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Showing 1 of 55 conversations about:
victor158128
36
Dec 18, 2018
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32ohm: 108mW
64ohm: 104mW
150ohm: 86mW
300ohm: 57mW
Gain value seems too small for anything other than sensitive iems
PCgaming4ever
184
Dec 18, 2018
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victor158128yeah the amp specs suck on this compared to my magni 3 I think I'm out.
(Edited)
Cyphre
2708
Dec 18, 2018
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victor158128The price makes a lot more sense now, since it definitely isn't competing with a Jotunheim with those specs.
DjBobby
22
Dec 18, 2018
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victor158128Forget the headphone amp, not interesting. What is interesting is the dac out with dual ak4490 (one per channel). Not possible to find anything with dual dac chip nearly for this price. Even my bargain Topping D50 costs much more.
PCgaming4ever
184
Dec 18, 2018
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DjBobbyIt would be interesting for just the dac if smsl didn't have such bad quality control.
DjBobby
22
Dec 18, 2018
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PCgaming4everThan I can probably consider myself extremely lucky. Having 10 SMSL different units, never had any problem with any of them.
TheHun
102
Dec 18, 2018
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Cyphrethis is the actual amp and this Dac/amp has 2 of hem in it.
http://www.ti.com/product/TPA6120A2
Cyphre
2708
Dec 18, 2018
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TheHunI'm no audiophile expert, but in terms of power delivery, the amp is only one piece of the puzzle. The stated limits of that chip still require the transformer, caps and the like to actually provide said power.
Cyphre
2708
Dec 18, 2018
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TheHunIf you read the rest of the discussion here, the manual was posted:
https://static.qobuz.com/info/IMG/pdf/M9_User_Manual.pdf
This contains all the information that he stated.
jaydunndiddit
3262
Dec 18, 2018
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TheHunThe specs are also on their product page, matching what Victor provided earlier: https://www.shenzhenaudio.com/smsl-m9-ak4390ef-32bit-768khz-dsd512-hifi-dac-decoder-balance-headphone-amplifier.html.
I prefer Vrms output so hopefully this helps paint the picture as well (the calc I use https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/w-r-v.php):
32ohm: 108mW = 1.86 Vrms
64ohm: 104mW = 2.58 Vrms
150ohm: 86mW = 3.59 Vrms
300ohm: 57mW = 4.1 Vrms
This unit, at least on paper, seems about as powerful as a portable amp/DAC. Numbers are very close to something like my iFi nano BL. But, this unit is "fully" balanced and the DAC + features still makes this drop attractive. If you need an additional DAC then I think this drop makes a lot of sense. As an AIO, not so much.
Cyphre
2708
Dec 18, 2018
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If you read the manual, as posted, the smaller headphone jack is 4-pole for balanced output for things like IEMs that support that connection.
TheHun
102
Dec 18, 2018
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jaydunndiddityeah that doesn't look good at all from the op amps they used. for the price on this drop however, is not bad at all.
JBiser
31
Dec 19, 2018
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jaydunndidditYes 5V input ("you can use power bank") limits power. I agree, geared toward iem users. Except, many designs with A6120A use high output impedance, which would kind of be counter-productive with iems. Of course, this being SMSL, no mention that I could find of that spec. Hey, its portable and balanced.
CoddFish
4
Dec 19, 2018
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jaydunndidditHow well do you think this would handle some HD 58xJubilee cans? I'm not worried about my IEMs but I wonder if it will struggle with the cans? They're pretty easy to drive but I'm unsure how to verify if they'll work - I'm new to the audio world.
jaydunndiddit
3262
Dec 19, 2018
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CoddFishHonestly, not very well. The 58X enjoys a healthy dose of voltage. This amp would get them loud but will not have the grunt to really push those drivers as intended to sound their best. With its high OI, this amp looks suited for low to medium ohm headphones (~32 to ~80 ohms). I also doubt planars are going to sound good out of this amp with this level of performance.
(Edited)
fabianofsouza
1
Dec 20, 2018
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DjBobbyI never had any problem with them. I've tried sap2, 6, 9, IDEA, IQ, sanskrit panda pack. Each one surprised me in a very positive way. Unpretentious and competent, I respect that. :)
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