Same problem here after 4 months. Black Display window, small red light between the display and the volume knob. Someone on reddit was saying it could be a faulty power supply.. that kind of makes sense I guess. Not much more information I can find online about this unit's factory reset or what the red light even mean. I wonder if its worth trying to get it fix (Looking at the power supply). Quite the disappointing experience with my first SMSL product.
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SMSL RAW-MDA 1 DAC & Headphone Amp Review
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
I already went through this in April. Out of the blue, while the DAC was operational, the screen suddenly went dark. I tried multiple things (different cables, different sources, etc.), but nothing worked. Thankfully, my piece is not even a year old and was still under warranty; they took some time, but they got it replaced. I am just wondering if this happens again in 6 months, I will be screwed.
Roland68
Major Contributor
Who should repair it?
Return it or have it replaced.
Roland68
Major Contributor
It occurs to me that this DAC uses a very inexpensive switching power supply with surprisingly few components, presumably developed by SMSL itself to save the last few euros/dollars. The switching power supply is also integrated into the mainboard and cannot be replaced. These are the typical identifying features of a disposable product.
Developing switching power supplies is something for specialists. A corresponding Mean Well power supply (+/- 12 or 15V/25 watts) costs €10 or less from a manufacturer. I ordered such power supplies from China for around €5 (end customer), and one has been working for me for over two years without any problems.
Everyone can draw their own conclusions about what SMSL/SABAJ/Loxjie are doing and whether they should support it as a customer.
Before chunking rocks it may be another issue. The power supply must be fairly good to achieve the measured results.
I dead screen could be several issues. Check ribbon cable, voltage across a filter cap, and try another power cord.
I dead screen could be several issues. Check ribbon cable, voltage across a filter cap, and try another power cord.
"The switching power supply is also integrated into the mainboard and cannot be replaced. These are the typical identifying features of a disposable product."
This bit hits hard. I hope the replacement piece keeps going. I am from India, anyway we pay way more than the rest, mine costed me around 310 USD.
Now, I am seeing the external power supply devices in a different light.
Internal power supply is not a cost cutting decision. It costs more to implement and shield an internal power supply. The cheap route is a wall wart.
I personally prefer internal power supplies. The closer the power supply is to the circuitry the better the performance. Not just dacs, all electronics.
But plug in power supplies have one advantage besides cost. Trouble shooting is simplified when you can easily plug in another one to determine whether issue is power supply or in dac. Trouble shooting 101, figure out which box the issue is in and go from there.
I am defensive on criticism of the MDA1. Really like mine. Only have had for a month. If screen goes black this year my enthusiasm will be dampened.
Until then, happily listening.
I personally prefer internal power supplies. The closer the power supply is to the circuitry the better the performance. Not just dacs, all electronics.
But plug in power supplies have one advantage besides cost. Trouble shooting is simplified when you can easily plug in another one to determine whether issue is power supply or in dac. Trouble shooting 101, figure out which box the issue is in and go from there.
I am defensive on criticism of the MDA1. Really like mine. Only have had for a month. If screen goes black this year my enthusiasm will be dampened.
Until then, happily listening.
ziggurcat
Major Contributor
I had one for a few days, but ended up returning it due to some popping/ticking following any system sound, pausing music, etc... while there are no drivers on Mac, there's also no control panel to be able to enable the setting to have the DAC's streaming remain always on (by default it is set to turn on only when needed, hence the pops/ticks, which is from the device essentially going to sleep). And because the version of windows 11 with VMWare fusion is arm-based, I can't even update the driver on that side because it is not supported by my version of Windows, so I can't access a control panel in either platform.
I contacted SMSL about a driver that can be used in an arm-based system, and I got no response. FTR, the same driver issue occurs with Topping gear as well, but at least Topping responded by saying they would pass along the request to their dev team when I asked them about that (and also Topping releases MacOS FW updates, which SMSL does not). And I don't have any pops or ticks with my Topping DAC/amps with MacOS even though there are technically no drivers required for those devices on Mac, either.
Outside of that, the MDA1 sounded fantastic, and is a very well-built piece of gear. It's a shame it didn't work out for me because I was really impressed with how the MDA1 sounded.
Roland68
Major Contributor
You have to differentiate between criticism of the device and the approach of SMSL/SABAJ/Loxjie. I'm not talking about internal power supplies or external power supplies, but rather internal ones that SMSL has purchased or made itself.
The SU-1 is another example of excessive cost-cutting in SMSL devices. The DC/DC converters (5V -> +/- 12V) have already failed on several SU-1s. This is an SMSL-specific component. The replacement will cost the end customer from Mean Well approximately €/$ 2.50 - 3.70 and will probably last 5-10 years. So how much can SMSL save on such a DC/DC converter by building their own? 50 cents? $1? But with 5,000 devices, that's already $5,000.
In addition, every $1 spent in production increases the retail price to the end customer by $3. So they not only save production costs, but also make the product more competitive (price).
SMPS are for experts, and I don't think SMSL has even 5% of the experience of MEAN WELL and other, even cheaper, manufacturers.
So why is SMSL starting to build its own switching power supplies from individual components directly on the motherboard? It's certainly no better than a purchased one, it isn't extensively tested, and repair/replacement is much more expensive.
So what other reason could there be than saving €/$1-3?
This is one of many reasons why I no longer buy such devices if I don't know what's inside.
I had the same black screen issue and I randomly had a thought that a firmware update would maybe fix it. Turns out it did, for me at least.
My unit was already on the latest version, but the firmware update somehow fixed it. Try it out and see if that works @Jolted @Lambo1985
My unit was already on the latest version, but the firmware update somehow fixed it. Try it out and see if that works @Jolted @Lambo1985
This is interesting. Reinstalling firmware fixed it.
I will wait on mine to malfunction to (fix) it.
AFireInAsa
Member
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Agreed. I regret buying it because of this tbh. Annoying have to open Qobuz always (I use YouTube Music). I'll try to get the script running sometime.
Skip this product if you want to use it with MacOS.
ziggurcat
Major Contributor
SMSL doesn't seem to think Mac users exist, so it is disappointing that there isn't a MacOS version of the audio control panel they have for PC because then we could at least set the DAC streaming to be always on. I would bet that there is a way to do this via Terminal, but I am terrified of doing anything that would brick my computer by entering the wrong thing.
And unfortunately, I also an into an issue where my version of Windows 11 on VMWare Fusion is an ARM-based system, and because of that, the PC drivers that are available are incompatible (I get a "current system not supported" error). However that is not specific to SMSL -- it's the same thing with any of Topping's PC drivers, too. When I asked both Topping and SMSL if they had any drivers that are compatible with an ARM-based system, only Topping replied saying that they would forward that request to their dev team. Crickets from SMSL.
Despite all of that, it's truly not a bad bit of kit -- there's no denying that it measures/performs phenomenally well. FWiW, things sounded fantastic in my listening tests, and it is very well-built, menu was easy to navigate, though I think there is a lot of confusion about what the filters is in the settings (something about them being mislabeled in the manual/menu). And if I can be a little fair, those pops/ticks probably aren't audible when listening through speakers sitting a few feet away. I only picked up on them because I was mostly listening with headphones.
I don't think I regret buying it (it was an Amazon order, so it was easily returned/refunded), but I do wish they would iron out those issues for Mac users.
Thanks for the info. I already received a replacement. The replacement's screen was WAY brighter. So I do believe my original unit had a faulty screen to begin with.
I thought about that as well, however, when the screen is black the device does not get recognised by the PC, so I had no ways to push or even check if there was an update.
Try a different cable and/or usb port. Mine was doing the same until I used an extension cable alongside the OEM cable that came with the device.. weird, but it works.
Currently I have a Topping E30 which does produce a popping sound when switching sample rates but it's very faint, even when using headphones.
How bad is the popping on the RAW-MDA1 in terms of volume?
I am interested in mainly PC, Windows use and I am aware of the Streaming always ON fix.
Does this tweak completely eliminate popping during normal PC play/stop use (switching sample rates aside)?
How bad is the popping on the RAW-MDA1 in terms of volume?
I am interested in mainly PC, Windows use and I am aware of the Streaming always ON fix.
Does this tweak completely eliminate popping during normal PC play/stop use (switching sample rates aside)?
Roland68
Major Contributor
This popping noise isn't generated directly by the DAC, but rather depends on several devices, including the source (PC/MAC), in your system. In different combinations, the noise may be louder or even absent.
Even if one device doesn't cause problems in another setup, no one can tell you how a different DAC or device in your system will behave.
I just got my unit.
On my Windows system the popping happens only when the sample rate gets switched between tracks while using WASAPI exclusive mode.
It's barely audible and I would say it's much less noticeable than the same popping on sample rate switching I experienced with the Topping E30 I had previously.
I have a question.
I tried to update the firmware to the new version RAWMDA1MCUV101 , I assume V101 stands for version 1.01 .
The display of the unit showed a loading screen during the firmware update process but, after rebooting the unit, if I go in the reset menu I see:
SDAA-1
RAW - MDA1 1.00
Shouldn't the version number be 1.01 in this menu? Did the firmware upgrade fail?
On my Windows system the popping happens only when the sample rate gets switched between tracks while using WASAPI exclusive mode.
It's barely audible and I would say it's much less noticeable than the same popping on sample rate switching I experienced with the Topping E30 I had previously.
I have a question.
I tried to update the firmware to the new version RAWMDA1MCUV101 , I assume V101 stands for version 1.01 .
The display of the unit showed a loading screen during the firmware update process but, after rebooting the unit, if I go in the reset menu I see:
SDAA-1
RAW - MDA1 1.00
Shouldn't the version number be 1.01 in this menu? Did the firmware upgrade fail?
Last edited:
ziggurcat
Major Contributor
That's the same as when I tried this device out. Updating the FW didn't seem to update the version number in the menu.
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