Smsl has some of the most interesting sound filters. Even if in the end I still like the default one the most... it's nice to play with the others and hear the subtle differences. Because it is subtle. Another great work, man!👍
Thanks mate, that's certainly the case, but AO200 was under-performing with my speakers, I didn't feel it arriving at the same level with DO200 and HO200 stack.
First I have to say I do like your reviews and enjoy hearing you take on new gear and I actually own gear because of your reviews. I have to ask though if you could shoot a video with a true blind setup where an independent third party controls which DACs are being used in the system you're listening to. With you having no idea or knowing what piece or pieces of gear are in the listening chain other than the headphones/IEMs of course. Then you listen and state which DAC you think it is between the different models used in the test. It wasn't but a few short months ago that a DAC you mention in this video was according to you the best available in this price bracket for all the same reasons you now state that this new DAC is the best down to even the terminology used. I'd really like to know, as I'm sure others would as well, if you can back up statements you make in a true blind test. I enjoy your reviews but it's getting to the point where whatever the newest piece of Chifi is it gets your glowing review, (excluding junk of course), and it's somehow much better than what came just a couple months before it. Do I believe that's possible, yes I do but I also don't think the gains are as massive as implied and that most people would not be able to pick up on them in a blind test. You can literally spend tens of thousands in this hobby even without chasing the most expensive gear by continuing to chase such small perceived "improvements" instead of stepping into the next price bracket. Even then when you do step up the gains/changes in sound quality/reproduction are not massive and the law of diminishing returns begins to rear it's ugly head very quickly. The reason I'm making this comment is hopefully you can understand how truly aggravating it is to have it implied that gear bought just a month or two ago is now useless and not worth owning compared to the latest hotness because I do not get to hear what are minor improvements at best and just side grades at worst to my current system...
Nowadays you can get outstanding measurements and good subjective performance even at $200, something that couldn't be done 10 years ago. Sound wise, some of these units are Extremely close to each other, down to the smallest details. I mean, several Delta-sigma DACs of different manufacturers can look almost identical on the inside, only some capacitors may differ or the power supply implementation, everything else is the same (DAC chips, LPF and I/V stage, so on and so forth) It is normal that I would describe them in a similar fashion, because in reality they sound very alike with a few minor differences. Still, I have several chapters in my video and written reviews for a reason, because there is still a difference between them. Sometimes its their tonality, minor changes in FR, sometimes its the scale, speed or impact or all of the above. Sometimes there's a huge difference (as it usually happens with R-2R versus D/S versus FPGA sound signature and tonality - because everything is different on the inside) and I'm using different words to describe them. I've done several blind tests in the past (check my Battle of the THX-es or the 4 DAC comparison I've did some time ago).
I spy abyss! I bet you’re going to love it.. not as polite and neutral as sus but the slam is unmatched as are the transients. I bet the Volot soloist 3gt Hypsos + Oor and Primavera will make them sing, Hopefully Burson sends you their new conductor 3gt looks like a pretty sweet all in one unit to compete with chord tt2.
It was a loaner from a friend, it was the Phi (not the newest TC), I'll probably get a TC this year after I recover from the Primavera and "a secret new DAC" wallet damage :) Conductor 3 GT review will happen once it's here, I've got a green light from the Kangaroo land
Excelent, i believe if you want to save 200 bucks you go for this and if you want a little more refinement maybe go for the vmv s1 se. I really enjoy your videos, kudos! Greetings from Rosario, Argentina!
Hi Andre...Nah, I won't do that. Slightly different, but not a whole lot better. Now, my NEXT review will be something that you should look forward to.
very, very similar performance, I couldn't hardly differentiate them. Pre90 is by a hair smoother and more organic sounding, more like splitting hairs.
@@Soundnews Thanks so much! Need a cheap but decent quality preamp until I can get an Acoustic Invader pre. SMSL should cut it for $200 less than Topping. Appreciate your reply
Have you ever dealt with the optical port cutting in and out during music? I dealt with 9n cutting out every 3 mins, which made me return it. It's really unfortunate because I really enjoyed the warm sounding from SMSL. I really want to purchase these, but I'm afraid to deal with the last issue.
Let me guess, was that happening on a Samsung TV? If so, that is a very common issue only on Samsung TVs used in tandem only with ESS Sabre chipsets (give it a search).
All those HPA`s from past 2 years are mainly the same, I mean China stuff. I personally use topping A90 and I would not change it for anything for one reason (apart from sound characteristics ): it is just beautiful to have one indicator of ON state, but based on 2 color led, green for HPA and amber for PREamp. BTW. in advertising materials for Topping LA90 there is, I guess, new edition of A90 called A90 Discrete , do you have any info on that? Except hifigo listing page I coudln`t find anything more.
They spilled the beans for me, but I'm no allowed to talk about it, sorry. Think about an A90 with bipolar transistors biased into Class-A/B operation instead of NFCA modules and that's basically it.
No you don’t have to bend it but you can adjust pads rotation, the width and can adjust to angle the cups. The wider the better for Bass you don’t want to get a seal but more space.
Smsl has some of the most interesting sound filters. Even if in the end I still like the default one the most... it's nice to play with the others and hear the subtle differences. Because it is subtle. Another great work, man!👍
I can’t wait to see your review of the NAIM uniti atom Headphone Edition.👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
I'll ask Naim about a loaner, who knows.
I am wondering how the S.M.S.L M500 MKII compares to the S.M.S.L DO200. Nice review as always TY!
Yeah, the M500 MKII got a couple of rave reviews
Yeah "iiwi reviews" really hyped it up for me lol.
As always, excellent work. Just adding an AO200 makes it a do it all stack.
Thanks mate, that's certainly the case, but AO200 was under-performing with my speakers, I didn't feel it arriving at the same level with DO200 and HO200 stack.
First I have to say I do like your reviews and enjoy hearing you take on new gear and I actually own gear because of your reviews.
I have to ask though if you could shoot a video with a true blind setup where an independent third party controls which DACs are being used in the system you're listening to. With you having no idea or knowing what piece or pieces of gear are in the listening chain other than the headphones/IEMs of course. Then you listen and state which DAC you think it is between the different models used in the test. It wasn't but a few short months ago that a DAC you mention in this video was according to you the best available in this price bracket for all the same reasons you now state that this new DAC is the best down to even the terminology used. I'd really like to know, as I'm sure others would as well, if you can back up statements you make in a true blind test. I enjoy your reviews but it's getting to the point where whatever the newest piece of Chifi is it gets your glowing review, (excluding junk of course), and it's somehow much better than what came just a couple months before it. Do I believe that's possible, yes I do but I also don't think the gains are as massive as implied and that most people would not be able to pick up on them in a blind test. You can literally spend tens of thousands in this hobby even without chasing the most expensive gear by continuing to chase such small perceived "improvements" instead of stepping into the next price bracket. Even then when you do step up the gains/changes in sound quality/reproduction are not massive and the law of diminishing returns begins to rear it's ugly head very quickly. The reason I'm making this comment is hopefully you can understand how truly aggravating it is to have it implied that gear bought just a month or two ago is now useless and not worth owning compared to the latest hotness because I do not get to hear what are minor improvements at best and just side grades at worst to my current system...
Nowadays you can get outstanding measurements and good subjective performance even at $200, something that couldn't be done 10 years ago. Sound wise, some of these units are Extremely close to each other, down to the smallest details. I mean, several Delta-sigma DACs of different manufacturers can look almost identical on the inside, only some capacitors may differ or the power supply implementation, everything else is the same (DAC chips, LPF and I/V stage, so on and so forth) It is normal that I would describe them in a similar fashion, because in reality they sound very alike with a few minor differences. Still, I have several chapters in my video and written reviews for a reason, because there is still a difference between them. Sometimes its their tonality, minor changes in FR, sometimes its the scale, speed or impact or all of the above. Sometimes there's a huge difference (as it usually happens with R-2R versus D/S versus FPGA sound signature and tonality - because everything is different on the inside) and I'm using different words to describe them. I've done several blind tests in the past (check my Battle of the THX-es or the 4 DAC comparison I've did some time ago).
Thanks. Look forward to 1266 review
Not so...soon. It was a loaner from a fried. Maybe later this year I'll do that (including measurements and comparisons)
I spy abyss! I bet you’re going to love it.. not as polite and neutral as sus but the slam is unmatched as are the transients. I bet the Volot soloist 3gt Hypsos + Oor and Primavera will make them sing,
Hopefully Burson sends you their new conductor 3gt looks like a pretty sweet all in one unit to compete with chord tt2.
It was a loaner from a friend, it was the Phi (not the newest TC), I'll probably get a TC this year after I recover from the Primavera and "a secret new DAC" wallet damage :) Conductor 3 GT review will happen once it's here, I've got a green light from the Kangaroo land
This or Topping E70 and L70?
Excelent, i believe if you want to save 200 bucks you go for this and if you want a little more refinement maybe go for the vmv s1 se. I really enjoy your videos, kudos! Greetings from Rosario, Argentina!
D1SE is indeed a better sounding unit and it's built at higher standards.
@@Soundnews thank you so much for answering!!!!! Best wishes!
Great video!! You touched on it briefly, but is the D1SE worth the upgrade over the DO200?
Hi Andre...Nah, I won't do that. Slightly different, but not a whole lot better. Now, my NEXT review will be something that you should look forward to.
@@Soundnews Good because I got a good deal on the DO200. Bad because I'm worried about the next video lol. Keep up the great content!!
What do you think of the HO200 as a preamp (for speaker setup) compared to the Topping Pre90? Thanks for the review
very, very similar performance, I couldn't hardly differentiate them. Pre90 is by a hair smoother and more organic sounding, more like splitting hairs.
@@Soundnews Thanks so much! Need a cheap but decent quality preamp until I can get an Acoustic Invader pre. SMSL should cut it for $200 less than Topping. Appreciate your reply
Have you ever dealt with the optical port cutting in and out during music? I dealt with 9n cutting out every 3 mins, which made me return it. It's really unfortunate because I really enjoyed the warm sounding from SMSL. I really want to purchase these, but I'm afraid to deal with the last issue.
Let me guess, was that happening on a Samsung TV? If so, that is a very common issue only on Samsung TVs used in tandem only with ESS Sabre chipsets (give it a search).
All those HPA`s from past 2 years are mainly the same, I mean China stuff. I personally use topping A90 and I would not change it for anything for one reason (apart from sound characteristics ): it is just beautiful to have one indicator of ON state, but based on 2 color led, green for HPA and amber for PREamp.
BTW. in advertising materials for Topping LA90 there is, I guess, new edition of A90 called A90 Discrete , do you have any info on that? Except hifigo listing page I coudln`t find anything more.
They spilled the beans for me, but I'm no allowed to talk about it, sorry. Think about an A90 with bipolar transistors biased into Class-A/B operation instead of NFCA modules and that's basically it.
@@Soundnews So basically as a simple potential buyer I need to wait for official news :)) Thanks.
did you have to bend your 1266 to fit right?
No you don’t have to bend it but you can adjust pads rotation, the width and can adjust to angle the cups. The wider the better for
Bass you don’t want to get a seal but more space.
It was a loaner, couldn't do that, but I was at maximum width with them.
What amp is the white one next to the Abyss?
That's a Trafomatic Primavera - the best headphone amp I've heard to date.
Eager about m500 mk ii.
Hello im wondering how the amp compares with topping a30 pro
Why no sub out?
lower analog volume pot position also means less dynamics and range for the music
so listening at 10oclock position is never good