[KPzypher]

Will there be a matching HPA?

 

[HermannS]

Alright, the DAC had time to break in for three days and it seems to settle. Time to wrap up my experiences so far.

I am listening through a dCS network bridge, a Benchmark HPA4, and a pair of Focal SM9. All devices are a little to substantially modified by myself. The FLAC files are streamed via JRiver MediaServer from a PC. I am using a convolving filter (room correction) on the files at runtime. The filters were produced by the Acourate Audio Vero software.

I’ve listened to ESS-based DACs for 8 years now (Benchmark DAC2, Musetec 005, Topping D90SE) and it took me a while to understand the difference in sound quality, because the D400EX is something else.

Let’s make a big fat checkmark next to: resolution, transparency, soundstage, precision, neutrality. Don't worry, you will get lots of that and there is no point in describing it with colorful words, which everybody understands differently.

The biggest “wow” for me is the base and lower mid region. Oh my, it just loves drums and base guitars! The timing feels right in the pocket and it is easier for me to follow base lines and all those deep rumblings than ever before. Absolutely fantastic. This is its major strength.

The highs are so clean that I rarely focus on them. Sometimes they felt a little detached, but that gradually became better with break-in. It is always hard to tell whether the recording is to blame or the gear when sibilants sound weird. It requires many, many samples and cross-checks to find the culprit.

Also interesting is the large spread between silence and full attack. At first I sometimes felt “this sounds lame” and pulled the volume up. However, when a recording has real dynamics, the D400 will throw that at you! The D400 is free of what I call "loudness effects", which emphasize silent parts, but are a lie nevertheless.

Another big “wow” is the richness, or plasticity if you will, of instruments and voices. In contrast to an ESS DAC the D400 does not add edges to everything, it sort of fills the bodies from the inside. On some tracks, which I know inside-out, voices suddenly have volume and radiate into the sound stage. They are not thin points anymore.

All that without sounding fuzzy or imprecise. The opposite is true. I listen to a lot of dense, compressed Rock music and the D400 has no trouble sorting everything out and keeping it nailed down. ESS DACs can do that, too, but in a totally different way. They rather stamp out the components with a crisp contour. The D400 does not produce such contours. Here is where you may call it “smooth”.

But make no mistake, the D400 is not what some might call pleasing, “analog-sounding”. It sounds crystal clear and somewhat bright even. It is not very gentle to crappy recordings, however more forgiving than the D90SE, for example.

This is where I have trouble describing what I am hearing. On the one hand the sound is rich and powerful with full detail. But there is this slight lack of texture in the upper mids, which can sometimes make voices sound a bit bright and distorted guitars a little flat and missing the “fuzzy crunch”.

The PCM filter settings have an influence on this. I generally prefer sharp filters. My current favorite is “low dispersion”, which is kind of a mix of everything. You’ll find interesting blog posts about the AKM filters with measurements. The slow filters smoothen things out, but with a loss of precision, at least that’s how I hear it. They just sound too lame for me.

What I miss a little from the Topping DS90SE is the typical “ESS attack”. The ESS DACs add a touch of drama to everything. This can be fun and exciting, especially with rock guitars. It can be annoying when this sort of (artificial?) crispiness does not fit the music. Compared side-by-side the D400 can sound a little dull sometimes when you are used to the attack, but being totally honest, after listening to many tracks, it feels more realistic and believable.

To sum up:
Performance / price ratio is off the charts. This DAC could make big waves in the scene. It easily leaves the Benchmark DAC2 with hefty mods, the Musetec 005, and the Topping D90SE with plenty of mods in the dust. Just like that, unmodified. For me there is no going back.
However, nothing is perfect and I think the tonally critical upper midrange is affected by some cheap capacitors, although SMSL has already used good stuff from what I saw on the images.

It will be opened and examined soon. I am very happy about my choice and it is a promising modding project for the winter.

 

[Zbell]

Great writeup, @HermannS! Keep us updated on your modding adventures with the D400EX. I haven't modded a DAC before, but swapping out capacitors sounds fun

 

[blade74]

Thanks Hermann,
I’m looking forward to testing mine out soon.

 

[JerryLeeds]

Well my order arrived

I was expecting the D400EX but the ES was sent in error. I’ve contacted the reseller and they are in the process of refunding me the difference.

I have the unit burning in now, using as a source the Topping M50 via I2S (would USB be a better option?)

I really wanted the AKM model

For those of you with the EX model. I have a question about the sound color feature is it different as opposed to what is done with ESS Saber dac chips? This is a feature which I tend to like.

PS: I would prefer not to mention the reseller at this point (waiting for the refund before doing so)

Sound impression (right out of box .. 1st 2 hours) is that it is not as warm as my Topping D70S or my Bifrost 2/64

 

[Voske]

Well my order arrived

I was expecting the D400EX but the ES was sent in error. I’ve contacted the reseller and they are in the process of refunding me the difference.

I have the unit burning in now, using as a source the Topping M50 via I2S (would USB be a better option?)

I really wanted the AKM model

For those of you with the EX model. I have a question about the sound color feature is it different as opposed to what is done with ESS Saber dac chips? This is a feature which I tend to like.

PS: I would prefer not to mention the reseller at this point (waiting for the refund before doing so)

Sound impression (right out of box .. 1st 2 hours) is that it is not as warm as my Topping D70S or my Bifrost 2/64

Oh no, a refund doesn't solve this in my opinion. Having the D70s I would also prefer the AKM. Hmmm, I think I will buy it locally to prevent this situation...good luck!

 

[HermannS]

After another day of break-in the soundstage has become bigger. It is remarkable how the D400 produces voluminous three-dimensional spheres around the instruments. I have never heard that with any of the ESS DACs, which cut out flat silhouettes and pin those to the stage. On one track I even had the illusion that sound was coming from behind me - which is impossible, but I enjoyed it :-D
Also, the treble is now much more coherent. It's so clean that I actually stopped analysing it. That little quirk in the upper mids, which I mentioned in the long post is still there and I think it won't go away without a modification - if at all. It's mostly unobtrusive, but I have a few test pieces where it comes out.

 

[HermannS]

This thing is still moving. Now it seems to turn to the soft side. A little too soft for my taste . A very different animal than two days ago! Well, let's see what's next. It's crazy what break-in does to the sound. Capacitors are the reason for this show. If it stays like that, the cover will fly open in no time. I have heard what it is capable of and I will not let it go into reverse gear.

 

[JerryLeeds]

Anyone with the ES model? What do you hear when you turn off the PCM filter? Seems to be some noise for me … no noise when using an actual filter

 

[NehPets]

Anyone with the ES model? What do you hear when you turn off the PCM filter? Seems to be some noise for me … no noise when using an actual filter

I've got the SU-9 Pro and have only listened to it with no PCM filter; I have noticed some faint clicks & pops in the spaces between tracks, so I'll engage one of the filters to see, or hear, whether they disappear.

 

[AudioQuality777]

Anyone with the ES model? What do you hear when you turn off the PCM filter? Seems to be some noise for me … no noise when using an actual filter

 

[XERO1]

Here are the filter measurements for the D400EX.

These measurement were taken from the SMSL M400, which uses the 1st gen AK4499 chip, but it's filters should be identical to the 2nd gen AK4499EX chip.

It looks like the 'Super Slow' PCM filter option is almost identical to the 'Filter Off' PCM filter option of the ESS DAC, and it effectively turns off the filter function of the AK4499EX DAC.

 

[JerryLeeds]

Anyone know when any resellers will start offering Pre-Black Friday sales?

 

[blade74]

Apos and Shenzen have them cheaper at the moment.

 

[jraheel]

Alright, the DAC had time to break in for three days and it seems to settle. Time to wrap up my experiences so far.

I am listening through a dCS network bridge, a Benchmark HPA4, and a pair of Focal SM9. All devices are a little to substantially modified by myself. The FLAC files are streamed via JRiver MediaServer from a PC. I am using a convolving filter (room correction) on the files at runtime. The filters were produced by the Acourate Audio Vero software.

I’ve listened to ESS-based DACs for 8 years now (Benchmark DAC2, Musetec 005, Topping D90SE) and it took me a while to understand the difference in sound quality, because the D400EX is something else.

Let’s make a big fat checkmark next to: resolution, transparency, soundstage, precision, neutrality. Don't worry, you will get lots of that and there is no point in describing it with colorful words, which everybody understands differently.

The biggest “wow” for me is the base and lower mid region. Oh my, it just loves drums and base guitars! The timing feels right in the pocket and it is easier for me to follow base lines and all those deep rumblings than ever before. Absolutely fantastic. This is its major strength.

The highs are so clean that I rarely focus on them. Sometimes they felt a little detached, but that gradually became better with break-in. It is always hard to tell whether the recording is to blame or the gear when sibilants sound weird. It requires many, many samples and cross-checks to find the culprit.

Also interesting is the large spread between silence and full attack. At first I sometimes felt “this sounds lame” and pulled the volume up. However, when a recording has real dynamics, the D400 will throw that at you! The D400 is free of what I call "loudness effects", which emphasize silent parts, but are a lie nevertheless.

Another big “wow” is the richness, or plasticity if you will, of instruments and voices. In contrast to an ESS DAC the D400 does not add edges to everything, it sort of fills the bodies from the inside. On some tracks, which I know inside-out, voices suddenly have volume and radiate into the sound stage. They are not thin points anymore.

All that without sounding fuzzy or imprecise. The opposite is true. I listen to a lot of dense, compressed Rock music and the D400 has no trouble sorting everything out and keeping it nailed down. ESS DACs can do that, too, but in a totally different way. They rather stamp out the components with a crisp contour. The D400 does not produce such contours. Here is where you may call it “smooth”.

But make no mistake, the D400 is not what some might call pleasing, “analog-sounding”. It sounds crystal clear and somewhat bright even. It is not very gentle to crappy recordings, however more forgiving than the D90SE, for example.

This is where I have trouble describing what I am hearing. On the one hand the sound is rich and powerful with full detail. But there is this slight lack of texture in the upper mids, which can sometimes make voices sound a bit bright and distorted guitars a little flat and missing the “fuzzy crunch”.

The PCM filter settings have an influence on this. I generally prefer sharp filters. My current favorite is “low dispersion”, which is kind of a mix of everything. You’ll find interesting blog posts about the AKM filters with measurements. The slow filters smoothen things out, but with a loss of precision, at least that’s how I hear it. They just sound too lame for me.

What I miss a little from the Topping DS90SE is the typical “ESS attack”. The ESS DACs add a touch of drama to everything. This can be fun and exciting, especially with rock guitars. It can be annoying when this sort of (artificial?) crispiness does not fit the music. Compared side-by-side the D400 can sound a little dull sometimes when you are used to the attack, but being totally honest, after listening to many tracks, it feels more realistic and believable.

To sum up:
Performance / price ratio is off the charts. This DAC could make big waves in the scene. It easily leaves the Benchmark DAC2 with hefty mods, the Musetec 005, and the Topping D90SE with plenty of mods in the dust. Just like that, unmodified. For me there is no going back.
However, nothing is perfect and I think the tonally critical upper midrange is affected by some cheap capacitors, although SMSL has already used good stuff from what I saw on the images.

It will be opened and examined soon. I am very happy about my choice and it is a promising modding project for the winter.

Hi @HermannS
I got mine ten days back and it’s been burning in. You mentioned you have had Topping’s D90SE which was my own previous dac (still lying around). I use it with Topping’s A90 amp feeding to Focal’s Utopia. I have noticed a very noticeable difference in loudness compared to D90SE. Did you notice the same thing?

I have contacted Apos about it, and thinking of either replacing it or returning for a refund (I have had bad experience with SMSL products over the years). So kindly tell me is this a faulty unit that I got or you are experiencing the same