I was in the market for a New dac on a budget of about 300, all the chifi stuff i studied and watched youtube reviews. Being a vintage hifi lover i could not get around ordering one of these affordable dacs. I wanted something else, natural sounding not analitic, not harsh. I ended up buying a 1999 Denon dvd 5000 with an optical input for 250. This thing is great 4 burr Brown pcm 1704 dac chips, great opamp, good power supply, 17kg and sweet narural smooth sound😊

I like the streamlined presentation, no BS approach in describing sonic qualities, subscribed.

Very nice story. Love your review of the SMSL DAC!

Thank you for all these honest informations. I really like your channel!

I also have a older DAC i sometimes use on desktop. Its the Stello DA100 signature from a South Korean company. It hold up pretty good to modern DACs. Must be that class A magic. Slightly laid back trebble, smooth,mids and punchy well defined Bass.

Great comparisons! I heard a California audio Labs CD player playing through some Martin Logan monolith threes in the '90s it was excellent. I hope he can fix your California audio Labs DAC.

I have had many dacs. Burson, ifi, chord. Recently Got the Gold Note. Its awesome. Sounds great

My 12 year old Musical Paradise D1 tube Dac still sounds better to me then the smsl m400,D300,V2 and the topping d90se which I tried in my system. This is without adding the vcap capacitor’s to the MP D1. It was only 333.00.

The Crystal CS4328 is the dac chip in the Sigma.. The Crystal CS8412 is the SPDIF input receiver for the Sigma (the photo shown in this vid..).. I had a friend loan me his Sigma back in 2005, very smooth.. I remember trying it with various Mullard 12AX7’s.. Good luck with the recap job.. I reccomend Nichicon FW electrolytic caps for the PSU section, and Nichicon FG around the chips..

I had a CL-20 that I used sparingly only as a transport to the upgraded to 24-96 Cal Alpha tube Dac, which is the best one they ever made. I also had the matching Delta transport for the Dac but never used it since the CL-20 was so good and also has a great DVD section for playing videos. It was the first DVD player to list for $2400. The alpha had 4 choices for outputs. Sorry I ever sold that stuff. Worked perfectly and sounded great. Never bought another Dac and its been 7 years since I sold them all. Just have my Eastern Electric Minimax tube cd and hdcd player from around 2005.Sounds great the guy I bought it from put some aftermarket tubes in it and I've never touched them.😂 I would like to get a streaming setup but I still have so much vinyl I have never even listened to that I'm just not in a hurry. I am a biggest bang for the buck guy, I like Innuos because you can get the storage as well and just need a Dac. The Hugo seems to be the one for max bang, used ones are cheaper than this review Dac which I may consider.

I use my Sigma DAC to this day....love it.......and will absolutley pay to repair it if the caps or anything else go......but for now it sounds glorious

Thanks for the review. If ypu like more analog sounding DAcs. SMSL offers to with the rare and newish ROHM DAC chip the D300 (400 dollars) and the vmv smsl D2r Dac (new from smsl in the 1000 dollars range).

Good video

Bifrost 2 OG is a great dac you should definitely check out. Or the Gungnir or Yggy OG if wanting to go up the range for slight gains in harmonic resonance.

Ok!! I have a cj PV3 tube pre amp and Maggie's!!! I'll subscribe now!

To be honest, it is a bit like comparing top notch computer video cards from 1990s with modern good class video processors and demanding them to perform as well as the up-to-date products. If you put them onto laboratory bench you will find how different and limited they are. They can sound pleasant and "musical" but it is usually our subjective impression because we got used to their performance and sound. Some time ago I had to get an old but robust top technology Philips CD player out of cubbyhole to replace work-worn super - dooper multibit multi audio format player to engage into system ... and in the beginning I could not believe I could had listened to it ages ago :) . Guy at the "next to door" modern audio equipment saloon suggested to borrow and try one of these latest modern dac boxes with up-to date technologies. The effect was astonishing and very satisfying altough this very well performing dac paired with one of the newest cd transports sounded much better. Greetings! P.S. D400 EX is pretty darn good performer, worth each buck spent.

You are correct sir! DAC reviews are getting to be a little too common. I like that DAC that looks like a cat though.

Before you take the CAL in for service, play with it a little bit more. If you're only getting distortion with headphones, the problem may lie elsewhere, or you may not even have one. I don't know exactly how you had it set up, but just try different combinations to confirm there really is a problem, and not just a mismatched component. Its possible you have too much gain somewhere in the system. With products from that era, they sometimes included features like global gain settings to make the gear compatible with a broader range of equipment. I also noticed that some of your gear has xlr connections. This is a big topic and there's no way to go into all the details, but the industry has made a mess of balanced operation. Simply put, just because something has an xlr connector on it and is labeled balanced, doesn't mean it really is. Balanced and single ended operation are not compatible, so if you have mixed components steps have to be taken to make both pieces single ended or both balanced. Sometimes there's a switch, but not always. A lot of companies, and I believe CAL was one of them, has you insert a small jumper that goes in the xlr jack. That would shunt the number 2 pin to ground, and allow you to use unbalanced connections. I can't say for sure, but I think it may be just a setup issue.

Just love this channel. Up there with Darko and 13th Note Reviews. It's like having a beer and chatting about hi-fi. Folksy and wholesome.👍

I thought 4499 was the flagship model before the fire. It was inside the topping D90.

My old Burson dac with Separate power supplies for analogue and digital Sounded better than Chord Hugo to my ear.

This is really timely. I have a D70s too and was looking at getting the E70-Velvet or D400EX. Thanks for the review. The Velvet is cheaper. Wouldn’t that be more VFM than the D400EX.

I think it's best to put a tube in a preamp or something that can be bypassed. Tubes will color a DAC in a way that's best left optional INO.

I would like to know if my BlueMe Pro & HD DACs don’t quite cut the mustard because they are small, inexpensive Bluetooth DACs? Best to go with a hardwired configuration correct? From their website: “As if you were there” “The SMSL D400EX uses AKM’s all-new D/A conversion solution that provides sound “as if you were there”. Two AK4499EX DAC chips, in conjunction with an AK4191 DAC chip, completely separate the digital and analog circuitry of the conversion process. The analog characteristics far exceed those of the previous AK4499 D/A chip, suppressing noise and reproducing all musical information.”

I also own the California Audio Labs Sigma ll DAC. I had it serviced by Approved Audio Service in Connecticut. A few months later it lost output signal. Also made the clicking digital sound like yours did before it died. Still powers up but no output. Trying to get a schematic on this DAC is impossible. Only reverse engineering applies here. Please let me know if your tech is able to fix yours as I am at a dead end. Approved Audio Services takes advantage of their customers and overcharges only to have a problem shortly down the road again.

Distortion and noise are pleasing to human ears. A clear case of my fidelity vs high fidelity.

I have a link basik turntable with akito tonearm, it's been broken in an accident in my home and Im trying to make an insurance claim, does anyone know a rough modern equivalent of this turntable for insurance purposes? Any help much appreciated.

Try Arcam Black Box 5 or 50

Nice vid Dave. FYI - edit your title from 30 to 3 year👍👍

Them old dacs are making £850 on eBay any wonder it’s good

MQA has been rescued

So, are you swearing off vintage gear because your channel makes money advertising modern products?