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What's been your experience with SMSL/Topping reliability & warranty support?

OP1M.DR3M

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Just wondering what everyone's overall experience has been with SMSL, Topping, Sabaj, Loxjie, Gustard, etc. when it comes to product reliability and warranty support from the companies when things do go wrong..

I'm on my second SMSL DA-8S amp that's having issues with popping/cracking noises in the span of about 2 years. I also had a SMSL M400 MKII that was having weird connectivity issues that required me to restart it to get it working again, but luckily this was within the return window. I haven't dealt with any of these companies directly yet but have had good experience with an online store for warranty support until recently.. kinda lagging with responses and keeping me in the loop. It's not as huge of a deal with the cheap products I've been playing with but as I start considering products in the $600+ range; customer support matters more.. so just wanted to get a feel of peoples' experiences..
 

milan616

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My Sabaj A20a had the clicking power supply relay issue. They wanted me to send it in to them to repair (on my dime) or just return it to Amazon and get a fixed unit (roll of the dice). Thankfully I was able to convince them I could replace the PSU fine on my own and they mailed me an updated unit no muss no fuss. Didn't even ask for the old one back.
 

cvt01

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I had a Topping D30 which died after 3 years then when I replaced it I went with S.M.S.L SU-9n. It is now dead after 6 months. I purchased it through Amazon and the return window has expired. I contacted Shenzenaudio (Amazon seller) and they said I should talk to Amazon and they will handle it. I thought that's BS so I contacted SMSL. SMSL said they can't handle warranty repairs or returns for this item and they too advised me to go back to Amazon. I'm just baffled by this response to be honest but I don't pretend to understand the deals Amazon and these sellers have between each other.
Anyways I was able to get a return label from Amazon after calling them. First they wanted to charge me an $80 (!) restocking fee. I asked them why would I pay restocking fee for a faulty item, it will be restocked into the landfill lol. They ended up refunding the whole purchase price. So at least I got my money back on the SMSL but the Topping is a loss.
I lost confidence in both 'brands' which is sad because the specs and features for the price is great on these products and both worked great till the day they died.
 
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Peluvius

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My Topping stuff has never missed a beat. I don't have any Sabaj branded gear.
 

MAB

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I bought three Topping products; PA5, A30 Pro, D30 Pro. I got each one from a different reseller. The PA5 failed after a few weeks many other customers experienced.
The A30 Pro developed an intermittent reduction in volume in one channel after 8 months.
Both resellers had poor customer service consistent with other customers in the PA5 thread.
I did eventually get my money back, but only after sending really angry emails.:(
 

grogi.giant

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My experience with Aiyima is excellent.

I purchased an A07Pro amp and I could not connect esablish a BT connection to it. Contacted the manufacturer, they asked for video demonstrating the issue, after which they agreed to ship me a new board. Really no fuss. Meanwhile it turned out it was my phone that was at fault, my wife's connected just fine.
 

MRC01

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Just wondering what everyone's overall experience has been with SMSL, Topping, Sabaj, Loxjie, Gustard, etc. when it comes to product reliability and warranty support from the companies when things do go wrong..
...
Funny you would ask. My first topping product was the EX5. It had firmware bugs, shutting itself off and displaying the wrong sample rate. Topping couldn't fix them so I returned it. I got an SMSL SU-6 just over a year ago, which has been reliable except just today I noticed it didn't sound quite right. The difference was too subtle to pin down so I tested it and found that it's developed 2nd harmonic distortion at -55 dB to -60 dB.

I'll soon find out whether support is better than their long-term product quality.

Once bitten, twice shy. The experience has me avoiding Chi-Fi. I haven't had any long-term issues with gear from Japan, the USA or Germany.
 
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audiosciencestudent

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I had the same worry , I was looking at the ranking of all the DACs and AMPs and mostly all are "Chi-Fi" . I'll probably get a JDS labs DAC and AMP , Schiit SYS and play it safe for now. I wait for a "non Chi-FI DAC or AMP makes into the list which does not cost more than 1000$ , right now I see Benchmark DAC3, Octo but they are too expensive
THX Monoprice also seems to perform well but I saw a lot of people having issues with that also
 

anphex

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My SMSL SU-9N also just died. No sound anymore. Just hints of "pop" sounds no matter what I change in the settings, on windows, reinstall the driver or unplug the device. It's about 21 months old. I'll contact the seller over Amazon and I'm gonna be really interested in the response they are giving me. A low power device dying after less than two years under low usage is absolutely unacceptable and it would be the last of ChiFi for me.
 

Shadrach

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I've had a Topping D10s for a couple of years now. I gets used daily. It performs way beyond my hearing capabilities.
I would have bought something cheaper but the display is very handy if a bit information limited.
I had the opportunity to compare side by side with a RME AD2-DAC FS and I couldn't tell the difference, but it looked the part.
In the event that the Topping dies I would probably get the RME mainly because I'm in the UK and their aftersales service is reputed to be excellent.
What needs to be born in mind is Topping produce thousands of units and even with fairly stringent quality control sampling a few duff ones are going to slip through.

I think one needs to consider whether the increases in technical performance are worth paying for considering most dacs perform way beyond our hearing accuity. If one just wants to listen mainly to redbook standard recordings then simple dacs make a better choice.
 

Joe Smith

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No problems here with Aiyima, SMSL or Fosi gear. I have not bought any Topping, and don't intend to. Too many anecdotal QC issues.

I admire RME both from a QC and functionality standpoint but they are at a price point that I can't get to...getting great DAC performance for lower cost and ditto headphone amps. Maybe if the majority of my listening was via headphone, but I'm down to about 10% now that I'm retired...
 

K-h-L

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I've had a Topping D10s for a couple of years now. I gets used daily. It performs way beyond my hearing capabilities.
I would have bought something cheaper but the display is very handy if a bit information limited.
I had the opportunity to compare side by side with a RME AD2-DAC FS and I couldn't tell the difference, but it looked the part.
In the event that the Topping dies I would probably get the RME mainly because I'm in the UK and their aftersales service is reputed to be excellent.
What needs to be born in mind is Topping produce thousands of units and even with fairly stringent quality control sampling a few duff ones are going to slip through.

I think one needs to consider whether the increases in technical performance are worth paying for considering most dacs perform way beyond our hearing accuity. If one just wants to listen mainly to redbook standard recordings then simple dacs make a better choice.
I've been looking at the RME as well. I understand the UK distributor Synthax are offering a warranty extension of up to 5 years total but only if purchased from a UK seller e.g. not Thomann. Haven't read the fine print though.

 
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