S.M.S.L RAW MDA1 Dual ES9039Q2M Decoder Support MQA MQA-CD LDAC Hi-res DAC with Remote Control

Note: This review is based on headphone use. Have not connected to my larger home stereo system and may not do so. My headphone that I have listened to are Beyer DT 770Pro 80ohms and Hifiman Edition XS 18ohms using Roon and convolution filters for each specific headphone. I always listen to local FLAC files. The DAC I have used before this purchase is the Khadas Tone 1 board which I have use for the past four years or so. Additionally, stated sound compassions are subjective to the person listening, so take all with a grain of salt. Your perception and hearing my vary from mine.The following is my perception compared the the Khadas Tone board1. I find the instrument separation better.2. Sound stage is wider. Not huge, just wider than the Tone Board.3. The impression from listening is the DAC is smoother, the highs and other sounds that may cause listener fatigue are controlled without details missing. It basically presents a choice of listening to the song or if you want pay attention to specific details in the song. Hope that makes sense. Choices are always good.4. Instrument decay is better.5. It has a build in headphone amp. It may not power hard to drive headphones adequately. However, no issues driving the DT 770 pro at 80ohm, in low amp setting at about 75% volume.6. There is no added tonality to the listener. It is very accurate at playing exactly what is being input into it. both from the DAC and AMP perspective. There are PCM Filters and Sound Color options which I messed around with a little, but didn't find there to be any WOW factor there. Sounds pretty much the same to me with really small difference if any.I have had issues with Roon switching from WASAPI to ASIO driver on this unit. However, it is not Roon certified so I can't knock off points for this. The unit is connected via USB C directly to my laptop.In my opinion this is a better DAC/AMP than the Khadas Tone 1 Board. Also note that the Tone board is like $60 to $75 without a case and no amp, just the board. Add a good amp at $100 to $200 an your looking at around comparable cost. This SMSL-RAW-MDA1 is $280 in a hard decent medal probably aluminum case with built in amp with additional digital fiber and coax inputs plus balanced XLR outputs. It has two headphone outputs one 6.5mm stereo and a 4.4mm Balanced output (I have not tried the 4.4mm output and read some info that it is not actually balanced). The ESS chip is next generation ES90392MQ vs tone board 1 ES90382MQ. I didn't dig much further in technical details but I assume updated opamps among other things. After all the DAC chip is not the real factor these days, its all the components around it and implementation that make the magic happen. With all these options, and improved performance (for my perspective), $280 price tag seems like a pretty great deal. Oh and bluetooth input as well although I have not tried it and doubt I ever will.Put it another way, the law of diminishing kicks in finding something better (More money less improvement). My opinion here, I haven't tried every DAC/AMP out there.Overall considering the price and the options this is a very good DAC amp. I will be keeping this, replacing my Khadas Tone board. Their are some out there that say you would have to go to the $400 or more price tag to get better currently. Currently I am in agreement with this statement as I am not sure how much more improvement would be justified for the extra cost. However, it is a fast moving market, hold off for a year or two and this will change no doubt.

Although I received my unit with a cracked front, I had connected it and loved it from the first second. This is my first DAC and it lives up to everything I've read. Music from my CDs is much more dynamic. Even my original "A Night At The Opera," by Queen (usually very low and flat-sounding) has incredible punch and detail. The separation of instruments and voices is stunning. It creates a soundstage between my speakers that seems to grow upward behind the speakers. It's incredible! My old CD collection has got brand new life!

Excellent DAC and headphone amp, using it to drive Sennheiser HD650s. Only issue is that when I turn the SMSL unit on, Bluetooth connects to my iPad and then often (but not always) immediately disconnects. I have to manually reconnect in the Bluetooth settings and then it’s fine after that. Not a big deal, but other Bluetooth devices don’t have this problem. Connecting via USB works fine. The remote control is very useful to me, it allows me to put the SMSL on a lower shelf of my side table, leaving the top shelf for headphones, books, glasses, drinks, etc.

So much power that the volume level is kept on low. haha!Beautiful flat sound, super-deep bass, powerful mids (almost laughable), and crystal clear highs.Worth every penny...This brought my Adam Audio T8v monitors and 12" sub alive. Everything is so effortless with this DAC. The bass hits hard, but the drivers on my monitors are barely moving....it's incredible how much headroom you have with this DAC. Bravo, S.M.S.L.Also, there is zero hiss out of my monitors now. All the electrical noise and harmonics has disappeared. Love this little beast.

UNIT DID NOT WORK LIGHTS UP ONLY THEY ARE REPLACING UNIT

I dont have much to say except for the front display being cracked. I just sent it back for a refund. I am of the opinion that should they have checked the DAC before shipping this would have been a much better outcome., What happened to QC