[TheGiantHogweed]

Hi, this is my first post here. I have a question. A reseller on amazon responded to my question about the headphone output jack impedance of the 793ii stating it is 20 ohm. That seems very high to me and I'm not sure this person is correct. Can anyone verify? If so then according to the 1/8 rule won't this be a bad choice for any headphone under 160 ohm?

It should be fine with 32 to 150ohm headphones I'd say. It just probably won't go that loud with the high impedance ones. It worked fine with my 64ohm AKG702s. The problem you may have with really sensitive headphones such as 16ohm ones is the channel balance at low volumes. As they will be very loud, you won't need to turn them up as loud. I found that when you have the dial only just above the minimum position, you only get audio out of one side. So it is better with 32ohm headphones at a minimum I'd say.

 

[Alzi]

It should be fine with 32 to 150ohm headphones I'd say. It just probably won't go that loud with the high impedance ones. It worked fine with my 64ohm AKG702s. The problem you may have with really sensitive headphones such as 16ohm ones is the channel balance at low volumes. As they will be very loud, you won't need to turn them up as loud. I found that when you have the dial only just above the minimum position, you only get audio out of one side. So it is better with 32ohm headphones at a minimum I'd say.

Hi, thanks for your reply. I'm not really worried about volume, I'm worried about electrical damping that will distort the sound significantly below 160 ohm headphones by up to 10db if it is a very low impedance headphone. Read http://nwavguy.blogspot.nl/2011/02/headphone-amp-impedance.html.
I'm looking still for someone to verify the output jack impedance is actually the quite high number of 20 ohm. Any help would be much appreciated since I'm rather new at this.

 

[beowulf]

I never tried this model but the SMSL M8 + VA2 is a great combo. Totally flat noise floor too.

 

[hopbird]

Ordered this from Amazon for $52 USD. I got it just to use the DAC with my bluray player and the optical out of a Roku Ultra. Very happy with it, especially using the Roku. I was using a cheap toslink converter before and this blows that away. Much cleaner and detailed and more powerful bass. Sounds fast and controlled. I'm feeding the analog inputs of a Meier Audio Corda Jazz headphone amp powering Sennheiser HD-650s. On Spotify, I get much better results with the SMSL DAC from the Roku optical out than I do from my laptop using a Monoprice Desktop USB DAC. I haven't tried the amp portion much yet, except to verify that the headphone out works at the same time as the line outs--meaning I could use two sets of headphones at once if I can ever convert my wife to using headphones.

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

Ordered this from Amazon for $52 USD. I got it just to use the DAC with my bluray player and the optical out of a Roku Ultra. Very happy with it, especially using the Roku. I was using a cheap toslink converter before and this blows that away. Much cleaner and detailed and more powerful bass. Sounds fast and controlled. I'm feeding the analog inputs of a Meier Audio Corda Jazz headphone amp powering Sennheiser HD-650s. On Spotify, I get much better results with the SMSL DAC from the Roku optical out than I do from my laptop using a Monoprice Desktop USB DAC. I haven't tried the amp portion much yet, except to verify that the headphone out works at the same time as the line outs--meaning I could use two sets of headphones at once if I can ever convert my wife to using headphones.

Yes, it does work well with a blu ray player. The main problem i have with this amplifier is that whenever the sample rate changes, it clicks as if something is loose in the amp. SMSL told me it does make this sound, but it can get irritating if you use it as a PC DAC. As whenever you switch program with a different sample rate and start to play sound, the amplifier will click even with no headphones or amplifiers connected to the outputs. It is fine with other devices such as blu ray players as while you watch a film, the sample rate is fixed at the same level.

 

[hopbird]

Yes, it does work well with a blu ray player. The main problem i have with this amplifier is that whenever the sample rate changes, it clicks as if something is loose in the amp. SMSL told me it does make this sound, but it can get irritating if you use it as a PC DAC. As whenever you switch program with a different sample rate and start to play sound, the amplifier will click even with no headphones or amplifiers connected to the outputs. It is fine with other devices such as blu ray players as while you watch a film, the sample rate is fixed at the same level.

I actually noticed this with a classical CD that must have tracks recorded at different sampling rates (it was a hybrid SACD playing on a non-SACD capable player, fwiw). Haven't noticed it otherwise. I forgot to mention it in my comment, but it is a bit annoying.

 

[ThomasHK]

I see figures for this amp/dac saying 1.7 or 1.8 Vpp, which is quite low. Can anyone confirm this is Peak to Peak?

 

[Playstation]

will the built in amp hit all the frequencies on the Dt 770 pro 80 ohms?

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

I don't think it would struggle with 80ohm headphones. The SMSL M3 is quite a bit quieter than the SD-793II and it can get my 600ohm DT880s reasonably loud, though you sometimes would want louder. That is why I have my FiiO A3 plugged into the line out and always use that.

But the amp you mention is a fair bit louder and as your headphones require nothing like as much power as mine, I don't think it would struggle to power them at all. The amp is a bit warm sounding, but I don't think it really lacks any of the frequencies. It won't hit all the frequencies if you are beign very specific, as the dt880s will go lower than 20hz and the amp won't. Not that you will hear that! The rest should be fine.

 

[Playstation]

Hey there is something I have noticed the amp that comes with the SMSL seems like a very I dunno bad amp?

Its rated at 132mw @ 32 ohms this means its bad because the fiio E10K is 200mw @ 32 ohm though I admit this thing can blow my phillips headphone speaks and my ear drums I keep hearing this is not what makes a quality amp it needs to fully supply the max input power of the headphones

so I think its now safe to say this amp is bad? and this is just a great DAC and nothing more?

If anyone wants to clarify on this, please do. Correct me if I am wrong. Does this mean that an amp might be able to get headphones loud. Though, possibly failing to drive certain headphones and their respective frequencies to the fullest. Thus robbing you of achieving the fullest sound experience? In other words. Chopping off the highest and lowest frequencies?

If this is accurate. What might be the highest impedance? Less than what is advertised?

Sorry I am confused due to total ignorance on the matter.

More ignorance incoming.

Is it important to pair your headphones with a dad/amp that have identical frequency response ranges?

In other words. let’s say your headphone range is 10 - 40000 and your dac/amp range is 20 - 20000. Does this matter? Could this lead to a poor sound experience?

 

[TheGiantHogweed]

I'm not sure if i believe that you need an amp that has the ability to go as loud as your hedphones can handle. Not that you would ever listen to it at that volume anyway. The one area where I think you can get an improvement is if it can only get your headphones moderately loud. Although I don't like to use this as a headphone amplifier, my integrated amplifier (pioneer A-209R) must not have a limiter on it's headphone output, and it goes far louder than anything else I have, even including several headphone amplifiers. I wish you could get a small version of this just for headphones as it has controls like bass, treble, loudness, direct and other things too. But I don't use it as i have so many inputs in use and it picks up interference from these. luckily not very noticeable on my speakers.

In terms of the frequency response you mention, I don't think the ability to go higher and lower makes a difference really. It is the volume at specific points of the frequency response that change the sound. We can't hear below 20hz or about 20kHz so it won't make much of a difference IMO. I happen to have the FiiO E10 and this amp and while the E10 is louder, I can't say it sounds any better so long as you use them both with a pair of headphones they can drive comfortably. In terms of getting high impedance headphones louder, then yea the E10 is better.

 

[Elegiac]

Just bought one few days ago from Taobao for CNY338 or ~US$50. One of the seller(not the one I bought) claim to be using ELNA and Nichicon cap but mine wasn't using'any one them. might be the norm for Chinese made, change components any time they like.

I'm not a headphone person but my place doesn't allow me to blast speaker lately. I had bought some value headphones like CAL!, CAL!2, Vmoda M80 and HD598. they are all power by onboard realtek, sound OK but way lousier than my (very) old Audiolav 8000A and Denon DCD-S10 headphone out. I was looking to get some portable desktop headphone amp to improve the sound but wasn't gonna spend much. bought SMSL M2, not only it broke down after a few months of use, it sounded worst than the onboard realtek! from Asus ALC892 and ALC1150, not to mention my seperates. I thought an ext power amp might improve the sound, unfortunately, the SD-793II also sound worst than the ALC1150! The coaxial input is the worst, toslink is a tiny bit better, both have harsh treble and thin bass, in simple words, not pleasant to hear for more than 10 minutes.

I am puzzled, how could an ext amp sound worst than onboard? it is the op-amp? I would like to know if changing them would improve the sound.

Heres the pic if anyone interested.

Ah, good stuff. Best pic of the board on the internet.

I'mma roll that op-amp

 

[Elegiac]

Alrighty then. Op amp rolled. From OPA2134 to AD823.

The last thing I listened to with the original op amp in there was Mahler's Symphony No. 5, and the big, fun silly warm sound of it finally got to me. Especially through the chain I have it in. NOW... after the roll, everything is more sensible, less coloured, and more... natural/organic, I suppose. At any rate, a superior sound.

Listening now. The AD823 plays well with the Mullard in my tube buffer. This is how I prefer my Burr Brown DAC's to sound. Ah jeez... 100% improvement on what it was. Resolution... instruments sound much, much more like they should. The quiet and the loud, the interplay, the transitions... instead of just blobs of sound crawling out of, or back into, a warm haze. Ah, the crescendo's, with the woodwinds spiraling down out from the peak. I'm satisfied.