This is basically it, a very simple and straightforward graphical user interface. Most of these settings are set and forget, with the exception of the Gain setting which will be used more often. HPA4 can sleep tightly now, as Benchmark implemented a lot more features, which I did mention in its dedicated review.

SMSL DO300 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org SMSL DO300 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

The mids have a velvety timbre and at the same time, they are resolving and high-quality. Just like the bass region, the midrange also feels natural and realistic. Instruments such as guitars, flutes, piccolos, and pianos have a very organic and musical tone. The vocals are positioned in the center and blend in perfectly with the rest of the instruments. The coherency is top-notch and nothing feels out of place. Upper mids follow the same route as well, they are present with good energy, yet they never try to steal the show. I really love the dynamics of the midrange, the whole range is just delightful to listen to. High I was quite excited testing for the first time a digital amplifier with so much power under its hood, so I’ve replaced my power amp immediately an connected the SA400. Plenty of Class-XD, D, A/B and full Class-A amplifiers have been tested around here, but not a single digital amplifier based on some of the newest technologies. Frankly I was more than excited to hear what future has to say. As can be deduced from their names, these modes do have a slight impact on the color of the sound signature. Rich mode provides a smoother signature, where the upper midrange and highs are affected and trimmed the most. The tube mode provides an overall smoother sound but I felt like it hindered the detail retrieval capability of the DAC and didn’t like it very much due to this argument. I think if you’re aiming for a smoother sound, you’re better off with the Rich setting instead of the Tube setting. Lastly, the Crystal setting increases the upper mid sharpness and treble extension. This setting slightly increases the perceived clarity, resolution, and airiness. However, the DO300 has an upper hand when it comes to technical performance, but it’s again, very slight. I feel the DO300 has a bit better detail retrieval, even though the DO200 is basically surpassing most of the headphones in the market when it comes to what you’re able to actually hear.

This includes XLR and RCA outputs, and a variety of different inputs: AES, I2S, Coaxial, Optical/Toslink, and USB-A. In addition, there is a bluetooth antenna which has the latest Qualcomm Bluetooth 5.0 standard, and allows for LDAC, AptX-HD, AptX, AAC and SBC formats. Headphone Amps: SMSL SP400, SMSL SH-9, Benchmark HPA4, SparkoS Labs Aries, Flux Lab Acoustics FCN-10, LittleDot MKIII SE Another plus is the automatic switching between any voltage range between 100V – 240V. This helps in avoiding the mess of mistakenly connecting the plug without switching the voltage selector and damaging components. So, while the internals are not the most beefed up and do not use many discrete components, the design is competent and should be fine for most use cases. SP400 has a close to zero impedance, meaning that its higher power would be delivered instantly to your headphones, its damping factor is fully preserved with low and high impedance headphones and nothing would be stopping those drivers from achieving their maximum potential. I have made a good comparison to all of them before I made a modification to my SMSL SU6, and M400.

SMSL M400 Review — Headfonics

Their D1SE was an exemplary DAC in this area, always highlighting the leading edges and the smallest nuances like it would be a child’s play and D2 goes with the same winning formula. If you’re crazy about your music on a micro-scale, then be prepared hearing the truth alone. With D2 on my table, I’m sure that the only limiting factors would be my upstream equipment, my amplifiers and transducers in a headphone or speaker form. The DO300 DAC is the latest in line of products that have a very impressive spec-sheet while the asking price is relatively modest. DO300 is also one of the first DACs to utilize the latest and greatest ESS Sabre ES9039MSPro chip, sporting class leading distortion figures and dynamic range. There is also numerous input and output options to mix and match with any system out there. PCM1704 is a much older DAC chip. I am excited to learn that SMSL is now making a DAC using this chip (SMSL VMV D3). However, I am not sure where they can get the PCM1704 as Burr Brown has stopped making them long time ago. Full-sized headphones: Hifiman Susvara, Hifiman Arya, Audeze LCD-4, Erzetich Phobos, Erzetich Mania, Kennerton Wodan, Magni, Gjallarhorn, Vali, M12S, Quad ERA-1, Ollo S4X Reference, HarmonicDyne Zeus The Achille’s Heel of all THX amplifiers has always been the soundstage size and while it was never bad or anything like that, only very few of them were great in here. For example, SMSL SP200 and Drop THX-789 weren’t that impressive when it comes to soundstage. Sure, there was some air around the notes and a decently spread stage, but those didn’t sound holographic or totally 3D. SP400 on the other hand is entirely a different animal, its quad-mono design and its close to zero channel crosstalk on the balanced output are leaving a huge mark on its sound-staging capabilities. Flux Lab Acoustics FA-10 and Burson Conductor 3 are still reigning supreme in here, but I’m putting SP400 and HP4 next in line which tells a lot how I feel about them.Because of that slight tilt in tonality, the midrange gets buffed a little, especially in the note weight and timbre of male vocalists. While every single SMSL I’ve tried offers a very neutral and realistic color, the DO300 just gives you a little bit of that oomph in the midrange frequencies, which helps bring the vocalist a bit closer to you. This aspect is highly subjective though, as most SMSL fans are all about that ultimate neutrality and transparency. One interesting feature the DO300 has is “phase inversion” where phase issues on the output side can be compensated for. I’d recommend keeping it turned off unless things sound “strange” (e.g. the center instruments or vocals sound strangely compressed).

SMSL D1SE DAC Review – Exit Light! Enter Night! - Soundnews SMSL D1SE DAC Review – Exit Light! Enter Night! - Soundnews

When it comes to detail and resolution, however, this is performing incredibly well at its price range. I said it in the past already, but you really would have been paying 20x more for this kind of technical performance 10 years ago. It never gets old, this is so impressive yet so positive that it makes me sympathize with SMSL so much more. This applies for most countries. However, large items such as headphones and desktop DAC/AMPs (e.g. HarmonicDyne G200, MUSICIAN MDP-2, and etc.) are excluded. Headphone Amps: Flux Lab Acoustics Volot, Ferrum OOR + Hypsos, Benchmark HPA4, Burson Soloist 3X, Musician Andromeda, SMSL SP400, Topping A90, Gustard H16 SA400 has a clean looking front panel, with just an LCD screen on the left and a volume knob on the right that can also work as a menu navigator. Its LCD screen is not that big, but thanks to its bigger lettering, you can clearly see the volume level and the selected input even from afar. The D1SE shows the usual characteristics of the ESS’ flagship DAC, ES9038Pro. At the first listen, you immediately notice how clean and resolving it sounds. It features a balanced, transparent, and detailed sound signature. Furthermore, the D1SE sounds airy across the spectrum and portrays an accurate instrument positioning and soundstage around the user. Instruments have ample air between them and feel very coherent. Despite being a highly resolving DAC, the D1SE is not analytical by any means.

Gain – Low, Mid or High – adjust it accordingly to the sensitivity of your loudspeakers. I recommend leaving it at Low. I know that most of you are focusing on your speakers, headphones, maybe on amplifiers, cables or room acoustics. Some are swearing that low-priced digital to analog converters like SMSL SU-9N can’t get any better and that’s perfectly fine. However, I will remind you that everything happening in your stereo or headphone setup, starts with your source. A good source will never limit dynamics, stage size, detail retrieval and it will never increase the noise floor. From a dozen of digital sources I’ve tried in the last two years, the ones that had no cons were counted with three fingers on a hand and SMSL’s D2 seems to be one of them. I was not surprised hearing gobs of details brought to the surface, a vast and expansive soundstage and a punchy low-end delivery, but I was surprised having them all, while putting a higher accent on the act of music listening. Sounding squeaky clean and noiseless isn’t a challenge anymore, but sounding extremely dynamic, yet organic and full-bodied is still a big challenge, especially when it comes to chip-based converters. The menu is the same as the DO200 MKII that I reviewed. Users can navigate through menus to change inputs, outputs, variable or fixed volume mode (preamp), jitter control (DPLL), dimmer, brightness, and most importantly to me -- PCM and DSD filters, and the SMSL's audio Sound Color menus.