This high-spec headphone amp punches way above its price tag

The market for headphone amps and DACs is becoming increasingly crowded, with affordable models from the likes of Fosi Audio, and high-powered options from several others, including FiiO. Now the latter's K15 device has a new rival in the form of the SMSL DL400.

The DL400 is a high-powered desktop amp with impressive specification and a very competitive price tag. SMSL has developed a reputation for offering good value DACs and amps, and this latest looks to continue that tradition.

It delivers 2 x 6W into 16 ohms, 2 x 3W into 32 ohms, and 700mW into 300 ohms, so it can drive a very wide range of headphones and IEMs. It also features Bluetooth 5.1 with LDAC, aptX, aptX HD and the usual AAC and SBC. But, there's no support for aptX Lossless or Bluetooth LE.

SMSL DL400: key features and pricing

The DL400 is built around an ESS ES9039MSPRO DAC, XMOS XU-316 USB engine and an amplification stage featuring 11 dual op-amps. That's a big increase from the five op-amps in the DL300 model

Connectivity is good, with USB, Optical, Coaxial, AES/EBU and a reversible I2S/XLR input. Outputs are RCA, XLR, 6.35mm and 4.4mm balanced headphones.

It's very compact but slightly odd-looking, with sloping sides in an otherwise rectangular chassis.

The SMSL DL400 supports DSD native 512, 32-bit/768kHz PCM and DOP 64. It also has MQA and MQA-CD decoding. There are eight PCM filters to choose from.

The lack of aptX Lossless may be a deal-breaker for some, but the DL400 delivers a solid specification for a competitive price. It has an RRP of £499 / $499 (about €569 / AU$1,000) and it's available from the likes of Amazon now.