I am having a wonderful time. Thanks. Looking forward to this one. And MQA is back from the dead too.

Bought it. Couldn't use "no filter", I thought I was going to blow up my speakers as massive electrical interference immediately set in from my right speaker. I tried it 3 times with different CDs and same thing. Not sure why and what happened, but I am not doing it again. I settled for "linear fast" for PCM filter and "standard" for sound color. Overall, I would say the presentation is a little forward for my liking and with the color setting at "standard" it could sound a tad bright with some female vocals. You could change it to "rich 1" for example to damp it down a bit, but it will make the overall sound signature ever so slightly darker. But, I also listen to a lot of old jazz like John Coltrane, Oscar Peterson, Sonny Rollins, etc, so I don't mind that little bit of forwardness for that as it will seemingly give a little boost to the sound quality to these older recordings. But, for modern day much higher quality recordings, not so much. I am thinking perhaps I should have listened to you and tried the DO200 MKII first which is supposedly a little "more refined" as you described it. Furthermore, I am also wondering whether AKM chips is the way to go if you are after refinement. I understand there is now a SU-9 Ultra with AKM chips or the slightly more expensive D400 Pro also with AKM chips. I could see myself either trying the DO200 MKII or D400 Pro next.

I'm waiting for new flagship DAC of Topping. I hope they'll plan a D90 PRO soon . New design + linear power supply + AK4499EX DAC chips + AK4191 modulator. (Gustard A26 without streamer).

look at the smsl do 400, it's a divine dac amplifier, I bought it for $386, it's my best buy, which I recommend to you.if you're interested, I'm an ordinary person who wanted to find the best on the market like everyone else, I searched for it for 2 weeks and climbed all the forums it will suit everyone, I just want to help people like me who think that these people speak a different language

I have this device and I like it a lot. Using mainly for desktop headphone rig. Gets really warm in my opinion, good heater in winter.

Great reviews an input. I'm looking into SMSL DO300EX Just because of preference between AKM DACs over SABER's... now days most likely ther's not much difference aldough I would like to have the oppportunity to A-B them, a comparison and your opinion is much appreciated.

Thanks for the review! I was waiting for this one. I'm concerned though that you might be misrepresenting the ability to remove the digital filters and the use of the term NOS (Non-Oversampling). They are both different things. I believe this unit is still oversampling the signal when you defeat the filters. Defeating the filters allows for aliasing of the signal which does create a different listening experience and I believe that is what you are hearing. None of the literature says this DAC is NOS, it just allows you to defeat the digital filtering which is different from the oversampling stage of the process.

I’m having wonderful time, always.

crisp and clear, very impressive

Compared to LOXJIE D40Pro, which DAC is better?

Hi Tharmabar, I really appreciate your good work and I and I believe other users would be very interested in your opinion on the difference between the SU-9pro and this DO400 DAC. thank you david

If you really want to hear great music start with the recording, because my computer speakers sound fabulous on this kiss of life sound track. NOTE my computer speakers were at one time $1,000 a pair, driven by a Denon receiver and a 12 inch subwoofer, lol.

Nos ( non over sampling ) really with a chip or delta sigma. In this univers ?

Hi, My current setup is: Source - Tidal Network Transport - Bluesound Node 2021 DAC - Denafrips Venus 12th Preamp - Denafrips Athena Power Amp - Kinki Studio EX-B7 mono blocks Speakers - Focal Diablo Utopia Color Evo III Need your kind advice on whether to add Denafrips Gaia DDC to the setup or change the Network Streamer to An Auralic G1.1 / G2.2 or Hifirose RS130

Would absolutely love to see your thoughts on the SMSL AO300, which is the same chassis and the same internal archiecture but includes a power amp.

Using a Topping A90 Discrete HPA as BOTH a preamp to my Wavelet II + Legacy Whisper Speakers using my Topping D90 LE DAC as the source was an under powered snorefest with no dynamics or headroom to drice my speakers or Hifiman 64ohm Susveras headphone. BUT... WHEN I USED THE NEW $600 SMSL D400 PRO AKM DAC WAS UNBELEIVABLY AWESOME!! It ALSO bested my SMSL SU10 and VMV D2 dacs and considering the new VMV D2R costs $999 with less impressive specs I'm thinking the SMSL D400 PRO for $600 will trounce on most any dacs. It has plenty of headroom while driving my Whispers as a preamp and my power hungry Susveras as a HPA. I was beyond impressed! I've been waiting a year for my preorder for one of fifty $8k ZAHL HM1 reference HPA and it's driving me nuts as they are already 3 months behind scheduled production. Nothing prepared me for the amazing sound the SMSL D400 PRO SOTA AKM DAC delivered. I just ordered the new SMSL combo DAC/HPA just to play with it to hear a cheaper ESS Based combo DAC/HPA $500

Hello, I will wait to see the dacs coming out you told me to wait for. One of my canadian friends aske me about your recommendation for Bi-Wiring to loudspeakers. I passed on both recommendations of the Mogami for both IC and speaker. With the Mogami 3082 it appears he is not sure that one can do bi-wiring with that cable. What shall I tell him?

Another great & enjoyable review Tharbamar. I have been considering purchasing the Matrix Audio Mini i4, can you tell me how its DAC compares to the DO400?

Nice presentation. 😊thank you.

Thanks for review. How would this dac player work with the Eversolo dmp-a6 as an external dac? Would it improve the sound of eversolo dmp a6? Thank you for your answer.

It Is a really best buy under 500dollars

Thank you very much for your honest and serious review, i have this dac since 2 weeks now and very happy with it, use it with PC and Foobar, i want to add a WiiM Pro Plus for streaming , do you think this could make a coherent association?

Thank you for the nice review. Do you recommend Topping Dx7 pro plus or smsl do400? Before buying it, I would like to check it. Thanks.

Love your videos. I don’t have a dac yet. I have a cd player hook up to my Yamaha rx780 only used 2 channels. How do I by pass the dac in my cd player and used the receiver dac which should be way bettter then the denon cd player dac. Thanks keep up good work

Hi Tharbamar, if used as a preamp does it offer a balance control?

Same sound as DO300 and DO200 MKII right?

Would you consider this a major improvement over the SMSL Su-1? The new Mogami cables have made a huge improvement. The WiiM Pro is I think better than a WiiM Pro plus. One thing I might enjoy improving is the phone preamp. Darlington Labs MP-7: Discrete High-Voltage J-FET RIAA Phono Preamplifier - High End Performance from $499.00 seems very interesting. To upgrade my Moon i-3 preamp is a question. A Ladder Bach Preamp is a different way to go than with a fine DAC one can use as a Preamp/DAC. Love your help. Hope you are doing well. The Musician Knight 1 Speaker hooked up is really much less flat than I hear from the SU-1. I have a KLH Model 5 pair. I must say this combination is delivering more instrument separation. Timbres of instruments are reasonable natural. Internal voices on the piano chords is also sweet. Sounds like a 6 -7 thousand dollar system, Impressive.

what is better to choose? loxjie d40pro vs smsl do400

Smsl's also has more opamps and i think(?) different power supply than loxjie's d40 pro. I keep getting more and more lost. So many extremely similar dacs from the same company (not to mention from sister companys sabaj, loxjie and vmv)... I wish they could do something different by adding new features (everything else is fine as it is) like 12v trigger in/out, hdmi arc and peq (like rme's dac).

Another great review...how does the SMSL DO400 NOS compares to the Topping E70 Velvet in the DAC performance (soundstaging, resolution, bass, mids, highs, image size, depth, etc)...SMSL DO400 WITH Over Sampling vs. Topping E70 V...the SMSL sounds more airy with more sparkle on top while the E70 is somewhat softer...thanks

¿Would it be a good idea to pair it with the amplifier Topping A70 PRO? GOOD VIDEO

Thanks for the review ... I was wondering how this DO400 sound compares to that of the Matrix Audio mini i-4 streamer since they both use the 9039 dac chip. How about withthe D400EX that you called an audiophile standard?

Hi can you please tell me. Would this be better than my SMSL sh9 and su9n setup I already have? And if I did decide to purchase how would I connect to my current setup. Thank you

great review awsome system

With wiim pro plus ➕ steamer which dac will be best for me DO400 or D300. I like warm sound.

Might downsize my system here and am thinking about this unit as pre dac. You liked this best with the orchard amp correct?

HOLO AUDIO RED STREAMER any chance to revew?

I think that's my next amp.

You get so much more with the Aune S9C Pro ;).

Is this a smsl sponsored channel?

Any input between this unit and the Loxjie D40Pro?

Those feet are an sonic improvement or you add them only to easily clean below? Thanks

Pre dac? Do you mean preamp? Can you use this as a pre-amp?

Hi Tharb, how it compare against ares 12th or schumann?

it should have bass and trteble controls, smsl shoud make a dedicated PREAMP dac with phono and tape inputs

Will you try the SMSL VMV D1SE2 ?!?

Will you be reviewing the D400 Pro recently released?

Hello. Have you tried the Soncoz SGD1? It's a $500 dallar (just kidding) dollars DAC

Hi, please my friend, how good and clean is this SMSL as a headphone amplifier. Thank you