SMSL C100 DAC Review – Meet The New Boss, Same As The Old Boss?
I can’t quite fathom SMSL’s strategy of flooding the market with multiple, barely-differentiated DACs and amps, but all I’ve heard have been credible and some, like the SMSL SU-9 transcendent. Their latest, the $119 SMSL C100 DAC uses the same AKM chip as their $139 Sanskrit (which is different than the ESS chips used in their pricier SU-9, D0100 , D0200 MKII and others.
The main difference between the C100 and its costlier brothers is that the C100 can be powered by the USB port of your PC (no external power supply required), which may have some small advantage in reducing digital noise and crud.
The C100 lacks balanced inputs and some of the sound color/DSD tuning options of other SMSL DACs, although it does have 6 PCM filter options; I hear the “slow roll off” filters as very slightly warmer/smoother. Otherwise, the C100 packs a lot of features into a little box, including MQA/DSD decoding and preamp functionality (which requires using the remote for volume).
You can also use the C100 to stream Bluetooth, though it seems limited to AAC and not the higher rez AptX/LDAC; it sounded clean and lively, though not as full-bodied or detailed as the Bluetooth from the SU-6 or (esp.) the SU-9, which do have the more advanced codecs.
I tested the C100 primarily as a DAC/preamp in a secondary system consisting of a Sony ES5400 CD transport and a Parasound amp, or as just a DAC with a Schiit SYS passive pre—I heard no difference when the Schiit was in the chain, which is, I suppose, a credit to the Schiit.
I also used it as a DAC for Tidal streaming through my Dell PC. As a preamp, the C100 is more than adequate—wholly hiss-free, with adequate gain, though I much prefer having a physical volume knob like the pricier SMSL units.
As a DAC, the C100 shares many of the characteristics of the ($169) SU-6 or SU-9—it has lean-textured notes, with really excellent instrument separation and bass control (whoever is tuning these really likes a tight low end).
Tonally, however, it’s a different beast—more neutral, less bassy and not as bright or edgy at the high end as the SU-6, yet a little less smooth and warm as the SU-9, which also has considerably more midrange drive and sounds fuller and more dynamic and extended, especially at lower volumes. Resolution on the C100 is surprisingly good—transients are quick and high-level details are accurately reproduced without sounding over-pixilated.
For all that, there is a somewhat “clinical,” quality to the C100, which is to say that instruments are so etched and presented so cleanly that your ears tend to focus on the individual performers rather that the integrated whole.
It’s a very refined presentation nonetheless—compared to the ($130) Topping E30 DAC it replaced in my system, the Topping sounds fuller and has less digital coloration, but considerably trails the SMSL in detail retrieval and (esp.) low end definition; the Topping sounds a bit boomy in contrast. From memory, my since-departed Schiit Modi also had a less colored signature but also presented less information.
Shameless SMSL fanboy that I’ve become, I’d go so far as to say that the C100 is as good as you’ll find in the $100 range—unexpectedly, I prefer it to the livelier SU-6. As with the Wiim Mini, it’s destined to be one of those pieces that make you rethink the whole price-to-value thing.
Even better, I got this for free from Aoshida (https://aoshida-audio.com), who never seek to influence our reviews and probably don’t even read them.
Specifications SMSL C100
