[Zbell]

While we wait for professional and semi-professional hacks to start dropping reviews of the D400EX, let's turn to the first customer review that's come in on Apos.
I received my D400EX yesterday. This DAC is amazing! I'm hearing details in my music and video games I never knew were there. My previous DACs were the Topping D90, FiiO K9 Pro ESS and Denafrips Pontus 2. I think this D400EX is better than all of them.

Personally, that's about all the affirmation I needed. Let's be real, the affirmation was already bubbling to the top anyway. Thank you, Jeff S!

 

[HermannS]

It's not that simple, I think. I am missing things in some places and keep discovering new things in others. It is a very different presentation compared to other DACs, especially in terms of space. I'll shut up now and come back on Monday when the break-in should be mostly finished. Capacitors need a full day minimum before one can judge the sound qualities of such ultra-precise devices.

 

[Zbell]

Ok, I'm probably a dummy but what the hell does the "Sound Color" mean.... or do....

It's not the PCM filters and clearly has to do with the sampling rate on the chip, but I haven't seen anything like this on other DACs I've owned.

[Edit:] Answered my own question looking into the manual for the SMSL SU-9 model which has 9 Sound Color options (I don't know if the sound color descriptions listed below match up with the options on the D400EX).

• SOUND COLOR– Changes distortion levels to tailor the sound. A more noticeable impact on the timbre and overall sound than the PCM Filter options, but is subtler than most EQ presets. Levels 1-3 affect the intensity of the effect. Rich and Tube tend towards warmth while Crystal is brighter.
  • Standard
  • Rich 1,2,3,
  • Tube 1,2,3
  • Crystal 1,2,3

 

[XERO1]

SMSL's Sound Color options are quite unique. They are different from the Filter options, but can be used in addition to your choice of filter.

The Standard setting effectively turns the function off.

Tube 1,2,3 adds some second harmonic distortion to the DAC's output (1 adds the lowest amount, 3 adds the highest)
Crystal 1,2,3 adds some third harmonic distortion to the DAC's output (1 adds the lowest amount, 3 adds the highest)
Rich 1,2,3 adds both second and third harmonic distortion to the DAC's output (1 adds the lowest amount, 3 adds the highest)

It's up to you to determine if you prefer the sound of some additional harmonic distortion in the output of the DAC or not.

 

[HermannS]

Ok, that did help. However, what does sampling frequency have to do with it? The documentation could really be more informative. It doesn't reveal anything. So far I do lean towards Sound 1 as it appears to be the cleanest with voices more forward. The higher settings add some fluff and push the voices back. That may or may not satisfy one's taste.

 

[blade74]

I just ordered one of these and looking forward to it.

 

[PcChip]

the sound color settings on this DAC are not like the older SMSL sound color settings that @XERO1 posted

 

[Baten]

the sound color settings on this DAC are not like the older SMSL sound color settings that @XERO1 posted

Indeed, I don't believe AKM chips feature any distortion compensation settings..

 

[simon740]

It's not that simple, I think. I am missing things in some places and keep discovering new things in others. It is a very different presentation compared to other DACs, especially in terms of space. I'll shut up now and come back on Monday when the break-in should be mostly finished. Capacitors need a full day minimum before one can judge the sound qualities of such ultra-precise devices.

Any more info about sound? What about soundstage?

regards,
Simon

 

[XERO1]

the sound color settings on this DAC are not like the older SMSL sound color settings that @XERO1 posted

Good catch!

The Sound Color settings that I posted above are correct for the D400ES. And while the D400EX also has a function called Sound Color, it offers 4 options (with no option to turn it off) that only appear to be oversampling options. The D400EX does not appear to have any ability to add harmonic distortion to the output signal like the D400ES (and VMV D1SE, SU-10, SU-9, etc) does. It looks like this option is limited only to DACs using ESS chips.

 

[HermannS]

Sound 4 does actually sound a little enriched with some distortion but unlike the "tube sound" of the D90SE. Sound 2 and 3 are difficult to describe. I cannot wait for Amir or someone else to measure all that stuff, including the filter settings.
My theory is that sound 1 and 3 are plain and only differ through sample rate. Sound 2 and 4 do something on top.

 

[Zbell]

Kind of funny that SMSL invested the engineering time and effort into implementing these sound color settings, but then don't bother to explain what the sound color settings actually do for consumers. Perhaps lost in translation?

 

[Voske]

You read my mind but seems to be the same issue with Gustard, Topping,....

 

[XERO1]

Kind of funny that SMSL invested the engineering time and effort into implementing these sound color settings, but then don't bother to explain what the sound color settings actually do for consumers. Perhaps lost in translation?

Maybe they just wanted it to be a big....

 

[Zbell]

Some measurements seem to have dropped. I'm not familiar with L7 Audiolab, though. https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/smsl-d400ex/