. I had issues with my Macbook Pro's audio sending out popping noises randomly through the speakers and headphones and it ended up driving me crazy.

I see that a lot of people recommend the RME DAC, but I'm not trying to spend that much for one especially when I do not need all the features. Just want something close to its performance at around $300-400 and the RAW-MDA1 seemed to fit the bill.

 

[john100a]

Can you check if this is happening also if the DAC is connected to a smartphone?

@john100a: for Windows are you using a driver from SMSL?
- https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/downlist/id/11.html

Not using the driver. Should it matter much? I'm a bit cautious about downloading drivers that are not from major manufacturers.

@frgmnt I got my unit from ShenzenAudio's Aliexpress store. Keep in mind that this unit, to my knowledge, is a collaboration between SMSL and Shenzenaudio, so ideally getting it from shenzenaudio is the way to go.

 

[miero]

Thise issues in Windows are probably caused by existing software, drivers. In the SMSL driver a buffer size can be adjusted, but it is hard to guess if that would help.

Or boot that PC with live Linux image and check if that fixes the issue. If yes, then I would advise to reinstall that Windows.

 

[sonci99]

I got this dac because of the double optical input. I really like that it shows the input on the screen when you change it by remote, and it can be seen even from distance.
Initially I used it with a windows 7 pc, and it was great no problems.
Unfortunately with windows 10, I have randomly for 0.5 to 1.5 sec of silence, sound just stops no pops or click, then all normal. I thought that windows sounds were interfering with the foobar audio, even though I`m using exclusive output on foobar menu, but even with windows audio muted was the same.
I tried the fix on the option menu, checked stream all the time, and it seems to have been fixed but still haven`t tried long enough.
But there is another problem, sometimes when I physically touch the dac or the volume control, windows show`s no audio device, then it reconnects, maybe it`s a bad usb cable or port, but I can`t reproduce it. I think this happened once even with windows 7, so probably not related to the driver.
It`s a pitty because I always wanted a dac with multiple digital input and the price was right.

 

[miero]

I have also some difficulties using USB input with LG G6 Android phone. Sometimes helps to restart the phone, sometimes helps to restart the DAC. But it might be caused by the phone, I unable to verify it with another device right now.

 

[sonci99]

(firmware update issue)

I received my RAW-MDA1 today. And I wanted to update the firmware to the latest RAWMDA1MCUV101 (240924). But I had issues with connecting this DAC started in the "Update Mode" to PC. An USB drive did not show in the Windows 11 or Linux on HP ENVY x360 notebook and also neither on an Android phone.

Fortunately using an old Dell Precision M4600 notebook running an Linux kernel 5.10 I was able to connect to a virtual USB drive update of the DAC and update its firmware successfully

Do you know what issues correct this new firmware?

 

[miero]

I do not know. This is probably question to @SMSL-Mandy

 

[john100a]

Aside from tagging @SMSL-Mandy, how can we bring all of these bugs/issues to SMSL's attention? Perhaps @amirm can help here by relaying a short list to the rep that sent him his unit?