If you would like to support the channel, please consider using the 'Super Thanks' button below the video. Any donation made is greatly appreciated and will be reinvested into the channel. I would also like to express my utmost gratitude to all those who have already donated.
To think back on buying a DAC only 4 or 5 years ago, the market has really exploded! It was crazy at the time that Topping and SMSL were releasing models with state of the art performance for less than 1k and I was totally happy to hand over the money. Now you they've pushed the engineering well passed what's even needed and driven the costs down to peanuts!😂 I know "Chi-Fi" can be a hot button topic to people who understand global economics much better than me, but I feel spoiled by the amount of options we have today for hi performance gear that used to be a big spend not too long ago! HDMI seems to be the current must add feature for manufacturers, I'm hoping built in DSP and PEQ will be the next addition we start to see being added. Thanks for the video man, fun watch as always!
I like SMSL sound signature. Slightly warmer with more weight in the low end. The filter take some critical listening but over time if you spend it there you will start to hear the difference…if you can be bothered…on my SMSL A0-300 I have 6 filters as well as a ton of EQ options that make a huge difference. The filters take more time to differentiate than the EQ but after a while your ears pick up the finer points for example filter 6 on the AO-300 (Nonoversampling) allows the natural recording to come through with no additional tweaking and generally you will hear that difference in the bass, sounds fuller. Anyhow, with the AO-300 I stepped out of the dac of the month club and the class a/b market, it’s that good! I use the A0-300 as my main amp everyday with no issues just clean, accurate, plenty of detail and with a gorgeous soundstage, plenty of power and a discreet size. Once I get my hands on the new Bluesound Nano and couple it with the SMSL AO300 I will call it a day on Hifi….for now. The Nano uses the same dac chip as the DO100 Pro and as well as Bluesound implement it with the output stage etc it should be a cracking (great) match with the AO300.
Hi! If the device is turned on, and at the same time turn off the power - for example, pull 220 volts out of the socket, then turn it back on after a while. Will the DO100Pro turn on itself? Or do I need to turn on the button on the remote control again, or on the Knob handle?
I enjoyed your video. Even with the "TH-cam sonic dumb down," the difference was very present for me. I prefer (especially in jazz/classical/fusion...and being I performed these types of music professionally for many decades) a sound that is not congested. The quality of the note(s) being played is not easily mistaken. The other sonic occurrence I am searching for is authentic decay. All that said, overall, the Topping would be my choice. This is by a small margin of difference. I could definitely dig either for a long haul. Peace!
Great review and comparison! I just received the SMSL last week I've only used coax in and balanced out but so far it is great for my purposes. It might be in my head but I think it possibly sounds more three-dimensional than my SMSL AKM4493 dac that this replaces.
I’m still using the Topping E50 as my main DAC for the last three years and wondering if any of these newer DAC’s would have a noticeable improvement over a three year old device to justify purchasing one ?
You will hear quite a difference between more recent SMSL dacs and amp/dacs compared to most Topping products. SMSL have a slightly warmer, more relaxed sound while Topping tend to remain a little colder, more analytical. The SMSL will have a fair bit more weight in the low frequencies over the Topping E50 which is known for being a little shy on bass slam. I had the E50 for quite a while to, great dac and used it while I was using barebones class a/b amps. These days I have pretty much settled on the SMSL AO-300 for everything in one box.
i own one. Can anyone tell me why the display only shows 44.1 or 48 even when I am using much higher rates? Did a firmware update to no avail. Hmmmm.....
USB 1.1 'for gaming' - its to support older consoles or devices that can't do USB2. If your device works with USB2 - use that. The clocks in the DAC will be in charge. If you are gaming on a modern device or PC - use USB2.
There's the SMSL AO300 which is a DAC, amplifier and headphone amp? I'm sure there must be a dedicated headphone amp with HDMI but I've not come across one yet?
Thanks very much for response I prefer the look of the smsl could do with a dac with remote currently have the smsl ps100 which is okay but have to get up to change inputs 🤣
If you would like to support the channel, please consider using the 'Super Thanks' button below the video. Any donation made is greatly appreciated and will be reinvested into the channel. I would also like to express my utmost gratitude to all those who have already donated.
To think back on buying a DAC only 4 or 5 years ago, the market has really exploded! It was crazy at the time that Topping and SMSL were releasing models with state of the art performance for less than 1k and I was totally happy to hand over the money. Now you they've pushed the engineering well passed what's even needed and driven the costs down to peanuts!😂 I know "Chi-Fi" can be a hot button topic to people who understand global economics much better than me, but I feel spoiled by the amount of options we have today for hi performance gear that used to be a big spend not too long ago! HDMI seems to be the current must add feature for manufacturers, I'm hoping built in DSP and PEQ will be the next addition we start to see being added. Thanks for the video man, fun watch as always!
I like SMSL sound signature. Slightly warmer with more weight in the low end. The filter take some critical listening but over time if you spend it there you will start to hear the difference…if you can be bothered…on my SMSL A0-300 I have 6 filters as well as a ton of EQ options that make a huge difference. The filters take more time to differentiate than the EQ but after a while your ears pick up the finer points for example filter 6 on the AO-300 (Nonoversampling) allows the natural recording to come through with no additional tweaking and generally you will hear that difference in the bass, sounds fuller. Anyhow, with the AO-300 I stepped out of the dac of the month club and the class a/b market, it’s that good! I use the A0-300 as my main amp everyday with no issues just clean, accurate, plenty of detail and with a gorgeous soundstage, plenty of power and a discreet size. Once I get my hands on the new Bluesound Nano and couple it with the SMSL AO300 I will call it a day on Hifi….for now. The Nano uses the same dac chip as the DO100 Pro and as well as Bluesound implement it with the output stage etc it should be a cracking (great) match with the AO300.
'Two Tribes' is one of the top 3 'Frankie goes...' tracks, the other 2 being 'Relax' and 'Power of Love'. Good choice for testing equipment...
The smsl sounded warmer. I liked the topping sound this time, though I am waiting for the smsl raw mda1 to arrive. I now use the SU1 which is great.
Hi! If the device is turned on, and at the same time turn off the power - for example, pull 220 volts out of the socket, then turn it back on after a while. Will the DO100Pro turn on itself? Or do I need to turn on the button on the remote control again, or on the Knob handle?
Oh wow, I actually heard a difference! I'm currently wearing Sony PS5 3D headphones & the SMSL actually sounded better! Great video bud. 👍🏻
I enjoyed your video.
Even with the "TH-cam sonic dumb down," the difference was very present for me.
I prefer (especially in jazz/classical/fusion...and being I performed these types of music professionally for many decades) a sound that is not congested. The quality of the note(s) being played is not easily mistaken. The other sonic occurrence I am searching for is authentic decay.
All that said, overall, the Topping would be my choice. This is by a small margin of difference. I could definitely dig either for a long haul.
Peace!
Hurray!
Great review and comparison! I just received the SMSL last week I've only used coax in and balanced out but so far it is great for my purposes. It might be in my head but I think it possibly sounds more three-dimensional than my SMSL AKM4493 dac that this replaces.
I’m still using the Topping E50 as my main DAC for the last three years and wondering if any of these newer DAC’s would have a noticeable improvement over a three year old device to justify purchasing one ?
Maybe but I think the difference would be negligible?
@@UTILITARIANTVUK
Thanks Marty, I appreciate your opinion.
You will hear quite a difference between more recent SMSL dacs and amp/dacs compared to most Topping products. SMSL have a slightly warmer, more relaxed sound while Topping tend to remain a little colder, more analytical. The SMSL will have a fair bit more weight in the low frequencies over the Topping E50 which is known for being a little shy on bass slam. I had the E50 for quite a while to, great dac and used it while I was using barebones class a/b amps. These days I have pretty much settled on the SMSL AO-300 for everything in one box.
Thanks mate, cracking dac that!
@@Panslapper
Thank you for your feedback. I think I’ll give one of those SMSL a try as well as Geshelli Labs J3 DAC.
i own one. Can anyone tell me why the display only shows 44.1 or 48 even when I am using much higher rates? Did a firmware update to no avail. Hmmmm.....
Are you using it on a pc?
USB 1.1 'for gaming' - its to support older consoles or devices that can't do USB2. If your device works with USB2 - use that. The clocks in the DAC will be in charge. If you are gaming on a modern device or PC - use USB2.
Thought the piano was a bit more forward and separated with the topping.
I play flac music from my windows laptop but the 44.1 number never change. ¿Somebody Know Why?
You need to change the sample rate in the sound settings of your laptop.
@@UTILITARIANTVUK ¿Do you Recommend to change the sample rate in the sound settings to the máximum posible?
PD. Ive enjoy your video so much.
@metalizer3344 If the DAC supports it, yes.
Do you know a headphone amp with HDMI arc
There's the SMSL AO300 which is a DAC, amplifier and headphone amp? I'm sure there must be a dedicated headphone amp with HDMI but I've not come across one yet?
@@UTILITARIANTVUK thanks
This or fosi audio zd3 I would like a dac with hdmi arc
The SMSL is slightly more revealing but it's not a huge difference.
Thanks very much for response I prefer the look of the smsl could do with a dac with remote currently have the smsl ps100 which is okay but have to get up to change inputs 🤣
SMSL sounds better. A little more weight in the sound and i think a little more transparent and live.
They use the same chip so SMSL/Topping will be pretty much the same
I could not tell the difference but TH-cam is not optimized for such comparisons
Another week, another SMSL DAC 😴