I am currently in Thailand. For Thai people who earn around 8 to 10 $ for an 8 hour work day the SMSL DA-1 will already be an expensive piece of equipment and the 100 $ Aiyima and Fosi products are out their reach financially - when we in the western world don't even think about spending the extra money for better sound. So yes, this amp definitely has its place and I am really pleased to see SMSL make the effort to create such an affordable amp. Connect it to a smart phone via RCA-3.5mm and get some simple Chinese speakers and they will enjoy listening to music. Thank you for pointing out the critical listening-to-fun-listening/ simple listening aspect. Much needed compared to reviews by others on the DA-1 on YT.
I use this with the SU-1 DAC for my desktop PC station. It drives my B&W LM1speakers (the old die-cast aluminum models with the Kevlar woofers) just fine and sounds great.
Good review!, i like the way you review audio gear. You maintaned “distance” comparing with more expensive equipment out of the category. What i mean. Thats an small form audio equipment for a particular market, compare againts others in other category isn’t right. But, compare againts the rekkr, its right and just, same category!😀. What a huge vintage receiver you have, wow. I remmeber my childhood when those were the big guys at the audio market. Sounded powerful!. Aaan some with “hiss” …
Class D is not digital. The "D" designation is simply the next available letter of the alphabet after A, AB, B and C ... The technology is fully analog. The correct name for this is Pulse Width Modulation or PWM for short. It works by modulating the audio onto a high powered carrier wave, changing it's duty cycle and then filtering out the carrier to recover the amplified audio.
From the TPA3118 data sheet... Nominal supply voltage 24v. Power at 1% distortion ... 33 watts RMS on 8 ohms, 60w RMS on 4 ohms. THD+N 0.1% unclipped, Noise Floor -102 db. The 3118 is a next step of the TPA3116 .... so that experience will translate here as well.
@@ForeverAnalog My pleasure. These data sheets are available online, just search for the part number and "Data Sheet" ... in this case "TPA3118 Data Sheet".
If someone already has a pair of speakers then i can understand the use for a small amp like this, but for someone with nothing that wants a small desktop system I'd point them to the Edifier MR4s powered speakers
I am currently in Thailand. For Thai people who earn around 8 to 10 $ for an 8 hour work day the SMSL DA-1 will already be an expensive piece of equipment and the 100 $ Aiyima and Fosi products are out their reach financially - when we in the western world don't even think about spending the extra money for better sound.
So yes, this amp definitely has its place and I am really pleased to see SMSL make the effort to create such an affordable amp. Connect it to a smart phone via RCA-3.5mm and get some simple Chinese speakers and they will enjoy listening to music.
Thank you for pointing out the critical listening-to-fun-listening/ simple listening aspect. Much needed compared to reviews by others on the DA-1 on YT.
Thanks for sharing and watching!
I use this with the SU-1 DAC for my desktop PC station. It drives my B&W LM1speakers (the old die-cast aluminum models with the Kevlar woofers) just fine and sounds great.
Awesome. I'm looking forward to swapping with the Rekkr and see which I prefer. Thanks so much for sharing!
Good review!, i like the way you review audio gear. You maintaned “distance” comparing with more expensive equipment out of the category. What i mean. Thats an small form audio equipment for a particular market, compare againts others in other category isn’t right. But, compare againts the rekkr, its right and just, same category!😀. What a huge vintage receiver you have, wow. I remmeber my childhood when those were the big guys at the audio market. Sounded powerful!. Aaan some with “hiss” …
Thank you for the kind words and for watching!
I purchased a new Aiyima T9 Pro for $41 in an auction and that's my backup but I'm still a fan of micro sized components
That's a great bargain, thanks for watching!
Would it work on some old samsung speakers of 60w and 4ohms?
8:09 "The Schiit Rekkr" sounds like a proctology joke. ;)
yeah it doesn't help they named their cd transport the Schiit Urd lol
👍👍👍
Smartphone world: new products have to be more expensive than before.
Audio consumer world: we're take the opposite direction.
I do appreciate the fact that they didn't claim 300 watts per channel. That honest power rating interests me.
It uses a different chip. TPA3118 here vs TPA3255.
And for what it's worth the TPA3255 actually is able to produce 300 watts.
Yeah, I still think people will buy thinking it's 65 watts at 8 ohms instead of 4, but that's how these things are marketed these days.
@@ForeverAnalog
Interestingly that's only 3db of difference ... barely audible. Most people would never know.
Nice review here. Good value.
Thanks for watching!
Nice find....
Thanks! It's been fun to use - so small and so simple, lol!
@@ForeverAnalog
One on the way .... See if I can come up with a fix for the hiss problem.
Maybe even update my desktop system with it.
@@ForeverAnalog Mine just came in this morning ... I'm letting it warm up before testing. You are right .... DAYMN this thing is small!
Nice video n discovery. Thanks.
Is this a digital amp (DA)?
Class D is not digital. The "D" designation is simply the next available letter of the alphabet after A, AB, B and C ...
The technology is fully analog. The correct name for this is Pulse Width Modulation or PWM for short. It works by modulating the audio onto a high powered carrier wave, changing it's duty cycle and then filtering out the carrier to recover the amplified audio.
Thanks for a prompt reply.
Thanks for watching. I've had fun with this little amp!
@@pk-zg8tz
You're welcome
It seems to be: Desktop Amplifier : DA
From the TPA3118 data sheet...
Nominal supply voltage 24v.
Power at 1% distortion ... 33 watts RMS on 8 ohms, 60w RMS on 4 ohms.
THD+N 0.1% unclipped, Noise Floor -102 db.
The 3118 is a next step of the TPA3116 .... so that experience will translate here as well.
Thanks for including!
@@ForeverAnalog
My pleasure.
These data sheets are available online, just search for the part number and "Data Sheet" ... in this case "TPA3118 Data Sheet".
If someone already has a pair of speakers then i can understand the use for a small amp like this, but for someone with nothing that wants a small desktop system I'd point them to the Edifier MR4s powered speakers
That’s a great option as well!
That is too small for a small amp; I might lose it. :)
It will be hiding in the couch with the remote lol
I wouldnt give you fifty cents for that thing!
Yeah, as I mentioned in the video, these amps aren't for everyone.
So you wouldn't pay 50c for something you could sell for $50 ?
That's a pretty good ROI