Hi Wavetheory, seriously you got to get your hands on the RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE, to test and review it. Trust me, I looked a lot around, have searched for and ADC/DAC Headphone- and Pre Amp like this for a long time to feed my system and various headphones (LCD-X, LCD-5, iSine 20, Oppo PM3, Beyerdynamics T90 etc.). They all sound not only superb, but bc of my less good right ear, sensitivity like you in the lower treble/upper mids, it is really “a gift of heaven” for me…. I am soooo grateful that at last I find something so versatile and even using my old vinyls again with pleasure!! If you could get in touch with RME, wholeheartedly recommended!!! Greetzzz Hans M.
I love that you cover the unbalanced outputs. We never know where the DAC might end up. In my case I’m trying to keep an old home theater receiver running a while longer and it does not have balanced inputs while my mono-block amps do. So I hope to get to a complete balanced system at some point I need both and both to be quality. Sort of leaning towards the Bitfrost for that reason.
Thanks for the review. I enjoyed your enthusiasm for this piece, seems like an interesting DAC for the price. I've always thought the SMSL gear looked solid.
Built in linear power supply - that is a very good thing! For me, the Bifrost 2/64 was slightly harsh/grainy in the treble for me, in my system, running on the singled ended outputs. I significantly preferred it in NOS mode.
Good review. I have a SMSL SU-9n and a Benchmark DAC 3B; and would describe them, as more similar than different. They both have, a "clinical studio monitor" kind of a sound, that's about hearing every last detail in the music. I got sick of fussing with the sound color and filter modes of the SMSL when I can use DSP upstream instead (like my MiniDSP Flex, and tube amp simulators in JRiver). I had learned something new about the outputs of the SMSL today! Not interested in using balanced as my sub can't accept it. I find it amusing how the Chinese marketing people misrepresent specs or tech to sell a product. They know that the general public for the most part, isn't skilled in electrical engineering, or acoustics. A small number of people have the equipment to measure, and understand all of the concepts, and measure well, but hadn't always provided data that provides any real world benefit to me. Here are some of the ideas that we see often: 1. "Products that have the flattest frequency response, the lowest distortion, and the best signal to noise ratios sound better". Many people don't understand how the distortion and SNR of their DAC, relates, to real world music (which is full of overtones and intentional distortion), or the kind of distortion that humans can detect (we all suck at this, as the frequency drops). In any event, what your speakers or headphones are doing to the signal, tends to be more readily apparent, at least to me (especially after I found out how much the in room frequency response changes as you move the speakers around). 2. "Balanced connections sound better" (most people don't have objectionable noise in their systems). 3. "Switching mode power supplies are junk, they're too noisy with all that digital switching going on. Products that have transformer based power supplies are superior" (try telling that to Mr. Siau at Benchmark). 4. "Power supplies that have the lowest possible ripple, outperform cheaper ones" (they had me going on that one, until I found out both my previous Burr Brown DAC and op amps, had their own regulation, and can accept between 4.8 volts and 5.2 volts). 5. "Products that offer more bits of resolution and higher sample rates sound better" (ignoring how the recording was mastered, and the fact that large amounts of information aren't being used in ). 6. "DSD is a newer technology than PCM, so audible benefits must be present" (again, you are applying a transform to what was in the recording, in most cases). 7. "You have to have the newest XMOS for the product to sound its best". 8. If the ES9028 was good, the ES9038 must be even better, and the ES9039, even more so.
D1se is a nice little DAC. It does indeed sound less like hard/edgy/cold than most D/S DACs I've owned. But alongside BF2/OG and Ares II, I thought it still sounded less natural or organic than those r2r counterparts. But I did like the sound color and filter options. Kudos to SMSL for this product, and I'm interested to check out some of other interesting offerings by them such as D300 (with the ROHM chip), M500 mk2/3, and others in the VMV line including the D1se2 which was just announced.
BTW, I own and have used o.a. the SMSL DO200/HO200 stack, the SMSL M500 MIII, the Mojo2 (and the older Oppo HA2-SE)… but although the Mojo2 is nice as a portable all in one, nothing, nothing compares to the RME! (Also listened to many more DAC’s and Headphone amps from Lake People, Violectric, Benchmark, etc. and for my system I use a hi-end Musical Fidelity integrated amp)
I tried this DAC out a while ago. Returned it. Has the most asinine pointy feet setup I've ever seen. It's a very solid DAC... but SMSL has so many newer DACS that I'd probably go with like the cheaper SU-9 Pro or pay a bit more for the SU-10
I've got D1se but am a bit disappointed. I use RCA output into a stereo receiver and get a rather flat, dull, undynamic sound. Now I realise why, so may investigate XLR>RCA cables if that helps. Also, I2S does not work on my unit despite all the pin options - may be a hardware issue. Thinking of getting Denafrips Ares 12th - looking forward to what you say about it. Thanks for your detailed review.
Update to say that XLR>RCA interconnect does bring about a considerable improvement. I was not expecting this, as it then becomes an unbalanced cable, which defeats the purpose of having balanced connection. However, the sound is a definite step up in body, directness and bandwidth as I perceive it. Not sure of the electrical aspects going on here.
@@MrSpagget I tried the E70 Velvet, but although I found it quite a competent, impactful and glare free dac, I thought it did not sinergize too well with my Singxer SA-1, and preferred my E50 with Allo Shanti power supply. My particular unit popped some details in the upper midrange in a way that felt artificial in my chain. Still I did not give it too much time to "burn in" in case that would have happened before returning it, so maybe things could have changed, but given the cost I was not too inclined to do so since my current dac is already pretty competent, but I would still recommend trying it if you're aiming for that price bracket. SMSL D300 is a dac I read many very interesting things about, and would very much like to try, since many talk about a very "analog" sounding dac for a relatively affordable price.
I did like this DAC. I picked it over a BF2 during a week of having both and ABing them. However I've just replaced the VMV with a Mojo 2. So WaveTheory, when's the Mojo 2 review coming!?
i feel the same way topping amps and dacs measure the best but they just dont do the job, people treat source equitpment like GPUs and only care about the measurements for performance when that just doesnt work
That’s the problem with brands like SMSL and Topping. Don’t expect any long term support if you buy their products because they will release new models a few months later.
What amp do you use for the dt880? It is hard to power for the signal level you get. My home receiver is the only amp that really comes close even with the Topping L50 the power is short for what it could put out.
I'm not surprised that a Topping struggles with DT880. I find Topping is very good at maximizing measurements but often struggles with delivering real world performance. This is particularly true with 600 ohm loads. For not bank-breaking prices I'd check out Schiit Asgard 3 and Lake People G111mk2 or even a mk1 if you find one used. For tube amps the Bottlehead Crack with Speedball upgrade works really well with DT880
I have the D1SE and have found it is not pairing well with my Tor Balanced amp. I hear some kind of noise or signal interference. It does seem to work well with other amps but wondered if you had any issues using it with tube amps? (The Tor works fine (i.e. no interference or noise) when paired with other dacs e.g. Denafrips Ares II) Just wondered if you have any suggestions or experience with this?
@@reflection1119 my first thought is ground loop given an impedance mismatch between D1se and Tor. But I don't know enough to say for sure. Not all electrical circuits match well to each other so sometimes oddities pop up. Might be worth asking the respective makers what they think.
@@wavetheorysound thanks very much for the advice. I guess this is the moment where my knowledge about how the scientific/technical side of audio takes a step up. Maybe it's time for me to introduce a streamer/DDC to my setup and take the laptop usb connection out of the equation.
Another good review - and - you're repeating yourself way too much. I'm listening at 2x speed and it's still too much to get through. Cutting down on the repetition would help. Also mentioning the potential deal-breaker right away would have saved me a lot of time. Not saying this angrily, just constructive criticism. Keep up the good work.
