TheGiantHogweed
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2013
- Posts
- 1,260
- Likes
- 203
I have been looking for something like this for quite some time and I would struggle find anything that would suit my needs better for the price.
Advantages:
Really good value for money.
Very little background noise.
Really solidly built in most areas.
Good that is has both optical and coaxial inputs.
Somehow looks and feels more expensive than it is.
Disadvantages:
Buttons are slightly out of alignment.
Volume dial feels a little bit sharp to touch in places. It also has a little too much give. (A little too easy to accidentally turn)
May not suit bass heavy headphones as the sound seems quite warm.
A loud (ish) click can be heard from the DAC when being used through the optical input each time you switch to playing sound from a different application from your PC. (that sound doesn't come through the headphones)
There may look to be as many or more disadvantages compared to advantages but lots of the disadvantages are really minor things.
I have been wanting something that is a DAC with both a coaxial input and an optical input as well as being a headphone amplifier.
I got this from amazon.co.uk for £51.99.
I still have the FiiO E10 which I am starting to struggle to get along with now. It has started to crackle every time I adjust the volume dial. Also, it seemed to allow a lot of my computer noise through it and I could hear all that through both the headphone socket as well as the line out. This SD-793II however is very good. I hear next to no computer noise now I am using an optical cable. I was also worried about the power supply adding noise to the DAC but that doesn't seem to be a problem either. As is often the case, if you listen to something really quiet and turn the volume up full, you then do hear a tiny bit of background hiss but nothing really noticeable. I use 32ohm headphones so it will probably be even less noticeable with higher impedance headphones.
Here is am image of the DAC from the front:
I would say that overall, it is really well made. It seems to be metal everywhere. The 6.3mm headphone socket is very well made. When I plug a 6.3mm to 3.5mm adapter in, it clicks really securely into place.
I would say that the volume dial feels just a tiny bit flimsy. As in it wobbles side to side / up and down a small amount when moved. It also feels a little bit sharp to the touch in places. Not a big problem though. When listening to music, it doesn't add any crackling to what I am listening to.
The other minor issue with the build quality is the 2 switches:
If you look very closely at the 2 buttons. They are sort of angled towards the top left. They have the same finish that you can see the volume dial has, even on the side of them. The 2 switches are the sort that are either pushed in or out, so they do move by several mm. This means that they do actually rub in the top left corner and do make a bit of a strange sound because of the finish on them. You can avoid this by trying to push down on them slightly as you push them in or out but again, this is not a big issue at all.
One thing that I also may miss is that there is no bass boost. That is something many people wouldn't want anyway so it isn't a problem. I'm just so used to them as 4 out of my 5 FiiO devices have a bass boost.
I haven't really got any images showing what the little LEDs under the switches on it show but I will do my best to describe. The manual does tell some of what you need to know you but the English is pretty poor.
The LED below the power switch is green when you turn it on when no input is feeding it any signal. It then goes red when it detects a signal from either of the digital inputs. If the light below the select button is green, that is for the optical input. When you press it, that light goes red and it is then for the coaxial input.
Unlike the E10, at least you can power this off when you don't want to use it. If I ever wanted to do that with the E10, I ended up plugging it into my switched USB hub which you can see in 2 of the pictures further down.
The side:
Both of the sides look the same. A very similar style and finish to the FiiO E10. This is where this DAC/amplifier feels like it is extremely well made.
The back:
There is only one extra thing I would like here and that would be a 3.5mm line out as well as the phono output. I do actually have 2 things plugged into the phono output on the back. My Pioneer A-209r amplifier for my speakers with my PC and I also wanted a 3.5mm cable so I can still use my well used FiiO E11.
This is a little strange but I can also use this as an amplifier for my FiiO X3. The phono output seems to work both ways. I can plug the 3.5mm cable that I use for my E11 into the line out of my FiiO X3. I can then listen through the headphone socket of the SD-793II. I don't know why it works both ways but my E10 did also allow this for some reason.
I have a phone to 3.5mm adapter and then a 3.5mm splitter in that so I can have the phono output going to 2 devices.
Where I am using it:
It did come with 4 rubber feet already attached but I ended up removing them as I wanted to put sticky back velcro on the back of it so I could stick it to the side of my shelf. This is where I had my E10 before. I still plan on using my E11 as I have always liked the bass boost on it. Quite useful for my Audio Technica ATH-AD700s which have quite weak bass.
This image compares the size with my FiiO E10 and E11:
Out of all the amplifiers or DACs I have had, I still think the E10 is the most well built. The volume dial on the E10 feels more solid. The SD-793II volume dial I would say could do with being a little more stiff. Also, the E10 has nothing on it that feels at all flimsy where as as I said before the switches are not positioned perfectly on the SD-793II.
About the sound:
I haven't had this for long at all. I only felt like reviewing it as I have tested pretty much everything of what it is capable of as I use both inputs as well as the phono output and the built in headphone amplifier.
I would say It sounds better than the E10. It does go very loud although I don't know how well it will drive headphones at around 250ohm. Another small issue I have thought of is that even when the volume is in the lowest position, you can still hear the music slightly. You would have thought that that should cut it out totally. And that reminds me of another thing I sort of miss on this amplifier, a high/low gain switch. If anyone used this with say, 16ohm headphones that are very sensitive, especially with the dial being a little too easy to turn, you would be much better off if you could switch it to low gain or something similar. I keep coming up with more issues but I have just thought of another. This amplifier is not good at playing music at low volumes. I can imagine it would be even worse with headphones that are easier to drive than mine. The issue is that the channel balance isn't very good. The right channel is a fair bit louder than the left until you get a little louder. It will only be a problem if you have low impedance headphones and you like to listen to music very quietly.
I would say the detail of the sound is better than the E10. There is something about the bass that makes it stand out to me. It does seem more noticeable but it doesn't take over anything. It may not suit headphones that are already on the bass heavy side.
I haven't had it for long as I said but I would say that even the mid range and treble seems to sound a little cleaner than the E10. I didn't actually listen to the E10 that much because the crackling bothered me. I used the line out of the E10 and listened through my E11.
It is only a small improvement to a reasonable computer sound card but it is the fact that it is a DAC and a headphone amplifier that made me want to get it
The other DAC I have is the FiiO D03k and sound wise, this beats it by a long way. I used to use the D03K as the DAC for the Coaxial output of my Blu-ray player. That sounded ok but the D03K power supply allowed quite a lot of electrical noise through to my amplifier and always irritated me when I was watching films on my player. This however is very quiet and also sounds cleaner too just like it does with the optical input. If you happen to have both inputs producing sound at the same time, when you switch over to either the optical or the coaxial, it appears to totally filter out the others sound which is great. I will need more time to see what I think of it once I have had it for a while.
Something I may as well mention that some may find a bit irritating is that when used with the optical input, it appears that each time you play something from somewhere different on your PC (E.G, browser, Spotify or similar), the unit makes a very noticeable clicking sound. When I pause a track that is playing on Spotify and then play a video on Firefox, as soon as the sound in Firefox starts, that is when I hear this click. It doesn't come through the line out or headphones so to me, it isn't that irritating. Just be aware that if you are constantly changing from listening to things on different applications that you will hear the unit click pretty often. From what I can tell though, this only happens with the optical input. I'm not sure what the reason for this is though. The good thing is that there is never any delay when you hear this click. At first, I was worried that it would sometimes cut off the start of what I was playing / listening to each time I switched to a different program. This sound as I said doesn't come through your headphones or the phono output so it won't bother me at all.
Information from SMSL's website:
Description:
SMSL SD-793II decoder uses the advanced digital receiver chip DIR9001, it can receive 24bit/96K signals at the highest. DAC adapt the one of the best D/A decode PCM1793 chip(192K/24Bit convert chip). Use active low pass filteroutput (sealed pack OPA2134, user an change this IC to adjust sound).
SMSL SD-793II decoder can work with coaxial and optical jacks on computer LCD, TV, CD, DVD, MD.
Specification:
Input interface: coaxial or optical fiber(with switch)
Input frequency:44.1, 48, 96KHZ/16/24BIT
SNR: > 113dB
Dynamic range: 105dB
Distortion: 1KHZ% under 0.0006
Rated output: 1.7VPP
Frequency response: 20 - 20KHz( - 0.2dB)
Total output power: < 8W
Headphone output power: 65mW @ 16Ω; 130mW @ 32Ω
Headphone output distortion: 0.01% THD + N @ 100mW/32Ω
User Manual:
I couldn't actually find this anywhere on the internet so I have just taken pictures of the 4 pages with the information that came with it.
As I said before, it isn't great English but it still may be helpful for some people as I couldn't find it elsewhere.
Conclusion:
I will need to have had it for longer to get to know more about the sound but all the functions work well on it and it is definitely better than my E10. My E10 was around £62.99. Around £10 more.
I don't think you will be able to get something that is a DAC with both an optical and coaxial input as well as a headphone amplifier that is a good as this for the price I paid.
One other thing that people may want from this is a USB input. I have been put off by that now as I feel is often allows the computer noise to go into the device the cable is plugged into. I am sure this won't always be the case though.
I couldn't find much about this amplifier on this forum so I thought I may as well start this thread with an impression of it.
So far, I am very impressed with it and will update this thread if I come across any issues with it.
I hope this will be helpful to others.
Advantages:
Really good value for money.
Very little background noise.
Really solidly built in most areas.
Good that is has both optical and coaxial inputs.
Somehow looks and feels more expensive than it is.
Disadvantages:
Buttons are slightly out of alignment.
Volume dial feels a little bit sharp to touch in places. It also has a little too much give. (A little too easy to accidentally turn)
May not suit bass heavy headphones as the sound seems quite warm.
A loud (ish) click can be heard from the DAC when being used through the optical input each time you switch to playing sound from a different application from your PC. (that sound doesn't come through the headphones)
There may look to be as many or more disadvantages compared to advantages but lots of the disadvantages are really minor things.
I have been wanting something that is a DAC with both a coaxial input and an optical input as well as being a headphone amplifier.
I got this from amazon.co.uk for £51.99.
I still have the FiiO E10 which I am starting to struggle to get along with now. It has started to crackle every time I adjust the volume dial. Also, it seemed to allow a lot of my computer noise through it and I could hear all that through both the headphone socket as well as the line out. This SD-793II however is very good. I hear next to no computer noise now I am using an optical cable. I was also worried about the power supply adding noise to the DAC but that doesn't seem to be a problem either. As is often the case, if you listen to something really quiet and turn the volume up full, you then do hear a tiny bit of background hiss but nothing really noticeable. I use 32ohm headphones so it will probably be even less noticeable with higher impedance headphones.
Here is am image of the DAC from the front:
I would say that overall, it is really well made. It seems to be metal everywhere. The 6.3mm headphone socket is very well made. When I plug a 6.3mm to 3.5mm adapter in, it clicks really securely into place.
I would say that the volume dial feels just a tiny bit flimsy. As in it wobbles side to side / up and down a small amount when moved. It also feels a little bit sharp to the touch in places. Not a big problem though. When listening to music, it doesn't add any crackling to what I am listening to.
The other minor issue with the build quality is the 2 switches:
If you look very closely at the 2 buttons. They are sort of angled towards the top left. They have the same finish that you can see the volume dial has, even on the side of them. The 2 switches are the sort that are either pushed in or out, so they do move by several mm. This means that they do actually rub in the top left corner and do make a bit of a strange sound because of the finish on them. You can avoid this by trying to push down on them slightly as you push them in or out but again, this is not a big issue at all.
One thing that I also may miss is that there is no bass boost. That is something many people wouldn't want anyway so it isn't a problem. I'm just so used to them as 4 out of my 5 FiiO devices have a bass boost.
I haven't really got any images showing what the little LEDs under the switches on it show but I will do my best to describe. The manual does tell some of what you need to know you but the English is pretty poor.
The LED below the power switch is green when you turn it on when no input is feeding it any signal. It then goes red when it detects a signal from either of the digital inputs. If the light below the select button is green, that is for the optical input. When you press it, that light goes red and it is then for the coaxial input.
Unlike the E10, at least you can power this off when you don't want to use it. If I ever wanted to do that with the E10, I ended up plugging it into my switched USB hub which you can see in 2 of the pictures further down.
The side:
Both of the sides look the same. A very similar style and finish to the FiiO E10. This is where this DAC/amplifier feels like it is extremely well made.
The back:
There is only one extra thing I would like here and that would be a 3.5mm line out as well as the phono output. I do actually have 2 things plugged into the phono output on the back. My Pioneer A-209r amplifier for my speakers with my PC and I also wanted a 3.5mm cable so I can still use my well used FiiO E11.
This is a little strange but I can also use this as an amplifier for my FiiO X3. The phono output seems to work both ways. I can plug the 3.5mm cable that I use for my E11 into the line out of my FiiO X3. I can then listen through the headphone socket of the SD-793II. I don't know why it works both ways but my E10 did also allow this for some reason.
I have a phone to 3.5mm adapter and then a 3.5mm splitter in that so I can have the phono output going to 2 devices.
Where I am using it:
It did come with 4 rubber feet already attached but I ended up removing them as I wanted to put sticky back velcro on the back of it so I could stick it to the side of my shelf. This is where I had my E10 before. I still plan on using my E11 as I have always liked the bass boost on it. Quite useful for my Audio Technica ATH-AD700s which have quite weak bass.
This image compares the size with my FiiO E10 and E11:
Out of all the amplifiers or DACs I have had, I still think the E10 is the most well built. The volume dial on the E10 feels more solid. The SD-793II volume dial I would say could do with being a little more stiff. Also, the E10 has nothing on it that feels at all flimsy where as as I said before the switches are not positioned perfectly on the SD-793II.
About the sound:
I haven't had this for long at all. I only felt like reviewing it as I have tested pretty much everything of what it is capable of as I use both inputs as well as the phono output and the built in headphone amplifier.
I would say It sounds better than the E10. It does go very loud although I don't know how well it will drive headphones at around 250ohm. Another small issue I have thought of is that even when the volume is in the lowest position, you can still hear the music slightly. You would have thought that that should cut it out totally. And that reminds me of another thing I sort of miss on this amplifier, a high/low gain switch. If anyone used this with say, 16ohm headphones that are very sensitive, especially with the dial being a little too easy to turn, you would be much better off if you could switch it to low gain or something similar. I keep coming up with more issues but I have just thought of another. This amplifier is not good at playing music at low volumes. I can imagine it would be even worse with headphones that are easier to drive than mine. The issue is that the channel balance isn't very good. The right channel is a fair bit louder than the left until you get a little louder. It will only be a problem if you have low impedance headphones and you like to listen to music very quietly.
I would say the detail of the sound is better than the E10. There is something about the bass that makes it stand out to me. It does seem more noticeable but it doesn't take over anything. It may not suit headphones that are already on the bass heavy side.
I haven't had it for long as I said but I would say that even the mid range and treble seems to sound a little cleaner than the E10. I didn't actually listen to the E10 that much because the crackling bothered me. I used the line out of the E10 and listened through my E11.
It is only a small improvement to a reasonable computer sound card but it is the fact that it is a DAC and a headphone amplifier that made me want to get it
The other DAC I have is the FiiO D03k and sound wise, this beats it by a long way. I used to use the D03K as the DAC for the Coaxial output of my Blu-ray player. That sounded ok but the D03K power supply allowed quite a lot of electrical noise through to my amplifier and always irritated me when I was watching films on my player. This however is very quiet and also sounds cleaner too just like it does with the optical input. If you happen to have both inputs producing sound at the same time, when you switch over to either the optical or the coaxial, it appears to totally filter out the others sound which is great. I will need more time to see what I think of it once I have had it for a while.
Something I may as well mention that some may find a bit irritating is that when used with the optical input, it appears that each time you play something from somewhere different on your PC (E.G, browser, Spotify or similar), the unit makes a very noticeable clicking sound. When I pause a track that is playing on Spotify and then play a video on Firefox, as soon as the sound in Firefox starts, that is when I hear this click. It doesn't come through the line out or headphones so to me, it isn't that irritating. Just be aware that if you are constantly changing from listening to things on different applications that you will hear the unit click pretty often. From what I can tell though, this only happens with the optical input. I'm not sure what the reason for this is though. The good thing is that there is never any delay when you hear this click. At first, I was worried that it would sometimes cut off the start of what I was playing / listening to each time I switched to a different program. This sound as I said doesn't come through your headphones or the phono output so it won't bother me at all.
Information from SMSL's website:
Description:
SMSL SD-793II decoder uses the advanced digital receiver chip DIR9001, it can receive 24bit/96K signals at the highest. DAC adapt the one of the best D/A decode PCM1793 chip(192K/24Bit convert chip). Use active low pass filteroutput (sealed pack OPA2134, user an change this IC to adjust sound).
SMSL SD-793II decoder can work with coaxial and optical jacks on computer LCD, TV, CD, DVD, MD.
Specification:
Input interface: coaxial or optical fiber(with switch)
Input frequency:44.1, 48, 96KHZ/16/24BIT
SNR: > 113dB
Dynamic range: 105dB
Distortion: 1KHZ% under 0.0006
Rated output: 1.7VPP
Frequency response: 20 - 20KHz( - 0.2dB)
Total output power: < 8W
Headphone output power: 65mW @ 16Ω; 130mW @ 32Ω
Headphone output distortion: 0.01% THD + N @ 100mW/32Ω
User Manual:
I couldn't actually find this anywhere on the internet so I have just taken pictures of the 4 pages with the information that came with it.
As I said before, it isn't great English but it still may be helpful for some people as I couldn't find it elsewhere.
Conclusion:
I will need to have had it for longer to get to know more about the sound but all the functions work well on it and it is definitely better than my E10. My E10 was around £62.99. Around £10 more.
I don't think you will be able to get something that is a DAC with both an optical and coaxial input as well as a headphone amplifier that is a good as this for the price I paid.
One other thing that people may want from this is a USB input. I have been put off by that now as I feel is often allows the computer noise to go into the device the cable is plugged into. I am sure this won't always be the case though.
I couldn't find much about this amplifier on this forum so I thought I may as well start this thread with an impression of it.
So far, I am very impressed with it and will update this thread if I come across any issues with it.
I hope this will be helpful to others.