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The sound is more important, way more important, than the build quality.

I'm very very happy with both of my Schiit Modi 3 DACs that you recommended some time ago. I've kinda been a cheap audio guy since 1975.

The DAC chip inside is a Rohm BD34301EKV, according to the Rohm datasheet it is a 32 bit sigma delta converterchip. Because of the chip shortage this chip is difficult to obtain, and it's price is around €100 in quantities, so that explains the high price of the SMSL D300 I guess...

I buy this DAC in sept 2022 It’s amazing. I Also love the cheap and best buy thinks. Yamaha as1200 pay with 30% of sale Heco Direkt pay with 62% of sale Smsl d300 Qobuz family Greetings from Italy

Just recently got this in my setup consisting of Wiim Pro, D300 and a Behringer A800 with Elac Debut Reference. Really an awesome experience to listen to.

I have this dac, like this dac, had a couple of issues with it, popping/clapping on bit rate changes, source swapping. Luckily, I found firmware updates and reflashed the unit. Which did fix the issue, took about day of searching and reading a few forums to find the fix... was about 30 min from returning it.. happy I didn't have to. Has a more laid back presentation, less sterile than the usual smsl/sabaj/topping fair. Paires well with the A300 amp.. so if you find you have those issues, there is a fix and it was worth the effort to trouble shoot

Been owning Dac for 3 months, paired with a DIY tube amp to power the Klipsch RP500 mk2, wonderful listening experience

I have had the D300 for a couple of months now. Compared to a cheaper Topping DAC I tried and returned, the D300 is way better. Compared to the two Yamaha AVR's I've listened to, one with a Burr Brown DAC and the other a ESS Sabre, it blows the Sabre out of the water. The Burr Brown based unit was close but my setup using the D300 was better. I have it receiving TIDAL from a WiiM Mini vis Optical input. The DAC feeds analog to a 1990's vintage Yamaha integrated (AX870). I bypass the amps preamp stage and run it as a power amp, doing volume control with the DAC. My speakers are DIY SEAS Idunn, supplemented with a Fluance 10" subwoofer. I think it sounds fantastic. It sounds more natural than other DACS I have listened too. A giutar sounds like a real guitar, violin sounds like a violin. Soundstage is very good and engaging. I couldn't care less about the build quality. It works well and sits virtually hidden underneath my TV so meh. Highly recommended.

That Rohm BD34301EKV chip came out about 2 years ago. Digikey has pricing at q1000 above $100, which is quite pricey. Thanks for the review.

I'm very happy with my WiiM Mini streamer / DAC with no desire to upgrade. Unfortunately, it never ends with audio and people spend way too much money and time chasing tech and perfection, which does not exist. Just enjoy the music IMO.

Thanks for the comparison to the Geshelli - I was wondering if you would compare the two, I wasn't disappointed. Excellent review imho.

I have an A300 amp and a soncoz la-qxd1 dac, Looking into getting a D300 now. Mostly because they match and will stack. The A300 is a monster of an amp and make my Micca RB42s and Dayton 10 inch sub sound incredible.

Great review. As a person who has only had a Sabre dac, it's nice to see other dac chips and providing something different.

As an owner of the D300. Finally people are noticing this cool dac. I love mine. The way it procces the sound is nice rounded musical presentation. The way it also do soundstage is really nice. Doesnt have a lot of filters or sound settings. It only have Sharp roll off or Slow Roll off . Also they have a HPC option that when on it helps with distortion in high frecuency but affects the mid and lows. The secret is to disable the HPC and choose the Slow Roll off For the best sound. The sharp roll off adds to much reverb and also makes the sound of intruments a bit less focused or bodied ( i think its better for more rounded or romantic type speakers !!). Also the cost vs conatruction its because the cost of the Rohm chip its pretty high compared to some akm and ess chips; so smsl downgraded construcion quality to save some pennies and make it attractive. @cheapaudioman You should try it with the HPC mode off. Youll notice the enhancements in the mid and lows and test the sharp or slow roll off. Id like it with hpc off and slow roll off.

ok, most of this was over my head. yet...i loved the video. you're a natural entertainer. great video production, transitions and stuff. know how to use your camera (so many youtubers, with beaucoup subs, can't seem to figure out how autofocus works). I asked about an Elac product in another comment, sort of figured out it's not a bluesound equivalent, just an integrated amp, not really a streamer. and it's been out for a long time. just not any reviews by any of the major players in this field. but, as you'd say, i digress. great video.

I've always been a little confused by all the DACs made by SMSL. What, fundamentally, are the differences between their "D" and "SU" series, especially at similar price points? Does the D300 sound better than the SMSL SU8s with its ES9068AS chip? Then we have the SMSL SU-9 Pro at just $100 more. Just glad that SMSL, and now Topping, are moving away from that terrible thin analytical sound that artificially yields great measurements to one having a much more fleshed out sound. Still makes me wonder what Geshelli Labs could do for $500 in a DAC?

People think "all DACS sound the same unless one is not working right". That is a giant load of BS, if you have a decent system you will hear differences, not as great as speaker and output device. You also have to seperate the notion that more expensive DACS that measure off the charts are the final word in sound quality, I have owned a few that measured really well, yet sounded thin and lifeless. I would like to hear one of these and see how it compares to my Topping E50 with iFI power supply. I thought my E50 (which measured off the charts nearly at release) sounded thin until I upgraded the power supply.

One of my favourite DACs. Sounds absolutely gorgeous. Just recently replaced it with Gistard R26.

I’m still soakin up the goodness of my Geshelli Labs J2 that I’ve had for about a month now. This thing sounds cool though.

I think you should talk about the topic of room treatment...no matter how much cash you spend on hifi gear the most beneficial to do is room treatment. So buy cheap and make up for it by doing so.

Burr Brown 🙋🏽‍♂️ , I have a Yamaha stereo with a BB DAC and sounds amazing

Dacs based on Philips TDA 1541/43 are better than della sigma chips. Or R2R dacs. It offers much natural sound.

I heard somewhere that the ROHM DAC chip alone costs around $100.

If you like a neutral, smooth, analogue/natural sound, then you willl like this dac a lot. It is not as dynamic and punchy as some of the AKM and Saber based products at this pricepoint. It prioritizes sound over asthetics. The chasis is not quite as nice as others at this price, but the sound is really top notch if you like this type of sound signature. It definitely sounds worth the price.

SMSL's been doing some cool products lately but ARGH! Those flush volume knobs are a deal-breaker for desktop use. The new A300 is a DAC plus speaker amp that actually has high and low-pass filtering for 2.1 systems - so cool! But jamming a finger at the "wheel" to change volume without the remote?? Glad CAM mentioned this.

Got the D300 today connected to an iPad via usb cable/ apple camera adapter and a drop thx 789 amp via XLR. It reads the iPad, but does not play any sound. Tried rca, no sound. Different DAC, sound works. So not the amp. Using the D300 and Drop amp with PC I get sound. If you unplug the lightening cord from the apple usb camera adapter the iPad gives a warning that the SMSL accessory draws too much power. Same with my iPhone. So in summary I returned and am disappointed. There is no way to contact the manufacturer or the Amazon vendor for help. Basically the opposite experience of Geshelli or Schiit where everything works and customer service is second to none.

I have a couple questions. Why not let us know what the dac is doing when you have the rolloff on the "slow" setting? What's actually happening when you have the roll off on the "fast" setting? My second question is, why not plug this thing in and show us what the screen menu looks like and go through the options? I'm not suggesting hooking it up and giving us a listening session, L O L. Because that won't do anything. But hook the thing up and let us see what the screen looks like. What's the resolution of it? Give us the info we require. Love your channel. You're doing good work.

For the purest who have a few extra dollars to spend. My go to dac is the ifi idsd neo.

So glad you finally got to listen to this DAC! I've posted on some older videos asking for you to test it but I probably sounded like some crazy person or just got lost in the numerous posts. I've owned it for maybe a year after getting to listen to the iBasso DX320 which has dual ROHM DAC's. Obviously that's a much more expensive DAP but I decided to take a chance when I saw this had one ROHM DAC and I am so glad I did. It actually replaced my geshalli labs because of how good it sounds. It's quite an expenaive DAC as ROHM is a Japanese company and I've only seen it in 2K plus DACs and obviously the iBasso but for much, much less. While not super cheap compared to some other DAP's out there it was worth the probably roughly 100 dollar difference o we the Geshalli labs. I agree with the build quality though. I think the DAC is just that expensive but obviously I don't know what the actual DAC price is but it's different and immediately noticeable to my ears personally for music. It just sounds really, really good with every genre of music I've listened to. It's actually alright for TV stereo audio but it's obviously made for music. It's very natural and neutral to my ears. It may be expensive, but go find any other DAC/DAP with this DAC and they are 2K plus granted they have dual ROHM DAC's instead of just the one in this model. I have to disagree about the Geshalli, I personally think the DS300 better but that comes down to personal preference. It does not have the best build quality but I honestly think around 250 of that is just the DAC by itself. Obviously I can't prove that but based on the brands and prices in other brands, I think it's reasonably priced.

The DAC chip in and of itself is really expensive. The Same chip is used in the Luxman D10X SACD player that retails for $15000. They had to save money somewhere. I believe the DAC chip itself costs around $100.

Love my 4 Burr&Browns in my harman hd7725. Would be an interesting test comparing those with the digital out hence it is such a great and underrated player.

Rohm does have 1 other slightly lower end DAC, but they're new to the Hifi market, Rohm makes all sorts of IC components, but only recently got into the market in the last 2-3 years. Looking forward to their future chips cause the current flagship chip BD34301EKV actually cant be implemented in too many applications compared to the ESS and AKM flagships yet. But for a smaller company being newer to the market they did a good job making it pretty competitive in its single application. I think at this time its more suitable to actually be used in smaller dongle sized stereo DACs. Im sure in the future a more higher featured ROHM dac will come out that will be more closer to that of a true flagship chip.

D300 settings question. Can anyone who has the D300 tell me which DSD Filter setting to use (13k, 26k, 52k)? Also are most folks using DISABLE for HPC mode. I plan to run this off an ipad.

Got one of these a few weeks ago when my tube dac died, and I am still waiting for my J2. I haven't heard enough different DACs to have an educated opinion one way or the other. Sounds good. I like being weird.

I wonder when they will implement the new BT file protocol LC3... And when they will replace (or at least complement) the super lossy MP3 codec with Ogg (Vorbis) codec which has a humongous better sound quality than MP3 for the same size, _and_ is free (OpenSource) as opposed to MP3 licensed integration! This would truly respond to customers needs for a better sounding product.

My favourite Internet hifi reviews ever great humour

i was reallllllyyy hoping that 2023 would not be another year of the DAC like 2022 was. Completely burned out on em but maybe others are not.

What is the better dac between this one and the Sabaj A20D ? Soundwise

How does this compare in terms of power to a Hifiman EF400? SMLS Headphone output power is 2x 3W @16Ω 2x 1.5W @32Ω while HifiMan EF is Maximum Power Output: 4.4 W per channel. If used purely for headphone as a dac/amp combo, which has the better components & power?

I just stick with Analog source to Analog output. No 1 & 0's. Just sound waves. Like a real hamburger versus one out of the Star Trek Food Replicator.

Some reviews mention popping and clicking when the sample rate of the source material changes anyone here getting that?

Great review, thanks

Is this DAC decent with rhythms and instrument intonation? I don't want a DAC that chokes up when it gets to a fast section of the music or one that can't play difficult key signatures without making mistakes.

Thanks!

Shame that the volume knob is a deal breaker fo me and using a remote at a desk when already using a mouse and KB is not a good solution either. Oh well SMSL, maybe next time.

Volume knob is totally a Death Star

Love your content brother. I buy open boxed audio and pre loved. I bought a 10 year old Linn Akurate Ds. Retailed at £7500 back then.. I bought it for 2000.. I auditioned it against naim ndx 2 which retails at £2400.. The blew it apart..totally destroyed it.. Yes 10 year old Linn blew away latest naim.. Mqa is crap. It re-shapes the files so it's not the same music. Tidal mqa is a complete con.

Thanks again for great content Randy, please don't stop,. BTW, i'm trying the Geshelli soon but my favourite so far is the D50s, got it thanks to your review and honestly, the build, the looks, the quality and the sound fidelity is just great!, cheers

My Bifrost 2 is going to get an update a Synergistic Research Purple Fuse

It's good to have choices but the market is so flooded with sub $500 DACs it's bordering on ridiculous... Mainly because it is like reaching into a bag of roasted whole peanuts. Each peanut is a different one yet tastes the same

Had the SMSL SU-6 for a while..but now I found my favorite DAC/Preamp which I haven’t found any KZfaq reviews on. It is the Aiyima DAC-A1…why? It is like the cheapest dac in their range, good dac chip, can roll op amps, has a remote with volume and BASS & TREBLE control!! Perfect fit with A07 Amp which lacks tone control..something for cheapaudioman to review?

SMSL D300 happens to be my choice of DAC and I think you have fair criticism about the build quality. The front plate is thick enough, but the thin aluminum wrap around the rest of the DAC is not particularly premium. Outer build quality aside I think is a great DAC. Thanks to the fast/slow roll-off modes it sounds good with virtually any type of music.

Hey Randy! It would be awesome if you could review the Black Ice Audio FOZ SSX Sound Stage Expander. It seems like it could be great!

I have SMSL Sanskrit, the build is great and for

What in a DAC accounts for differences in sound stage?

Thanks Randy, I like the DAC reviews, It's been about a year since you did your DAC tier list, It might be time to do another comparison maybe leaving out some of the previous lower rated ones. Better get back to work thanks again. Just for my own Info have you ever heard the Replacements Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take out The Trash you might like it

Try the new DO300? Review that new sabre chip..it's awsome and better controls on the front

Thanks expensiveaudioman

I really like how he gets into the "nitty gritty" of things! I want to measure my speaker response, how can I do that?

Would i buy this over my current Metrum Octave NOS Dac(2013) ? In its day the Metrum compared to $3,000 DACs . Do 2023 Sub $500 Dacs exceed, equal or fall short of Dacs 10 times the price of say in 2013?

Thanks man. Another great review. Well done!

Hi! Topping E50 vs SMSL D300 ? Which is the better choice? I'm listening to Jazz and classical music...

So the question I present...Is it better than the Geshelli Labs DAC?

Sorry, I've got next to no knowledge on desktop amps/dacs. I have a pair of Campfire Audio Cascades (don't sue me for my love of bass XD) and will likely try out other headphones over the years. How would I connect these? Does it have a 2.5mm or 4.4mm balanced output? If not, what would I need in order to use this with my headphones, or what dac would you recommend instead in a similar price range? Thank you!

Since they are a new player it would be nice to get a little of background into whoever Rohm is and how they are going to be able to compete with the likes of ESS, AKM and Burr-brown.

How long chine audio stuff should last? I had one smsl amp that died in 2 years and "fosi audio" dac where volume knob is breaking after one year of use, depending its position only left or right channel works.

I'm sorry DAC's blah blah blah... Buy which ever you like. I'll put money on the fact you can't hear a difference between any versions after a beer.

It doesn't "destroy the competition", but it's certainly competent and a good value at $400. ASR did a full measurement suite on it and it lands in the middle of "excellent" range. Still not the equal of a Topping D90SE or Gustard X26 pro, but certainly no slouch. IMO DACs have become commodity items. They've reached such a level of performance that anything beyond what is available now is not going to be an audible improvement.

How about details in sound compare to flagship AKM or ESS ?

Thanks Randy. Glad you like it and the comments section as well gives food for thought. I’m a set it and forget it type, but I’m willing to try a few things now. I’ve had it since the end of March 2022, and it’s the most I’ll spend on a DAC, in part because i retired and i disposed of my disposable income, in part because i have enough gear and backup gear to last. In fact in January last year i got a Modi MB; now those are up to $300. I got the D300 for the unique chip and good experience with SMSL DACs (S10, M100), but primarily to run a full-balanced chain from DAC to SMSL HO200 preamp/HP amp, to my power amp which only has XLR inputs. The HO200 also has an RCA input so I’ve a crazy Rube Goldberg arrangement, with the Modi MB on top the D300, output to a Schiit Saga + (i used the other four inputs there with various old gear) and the Saga’s output to the RCA on the HO200, which has an input switch. The streamer in that system simultaneously puts out optical & coaxial, so one to each DAC. After level matching, as close as possible, i can flick the switch on HO200 from XLR (D300) to RCA (Modi MB) and compare DACs, not exactly blind, and slight differences in the chain (adding the Saga +, which even with the tube on sounds fairly transparent). Verdict? Virtually the same. Maybe the edge to the Modi for a fuller sound. Maybe. I could live and love either, but i didn’t know that until i had both, lol. I haven’t tried that with HPs, only speakers. For the extra $100 at today’s Modi MB price, the D300 scores. It has the convenience of the preamp / volume remote control (the Modi MB, does not on it’s own have that), the Bluetooth that doesn’t suck (though i only use it sparingly for YT videos), the XLR and RCA outputs, & sounds the same-ish. I went through a phase when everything had to go through a tube buffer, which i can’t do with the D300 the way i use it (I could, actually, it has RCA outputs) but i don’t miss it. The naturalness of it, soundstage, dynamic range, for me there’s nothing more i need. But think i might sometimes when i check out these reviews.

I still can't figure out whether you can plug a hard drive or memory stick directly into a DAC. Does anyone know?

its always good to have more reviews from diferent types of products. have you ever tried any of the tempotec products? many says the audio quality is great

You could do 3 backflips, and it still couldn't get me excited about anything chi-fi these days.

Interesting you bring up cymbals. I need to find a DAC that doesn't make crash cymbals sound like unnatural garbage. Taking only sound into consideration, I don't know if I should get the Cayin RU6 because it's an inexpensive R2R or something like the J2 or Schitt's multibit. Maybe a good DAC will also help with my HD560S too.

Interesting - a new chip company. at least. Whether or not the Rhom chip works as a delta sigma, or a multibit, or a FPGA (like the Chord DACs) - we don't know? So, the filtering before the decoding, and the decoding method, and the analog output stage - and the quality of the power supply - all *four* of the main parts of a DAC make a difference in the sound quality.

Great review as always Randy! I’ll watch your dac reviews anytime anywhere anyhow, also cool to hear that this one is different, choices are cool, ok cya next time and thanks again!

Randy can you give me your list of the cheap audioman American dream? Or do you have a new one 🤔 thanks!

Nice review Randy, good to see something different in a DAC.

This is not your ordinary DAC. It powers my Cayin N8ii tube DAP and can easily hold its own with the better known known ESS and AKM variants. In this case, I think SMSL just chose *not* to support MQA because my DAP does...so the chip can handle it. Which is a good move on their part because it's snake oil anyway--I have the MQA processing turned off.

Great review Randy. I have made a few purchases from your suggestions, I’ve had the Amazon Echo Link, serves me well. I also purchased Liberty 3 earbuds from sound-core. Also very pleased, thanks for the recommendations. As I move further into the digital domain I am looking for a Good 4:00 DAC. I was looking at the denafrips ares 2, I’m still open to other DACs. I am considering Geshelli labs. Will Geshelli labs have their Sparko Labs collaboration with sparko labs available soon? Looking forward to more DAC reviews from you!

Thank you for the review Randy. Always good to have a different perspectice than somewhere like ASR whose discussion usually begins and ends with measurements.

There are really tons of dacs on the market but in my experience the CHORD qutest has always been the best...not cheap but worth every penny...simple and will last for years and years...no unnecessary fancy features.

Thanks Randy...I run dual A300's ....I'm GUESSING this would be a lovely match with 'em....it would certainly look awesome.

Just another flavor in the ice cream shop. Thanks for going through all the countless units in the marketplace for us.

Thank you, sir, for mentioning the J2. I’m still waiting for it to arrive. I’m excited. J2 AKM (and USB) for the win!! 🤣👍⭐️🇺🇸

How is the sound quality? ifi zen air bluetooth dac?

Wherever I May Rohm

Let's all yak about the new DAC

Hi, been enjoying your vids for a bit now, and i have a question for you. Is there a device that would convert USB audio out to HDMI ARC for 5.1 ?

Wrong remote mate.

No i2s , you are missing out. F the usb in dacs. Experience the i2s leap in audio performance: black background, analogue without any digital noise. For golden ears only, old farts with damage ears can't hear it anyways.

Note: This product is a sigma-delta conversion...

That's an interesting product... I'd never actually heard of Rohm before (but, if anyone cares, it is a delta-sigma DAC, with some pretty good specs).

LDAC is as good as CD if not better.

Chord dacs are also Delta-sigma dacs. They're using FPGA chips with custom audio processing logic and send that processed data to their delta-sigma ring dac. All the so called FPGA dacs are actually r2r or delta-sigma dacs at the end.

I always wondered does the optical input work with DD output from a TV? or does the TV have to be setup to just output PCM?

I have a question for all. I am an old school Metal Head and Punker from way, way back. For the last 15 years I play all my music through KZfaq Premium. From my computer headphone out to my Sx 1250 aux. Do I need a DAC.

I have the SMSL SU - 6 and I love it. Don't know how much more I'd get for my money with the D300. SMSL does make a good product.

there seems to be a new dac destroying the rest every 2 weeks nowadays.....