SMSL RAW-MDA1 - Downright Brilliant

[@historyalwayslie]

You are not like any other, so call audiophile + blogger plus+ online salesman. You are AudioLover and a Master. Hats off. Be Blessed and JUST.

[@3ildcard]

Perfectly said! "Online salesman" fits perfectly 90% of the "reviewers". Bunch of nonsense and delusions out loud to convince the people who actually pay for their stuff to make yet another purchase.

[@safemed1]

I tuned in to learn how to use the UI, but I learned a lot more about what is a just review - unbiased, with no vested interest other than that of your viewer. Kudos!

[@oldandswole]

Great review. No BS approach. However, may I suggest recording the unit in a better lit environment with so that your camera is actually able to focus.

[@brannonmcevers1854]

Btw I subscribed. I look forward to future content! We need more YTers that tell the truth. So refreshing compared to other YT channels that are completely subjective, contradictory and contrived.. I wish you great success!

[@loreto1815]

Wow. Talk about thorough! Time to subscribe.

[@Monkey112-n6f]

Great review, straight to the point and honest.

[@3ildcard]

LIES! I have 800$ IEM cable and 3400$ DAC/AMP AND AND IT MADE MY MOONDROP CHU'S SOUND BETTER THAN MONARCH MK3!!!! THE CABLE AND DAC SOUND AS IF THEY ADDED 4 EST DRIVERS TO THE CHU, SO GOOD!!! BUY GUY, BUY!!!!! Just goofing around, of course. Love the transparency and honesty! We all keep repeating ourselves but, you Sir, not acting like a salesman (for snake oil) as most others do is very refreshing and valuable to us "the consumers".

[@wim1983]

I'm using the SMSL C100, great mini compact DAC does not need power supply and comes with remote and bluetooth feature. Yes ways difference sound only happen when mess up with different amplifications, be it op-amp, preamp, power amp etc., and of course your final ouput which can be speakers or headphones. It's crazy you people have so many gears in the journey of sound discovery.

[@roa5359]

Thank you for the FiiO K11 (non R2R) review. I got one after watching your review.

[@stephencosta6814]

Very nice review keep up the good work❤

[@Bill-ps2wt]

Great review, I'm going to purchase one in a few days. As far as eq goes, instead of waiting for a eq program from SMSL, just pick up Boom 3D for your PC. It has fantastic and real working eq with plenty of bands and the option to add a bit of fidelity or ambience which I really appreciate, it really sounds fantastic...

[@DeDovla]

There are measurements over on ASR, the RCA and XLR do provide the voltage they specify. However, the HP Output is less than what they stated, in that regard it is closer to C200.

[@DeDovla]

For more context: SMSL RAW-MDA1: Measured - 167mW at 300 Ohms; 1.4W at 32 Ohms Stated on spec sheet - No official spec for 300Ohms but if you were to calculate by max voltage which is stated to be 8.2V then you get 224mW at 300 Ohms; 1.7W at 32 Ohms is on the spec sheet. SMSL C200: Measured - 154mW at 300 Ohms, 1.45W at 32Ohms Stated on the spec sheet - nothing for 300 Ohm, 1.3W at 32Ohms In the case of C200 we can see they posted a lower number than the one actaully measured (even though Amir takes his measurement before the amp starts to clip). In the case of RAW-MDA1 there is a discrepancy of 0.3W at 32Ohms missing from the product (for 300 Ohms I am not gonna pass judgement as there were no official statements from SMSL). My suspicion is that they nerfed the amp a bit because of the higher voltage of the DAC chip (2.5V on RAW vs 2V on C200). Note that there is also no statement on how much high gain provides (for C200 it's +11dB, for RAW-MDA1 it is not disclosed). The SMSL DL200 should be more in line with it's own spec sheet as it seems like it's the same amp from C200 except DL200 DAC outputs 2.5V instead of 2V - however no ASR measurements yet to back it up but when you calculate everything the numbers seem correct. But in the real-world it can probably run 90% of the headphones as is the case with SMSL C200 and DL200 as well.

[@Galenthir]

Good shit as always, lad.

[@velliot]

I agree about the bluetooth transmission!

[@nikolaygeorgiev147]

Me personal experiance with RAW-MDA1 is the following: - The sound color filters DOES NOT change anything ... ! - PCM Filters DOES NOT change anything ... ! - The clicking, poping spound when changeing tracks\sampleing rates is there. Compared to the SU-1 the difference is quite noticable - a lot more opened sound stage, instrument separation, more air and space between the vocals and the instruments and detail retrieval. Althout as you said all DACs sound neutral and does not alter the requency responce nor the tonal balance of the recording. I was looking for a DAC with volume control and remote and desided to get the MDA1 for the sound color filters and see if they are usefull, but they are not. Anyway I am not disapointet of the upgrade from SU-1 since as I said the change in the sound quality is pretty good. The gear I am testing it on is Wiim Mini Toslink out -> RAW-MDA1 / SU-1 -> Yamaha A-S701 -> ELAC Debut 2.0

[@MoonshineBeforeSunshine]

Great review as usual. But, I still want a Senn HD490 Pro review from you. Haha! When/if you get to review the HD490 Pro, I would love to see you compare it in sheer detail to the Beyer DT 1990 Pro - I'd like to especially know which one has done the midranges and trebles better, among other sonic categories. In fact, I've found it rather strange why no one has done a dedicated comparison on the aforementioned models, since they are the flagship studio headphones from their respective long-established and rival German companies. Without you promising anything, I'm truly looking forward to this review and comparison. I'm not a fan of any company, but a fan of your reviews/comparisons.

[@r2d3vadar92]

Great review! May I ask, would you recommend this as upgrade to the dac inside my marantz cd60 player - I would use the smsl as my reference stereo DAC. Would this be a worthy upgrade, I understand the RAW MDA1 has a new chips set. Your help is appreciated. thank you.

[@NoThemeReviews]

No, I doubt it. The Marantz has a very capable dac. There's no reason to upgrade.

[@r2d3vadar92]

@@NoThemeReviews Great. Thank you for your response and help.🙂👍

[@RocketLauncherwithInfiniteAmmo]

How did you hook up the little valve amp? It looked as if it was coming out of the front headphone output and using two preamps, but I take that wasn’t the case and that you used the output from the back? Thanks and good review.

[@NoThemeReviews]

1/4” output from MDA1 to 3.5mm input on the tube amp.

[@RocketLauncherwithInfiniteAmmo]

@@NoThemeReviews but isn’t that going to make both volume controls active and give the pre-amp another pre-amp?

[@michaelkaercher]

My tests - being not as sophisticated as yours - show the same results. The differences between DACs are marginal. I did run an 80€ SMSL DAC against a Topping 400€ one. There was a slight difference in sharpness of s-reproduction. But that was about it. There are differences in OP Amps but you are completely right. You can easily reach that with Amp or Speakers. The part about Equalizer Functions I do not understand. All modern Streamers and Operating Systems provide that. It is not really required that the DAC provides that

[@FunFiEmpire]

Thank you so much for this FunFi review. I totally agree "Oh My Gawd!" thank you SMSL for putting the volume front and center. Just wish it was 1-100 rather than -dB. I really appreciated your thorough testing and stating plainly and logically your process and findings. It is unfortunately more and more rare to find a reviewer that does not depend on measurements alone or "chocolatey sharp sound" or some such nonsense. I think the Wiim Ultra features bluetooth out, but I could be wrong on that. It tries to hard to be everything to everyone, and is very nice, but "meh" in most areas other than the streaming app.

[@amanieux]

about dac differences, i agree with you that there is no percptible difference in active a/b testing when you are in the focused, active listening mode but there are difference when you are in normal, relaxed listening mode. for example i hear a small detail when casually listening with a good dac a song i know very well, a song i heard 100 times and never noticed this small detail before, then i plug my old cheap dac to check if this detail is also here, actively listening in a/b test to this moment in the song when this small detail popped up and guess what : we can also hear it in the cheaper dac, the detail is 90% here with the cheap dac but it never reached the level where we noticed it the first 100 times we listened to the song with the cheap dac. with the good dac the small nuances reach a threshold where we can here it. this is the difference between a cheap dac and a good dac : differences vanishes when you a/b test it in focused listening mode but these differences are only noticeable on the best dac when you are in normal/relaxed listening mode. same thing goes with small differences in headphones/iems, the better gear will bring to your attention details you never noticed with the cheap gear but is 90% here with the cheaper gear and you'll notice it also with the cheaper gear when you know what to listen to because you heard it for the first time on the better gear.

[@NintenPizza]

Is it possible to use some sort of 3rd party EQ App with this Amp/DAC hooked up to a PC, just to increase the Bass & treble just a little, and have that profile saved to use with other devices like a 4K blu-ray player, game console etc?

[@NoThemeReviews]

Yes

[@shinseitaizen]

Can this automatically switch between line and headphones when a pair is plugged in?

[@frodehokholt3944]

Thank you very much for a great review! The facs, without the audiopfile mumbojumbo was just what I needed! I ended up getting the RAW-MDA1. While I find it to be a good sounding product that does nothing wrong, my Audio GD NFB-15 from 2014 clearly sounds much better. Instrument separation is much better, the soundstage has height also and there is just more meat to the sound. The differences is so clear that direct A-B testing really is not nessecary, when I know what to listen to. I have put the SMSL in my cellar with a CD player on repeat and a old set of headphones. The remaining audiophile in me is hoping it will burn in and be better than the NFB-15😆 I was very supprised, I was expecting the SMSL to be clearly superior to the old NFB-15 with its old Wolfson DAC.

[@MusicFluff]

Have you noticed any clicking/popping noises other users have noticed when starting stoping tracks?

[@NoThemeReviews]

No

[@MusicFluff]

@@NoThemeReviews Ah oke was just wondering as I get small popping noises when switching sample rates.

[@IrenESorius]

Iw got it, I love it.

[@andrewy1983]

Better than Fiio K7? Not sure whether to upgrade. Or is it just a side grade. Rather than upgrade

[@nicktan4530]

So as usual they sounds the same ? Own and heard any resister ladder dac ?

[@sirlordcomic]

There did seem to be some difference in the sound colour filters. The only one I liked was Tube 1. But as you said too subtle. If they're adding filters make them have a clear effect.

[@nicktan4530]

Tomorrow I will head to one audio event and will give my impression on new dacs, even outside of US market. Will try luck if they have different sound or will scale the sound quality via dacs/amps.

[@nicktan4530]

And sorry, do you think its quite impossible to do a/b for speaker setup ?

[@epicmike3915]

Great review as usual. Question is the knob metal or plastic?

[@NoThemeReviews]

Seems to be plastic

[@epicmike3915]

@NoThemeReviews That's disappointing. I would prefer all metal. Thanks.

[@JasonMoon111]

Gadgetry tech reviewer said the knob is aluminum.

[@brentkjernisted2215]

How does the smsl compare to the aune s9c?

[@theexpatgunner]

I have the FIIO K11 and using HD 660S2. Would I be beneficial upgrading to the MDA1, and how does it fair against the K11?

[@NoThemeReviews]

No. They sound identical. Don’t waste money.

[@JPC326]

Hows does it compare to Fiio k9 AKM ?

[@amanieux]

do such desktop dac/amp improves sound noticeably over the best dongle dacs ( for iem exclusively) ? thanks

[@NoThemeReviews]

No

[@eddiebaby22]

A B testing is the only way, you are correct.

[@crazyprayingmantis5596]

Its so refreshing to hear someone say they tried really hard but couldn't hear a difference. Most reviewers (online salesman) like to make all sorts of claims about what they can hear without ever proving anything.

[@Jubeihong]

Wich do you think will be a solid choice for music and movies? this dac or Fiio K7? thx

[@NoThemeReviews]

They’re both neutral. Get whichever is the cheaper.

[@AnthonyToth-t5v]

I have 300 ohm headphones Sennheiser hd 250 linear would this amp power these 😊

[@NoThemeReviews]

Yes

[@haydenbull6622]

Every SMSL dac with a colour screen has displayed the volume front centre and largest text for at least the last 5 years. It's something that is really annoying in pure Dac mode as who wants to se 00db on their screen. Makes more sense in an all in one.

[@RocketLauncherwithInfiniteAmmo]

Can you completely defeat the display on it? Displays actually do audibly affect the sound quality, causes interference.

[@brannonmcevers1854]

Love your no nonsense reviews! "If you want to add sound coloration, just add tubes!" Audiophiles need to be honest with themselves. If you like colored sound, embrace it! Just don't try to convince people that want neutral unaltered sound that you are right, and they are horribly wrong..

[@spectrumsatilink689]

YES EQUALISER GOOD DOLBY ATMOS😁😆👍‼️

[@liveliferock]

Finally I found someone who speaks the truth. On top of that if you put too much effort in analyzing the music, you won't be able to enjoy the music. Music is like food, a lot of ingredients goes into it to make what it is. If you concentrate too much to analyze what kind of ingredients are there, then you are not tasting the food, but you are testing the food.

[@7in1]

What AB switch are you using?

[@NoThemeReviews]

www.amazon.com/STEREO-Manual-Speaker-selector-available/dp/B073GWCRP3/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2MRLCDXNZ94E1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.AvUD_rCDvzboU2sz0gATP35b7w0oR6cpmo57Iej9PTpHx111bY0PLk_nAkPFTddfKvt-QKVw3Yw4Ocsx9gVy05O_QYT05ehYxlOx1zLNOASwwSphKW0Il4jz1ND_0BDaN9EELF62K5fzmEbms_WKucXjIyK3-wyhW4IyPv_BwDlQAWXesBIdEdGQ-VeGpmhfaqdBYvYLAJPEvCOZzyo65zbXZTQqHk4jtvWgzqvnq_0.pYryNgBnfiQgDvAA1szhWS79IhthICOk_1lxfgipzg8&dib_tag=se&keywords=3.5mm+switch+box&qid=1725624674&sprefix=3.5mm+switch+box%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-3

[@eddiebaby22]

Yes too much hype. This is the truth.

[@kozlowy3]

Average rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars . LIPA.

[@jamesschneider3828]

Sorry but driving us to buy test equipment makes no sense. All I or probably most others care about is how does it sound? You speak volumes that most don’t care about.

[@NoThemeReviews]

$25 is too much to pay to make sure you’re not wasting money? I did explain how it “sounds” and I always encourage people to do their own tests.