Review on SMSL M100 USB DAC AK4452 DSD512 32Bit/768kHz - High-Fidelity Audio Decoder (Black) by Sean Davis

This is a really great DAC by any measure. For the price it really is a no brainer. There are a few minor annoyances like microUSB, difficulty installing Windows drivers, and a slightly misleading user interface, but the sound makes up for it! I like his cute looks. The picture made me think it would be much bigger. It's actually not much more than stacking multiple Airpods cases side by side. Okay, of course you want to know how it sounds. I've been using an AK4396 DAC since about 2004 and love it to death. I know its tone and sound like the back of my hand. I would say it has a slightly less "sterile" tone than the 4396. When listening through the same headphones with the same amp and both DACs, they sound very, very similar with a slight difference, but I find the 4452 to have a slightly livelier/dynamic sound in this SMSL. For those unfamiliar with AK sound, it sounds much faster and cleaner than your typical ESS or TI DAC. I recently used a FiiO Bluetooth DAC with an AK chipset, but I was having issues with the Bluetooth transmitter, so I settled on one for desktop use. I've seen "44" on "in1" and "-" on the other two. But I didn't play the audio so it didn't show up on in2. Concerned that my DAC was broken, I checked the manual and saw that the in2 was in fact an optical one. I had already started playing the song so when I switched back to in2 it said "96" for 96kHz and it sounded great! One last small complaint is that by reading the manual I realized why it is so much cheaper than all other AK4452 DACs. It cannot be connected to the fast charge USB socket, otherwise the higher voltage may burn out the DAC. I would happily pay a few euros more to have this protection. It's not hard to find a non-fast-charging USB port, but I don't want to worry about that. In the 2000s, it was E-MU that offered consumers quality AK DACs at affordable prices. The USB 0404 was a particularly iconic DAC, considered by many in the industry to be the reference DAC1 and 1. cost $000. SMSL brought us a great AK4452 for under $100, which is currently unheard of. Thank you SMS! It cannot be connected to the fast charge USB socket, otherwise the higher voltage may burn out the DAC. I would happily pay a few euros more to have this protection. It's not hard to find a non-fast-charging USB port, but I don't want to worry about that. In the 2000s, it was E-MU that offered consumers quality AK DACs at affordable prices. The USB 0404 was a particularly iconic DAC, considered by many in the industry to be the reference DAC1, and cost $1,000 at the time. SMSL brought us a great AK4452 for under $100, which is currently unheard of. Thank you SMS! It cannot be connected to the fast charge USB socket, otherwise the higher voltage may burn out the DAC. I would happily pay a few euros more to have this protection. It's not hard to find a non-fast-charging USB port, but I don't want to worry about that. In the 2000s, it was E-MU that offered consumers quality AK DACs at affordable prices. The USB 0404 was a particularly iconic DAC, considered by many in the industry to be the reference DAC1, and cost $1,000 at the time. SMSL brought us a great AK4452 for under $100, which is currently unheard of. Thank you SMS! It was E-MU that offered consumers high-quality AK DACs at affordable prices. The USB 0404 was a particularly legendary DAC, considered by many in the industry to be the reference DAC1 and cost $1,000 at the time. SMSL brought us a great AK4452 for under $100, which is currently unheard of. Thank you SMS! It was E-MU that offered consumers high-quality AK DACs at affordable prices. The USB 0404 was a particularly iconic DAC, considered by many in the industry to be the reference DAC1, and cost $1,000 at the time. SMSL brought us a great AK4452 for under $100, which is currently unheard of. Thank you SMS! considered by many in the industry to be the reference DAC1 and cost $1,000 at the time. SMSL brought us a great AK4452 for under $100, which is currently unheard of. Thank you SMS! considered by many in the industry to be the reference DAC1 and cost $1,000 at the time. SMSL brought us a great AK4452 for under $100, which is currently unheard of. Thank you SMS!