There is no 3.5mm output on this device, it is equipped with XLR, 4.4 and 6.35. I have tested all 3 ouptuts and could not hear any noise ... this thing is dead silent, at least with my headphones
I own this amp/dac since December and I am very pleased with it. Lately I gad the opportunity to "upgrade" to a matrix X Sabre 3, which has 6 time the price of the SMSL. After comparing the units, I decided to keep the SMSL... To my ears they sounded 98% identical and the 2% was in favour of SMSL dynamics.
Ah... That's right. That was my mistake. I meant the 6.35mm unbalanced output. Thanks for the correction. And thank you for the information that puts a smile on my face. It looks like I don’t even need to buy a headphone amp. This is my goal.
Ah... That's right. That was my mistake. I meant the 6.35mm unbalanced output. Thanks for the correction. And thank you for the information that puts a smile on my face. It looks like I don’t even need to buy a headphone amp. This is my goal.
I think the SMSL DO400 is hard to beat as a DAC/AMP combo, unless you spend a lot more money...
I am using it as an all in one but also connected to a second headphone Amp, an AUNE S17 Pro Evo because that is a totally different sound signature.
Initially I bought an open box one. It sometimes behaved strangely outputting scrambled distorted noise when navigating the menu. I did a "successful " firmware update that bricked it completely.
But I liked it so much I bought a new one after that which has been working perfectly. Fantastic sounding unit and so powerful.. I'm really done with amps now.
I tried it recently. Hated the knob feel, very sloppy. Sound was “clean” and fairly powerful (but not quite what I expected) but comparing it to my Shanling M1 Plus the DO400 lacked a bit of “engagement”. Sent it back, especially after hearing reports of static sound etc creeping in for some folks. Not taking the risk.
I just found what may be a bug with this device.
I use it in my headphone set up which is Roon>RPI4>SMSL DO400>Aune S17 Pro Evo
When playing MQA, the device will start the track as a normal PCM and then suddenly switch to MQA after a couple of seconds. When the switch happens, volume increase by a few dBs and I can hear distortion even at low volume.
MQA is an edge case and I don't use this (dying) format very much.... but I am just curious to hear if anyone experienced the same
I tried it recently. Hated the knob feel, very sloppy. Sound was “clean” and fairly powerful (but not quite what I expected) but comparing it to my Shanling M1 Plus the DO400 lacked a bit of “engagement”.
Have you used the headphone- XLR output? Thats where its true power ,great dynamics and the fabulous separation is coming from.
Out of the 4.4mm and 6.3mm outputs it just sounds identically as my little topping dx3+ pro ....nothing special,even a bit surpassed by a budget DAP like my tempotec v3 (akm based) .
Have you used the headphone- XLR output? Thats where its true power ,great dynamics and the fabulous separation is coming from.
Out of the 4.4mm and 6.3mm outputs it just sounds identically as my little topping dx3+ pro ....nothing special,even a bit surpassed by a budget DAP like my tempotec v3 (akm based) .
Hi everyone, two questions, if I may ask.
1) The SMSL D400 looks very interesting, however I've seen a couple of comments in Amazon reviews by people who reported physical issues with the 4.4mm outputs. Has anybody had any problems with that plug (other than the sound not sounding as good as XLR)?
2) I know the price is quite different, but has anybody compared the DO400 to the RME ADI-2 by any chance?
Hi everyone, two questions, if I may ask.
1) The SMSL D400 looks very interesting, however I've seen a couple of comments in Amazon reviews by people who reported physical issues with the 4.4mm outputs. Has anybody had any problems with that plug (other than the sound not sounding as good as XLR)?
2) I know the price is quite different, but has anybody compared the DO400 to the RME ADI-2 by any chance?
I thought it might be a problem unique to my unit, so I haven’t mentioned it until now, but my DO400’s 4.4mm output jack also makes a metal scraping sound when inserting a plug, particularly around the 80% point. It feels like there might be a slightly sharp edge inside. It doesn’t cause any noticeable damage, but it’s definitely unpleasant.
Fortunately, I use a modular IEM cable, so I just leave the 4.4mm plug tip inserted at all times. If you're using an expensive cable, you might want to consider using an extension or even a file to smooth things out.
As for sound quality, I’ve never felt that the 4.4mm output is noticeably inferior to the XLR. I have seen reports online about slight noise from the 6.35mm output, but those are older posts, and I’m not sure if that’s still the case with the current firmware.
I thought it might be a problem unique to my unit, so I haven’t mentioned it until now, but my DO400’s 4.4mm output jack also makes a metal scraping sound when inserting a plug, particularly around the 80% point. It feels like there might be a slightly sharp edge inside. It doesn’t cause any noticeable damage, but it’s definitely unpleasant.
Fortunately, I use a modular IEM cable, so I just leave the 4.4mm plug tip inserted at all times. If you're using an expensive cable, you might want to consider using an extension or even a file to smooth things out.
As for sound quality, I’ve never felt that the 4.4mm output is noticeably inferior to the XLR. I have seen reports online about slight noise from the 6.35mm output, but those are older posts, and I’m not sure if that’s still the case with the current firmware.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I saw 2-3 reviews on Amazon that pretty much described this very issue, so it seems that at least a certain batch is effected by the interior of the 4.4mm output jack being not as smooth as it should be. Of course, it is hard to tell whether this is a general weak spot or only a problem with one less than ideal production run, because there are only relatively few user experiences posted online (as this thread shows).
For me, the problem is no deal breaker, because you can use an extension or an adapter as a fix, but of course ideally there is no issue with the 4.4mm jack. My use case would be 4.4mm for headphone(s) and 3.5mm for iem (for which I would need a new cable or adapter anyways).
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