SMSL RAW-MDA 1 DAC & Headphone Amp Review

[Jubeishock]

I'm currently using the K7 and it's a pretty solid DAC/amp. It does have some quirks, like a delayed volume knob and output switch, but none of that is a dealbreaker. Between the two, the K7 does worse in measurements, but still well beyond what the human hearing can discern. The two have different DAC chips, AKM(K7) vs ESS(RAW-MDA1). Not too sure if they actually sound slightly different as some people claim. I have an O2/ODAC that I compared it to, and subjectively I find the K7 to be warmer sounding, but I did not do a proper blind ABX testing.

Some people have been complaining about popping noises during certain situations with the RAW-MDA1, and I would like to believe that this isn't a common occurrence. A lot of times, people with problems with their product tend to leave a bad review or scour forums to look for a solution, compared to somebody with a perfectly working product.

I just placed an order for the RAW-MDA1 so it'll be a couple of weeks before I can compare. I'll make my decision if I want to keep that or the K7.

Great, waiting for your comments.

 

[heraldo_jones]

One question, is the 4.4mm connection real balanced? Because in the specs sheet it shows only one data related to headphones.

 

[staticV3]

One question, is the 4.4mm connection real balanced? Because in the specs sheet it shows only one data related to headphones.

It's a single-ended Amp output through a Pentaconn jack.

Luckily, single-ended headphone output has no real disadvantages on mains-powered equipment, so this is inconsequential.

 

[Esprit]

Some people have been complaining about popping noises during certain situations with the RAW-MDA1, and I would like to believe that this isn't a common occurrence

It seems so...

 

[frgmnt]

It currently is 15% off on Amazon and Apos. Ended up cancelling my Amazon order to place one with a discount.

 

[Bleib]

It's also on a deal here: https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/s-m-s-l-raw-mda1-es9039q2m-digital-to-analog-convertor-dac

 

[miero]

On RAW-MDA1 during Bluetooth playback remote control cannot be used for play/pause/prev/next.

I know it was not specified, but it would be nice to have if it worked.

Do you know if some other SMSL/Topping/... device that support that?

 

[Jubeishock]

Is this Bluetooth transmitter or only receiver? Thx.

 

[miero]

Is this Bluetooth transmitter or only receiver? Thx.

Bluetooth receiver only.

 

[Sasaoka Toshio]

Hello.
I am not good at English, but I write using automatic translation.

Measures against POPPING NOISES
・When the CPU was intentionally overloaded, a slight delay was observed in the data in the USB.
(The signals themselves are all flowing, but with slight intervals.)

・Increasing the priority of the USB driver improved, but not completely.
(Priority was given to USBHUB3.sys USBXHCI.sys xmos_s_usbaudio.sys xmos_s_usbaudioks..sys. Priority is “high")
Example
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\USBHUB3\Parameters
“ThreadPriority"=dword:0000000f
Priority Mechanism

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・Rewriting the PageOptions entry in XMOSUSBDACCpl.xml does not seem to affect it.
(Lack of song heads improves.)

・LatencyMon shows that all USB drivers are running concentrated on CPU0
(Logic cores were not used.)

・Using the “Interrupt Affinity Policy Tool” and assigning the USB driver to the 15th physical core (CPU28 and CPU29), the popping noises stopped appearing.
(When allocated with the “Interrupt Affinity Policy Tool”, for some reason the driver also uses logical cores.)

・No more popping noises even with CPU load.

Personal Conclusion
The OS and the manufacturer's drivers are poorly made and the process is concentrated on the crowded CPU0.
Popping noises might be improved by distributing the video driver, LAN driver, USB driver, and storage driver to each CPU for processing.

The reason why the popping noises appear to be environment-dependent is probably because they vary with the amount of processing allocated to CPU0 on each PC.
In PCs where popping noises occur with the slightest operation such as browsing, the driver and the program may be competing for CPU0.

POPPING NOISES may be more likely to occur, especially if driver priority is not specified and program priority is intentionally raised.

PS
Sorry if I'm wrong.

 

[Sasaoka Toshio]

Oh, I forgot to mention.
RAW-MDA1 is great!

I used to use a DENON PMA-890D.
I was using 216W just to listen with headphones!

The PMA-890D has a DAC in it, but the sound was bad.
This is probably due to the large amount of resistance packed into the headphone output, not the DAC's performance.

Once again, the RAW-MDA1 is great!

 

[miero]

@Sasaoka Toshio this seems to be a different issue than I was describing.

I do not observe popping during playback. Only at the start & stop of playback via USB, regardless of a source (PC Windows, PC Linux, Android, iPhone).

 

[miero]

Caution when connecting these kind of headphones to the SMSL RAW-MDA1:
1) headsets with a TRSS connector to the amp's headphone output using a 6.3mm (1/4") jack adapter.
2) headphones with a passive volume attenuation pot

I tried several headsets, but with Logitech G432 sound was unbelievably bad, there were dynamically changing artifacts in the sound (distortion, sine sweep, noise, ...). The problem was that the 6.3mm jack adapter I used was not "compatible" with the TRSS conector of headset. It did not connect signal ground of amplifier to the signal ground of headset, only to microphone signal. So the audio signal was(?) floating with some capacitive coupling over microphone wire.

EDIT: I just remembered on another issue with the G432 has a passive volume attenuator via volume pot built-in. This is another problem, that RAW-MDA1 was not happy with that headset (still bad sound) even after fixing jack adapter connection.

 

[Jubeishock]

I've got this smsl raw and Fiio k7, first impression I don't think this dac is an step forward over k7, k7 sounds louder, sound is warm but with body, smsl sound more crisp (ESS) and less powerful. My first impression is fiio is cheaper and better, at this moment, I'll check in deep.

 

[Sasaoka Toshio]

@Sasaoka Toshio this seems to be a different issue than I was describing.

I do not observe popping during playback. Only at the start & stop of playback via USB, regardless of a source (PC Windows, PC Linux, Android, iPhone).

In my environment, the noise when starting and stopping playback via USB almost disappeared after editing XMOSUSBDACCpl.xml.
When I connected it to another PC, there was no problem, so I judged it to be environment-dependent.
Three normal PCs and two workstations had no problem, only the server machine had noise.

Maybe the cause is different.

This is just a thought, but you could try using “SoundVolumeView” to disable all unnecessary inputs and outputs.
Other inputs and outputs may be getting in the way.

 

[Pictus]

Personal Conclusion
The OS and the manufacturer's drivers are poorly made and the process is concentrated on the crowded CPU0.
Popping noises might be improved by distributing the video driver, LAN driver, USB driver, and storage driver to each CPU for processing.

Try this tweaks

KVR Forum: DPC latency better with AMD graphic cards (3 card comparison) - Page 6 - Computer Setup and System Configuration Forum

KVR Audio Forum - DPC latency better with AMD graphic cards (3 card comparison) - Page 6 - Computer Setup and System Configuration Forum

www.kvraudio.com

There, make sure MSI(Message Signaled-Based Interrupts) is enabled for your stuff.
Make sure to use Microsoft Interrupt Affinity Tool to set the USB xHCI Host to some other CPU CORE.
Make sure to Disable Windows Hibernate.
It is all there in the tweaks.
I use everything, but keep MPO enabled.

 

[Jubeishock]

Is there any way to check wich firmware have this device? thx

 

[frgmnt]

Is there any way to check wich firmware have this device? thx

I don't have mine yet, but I have another DAC/amp with the XMOS usb driver. There should be an USB Audio Device Control Panel, and under the "Info" tab, the firmware should be the revision.

You could try to update the firmware, and it should let you know your firmware version before you do. I don't see anywhere that SMSL ever updated the firmware for this model, but let us know if the firmware on SMSL's site is an actual update from stock or just an upload of the stock firmware.

 

[frgmnt]

I've had the RAW-MDA1 for about a month (Apos) and have not experienced the popping/clicking issues. I don't use the DAC with a computer though. I have it as an external DAC to a Wiim Pro Plus for streaming to speakers and as a headphone amp (Arya Organic.) So far, I'm pleased with its performance/$$$ value.

When you use your MDA1 with the Wiim, does it ever change the sample rates?

I just got mine, and I noticed very low popping noises when I'm using exclusive mode and I change the tracks to something with a different sample rate. Need to do some more testing to see if it the popping noise comes up when I'm not switching sample rates. I already turned on the option to make the unit always be on.

I do notice that compared to my K7, the MDA1 changes sample rate faster. I'm guessing the K7 implements some silent buffer when changing sample rates/inputs/outputs in order to eliminate hearing possible popping noises. I am going to replace my unit once or twice to see if this is just the normal behavior.

It wouldn't be the biggest issue for me if it is only when sample rates change, since I do not use exclusive mode because it prevents me from listening to other stuff at my computer.

Update 1: Just came across another weird behavior. I took out my IEM's and came back to my right side not playing any audio, and it only came back after I turned my unit off and back on. Happened twice already within the first hour of using the unit.

Update 2: Just had both sides of my IEM's stop playing sound after I put them down and walked away. I don't think it is static coming from my body as I noticed when I came back, there was no sound playing before I even touched my headphones. Weirdly, they have not gone out while I am wearing them.

If my replacement(s) end up doing something similar, going to just return the product and look for another clean transparent dac/amp. Does anybody have a suggestion for something with similar measurements? I'm okay with getting a stack instead of a combo, just trying to keep my spending under $500-600.

 

[hyoscyamus]

Hello, I just bought this dac and got an issue with the line output. The headphones output is fine.
When I turn my speakers on, I've got some weird and constant sizzle/humming noise : https://voca.ro/1oQJAvchP6lH
I tried different outputs : forcing balanced/unbalanced and even when go back to hpa output with the speakers on, but nothing changed.
I hadn't any issues using the same cables (RCA) on my previous dac, with the same computer and the same speakers.
I tried to use one XLR cable (I only have one) and the speaker I used it with had no sizzle/humming noise.
Speakers I use are Adam T5V.
Not sure if my dac is defective or if I'm not using the right settings...
Could this come from the RCA output of the dac ?